CN216510327U - Nitrogen equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

The utility model relates to nitrogen equipment, which is used for storing an openable wafer bearing box and comprises a box body, a nitrogen conveying pipe and a box opening device, wherein the outlet of the nitrogen conveying pipe is communicated with the inside of the box body; the box opening device is arranged in the box body and used for opening and closing the wafer bearing box; thereby reducing the replacement time of the nitrogen, improving the production efficiency, improving the replacement effect of the nitrogen and improving the yield of products.

Description

Nitrogen equipment

Technical Field

The utility model relates to the technical field of nitrogen storage, in particular to nitrogen equipment.

Background

Wafers are widely used in the manufacture of integrated circuits. In which the sliced wafers are fragile and may be damaged inadvertently, and need to be stored in an open wafer Pod (cassette), a Front Opening Unified Pod (FOUP), or a Pod (Pod; lid including a built-in wafer basket and a cover) due to the high cost. Wherein, the front-open wafer transfer box and the closed material box are both provided with tightness, which can avoid the problem of being polluted by particles after being exposed in the air for a long time. Not only does this require the use of a nitrogen tool to further maintain the cassettes storing the wafers in some cases, such as during the Q-time (which refers to the time required between different process steps) when subsequent process equipment may be out of specification due to downtime.

The existing nitrogen equipment is provided with a nitrogen cabinet and a nitrogen box, the structures comprise a box body and nitrogen conveying pipes, the nitrogen conveying pipes are communicated with the inside of the box body, and the nitrogen conveying pipes continuously fill nitrogen (N2) into the box body, so that a nitrogen environment is formed in the box body to protect wafers. In the past, wafers of 8 inches or less are all placed in an open type wafer box, after the open type wafer box is placed in a nitrogen device, the peripheral environment of the wafer can be rapidly changed into a nitrogen environment due to the open type wafer box with an open type structure, oxygen (O2) and water vapor are rapidly isolated, the problems of oxidation, moisture absorption and the like are avoided, and the Q-time is short. Although the open type chip box is convenient for taking and observing the wafer, the protection effect on the wafer is poor. Therefore, most of the current 8-inch wafers are placed in a closed Pod (Pod) instead, and all 12-inch wafers are placed in a Front Opening Unified Pod (FOUP).

However, the closed material box (Pod) and the front opening type wafer transfer Pod (FOUP) are both of a closed structure, and after the FOUP is placed in the nitrogen equipment, the surrounding environment of the wafer is still air, so that the FOUP needs to be slowly replaced with nitrogen in the nitrogen equipment, replacement time is long, replacement effect is not good, and the nitrogen protection effect is seriously weakened. In view of the above, in recent years, front opening FOUPs and associated nitrogen gas charging devices have been developed, which are capable of discharging nitrogen gas, and include a Load port (for carrying FOUP or Pod), a nitrogen station, and a corresponding nitrogen line and control device, which are expensive.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

In order to solve the above technical problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a nitrogen gas device, which can store an openable wafer cassette (e.g., FOUP or Pod) to perform nitrogen gas protection on wafers in the wafer cassette, and has a fast nitrogen gas replacement speed, thereby effectively reducing the Q-time of a production line, improving the production efficiency, achieving a good nitrogen gas replacement effect, reducing the product rejection rate, and reducing the production cost.

In order to achieve the purpose, the utility model provides nitrogen equipment which is used for storing an openable wafer bearing box and comprises a box body, a nitrogen conveying pipe and a box opening device; the box body is provided with a plurality of layers of horizontal plates which are used for placing the wafer bearing boxes; the outlet of the nitrogen conveying pipe is communicated with the inside of the box body, and the nitrogen conveying pipe is used for conveying nitrogen to the inside of the box body; the box opening device is arranged in the box body and used for opening and closing the wafer bearing box.

Preferably, the outlet of the nitrogen delivery pipe is arranged in the box body and is adjacent to the wafer carrying box.

Preferably, the axis of the outlet of the nitrogen delivery pipe is arranged obliquely upward.

Preferably, the wafer bearing box is a closed material box; the closed material box comprises a wafer basket and a cover, wherein the cover is arranged outside the wafer basket in a covering mode, or the wafer bearing box is a front-opening type chip conveying box.

Preferably, the box opening device comprises an air cylinder or a linear motor, the air cylinder or the linear motor is used for driving the cover to lift relative to the wafer lifting basket, or the air cylinder or the linear motor is used for driving the front door of the front opening type wafer conveying box to lift.

Preferably, the nitrogen equipment further comprises a time delay device which is in communication connection with the box opening device; the time delay device is used for controlling the box opening device to control the opening and closing states of the wafer bearing box according to preset time.

Preferably, the time delay device includes a timer for timing an opening time of the wafer carrying box, and the box opening device is configured to control the wafer carrying box to be closed after being opened for a preset time according to the timing time of the timer.

Preferably, the nitrogen equipment further comprises a nitrogen flow rate adjusting device connected with the nitrogen conveying pipe; the nitrogen gas flow regulating device is configured to limit the nitrogen gas delivery pipe to deliver a first flow of nitrogen gas to the box when the wafer carrying box is opened; the nitrogen gas flow regulating device is also configured to limit the nitrogen gas delivery pipe to deliver a second flow of nitrogen gas to the box when the wafer carrying box is closed, and the first flow is larger than the second flow.

Preferably, the nitrogen delivery pipe includes a normally open pipeline and a normally closed pipeline arranged in parallel, the nitrogen flow regulating device includes a first flow limiting device, a second flow limiting device and a valve, the normally open pipeline is provided with the first flow limiting device, the first flow limiting device is used for limiting the nitrogen flow output by the normally open pipeline to be the second flow, the normally closed pipeline is provided with the second flow limiting device and the valve, and the second flow limiting device is used for limiting the nitrogen flow output by the normally closed pipeline to be the first flow; the valve is used for being linked with the box opening device, when the wafer bearing box is opened, the valve is opened, and when the wafer bearing box is closed, the valve is closed.

Preferably, the nitrogen conveying pipe comprises a main pipe, the main pipe extends into the box body, or the nitrogen conveying pipe comprises a main pipe and at least one branch pipe, the main pipe is arranged outside the box body, and the at least one branch pipe is connected with the main pipe and arranged inside the box body.

In the nitrogen gas coating equipment, the box opening device is arranged in the box body of the nitrogen gas equipment, so that the wafer bearing box is opened after the wafer bearing box is placed in the box body, and the nitrogen gas rapidly replaces the air in the wafer bearing box. The nitrogen equipment can be modified by adopting the existing nitrogen box or nitrogen cabinet, for example, the existing nitrogen box or nitrogen cabinet for storing FOUP or Pod, and the purchase of the special FOUP or Pod which can remove nitrogen, a loading port and a nitrogen storage station is not needed any more, so the modification cost is low. In addition, the box opening device can also adopt door opening devices which are used for opening FOUP or Pod, and the door opening devices are directly applied to the box body of the nitrogen equipment, so that the cost is lower.

In the nitrogen equipment, the outlet of the nitrogen conveying pipe is preferably arranged in the box body and is arranged close to the wafer bearing box, the close position refers to a position which is close to the wafer bearing box at a short distance from the wafer bearing box, and more preferably, the axis of the outlet of the nitrogen conveying pipe is arranged in an inclined upward direction.

In the nitrogen equipment, the box opening device is controlled by the time delay device, so that the opening and closing time of the wafer bearing box is accurately controlled, the efficiency and the effect of nitrogen replacement are further ensured, and the nitrogen flow adjusting device is preferably configured, so that the nitrogen flow when the wafer bearing box is in the box opening state can be set to be large, the air in the wafer bearing box can be replaced more quickly, the replacement efficiency is high, the replacement effect is better, the nitrogen flow when the wafer bearing box is in the box closing state is small, and the cost is saved.

Drawings

The drawings are included to provide a better understanding of the utility model and are not to be construed as unduly limiting the utility model.

Wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a nitrogen plant in a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic structural view of a nitrogen plant in another preferred embodiment of the present invention;

3 a-3 b are schematic diagrams of nitrogen purging of Pod in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic structural view of a nitrogen plant in yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention.

The reference numerals are explained below:

10-nitrogen equipment; 11-a box body; 12-a transverse plate; 13-nitrogen conveying pipe; 14-a box opening device; 15-a time delay device; 20-a wafer carrying box; 210-a closed box; 211-wafer carrier; 212-a lid; 31-normally open pipeline; 32-a first current limiting device; 33-normally closed piping; 34-a valve; 35-second current limiting means.

Detailed Description

In the description of the present invention, it is to be understood that the terms "left" and "right" indicate orientations or positional relationships based on those shown in the drawings, and are only for convenience in describing the present invention and simplifying the description, but do not indicate or imply that the referred device or element must have a specific orientation, be constructed in a specific orientation, and be operated, and thus should not be construed as limiting the present invention.

In the description of the present invention, "a plurality" means two or more unless specifically defined otherwise. In the present invention, unless otherwise expressly stated or limited, the terms "mounted," "connected," "secured," and the like are to be construed broadly and can, for example, be fixedly connected, detachably connected, or integrally formed; can be mechanically or electrically connected; either directly or indirectly through intervening media, either internally or in any other relationship. The specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood by those skilled in the art according to specific situations.

Referring to fig. 1 and 2, the present embodiment provides a nitrogen device 10, which includes a box 11, wherein the box 11 has a plurality of horizontal plates 12. The horizontal plate 12 is used for placing the wafer carrying box 20. The number and arrangement of the cross plates 12 is not limited. The cross plate 12 may be at least one of an up-down, front-back, and left-right multi-layer arrangement. Preferably, the horizontal plate 12 is provided with a plurality of through holes (not shown) which facilitate the nitrogen to fill the whole box 11.

The wafer cassette 20 of the present embodiment has two main structures; one is the existing Pod (Pod) and the other is the existing Front Opening Unified Pod (FOUP). The two cassettes 20 are typically stored in different nitrogen facilities 10 because the door opening is typically different. Of course, in other embodiments, the FOUP and Pod may be stored in the same nitrogen tool 10. Where FOUPs typically store 12 "wafers and Pod typically stores 8" wafers.

The nitrogen apparatus 10 further includes a nitrogen gas delivery pipe 13, and an outlet of the nitrogen gas delivery pipe 13 communicates with the inside of the case 11 to deliver nitrogen gas to the inside of the case 11. As shown in FIG. 1, nitrogen feed 13 may be simply a manifold that extends into tank 11 to inject nitrogen. Or as shown in fig. 2, the nitrogen conveying pipe 13 may also be a main pipe and at least one branch pipe (not labeled), the main pipe is disposed outside the box body 11, the at least one branch pipe is connected to the main pipe and disposed in the box body 11, and each layer of transverse plate 12 may be correspondingly provided with one branch pipe or each partial transverse plate 12 may be provided with one branch pipe. It should be understood that the outlet of the nitrogen delivery pipe 13 only communicates with the inside of the box 11, and preferably, the outlet of the nitrogen delivery pipe 13 is close to the wafer carrying box 20 on the horizontal plate 12, so as to replace the wafer carrying box 20 quickly, with faster replacement speed and better replacement effect. More preferably, the axis of the outlet of the nitrogen delivery pipe 13 is arranged obliquely upward, so that the replacement effect is better. The angle of the axis of the outlet of the nitrogen delivery pipe 13 is not limited, and is, for example, 30 °, 45 °, or 60 °.

The nitrogen plant 10 also comprises a box opening device 14, arranged inside the box 11. The cassette opener 14 is used for opening and closing the wafer cassette 20. The position of the cassette opening device 14 in the box 11 is not limited, and depends on the structure of the wafer cassette 20. For example, on the top or sides of the housing 11, or other available space.

In actual use, after the wafer carrying box 20 is placed in the box body 11, the box opening device 14 opens the wafer carrying box 20, so that the nitrogen conveyed by the nitrogen conveying pipe 13 can rapidly replace the air in the wafer carrying box 20, thereby reducing the nitrogen replacement time, ensuring the nitrogen replacement effect, prolonging the Q-time, and reducing the degree of moisture absorption, oxidation or pollution of the surface of the wafer. Particularly, by doing so, it is not necessary to configure a wafer cassette (such as an existing FOUP or Pod) that is specially configured to discharge nitrogen, and it is also not necessary to configure a series of supporting devices such as a corresponding nitrogen filling station, a load port, a nitrogen pipeline, and a control device, so that the cost of storing wafers can be greatly reduced.

The utility model does not limit the structure of the box opening device 14, and under the condition that the structure of the wafer carrying box 20 is known, the corresponding box opening device 14 can be arranged according to the opening mode of the wafer carrying box 20.

It should be understood that the wafer cassette 20 of the present embodiment may be opened. Such as the FOUP described above, the FOUP itself may have a front door that can be opened, and the box opener 14 may open the front door of the FOUP. Also as mentioned above, a Pod generally includes a built-in wafer carrier (cassette) and a cover that covers the wafer carrier, and the cover can be separated from the wafer carrier to open the Pod, so that the box-opening device 14 can open the cover of the Pod.

In the preferred embodiment, the Pod opener 14 is an existing door opener of a semiconductor device, such as a door opener of the prior art for opening the front door of a Front Opening Unified Pod (FOUP) or a door opener of the prior art for opening a sealed Pod (i.e., Pod). These door openers may be, for example, those manufactured by Entegris corporation, and since FOUPs and FOUP door openers, as well as Pod and Pod door openers are known in the art, the present invention does not relate to improvements of these parts, and thus these structures will not be described in detail.

Illustratively, for the Pod opening device 14 of the present embodiment, a cylinder or a linear motor may be used to drive the lid of the Pod to lift, so as to open and close the Pod, or a manipulator may be used to clamp the lid of the Pod. It should be appreciated that there are many ways in which Pod opening may be achieved, and not just the way exemplified here.

For example, for a FOUP, the box opening device 14 of the present embodiment may also drive the front door of the FOUP to move up and down by using a cylinder or a linear motor, so as to open and close the FOUP. Similarly, there are various ways in which the front door of a FOUP may be opened, and are not limited to the examples provided herein.

Further, the nitrogen facility 10 storing Pod will be exemplified, and the manner of using the nitrogen facility 10 will be further described.

Referring to fig. 3a and 3b, and with reference to fig. 1, in actual production, after the sealed box 210 storing the wafers is transferred to the nitrogen gas apparatus 10, the sealed box is placed on the horizontal plate 12 in the box 11, then the box opener 14 grabs the cover 212 of the sealed box 210, and then the box opener 14 lifts the cover 212 along the direction of arrow a until the sealed box 210 is at least partially opened, and after the sealed box 210 is at least partially opened, the nitrogen gas delivery pipe 13 purges the wafer basket 211 of the sealed box 210, so that the air content in the sealed box 210 can be rapidly reduced, and the purpose of rapidly replacing the wafer basket with nitrogen gas can be achieved. Here, the purging time of the nitrogen delivery pipe 13 may be before, during, or after the opening of the airtight box 210. In addition, the present application is not limited to lifting the cover 212 to complete the opening, but may be implemented by lowering the cover 212.

Further preferably, the nitrogen device 10 further comprises a time delay device 15, which is connected with the box opening device 14 in a communication way. The delay device 15 is used for controlling the cassette opening device 14 to control the open and close states of the wafer carrying cassette 20 according to the preset time. Preferably, the delay device 15 includes a timer for timing the opening time of the wafer cassette 20, and the timing may be a count-down or a count-down. The cassette opener 14 is used for controlling the wafer cassette 20 to close the wafer cassette 20 after the wafer cassette 20 is opened for a preset time according to the timing time of the timer. In practice, the opening time may be programmed, for example, the cassette 20 is closed after the predetermined time, or the cassette 20 is closed until the next cassette 20 is placed in the box 11. It should be understood that after the previous wafer cassette 20 is replaced with nitrogen gas, it is transferred to other positions in the nitrogen cabinet 20 for storage or transferred to other common nitrogen boxes or nitrogen cabinets for storage, and the next wafer cassette 20 is placed in the nitrogen cabinet 20 for nitrogen gas replacement, and so on, and the subsequent wafer cassette 20 is also repeatedly operated according to the above operation. Preferably, the timing time of the timer can be adjusted, for example, the delay device 15 further includes an adjusting device such as a control panel or a control knob, and the timing time of the timer is adjusted by the adjusting device.

Further, the nitrogen delivery tube 13 is typically disposed at the side of the wafer cassette 20 to purge it, not only for ease of placement, but also to not interfere with normal operation. Further, the inclination angle of the nitrogen delivery pipe 13 can be adjusted. In addition, the nitrogen delivery pipe 13 can be arranged along the side wall of the box body 11 and along the plane of the transverse plate 12, thereby saving space.

In a preferred embodiment, the nitrogen apparatus 10 preferably further comprises a nitrogen flow rate adjusting device connected to the nitrogen delivery pipe 13, wherein the nitrogen flow rate adjusting device is configured to limit the nitrogen delivery pipe 13 to deliver a first flow rate of nitrogen to the box 11 when the wafer carrying box 20 is opened; the nitrogen flow regulating device is further configured to limit the nitrogen delivery pipe 13 to deliver a second flow of nitrogen to the box 11 when the wafer carrying box 20 is closed, wherein the first flow is greater than the second flow. Therefore, the nitrogen in the wafer bearing box 20 in the open box state can be set to be large flow, so that the air in the wafer bearing box 20 can be replaced more quickly, the replacement efficiency is high, the replacement effect is better, and the nitrogen in the wafer bearing box 20 in the closed box state is small flow, so that the nitrogen is saved, and the cost is saved.

With further reference to FIG. 4, the nitrogen delivery line 13 includes a normally open line 31 and a normally closed line 33 arranged in parallel. The normally open pipeline 31 is always in an open state; a normally closed line 33 means that it will open only when needed. In addition, the nitrogen flow regulating device comprises a first flow limiting device 32, a second flow limiting device 35 and a valve 34, the normally open pipeline 31 is provided with the first flow limiting device 32, the first flow limiting device 32 is used for limiting the nitrogen flow output by the normally open pipeline 31 to be a second flow (namely, a small flow), the normally closed pipeline 33 is provided with the second flow limiting device 35 and the valve 34, and the second flow limiting device 35 is used for limiting the nitrogen flow output by the normally closed pipeline 33 to be a first flow (namely, a large flow). When the wafer carrying box 20 is opened, the valve 34 is opened, so that the normally closed pipeline 33 is opened, and when the wafer carrying box 20 is closed, the valve 34 is closed, so that the normally closed pipeline 33 is closed. Preferably, the valve 34 is used in conjunction with the box opener 14, i.e., the valve 34 is opened when the box opener 14 is activated to open the pod 20, and the valve 34 is closed when the box opener 14 closes the pod 20. The manner in which the valve 34 is coupled to the box opener 14 is not limited in this application and one skilled in the art will know how to accomplish the coupling. For example, the delay device 15 is in communication with the valve 34, and when the timing is reached, the valve 34 is closed, e.g., the cassette opener 14 opens the wafer cassette 20, and a signal is sent to the valve 34 to open the valve 34. The present application is not limited to the type of valve 34, such as a solenoid or pneumatic valve, or other type of valve. The present application also does not require the type of first flow restriction device 32, such as a flow restrictor, a flow restrictor or a device that controls flow, such as a mass flow meter, to limit the flow of nitrogen to a small flow, such as 200sccm, in the normally open line 31. The second flow restriction device 35 is not limited in kind in the present application, but may also be a flow restrictor, a flow restrictor or a flow control device such as a mass flow meter, so as to limit the flow of nitrogen in the normally closed line 33 to a large flow, for example 5 slm.

It should be understood that the above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention in any way and in any way, and that the innovations of the present invention, while originating from Pod nitrogen storage, will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the present invention is also applicable to nitrogen storage for FOUPs or other openable enclosures and is not intended to be limiting.

It should be understood that the above-described embodiments specifically disclose features of preferred embodiments of the present invention so that those skilled in the art may better understand the present invention. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention is susceptible to considerable modification based on the disclosure herein, to achieve the same objects and/or achieve the same advantages as the disclosed embodiments of the present invention. Those skilled in the art should also realize that such similar constructions do not depart from the scope of the present disclosure, and that they may make various changes, substitutions and alterations herein without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

Claims (10)

1. A nitrogen device is used for storing an openable and closable wafer bearing box and is characterized by comprising a box body, a nitrogen conveying pipe and a box opening device; the box body is provided with a plurality of layers of horizontal plates which are used for placing the wafer bearing boxes; the outlet of the nitrogen conveying pipe is communicated with the inside of the box body, and the nitrogen conveying pipe is used for conveying nitrogen to the inside of the box body; the box opening device is arranged in the box body and used for opening and closing the wafer bearing box.

2. The nitrogen plant of claim 1, wherein the outlet of the nitrogen delivery tube is disposed within the enclosure adjacent the wafer carrier box.

3. The nitrogen plant of claim 2, wherein an axis of the outlet of the nitrogen delivery pipe is arranged obliquely upward.

4. The nitrogen device of claim 1, wherein the wafer cassette is a sealed cassette comprising a wafer basket and a lid disposed outside the wafer basket, or the wafer cassette is a front opening unified pod.

5. The nitrogen equipment as claimed in claim 4, wherein the box opening device comprises a cylinder or a linear motor, the cylinder or the linear motor is used for driving the cover to lift and lower relative to the wafer lifting basket, or the cylinder or the linear motor is used for driving the front door of the front opening type wafer conveying box to lift and lower.

6. The nitrogen plant of claim 1, further comprising a time delay device in communication with the box opening device; the delay device is used for controlling the box opening device to control the opening and closing states of the wafer bearing box according to preset time.

7. The nitrogen equipment as claimed in claim 6, wherein the time delay device comprises a timer for timing the opening time of the wafer carrying box, and the box opening device is used for controlling the wafer carrying box to close after being opened for a preset time according to the timing time of the timer.

8. The nitrogen plant of claim 1, further comprising a nitrogen flow regulation device connected to the nitrogen delivery pipe; the nitrogen gas flow regulating device is configured to limit the nitrogen gas delivery pipe to deliver a first flow of nitrogen gas to the box when the wafer carrying box is opened; the nitrogen gas flow regulating device is also configured to limit the nitrogen gas delivery pipe to deliver a second flow of nitrogen gas to the box when the wafer carrying box is closed, and the first flow is larger than the second flow.

9. The nitrogen equipment according to claim 8, wherein the nitrogen delivery pipe comprises a normally open pipeline and a normally closed pipeline which are arranged in parallel, the nitrogen flow regulating device comprises a first flow limiting device, a second flow limiting device and a valve, the normally open pipeline is provided with the first flow limiting device, the first flow limiting device is used for limiting the nitrogen flow output by the normally open pipeline to be the second flow, the normally closed pipeline is provided with the second flow limiting device and the valve, and the second flow limiting device is used for limiting the nitrogen flow output by the normally closed pipeline to be the first flow; the valve is used for being linked with the box opening device, when the wafer bearing box is opened, the valve is opened, and when the wafer bearing box is closed, the valve is closed.

10. Nitrogen plant according to claim 1, characterised in that said nitrogen delivery duct comprises a main duct which extends inside said tank, or comprises a main duct arranged outside said tank and at least one branch duct connected to said main duct and arranged inside said tank.

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