CN213652690U - Wafer moving mechanism, wafer electroplating unit and wafer electroplating equipment comprising wafer moving mechanism and wafer electroplating unit - Google Patents

Abstract

The utility model provides a wafer moving mechanism, wafer electroplate unit and contain its wafer electroplating device. The wafer moving mechanism comprises a mechanical arm and a wafer clamp which are connected with each other, the wafer clamp is used for fixing a wafer, the tail end of the mechanical arm is connected with the wafer clamp, and the mechanical arm at least has a lifting freedom degree, a translation freedom degree and a rotation freedom degree. The wafer moving mechanism drives the wafer clamp to transfer the wafers among the working grooves through the mechanical arm, so that the wafers and the wafer clamp are prevented from being handed over back and forth among a plurality of different mechanical arms in the electroplating process, the process steps of the wafers in the electroplating process are further effectively simplified, the number of the mechanical arms required in the wafer electroplating unit and the wafer electroplating equipment can be reduced, and the equipment structure is simplified. Meanwhile, the wafer clamp is prevented from being handed over back and forth among the plurality of mechanical arms, the problem of handing-over failure caused by poor positioning accuracy between the wafer clamp and the mechanical arms in the handing-over process can be solved, and the reliability of the electroplating process is improved.

Description

Wafer moving mechanism, wafer electroplating unit and wafer electroplating equipment comprising wafer moving mechanism and wafer electroplating unit

Technical Field

The utility model relates to an integrated circuit makes the field, in particular to wafer moving mechanism, wafer electroplate unit and contain its wafer electroplating device.

Background

Wafer plating is a very important process in the chip manufacturing process in the field of integrated circuit manufacturing. Due to the high throughput pursuit in integrated circuit manufacturing, a wafer plating apparatus usually operates several or even several tens of wafer plating processes simultaneously. The high throughput is at the cost of multiple and complicated components of the wafer plating equipment, for example, a separate wafer holder and robot are required for each module chamber (i.e., the working tank) to hold and move the wafer into and out of the working tank for performing the corresponding plating process. Meanwhile, an additional manipulator for transferring the wafer and the clamp is required to be arranged among the modules, so that the cost of the whole wafer electroplating equipment is high, and the electroplating process is complicated. Moreover, because the structure of the wafer electroplating equipment is complex, the compatibility of the equipment to wafers with various sizes is poor.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

The to-be-solved technical problem of the utility model is to overcome the many and complicated parts of prior art's wafer electroplating device, lead to the technology step many, the cost is high defect at present, provide a wafer moving mechanism, wafer electroplating unit and contain its wafer electroplating device.

The utility model discloses an above-mentioned technical problem is solved through following technical scheme:

a wafer moving mechanism comprises a mechanical arm and a wafer clamp which are connected with each other, wherein the wafer clamp is used for fixing a wafer, the tail end of the mechanical arm is connected to the wafer clamp, and the mechanical arm at least has a translation degree of freedom.

This wafer moving mechanism through the translation degree of freedom that has on utilizing the manipulator for the manipulator can drive wafer anchor clamps and wafer and move between a plurality of work grooves, with the purpose of realizing that the wafer anchor clamps of the fixed wafer of single manipulator drive are transported between a plurality of work grooves, thereby makes this wafer accomplish the in-process of electroplating process, effectively avoids the wafer anchor clamps to make a round trip to hand over between a plurality of manipulators.

The wafer moving mechanism effectively simplifies the process steps of the wafer in the electroplating process, and meanwhile, the problem of handover failure caused by poor positioning accuracy between the wafer clamp and the mechanical arms in the handover process can be solved by avoiding the back-and-forth handover of the wafer clamp among the mechanical arms, so that the process reliability during the electroplating process is improved.

Preferably, the manipulator further has a lifting degree of freedom and a rotational degree of freedom.

The wafer clamp is connected with the manipulator, the manipulator is provided with the lifting freedom degree, so that the purpose of driving the wafer clamp to pass in and out a certain specific working groove can be met, and the manipulator is provided with the rotating freedom degree, so that the wafer clamp can meet the requirement of a specific process.

Preferably, the translation freedom of the robot comprises an X-axis and/or a Y-axis, so that the robot can move the wafer clamp into the working groove at any position through horizontal movement.

Preferably, the robot has a moving mechanism module for realizing vertical turning, and the moving mechanism module is arranged at the tail end of the robot and is directly connected to the wafer clamp.

Through the arrangement of the moving mechanism module, the wafer clamp is driven to realize the vertical overturning function, so that the wafer mounting surface of the wafer clamp can face upwards, and wafers can be transferred and put in or taken out manually or in other mechanical arm modes in the wafer loading step.

Preferably, the manipulator is a six-degree-of-freedom moving mechanism.

Preferably, the wafer moving mechanism is applied to a vertical electroplating device.

Preferably, the wafer moving mechanism can be used as a cathode of a plating tank when wafer plating is performed.

The wafer moving mechanism can move in and out the wafer relative to the electroplating bath, so that the wafer moving mechanism can be used as a cathode of the electroplating bath to meet the process requirement of electroplating the wafer in the electroplating bath.

A wafer electroplating unit comprises a wafer moving mechanism and a plurality of working grooves, wherein the wafer moving mechanism comprises a mechanical arm and a wafer clamp which are connected with each other, the wafer clamp is used for detachably fixing a wafer, the mechanical arm can transfer the wafer clamp among the plurality of working grooves,

the wafer electroplating unit can avoid the situation that the wafer is handed over back and forth among a plurality of different manipulators in the process of finishing the electroplating process, so that the structural complexity of the wafer electroplating unit is effectively reduced. Wherein, in a plurality of working tanks, the metal material plated by each working tank can be different. The target metal material includes: any one of gold, silver, copper, tin, or tin-silver, and is not limited to these kinds.

Preferably, the manipulator has at least a lifting degree of freedom, a translational degree of freedom and a rotational degree of freedom.

Preferably, the wafer moving mechanism is disposed above the plurality of working grooves, and projections of the plurality of working grooves on a horizontal plane are disposed around the wafer moving mechanism, so that the robot moves to any of the working grooves.

Preferably, the projections of the plurality of working grooves on the horizontal plane are the same distance from the wafer moving mechanism.

Under the condition that the working grooves are arranged in the above mode, the mechanical arm of the wafer moving mechanism can drive the wafer clamp to move among the working grooves in a mode of horizontally rotating by taking the fixed end of the wafer moving mechanism as an axis.

Preferably, the working tank comprises an electroplating tank and a process tank, and the process tank comprises a Reclaim tank and an SRD tank.

Preferably, the wafer plating unit comprises a plurality of wafer moving mechanisms.

By arranging the plurality of wafer moving mechanisms, a single wafer electroplating unit can simultaneously operate the electroplating processes of a plurality of wafers with the same number as that of the wafer moving mechanisms, so that the yield is improved.

Meanwhile, compared with the wafer electroplating equipment in the prior art, the wafer electroplating unit has fewer mechanical arms under the condition of operating the same number of wafers, and the wafer clamp does not need to be directly connected with the multiple mechanical arms, so that the equipment structure and the manufacturing process are simpler and more convenient.

Preferably, the wafer clamps of the plurality of wafer moving mechanisms can respectively fix wafers with different sizes, so that the wafer electroplating unit can simultaneously electroplate the wafers with different sizes.

Preferably, the wafer holder is detachable relative to the robot;

the wafer moving mechanism comprises a plurality of wafer clamps, the wafer clamps can respectively fix wafers with different sizes, and the wafer moving mechanism can fix the wafers with different specifications and sizes and implement an electroplating process by disassembling and replacing the wafer clamps.

Preferably, the wafer clamp comprises a plurality of replaceable tray bodies, and the plurality of tray bodies can respectively fix wafers with different sizes, so that the wafer moving mechanism has the capability of fixing wafers with different sizes by replacing the tray bodies for fixing wafers with different sizes.

Preferably, the wafer moving mechanism can be used as a cathode of the plurality of working tanks when wafer plating is performed.

The wafer moving mechanism of the wafer electroplating unit can be used as the cathode of the working tanks for transferring the wafer among the working tanks, so as to meet the process requirement of electroplating the wafer in each working tank.

A wafer plating apparatus, comprising:

a wafer transfer robot;

a plurality of wafer plating units as described above, the wafer transfer robot for delivering and receiving wafers to the wafer clamps of the plurality of wafer plating units.

The wafer electroplating equipment is provided with the wafer transfer manipulator, so that the wafer is delivered to the wafer moving mechanism of the wafer electroplating unit before the wafer starts to be electroplated, and the wafer is taken back from the wafer moving mechanism after the electroplating is finished, and the automation level and the production efficiency of the wafer electroplating equipment are further improved.

Meanwhile, compared with the wafer electroplating equipment in the prior art, the wafer of the wafer electroplating equipment is always fixed on the wafer clamp of the wafer moving mechanism during the period from the beginning of electroplating to the completion of electroplating, and the wafer clamp is also always connected with the mechanical arm, and the connection among a plurality of mechanical arms is not needed. Therefore, the wafer electroplating equipment not only solves the problem of the production efficiency of wafer electroplating, but also avoids the problems of manufacturing cost, maintenance cost, complex production process and the like caused by too many mechanical arms of the electroplating equipment.

Preferably, the wafer plating unit further comprises a wafer transfer station, the robot being capable of transferring the wafer holder between the plurality of work cells and the wafer transfer station, the wafer transfer robot being adapted to deliver and receive wafers to and from the wafer holder at the wafer transfer station.

Through all setting up wafer handing-over station on the wafer electroplating unit for wafer transfer manipulator only need move to wafer handing-over station can accomplish the delivery and the receipt of wafer.

Preferably, a plurality of the wafer plating units are arranged around the wafer transfer robot, so that the wafer transfer robot can deliver or receive wafers relative to each wafer plating unit.

The utility model discloses an actively advance the effect and lie in:

in the wafer moving mechanism, the wafer electroplating unit and the wafer electroplating equipment comprising the wafer moving mechanism, the wafer moving mechanism drives the wafer clamp to transfer wafers among the working grooves through the mechanical arms, so that the wafers and the wafer clamp are prevented from being handed over back and forth among a plurality of different mechanical arms in the electroplating process, the process steps of the wafers in the electroplating process are further effectively simplified, the number of the mechanical arms required in the wafer electroplating unit and the wafer electroplating equipment can be reduced, and the structure of the equipment is simplified.

Meanwhile, the problem of handover failure caused by poor positioning accuracy between the wafer clamp and the manipulators in the handover process can be solved by avoiding the back-and-forth handover of the wafer clamp among the manipulators, so that the process reliability during the electroplating process is improved.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural view of a wafer moving mechanism according to embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a schematic view of a movement state of a wafer moving mechanism according to embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram 1 of a wafer chuck according to embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram 2 of a wafer chuck according to embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a partial structural schematic view of a tray of a wafer chuck according to embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a schematic view of a movement state of a wafer moving mechanism according to embodiment 2 of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a schematic top view of a wafer plating unit according to embodiment 3 of the present invention.

Fig. 8 is a schematic top view of a wafer plating unit according to embodiment 4 of the present invention.

Fig. 9 is a schematic structural view of a wafer chuck according to embodiment 5 of the present invention.

Fig. 10 is a schematic structural view of a wafer electroplating apparatus according to embodiment 6 of the present invention.

Fig. 11 is a schematic view of an operation state of a wafer plating apparatus according to embodiment 6 of the present invention.

Fig. 12 is a partial schematic structural view of a tray of a wafer chuck according to embodiment 7 of the present invention.

Fig. 13 is a schematic structural view of a cover plate according to embodiment 7 of the present invention.

Fig. 14 is a partial schematic structural view of a tray of a wafer chuck according to embodiment 9 of the present invention.

Description of reference numerals:

wafer plating apparatus 100

Wafer plating unit 10

Wafer moving mechanism 1

Robot 11, moving mechanism module 111

Wafer holder 12, wafer mounting surface 12a

Connecting part 121

Tray hanger 1211

Tray 122

Tray body 1221

Cover plate 122a

Cavity 122b

Air inlet 122c

Gas passage 122d

Measuring device 123

Wafer support pin 124

Driving cylinder 125

Conductive ring 126

Conductive encapsulation 127

Drive unit 128

Rotor 128a

Stator 128b

Conductive slip ring 128c

Shaft 128d

Seal 130

Clamping mechanism 140

Working tank 2

ECD tank 21

SRD slot 22

Reclaim tank 23

Wafer transfer robot 20

Wafer 200

Detailed Description

The present invention will be more clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Example 1

As shown in fig. 1, the present invention provides a wafer moving mechanism 1, which includes a robot 11 and a wafer chuck 12 connected to each other. The wafer clamp 12 is used for fixing a wafer, the end of the manipulator 11 is connected to the wafer clamp 12 between the manipulator 11 and the wafer clamp 12, and the manipulator 11 at least has three degrees of freedom including a lifting degree of freedom, a translation degree of freedom and a rotation degree of freedom.

In the wafer moving mechanism 1, the robot 11 connected to the wafer chuck 12 is provided with a lifting degree of freedom and a rotational degree of freedom, so that the wafer chuck 12 is driven to move into or out of a specific working tank 2, and the wafer chuck 12 and the wafer 200 are driven to rotate in the working tank 2, thereby meeting the requirement of the electroplating process.

Meanwhile, the manipulator 11 is additionally provided with a translational degree of freedom, so that the manipulator 11 can drive the wafer clamp 12 and the wafer 200 fixed on the wafer clamp 12 to move among the plurality of working grooves 2, and the purpose that the single manipulator 11 drives the wafer 200 to transfer among the plurality of working grooves 2 is achieved, so that the wafer 200 can be kept and fixed on one wafer clamp 12 and one manipulator 11 in the process of completing the electroplating process, and the error problem and the complexity of the manufacturing process caused by the back-and-forth connection of the wafer 200 among the plurality of wafer clamps 12 or the plurality of manipulators 11 are effectively avoided. Among them, in the plurality of working tanks 2, the target metal material plated in each working tank 2 may be different. The so-called target metal material may include: any one of gold, silver, copper, tin, or tin-silver, and is not limited to these kinds.

Particularly, the process steps of the wafer moving mechanism 1 in the wafer electroplating process can be effectively simplified by arranging the translational degree of freedom on the mechanical arms 11, meanwhile, the wafer clamp 12 can be prevented from being handed over back and forth between the mechanical arms 11, the problem of handing-over failure caused by poor positioning accuracy between the wafer clamp 12 and the mechanical arms 11 in the handing-over process is solved, the process reliability during the electroplating process is improved, the yield is improved, and the manufacturing cost is reduced.

Since the robot 11 can transfer wafers between the plurality of work tanks 2, it is not necessary to additionally equip each work tank 2 with the "one-to-one" robot 11 and wafer chuck 12. Meanwhile, the wafer chuck 12 does not need to be handed over between the plurality of robots 11, and thus the robots 11 and the wafer chuck 12 can be completely fixed.

In the wafer plating process, the wafer moving mechanism 1 should be electrically connected to the corresponding working tank 2 to serve as a cathode of the working tank 2, so that cations of the pre-plating metal in the plating solution can be attached to the wafer 200 to form a plating layer. After the completion of this plating process, the work tank 2 should be electrically disconnected from the wafer moving mechanism 1.

Specifically, the wafer holder 12 of the wafer moving mechanism 1 may be overlapped with the cathode electrode of the working tank 2 when being driven by the robot 11 to enter the working tank 2, so that the wafer holder 12 becomes the cathode of the working tank 2; when the robot 11 drives the wafer chuck 12 to leave the working tank 2, the wafer chuck 12 is separated from the cathode electrode of the working tank 2 by the displacement drive of the robot 11, so as to prevent the electrode from affecting the subsequent process implementation of the wafer moving mechanism 1.

On this basis, when the wafer transfer mechanism 1 is moved to another work tank 2, the wafer transfer mechanism 1 can also be used as a cathode of the other work tank 2. The working tank 2 is generally referred to as a plating tank for plating metals, and the electrode arrangement of the plating tank is within the scope of the prior art and will not be described herein.

The wafer moving mechanism 1 provided in this embodiment transfers the wafer 200 between the plurality of working tanks 2, and therefore, the wafer moving mechanism can also be used as the cathode of each of the working tanks 2, so as to meet the requirement of the plating process of the wafer 200 in each of the working tanks 2.

Preferably, the robot 11 may also be a six-degree-of-freedom moving mechanism, so that the robot 11 can transfer the wafer chuck 12 to the working groove 2 at any position. Meanwhile, in the case where a certain work slot 2 corresponds to a plurality of such wafer transfer mechanisms 1, the robot 11 of each wafer transfer mechanism 1 has a large degree of freedom of movement, and therefore, the occurrence of interference between the plurality of robots 11 during movement can be effectively avoided.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the robot 11 further has a moving mechanism module 111 that performs vertical inversion, the moving mechanism module 111 being disposed at an end position of the robot 11 and directly connected to the wafer chuck 12. By arranging the moving mechanism module 111, the wafer clamp 12 is driven to realize the function of vertical turning, so that the wafer mounting surface 12a of the wafer clamp 12 can face upwards, and the wafer can be transferred into or taken out by a manual or other mechanical arm 11 in the step of loading. After the wafer is placed in the electroplating bath, in order to improve the working quality of the electroplating bath, the wafer holder 12 usually performs a sealing process after the wafer is placed on the wafer, and particularly, in an ECD (Electrochemical Deposition, also called electroplating) process, the non-electroplating surface of the wafer needs to be sealed. The sealing member 130 is disposed in the conductive ring structure of the wafer chuck 12, and the structure of the sealing member 130 and the conductive ring can be conventional in the art and will not be described herein.

As shown in fig. 3, the wafer chuck 12 specifically includes a connecting portion 121 and a tray 122. The connecting portion 121 is used for positioning and connecting to the robot 11, and the tray 122 can be removed and replaced with respect to the connecting portion 121. For the wafer chuck 12, different trays 122 may hold wafers 200 of different sizes, respectively. The wafer clamp 12 achieves the purpose of fixing wafers with different sizes by replacing the tray 122 with respect to the connecting portion 121.

The wafer clamp 12 is provided with a plurality of replaceable trays 122 relative to the connecting part 121, the purpose of fixing wafers with different sizes is achieved by the wafer clamp 12 through replacing the trays 122 used for fixing wafers with different sizes, the wafer clamp has high flexibility, the purpose that electroplating equipment using the wafer clamp 12 can be compatible with wafers with different sizes quickly is met, the structure of the electroplating equipment can be simplified, and the cost can be reduced.

In the embodiment, as shown in fig. 3, the tray 122 is an integral component, and is fixedly connected to the tray 122 hanging rack 1211 on the connecting portion 121 through a bolt, when the tray 122 needs to be replaced, the tray 122 can be separated from the connecting portion 121 only by unscrewing the bolt, and then the tray 122 fixing another wafer with another size is fixed at the same position through the bolt, so that the wafer clamp 12 can be compatible with wafers with different sizes.

As shown in fig. 3 and 4, the tray 122 specifically includes a tray body 1221, a wafer supporting leg 124, and a driving cylinder 125, wherein the tray body 1221 is used to fix the wafer 200, the wafer supporting leg 124 is used to position the wafer relative to the tray 122, a cylinder shaft 125a of the driving cylinder 125 is connected to the tray body 1221 through a cylinder pulling plate 125b, and the tray body 1221 is driven to move up and down relative to the wafer supporting leg 124, so that the wafer positioned on the wafer supporting leg 124 can be finally placed on the tray body 1221. In this embodiment, the three components are removed and replaced entirely, so that the wafer pedestal 124 does not need to be considered compatible with wafers of different sizes.

In this embodiment, in the process of replacing the tray body 1221, the wafer supports 124 are removed together with the tray body 1221 with respect to the connection portions 121 and replaced, and the driving cylinder 125 for driving the tray body 1221 to ascend and descend is fixed to the connection portions 121, and thus is retained when the tray body 1221 is replaced.

In addition, as shown in fig. 5, a conductive ring 126 and a conductive encapsulation 127 are disposed on the wafer mounting surface 12a of the tray body 1221, the conductive ring 126 is in conductive contact with the inner side of the wafer 200, and the conductive encapsulation 127 presses against the outer edge of the wafer 200, so that the wafer 200 can be fixed on the surface of the tray body 1221 by applying pressure to the edge of the wafer 200 and maintain conductive contact with the conductive ring 126.

Example 2

As shown in fig. 6, the present invention further provides a wafer plating unit 10, which has a structure substantially the same as that of the wafer plating unit 10 provided in embodiment 1, except that the robot 11 of the wafer plating unit in this embodiment is not a six-degree-of-freedom moving mechanism, and the horizontal degree of freedom thereof can only move along the X-axis direction, and the wafer clamp 12 is driven to horizontally move along the X-axis direction (i.e., along the direction a in fig. 6) to transfer the wafer clamp 12 between the plurality of working tanks 2. In this case, too, a plurality of work tanks 2 should be arranged in the horizontal direction a described above so that the horizontal movement range of the robot 11 can cover these work tanks 2.

The degree of freedom of the robot 11 and the position of the work tank 2 can effectively simplify the structural complexity of the robot 11, thereby further simplifying the structure of the wafer plating unit 10.

Example 3

As shown in fig. 7, the utility model also provides a wafer electroplating unit 10, it includes wafer moving mechanism 1 and a plurality of working groove 2, this wafer moving mechanism 1 includes interconnect's manipulator 11 and wafer anchor clamps 12, the wafer can be fixed on wafer installation face 12a of wafer anchor clamps 12, manipulator 11 can transport this wafer anchor clamps 12 between a plurality of working groove 2, thereby avoid this wafer in the in-process of accomplishing electroplating process, the condition of handing-over takes place to make a round trip between a plurality of different manipulators 11, effectively reduce the structural complexity of this wafer electroplating unit 10.

For the purpose of transferring the wafer chuck 12 between the plurality of work tanks 2 by the robot 11, the robot 11 in this embodiment should have at least a lifting degree of freedom, a translational degree of freedom, and a rotational degree of freedom. The elevation degree of freedom and the rotation degree of freedom are used for driving the wafer clamp 12 to enter and exit the working grooves 2 and electroplating the wafer, and the translation degree of freedom enables the manipulator 11 to drive the wafer clamp 12 and the wafer to horizontally move among the working grooves 2.

The working tank 2 of the wafer plating unit 10 includes an electroplating tank (i.e., an ECD tank) and a process tank, and the process tank may specifically include a recycle tank and an SRD (Spin dry) tank. The wafer plating unit 10 can be applied to horizontal plating and vertical plating, and in the present embodiment, it is applied to horizontal plating.

Of course, in other embodiments, the wafer plating unit 10 can be applied to a vertical plating apparatus as well. Specifically, the robot 11 having a plurality of degrees of freedom can also transfer the wafer chuck 12 between a plurality of work tanks of the vertical plating apparatus, thereby simplifying the structure of the vertical plating apparatus and improving the process reliability of the vertical plating apparatus. The specific structural design of the working tank of the vertical electroplating device is not described herein again because it belongs to the category of the prior art.

In addition, in the present embodiment, the wafer moving mechanism 1 is disposed above the plurality of work tanks 2, and projections of the work tanks 2 on a horizontal plane are disposed around the wafer moving mechanism 1, so that the robot 11 can move to any of the work tanks 2.

Preferably, as shown in fig. 7, the projections of the work tanks 2 on the horizontal plane are the same distance from the fixed end of the robot 11 of the wafer moving mechanism 1. Through the structural arrangement, the horizontal degree of freedom of the wafer moving mechanism 1 drives the wafer clamp 12 to move among the plurality of working grooves 2 in a mode of rotating by taking the fixed end of the wafer moving mechanism 1 as an axis. For example, in the present embodiment, the robot 11 is rotated in the direction B so that the wafer chuck 12 fixed to the end thereof can be moved to above any one of the work tanks 2.

Then, when the wafer holder 12 moves above one of the working tanks 2, the wafer holder 12 is driven by the lifting/lowering freedom implementation part of the robot 11 into the working tank 2, and the rotation freedom implementation part realizes the relative rotation of the wafer in the plating solution when the wafer held by the wafer holder 12 is immersed in the plating solution.

Example 4

The present embodiment further provides a wafer plating unit 10, which has a structure substantially the same as that of the wafer plating unit 10 provided in embodiment 3, except that, as shown in fig. 8, the wafer plating unit 10 in this embodiment includes a plurality of wafer moving mechanisms 1, and these wafer moving mechanisms 1 transfer the wafers fixed in the wafer holders 12 in the plurality of working tanks 2 by using their own manipulators 11, so as to complete the plating process for the wafers. By providing a plurality of wafer transfer mechanisms 1, the wafer plating unit 10 can simultaneously perform a plating process for a plurality of wafers equal in number to the wafer transfer mechanisms 1, thereby improving the throughput. Meanwhile, compared with the wafer plating apparatus 100 in the prior art, in the wafer plating unit 10 provided in the embodiment, the number of the robots 11 is smaller under the condition of operating the same number of wafers, and the wafer clamp 12 does not need to be directly connected to the plurality of robots 11, so that the apparatus structure and the manufacturing process are simpler and more convenient.

The wafer electroplating unit 10 in this embodiment includes 5 working tanks 2, specifically, 2 ECD tanks 21, 1 SRD tank 22, and 2 recycle tanks 23, and the specific layout thereof is shown in fig. 8. The manipulators 11 of the plurality of wafer moving mechanisms 1 are all six-degree-of-freedom moving mechanisms, so that the manipulators 11 can transfer the wafer clamp 12 to the working groove 2 at any position.

The fixed ends of the robots 11 are respectively installed at left and right sides of the work tanks 2 so that the robots 11 of the single wafer transfer mechanism 1 transfer the wafers among the ECD tank 21, the SRD tank 22, and the recycle tank 23 by the wafer chucks 12 through the movement with multiple degrees of freedom. Wherein only one SRD slot 22 is provided in this embodiment, since the frequency of use of the SRD slots 22 is relatively low.

Of course, in other embodiments, these wafer moving mechanisms 1 may be disposed at other positions to achieve the purpose of transferring the wafer holder 12 between different working grooves 2 through the multi-degree-of-freedom movement of the robot 11.

In addition, for the plurality of wafer moving mechanisms 1 of the wafer plating unit 10, the wafer chucks 12 of different wafer moving mechanisms 1 can be used for fixing wafers of different sizes respectively. For example, the plurality of wafer moving mechanisms 1 can respectively fix 3 inches, 4 inches, 6 inches, 8 inches, 12 inches and so on wafers, so as to meet the requirement that a single wafer plating unit 10 can simultaneously process wafers with different sizes.

Alternatively, the wafer chuck 12 of the wafer transfer mechanism 1 may be detachable from and replaceable with respect to the robot 11, and the wafer transfer mechanism 1 may be provided with a plurality of wafer chucks 12 capable of holding wafers of different specifications and sizes. The wafer clamp 12 connected with the mechanical arm 11 is replaced to meet the purposes of fixing wafers with different sizes and electroplating.

Example 5

The present embodiment further provides a wafer plating unit 10, which has a structure substantially the same as that of the wafer plating unit 10 provided in embodiment 3, except that, as shown in fig. 9, in the wafer plating unit 10 of the present embodiment, a tray body 1221 is disposed on the wafer chuck 12 of the wafer moving mechanism 1, the tray body 1221 is used for directly fixing the wafer, a plurality of tray bodies 1221 are disposed on a single wafer chuck 12, the tray bodies 1221 are replaceable with respect to other portions of the wafer chuck 12 connected to the robot 11, and the wafer moving mechanism 1 has the capability of fixing wafers of different sizes by replacing the tray bodies 1221 used for fixing wafers of different sizes. In the present embodiment, the tray body 1221 is also connected to other portions of the wafer chuck 12 by bolts, so that the purpose of replacing the tray body 1221 is achieved by detaching the bolts.

In the present embodiment, the wafer chuck 12 further includes a driving portion 128, and the driving portion 128 is connected to the tray 122 and is used for driving the tray 122 to rotate along the axial direction of the wafer chuck 12 to meet the requirement of a specific wafer electroplating process, therefore, in the present embodiment, the driving portion 128 can also be regarded as a way to realize the rotational freedom of the robot 11. In addition, the tray 122 is replaced by detaching the driving portion 128 from the connecting portion 121.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 9, the driving portion 128 includes a rotor 128a and a stator 128b that are relatively rotatable. Wherein the stator 128b is connected to the connecting portion 121, and the rotor 128a is connected to the tray 122 through a shaft 128d for the purpose of rotating the tray 122. The rotor 128a is detachable and replaceable with respect to the stator 128b, so that the tray 122 and the rotor 128a are detached from the connection portion 121 by detaching the rotor 128 a. After that, the tray 122 holding the wafers of different sizes may be replaced with the rotor 128a as a whole, or the rotor 128a may be detached separately and mounted on another tray 122.

In order to enable the power line led into the driving portion 128 from the outside to be connected to the rotor 128a and the conductive ring 126 of the tray 122, a conductive slip ring 128c is further disposed on the stator 128b, the stator 128b is detachably connected to the rotor 128a through the conductive slip ring 128c, and at the same time, the conductive slip ring 128c leads power into the rotor 128a to drive the rotor 128a to rotate relative to the stator 128b, and further leads power into the conductive ring 126 of the tray 122 to lead external power to the surface of the wafer 200 while the tray 122 can rotate.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the driving portion 128 for realizing the rotational degree of freedom in the robot 11 of the wafer moving mechanism 1 is provided in the wafer chuck 12, the driving portion 128 specifically includes a rotor and a stator that are relatively rotatable, and the tray body 1221 is detachably connected to the driving portion 128 so as to be easily replaced.

Example 6

The present embodiment provides a wafer plating apparatus 100, which includes a wafer transfer robot 20 and a plurality of wafer plating units 10 as described in embodiments 3, 4 or 5. Wherein, a plurality of wafer plating units 10 can realize the plating process of the wafer through the wafer moving mechanism 1, and a wafer transfer robot 20 is arranged around the wafer plating units 10 for delivering and receiving the wafer to and from the wafer clamps 12 on the wafer plating units 10.

As shown in fig. 10 and 11, the wafer plating apparatus 100 in the embodiment includes four wafer plating units 10 capable of independently plating wafers, the four wafer plating units 10 are distributed around the wafer transferring robot 20, and the wafer transferring robot 20 further improves the automation level and the production efficiency of the wafer plating apparatus 100 by picking and placing the wafer 200 from the wafer chuck 12 of the wafer plating unit 10.

Meanwhile, compare in prior art's wafer electroplating device 100, the utility model provides a wafer electroplating device 100's wafer is beginning to electroplate until accomplishing during the electroplating, all is fixed on wafer fixture 12 of wafer moving mechanism 1 all always, and wafer fixture 12 also keeps being connected with manipulator 11 always, and need not handing-over between a plurality of manipulators 11. That is, the wafer electroplating apparatus 100 provided in this embodiment not only solves the problem of the production efficiency of wafer electroplating, but also avoids the problems of manufacturing cost, maintenance cost, and complicated production process caused by too many robots 11.

The specific structure of how the wafer transfer robot 20 delivers or receives the wafer 200 to the wafer mounting surface 12a of the wafer chuck 12 is not described herein since it belongs to the prior art.

In the present embodiment, each wafer plating unit 10 further includes a wafer transfer station (not shown), to which the robot 11 of the wafer moving mechanism 1 can move the wafer holder 12 for the wafer transfer robot 20 to perform the wafer 200 transfer process with the wafer holder 12. By providing a wafer transfer station on each wafer plating unit 10, the wafer transfer robot 20 only needs to move to the wafer transfer station to complete the delivery and receiving of the wafer 200.

In addition, a moving mechanism module 111 for achieving the purpose of vertical inversion may be further disposed on the wafer moving mechanism 1, and the moving mechanism module 111 may be disposed at an end position of the robot 11 and directly connected to the wafer chuck 12 for driving the wafer chuck 12 to achieve the function of vertical inversion, so that the wafer mounting surface 12a of the wafer chuck 12 can face upward, so that the wafer transfer robot 20 can put or take the wafer 200 in or out.

The wafer plating apparatus 100 is low in cost and low in investment, has high flexibility by being compatible with wafers of different sizes, and is suitable for rapid process development and small-batch production, such as in the field of 5G photovoltaics.

When applied to a process development scenario, the apparatus is adapted for fast process transitions (i.e., seamless transition from a development state to a mass production state); the device is convenient for rework in small batch when being applied to the scene of small batch production, so that the device is very suitable for high-tech fields such as research institutions, factory research and development departments, military research and development, MEMS (micro-electromechanical systems), 5G (5G) photoelectric (laser) and the like.

Example 7

The present embodiment further provides a wafer chuck 12, which has substantially the same structure as the wafer chuck 12 provided in embodiment 1, except that in this embodiment, the tray body 1221 of the wafer chuck 12 has a function of sealing the cathode of the wafer while fixing the wafer. Meanwhile, the wafer holder 12 further comprises a measuring device 123, and the measuring device 123 is used for the sealing performance of the wafer 200 relative to the tray body 1221, so as to avoid the occurrence of the situation that the non-plating surface of the wafer is contacted with the plating solution due to the failure of the sealing effect in the plating process.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 12 and 13, in the present embodiment, the tray body 1221 includes a cover plate 122a and a sealing member 130, and the wafer 200 is disposed between the cover plate 122a and the sealing member 130;

the cover plate 122a is arranged on the upper surface of the wafer 200, a groove is arranged on the cover plate 122a, and the groove and the wafer 200 form a cavity 122 b; the shape and size of the groove in the cover plate 122a can be determined by those skilled in the art according to practical situations, for example, in the present embodiment, a cylindrical or approximately cylindrical cavity 122b is formed, specifically, the diameter of the cavity 122b is 80mm, the height of the cavity 122b is 1.6mm, and the cavity 122b is coaxial with the wafer 200. The size of the cylinder can be determined by those skilled in the art according to practical situations, for example, the diameter of the cylinder can be 1/5-19/20 of the diameter of the wafer, and the height can be 1.5 mm-2 mm.

The center of the cover plate 122a is provided with an air inlet 122c, and the air inlet 122c is communicated with the cavity 122 b; the measuring device 123 is connected to the gas inlet 122c through a gas passage 122d, and is used for detecting the gas pressure in the cavity 122 b; the sealing member 130 is provided at the edge of the lower surface of the wafer 200, and when the cover plate 122a presses the upper surface of the wafer 200, the sealing member 130 presses the lower surface of the wafer 200 to closely contact the lower surface of the wafer 200 to the sealing member 130, thereby sealing the upper surface of the wafer 200 and preventing the upper surface of the wafer 200 from contacting the plating solution and the like.

The number of the air inlets 122c can be selected within a range of 1-3 according to actual conditions; the number of the gas passages 122d corresponds to the number of the gas inlets 122 c. The size of the gas passage 122d corresponds to the size of the gas inlet 122 c.

The gas passage 122d is connected to the gas inlet 122c by a connector (not shown), the diameter of the gas passage 122d is 1/8 inches, the material of the gas passage 122d is PE, and can be specifically configured as a PE tube with a diameter of 1/8 inches, which is sealed against gas leakage.

In this embodiment, the wafer 200 is specifically a 4-inch wafer, and correspondingly, the sealing element 130 is a wafer sealing ring, and is disposed coaxially with the wafer 200, and the wafer sealing ring has an outer diameter of 96.6mm, an inner diameter of 94.6mm, and a height of 1 mm.

In this embodiment, the measuring device 123 is provided with a first barometer and a second barometer (not shown in the figure), the first barometer is used for measuring the air pressure of the cavity 122b, and is also used as an air outlet of the cavity 122b and can be installed at a position of the air passage 122d close to the air inlet 122 c; the second barometer is used for measuring the supply air pressure of the gas and can be installed at the supply air source. For example, if the supply air source supplies air to the cavity 122b through a pipeline with a length of 3m (the second barometer is installed at the supply air source), the length of the pipeline between the first barometer and the cavity 122b is 1-1.5m (for example, 1 m).

In addition, the online tightness detecting device further comprises a clamping mechanism 140, wherein the clamping mechanism 140 is used for clamping the cover plate 122a, the wafer 200 and the sealing member 130, so that the relative positions of the clamping cover plate 122a, the wafer 200 and the sealing member 130 are fixed, and in this embodiment, the clamping mechanism 140 is also used for electrically conducting the wafer 200. Specifically, the clamping mechanism 140 generally comprises a conductive ring 126 assembly, a fixture, a housing, a hanger, etc., wherein the conductive ring 126 assembly generally comprises a conductive ring 126, a conductive encapsulation 127, and a conductive metal block. The clamping mechanism 140 is made of an insulating material, such as PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride) plastic, except that the conductive ring 126 and the conductive metal block are made of a conductive metal material.

The material of the sealing member 130 is fluororubber; and the material of the cover plate 122a is a titanium plate.

The present embodiment also provides a method for detecting the hermeticity of the wafer 200 with respect to the wafer chuck 12, which includes the following steps:

s1: the cover plate 122a and the sealing element 130 are used for pressing the wafer 200 on the tray body 1221, gas is continuously introduced from the gas inlet 122c to the formed cavity 122b through the gas channel 122d, the gas supply pressure is 0.1MPa, and the gas supply pressure is detected through a second barometer;

s2: detecting the air pressure of the cavity 122b through a first air pressure gauge;

if the difference between the pressures detected by the first and second barometers is-10% to 10% of the pressure detected by the second barometer, the wafer 200 is considered to have better sealing performance, for example: if the air pressure detected by the second air pressure gauge is 0.1MPa and the air pressure detected by the first air pressure gauge is 0.09 MPa-0.11 MPa, the sealing performance of the wafer 200 can be considered to be better; on the contrary, if the air pressure detected by the first air pressure gauge is not within the range, the sealing performance of the wafer 200 may be considered to be poor. The detection mode is relatively more accurate and reliable, and can meet relatively higher reliability requirements in the field of semiconductor manufacturing.

Example 8

The present embodiment further provides a wafer chuck 12, which has substantially the same structure as the wafer chuck 12 provided in embodiment 3, except that in this embodiment, the first gas flow meter is used to replace the first gas pressure meter in embodiment 7 and the second gas flow meter is used to replace the second gas pressure meter in embodiment 7 for the measuring device 123 of the wafer chuck 12, so that the measuring device 123 can determine the sealing performance of the wafer 200 with respect to the tray 122 by detecting the gas flow in the cavity 122 b.

Example 9

As shown in fig. 14, the present embodiment further provides a wafer chuck 12, which has substantially the same structure as the wafer chuck 12 provided in embodiment 3, except that there are 2 air inlets 122c on the tray body 1221. Correspondingly, there are also 2 gas channels 122d, and the 2 gas channels 122d are finally combined into 1 main gas channel 122d to reduce the number of channels, and supplied by the same gas supply source, and the first barometer and the second barometer are both provided on the combined main gas channel 122d, and the rest of the components are the same as those in embodiment 7.

Although specific embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that this is by way of example only and that the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims. Various changes and modifications to these embodiments may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and the principles of the present invention, and these changes and modifications are all within the scope of the present invention.

Claims (20)

1. A wafer electroplating unit comprises a wafer moving mechanism and a plurality of working grooves, and is characterized in that the wafer moving mechanism comprises a mechanical arm and a wafer clamp which are connected with each other, the wafer clamp is used for fixing a wafer, and the mechanical arm can transfer the wafer clamp between the working grooves.

2. The wafer plating cell of claim 1, wherein a distal end of the robot is coupled to the wafer chuck, the robot having at least translational degrees of freedom.

3. The wafer plating cell of claim 2, wherein the robot further has an elevation degree of freedom and a rotation degree of freedom.

4. The wafer plating cell of claim 2, wherein the translational degree of freedom of the robot comprises an X-axis and/or a Y-axis.

5. The wafer plating unit of claim 4, wherein the robot has a moving mechanism module for vertical inversion, the moving mechanism module being disposed at an end of the robot and directly connected to the wafer chuck.

6. The wafer plating cell of any of claims 2 to 5, wherein the robot is a six degree of freedom movement mechanism.

7. The wafer plating unit of any of claims 2 to 5, wherein the wafer moving mechanism is used in a vertical plating apparatus.

8. The wafer plating cell of any of claims 2 to 5, wherein the wafer movement mechanism is capable of acting as a cathode of a plating cell when performing wafer plating.

9. The wafer plating cell of claim 1, wherein the robot has at least a lifting degree of freedom, a translational degree of freedom, and a rotational degree of freedom.

10. The wafer plating unit of claim 1, wherein the wafer moving mechanism is disposed above a plurality of the working tanks, and projections of the plurality of the working tanks on a horizontal plane are disposed around the wafer moving mechanism.

11. The wafer plating unit of claim 10, wherein projections of the plurality of working tanks on a horizontal plane are at the same distance from the wafer moving mechanism.

12. The wafer plating cell of claim 1, wherein the working tank comprises a plating tank and a process tank.

13. The wafer plating unit of claim 1, wherein the wafer plating unit comprises a plurality of the wafer moving mechanisms.

14. The wafer plating unit of claim 13, wherein the wafer clamps of the plurality of wafer moving mechanisms are capable of holding wafers of different sizes, respectively.

15. The wafer plating unit of claim 1, wherein the wafer chuck is removable from the robot;

the wafer moving mechanism comprises a plurality of wafer clamps, and the wafer clamps can respectively fix wafers with different sizes.

16. The wafer plating unit of claim 1, wherein the wafer chuck comprises a plurality of replaceable tray bodies, and wherein the plurality of tray bodies can hold wafers of different sizes, respectively.

17. The wafer plating unit of claim 1, wherein the wafer moving mechanism is capable of acting as a cathode for the plurality of working tanks when performing wafer plating.

18. A wafer plating apparatus, comprising:

a wafer transfer robot;

a plurality of wafer plating units as claimed in any of claims 1 to 17, the wafer transfer robot being adapted to deliver and receive wafers to the wafer clamps of the plurality of wafer plating units.

19. The wafer plating apparatus of claim 18, wherein the wafer plating unit further comprises a wafer interface station, the robot being capable of transferring the wafer holder between the plurality of work cells and the wafer interface station, the wafer transfer robot being configured to deliver and receive wafers to the wafer holder at the wafer interface station.

20. The wafer plating apparatus of claim 18, wherein a plurality of the wafer plating units are disposed around the wafer transfer robot.

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