CN218039093U

CN218039093U - Quartz tube actuating device

Info

Publication number: CN218039093U
Application number: CN202222315874.9U
Authority: CN
Inventors: 颜琦; 陈泳
Original assignee: Hangzhou Fuxin Semiconductor Co Ltd
Current assignee: Hangzhou Fuxin Semiconductor Co Ltd
Priority date: 2022-08-29
Filing date: 2022-08-29
Publication date: 2022-12-13
Anticipated expiration: 2032-08-29

Abstract

The present application provides a quartz tube actuating device for moving a quartz tube, wherein the quartz tube includes a circumferential region, the quartz tube actuating device comprising: the controller is used for generating control instructions. The actuating component is connected with the controller and the quartz tube, and the actuating component moves based on a control command to adjust the contact position of the circumferential region and the microwave energy. The method and the device solve the problems that the adjustment efficiency of the contact position of the quartz tube and the microwave energy is low and the adjustment precision is not high.

Description

Quartz tube actuating device

Technical Field

The present application relates to semiconductor processing equipment, and more particularly to quartz tube actuators.

Background

In the wafer etching process, gas can pass through the quartz tube, the gas in the quartz tube is enabled to become plasma by utilizing microwave energy to contact the quartz tube from the radial outer side face of the quartz tube, and then the plasma is transmitted to the etching chamber to carry out etching processing on the wafer. Since the quartz tube is generally stationary, prolonged exposure of the microwave energy to the quartz tube from the radially outer side of the quartz tube can cause erosion of the radial side exposed to the microwave energy, while leaving the radial side not exposed to the microwave energy. In order to make uniform contact with the microwave energy across the entire radial side of the quartz tube, it is necessary to periodically rotate the angle of the quartz tube so that the radial side not in contact with the microwave energy is also exposed to the microwave energy.

The prior art method of rotating the quartz tube is to stop the machine each time the angle of the quartz tube needs to be rotated, and then manually rotate the quartz tube by a specific angle (typically 90 ° or 180 °) to turn the radial side not in contact with the microwave energy into contact with the microwave energy.

The following problems exist in manually rotating the angle of the quartz tube: 1. toxic and harmful gas may exist around the quartz tube, so in order to avoid injury of personnel, a certain time is needed to remove the gas around the quartz tube before the angle of the quartz tube is rotated, and after the angle of the quartz tube is rotated, the machine is maintained for a period of time and then started, so that the consumed time is long (generally, the machine needs to be stopped for more than 2 hours), and the efficiency of adjusting the contact position of the quartz tube and the microwave energy is low. 2. The manual rotation cannot guarantee an accurate rotation angle, so that a part of radial side surfaces on the quartz tube cannot be adjusted to be contacted with microwave energy in a rotation mode within the life cycle of the quartz tube, and a part of radial side surfaces of the quartz tube are still utilized without being contacted with the microwave energy before being scrapped, and the waste of the quartz tube is caused. Therefore, the prior art has the problems of low adjustment efficiency and low adjustment precision of the contact position of the quartz tube and the microwave energy.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

Aiming at the problems of low adjusting efficiency and low adjusting precision of the contact position between a quartz tube and microwave energy in the prior art, the application provides a quartz tube actuating device which is used for moving the quartz tube, wherein the quartz tube comprises a circumferential area, and the quartz tube actuating device comprises: the controller is used for generating control instructions. The actuating component is connected with the controller and the quartz tube, and the actuating component moves based on the control command to adjust the contact position of the circumferential area and the microwave energy.

Preferably, the actuating member includes a rotating member connected to the quartz tube, the rotating member being rotated based on the control command to rotationally adjust a contact position on the circumferential region with the microwave energy.

Preferably, the actuating member further includes a power member, the power member is connected to the rotating member, the power member is connected to the controller, and the power member rotates based on the control command to drive the rotating member to rotate once at a preset angle at every preset time interval.

Preferably, the rotating member is a thin cylinder, one axial end of the rotating member is connected to the power member, and the other axial end of the rotating member is connected to the axial end of the quartz tube.

Preferably, the rotating member and the quartz tube are coaxially disposed.

Preferably, the diameter of the rotating member is larger than that of the quartz tube, and the other axial end of the rotating member covers and abuts against the axial end of the quartz tube.

Preferably, the preset angle is 1 degree.

Preferably, the power member includes an output shaft, the output shaft is connected to the rotating member, and the output shaft rotates based on the control command to rotate once at the preset angle at every preset time interval.

Preferably, the output shaft and the quartz tube are arranged in parallel but not coaxially.

Preferably, the power component is a motor, and the power component is electrically connected with the controller.

The beneficial effect of this application lies in: the controller generates control instructions to control the actuating component to move so as to adjust the contact position of the peripheral area of the quartz tube and the microwave energy. Compared with the manual adjustment of the contact position, the adjustment precision is higher when the contact position is adjusted by using the controller and the actuating component. Because the controller and the actuating component can work under the environment of poisonous and harmful gas, the adjustment of the contact position can be realized without stopping the machine, so that the machine does not need to be stopped firstly to remove the poisonous and harmful gas around the quartz tube, then the adjustment of the contact position is carried out, and finally the maintenance of the machine is carried out like the manual adjustment of the contact position, thereby greatly reducing the time consumed by the adjustment of the contact position and improving the adjustment efficiency of the contact position.

The foregoing description is only an overview of the technical solutions of the present application, and in order to make the technical means of the present application more clearly understood and to be implemented in accordance with the content of the specification, the present application will be described in detail with reference to the following preferred embodiments of the present application and the accompanying drawings.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the operation of a quartz tube actuator in the embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an apparatus for actuating a quartz tube according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3 is a left side view of the quartz tube actuator in the embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4 isbase:Sub>A cross-sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 3 in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is an exploded view of an example of the quartz tube actuator of the present application.

Wherein, the reference numbers:

1. quartz tube actuating device

10. Controller

11. Actuating member

110. Rotating part

111. Power component

1110. Output shaft

2. Quartz tube

20. Peripheral region

3. Air inlet pipe

4. Air outlet pipe

5. Wafer

Detailed Description

The following description of the embodiments of the present application is provided for illustrative purposes, and other advantages and capabilities of the present application will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the present disclosure.

It should be noted that the embodiments and features of the embodiments in the present application may be combined with each other without conflict. The present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings in conjunction with embodiments. In order to make the technical solutions better understood by those skilled in the art, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only partial embodiments of the present application, but not all embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by a person of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present application without making any creative effort shall fall within the protection scope of the present application.

It should be noted that the terms "first," "second," and the like in the description and claims of this application and in the drawings described above are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order. Moreover, the terms "comprises," "comprising," and "having," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions, such that a process, method, system, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of steps or elements is not necessarily limited to those steps or elements expressly listed, but may include other steps or elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

It should be noted that unless expressly specified or limited otherwise, the terms "mounted," "connected," and "coupled" are to be construed broadly and include, for example, fixed and removable connections as well as integral connections; the connection can be mechanical connection or electrical connection; they may be connected directly or indirectly through intervening media, or they may be interconnected between two elements. The specific meaning of the above terms in this application will be understood to be a specific case for those of ordinary skill in the art.

Referring to fig. 1 and 2, in one embodiment, a quartz tube actuator 1 is provided for moving a quartz tube 2, wherein the quartz tube 2 includes a circumferential region 20, a gas inlet tube 3 and a gas outlet tube 4 are respectively disposed at two ends of the quartz tube 2, gas enters the quartz tube 2 through the gas inlet tube 3, and microwave energy irradiates the circumferential region 20 from a radial direction of the quartz tube 2 to ionize the gas entering the quartz tube 2 into plasma. The plasma flows to the wafer 5 through the outlet pipe 4, and processes the wafer 5. The quartz tube actuating device 1 includes: a controller 10 and an actuating member 11, the controller 10 being arranged to generate control instructions. For example, the controller 10 may be a single chip microcomputer or an industrial personal computer. The actuating member 11 is connected to the controller 10 and the quartz tube 2, and the actuating member 11 moves based on a control command to adjust a contact position on the circumferential region 20 with the microwave energy. For example, the actuating member 11 and the controller 10 may be electrically connected by a cable.

For example, the circumferential region 20 may be an outer cylindrical surface of the quartz tube 2, the contact position of the microwave energy is usually located in the middle of an upper half outer cylindrical surface of the quartz tube 2 (as shown in fig. 1, a half cylindrical surface above the central axis of the quartz tube 2 is an upper half cylindrical surface, and a half cylindrical surface below the central axis of the quartz tube 2 is a lower half cylindrical surface), both end positions of the upper half outer cylindrical surface and the lower half outer cylindrical surface of the quartz tube 2 cannot usually contact with the microwave energy, and the circumferential region 20 which is usually not contacted with the microwave energy can be moved to be contacted with the microwave energy by the driving of the actuating part 11, so that the circumferential region 20 of the quartz tube 2 can be corroded by the microwave energy, that is, the contact position of the circumferential region 20 and the microwave energy is not fixed, so as to avoid that the microwave energy corrodes only a certain position on the circumferential region 20.

The movement of the actuating member 11 based on the control command may be movement, rotation or a combination of movement and rotation, for example, the actuating member 11 may move the quartz tube 2 in the axial direction of the quartz tube 2 to move the region of the circumferential region 20 not yet contacted by the microwave energy into contact with the microwave energy. The actuating member 11 may also rotate the quartz tube 2 about the axis of the quartz tube 2 to bring the areas of the peripheral region 20 not yet contacted by microwave energy into contact with the microwave energy. The actuating member 11 may be an electric actuator, a pneumatic actuator or a hydraulic actuator, such as a pneumatic cylinder or a mechanical arm.

By providing the controller 10 and the actuating member 11 and connecting the actuating member 11 to the controller 10 and the quartz tube 2, the controller 10 generates control commands to control the movement of the actuating member 11 so as to adjust the contact position of the circumferential region 20 with the microwave energy. The contact position is adjusted with higher accuracy by the controller 10 and the actuator 11 than by manually adjusting the contact position. Because the controller 10 and the actuating component 11 can work under the environment of poisonous and harmful gas, and can realize the adjustment of the contact position without stopping the machine, the machine does not need to be stopped firstly to remove the poisonous and harmful gas around the quartz tube 2, then the adjustment of the contact position is carried out, and finally the maintenance of the machine is carried out like the manual adjustment of the contact position, so the time consumed by the adjustment of the contact position is greatly reduced, and the adjustment efficiency of the contact position is improved.

As shown in fig. 1, it is preferable that the actuating member 11 includes a rotating member 110, the rotating member 110 is connected to the quartz tube 2, and the rotating member 110 is rotated based on a control command to adjust a contact position on the circumferential region 20 with the microwave energy by rotation. For example, the rotating member 110 may rotate around the axis of the quartz tube 2 to rotate the quartz tube 2 around its axis.

Referring to fig. 1 and 2, preferably, the actuating member 11 further includes a power member 111, the power member 111 is connected to the rotating member 110, the power member 111 is connected to the controller 10, and the power member 111 rotates based on the control command to drive the rotating member 110 to rotate at a preset angle at preset time intervals. Preferably, the preset angle is 1 degree. For example, a control command may be set in the controller 10, so that the power unit 111 drives the rotating unit 110 to rotate 1 degree every time the processing machine of the wafer 5 runs (i.e. processes) 1 wafer 5 (i.e. the preset time interval is the processing time of the wafer 5). The power component 111 drives the rotating component 110 to rotate once at a preset angle every other preset time interval based on the control instruction, so that the circumferential region 20 of the quartz tube 2 can be contacted with the microwave energy in sequence, the circumferential region 20 can be corroded uniformly by the microwave energy, and the circumferential region 20 can be fully utilized. Meanwhile, the preset time interval and the preset angle can be conveniently accumulated and recorded so as to accurately master the number of times and the angle that the quartz tube 2 has rotated at present, further accurately estimate the corrosion condition of the circumferential region 20 and the service life of the quartz tube 2, and facilitate timely maintenance and replacement of the quartz tube 2.

Referring to fig. 3 to 5, preferably, the rotating member 110 is a thin cylinder, one axial end of the rotating member 110 is connected to the power member 111, and the other axial end of the rotating member 110 is connected to the axial end of the quartz tube 2. Preferably, the rotating member 110 and the quartz tube 2 are coaxially arranged, and the diameter of the rotating member 110 is larger than that of the quartz tube 2, and the other axial end of the rotating member 110 covers and abuts against the axial end of the quartz tube 2. For example, the rotating member 110 may be a thin cylindrical piece with a diameter slightly larger than that of the quartz tube 2, a through hole may be provided in the center of the rotating member 110, the rotating member 110 passes through the gas inlet tube 3 from the through hole to abut against the axial end of the quartz tube 2, and the rotating member 110 is allowed to cover and abut against the entire axial end of the quartz tube 2. The rotating member 110 may be made of a metal material such as steel. The rotating member 110 may have a diameter of 300mm and a thickness of 50mm. The other axial end of the rotating member 110 and the axial end of the quartz tube 2 may be connected by means of gluing.

Since the connecting portion (such as the output shaft 1110) of the power member 111 is usually relatively small in size, if the power member 111 is directly connected to the shaft end of the quartz tube 2, stress concentration is easily caused at the connecting portion at the shaft end of the quartz tube 2, which results in the damage to the shaft end of the quartz tube 2. The rotating part 110 in a thin cylinder shape is connected with the shaft end of the quartz tube 2, the rotating part 110 covers and abuts against the whole shaft end of the quartz tube 2, and the actuating force or torque generated by the power part 111 can be uniformly distributed to the whole shaft end of the quartz tube 2 through the rotating part 110 so as to reduce the stress concentration phenomenon at the shaft end of the quartz tube 2.

Referring to fig. 3 and 4 together, preferably, the power member 111 includes an output shaft 1110, the output shaft 1110 is connected to the rotating member 110, and the output shaft 1110 rotates based on a control command to rotate at a preset angle at every preset time interval. For example, the output shaft 1110 may be perpendicular to the end surface of the rotating member 110, and the output shaft 1110 may be connected to the rotating member 110 by means of pin, welding, riveting, or screwing.

Referring to fig. 3 and 4 together, preferably, the output shaft 1110 and the quartz tube 2 are arranged in parallel but not coaxially. For example, the output shaft 1110 may be a circular shaft having a diameter smaller than that of the rotating member 110, the diameter thereof may be 50mm, the output shaft 1110 may be disposed beside the inlet pipe 3, and the axis of the output shaft 1110 is parallel to the axis of the quartz tube 2 to avoid interference of the output shaft 1110 and the inlet pipe 3.

Preferably, the power unit 111 is a motor, and the power unit 111 is electrically connected to the controller 10. For example, the power component 111 may be a stepper motor. The rotation angle of the rotating member 110 can be precisely controlled using the motor.

While the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the embodiments of the present disclosure can be modified in many ways. In summary, the present disclosure should not be construed as limiting the present application, and all equivalent modifications and changes made according to the spirit and technical ideas of the present application should be covered by the claims of the present application.

Claims

1. A quartz tube actuating device (1) for moving a quartz tube (2), wherein the quartz tube (2) comprises a circumferential area (20), characterized by comprising:

a controller (10) for generating a control instruction;

and the actuating component (11) is connected with the controller (10) and the quartz tube (2), and the actuating component (11) moves based on the control command so as to adjust the contact position of the circumferential region (20) and the microwave energy.

2. The quartz tube actuator (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the actuating member (11) comprises a rotating member (110), the rotating member (110) being connected to the quartz tube (2), the rotating member (110) being rotated based on the control command to adjust the contact position on the circumferential area (20) with the microwave energy by rotation.

3. The quartz tube actuating device (1) according to claim 2, characterized in that the actuating member (11) further comprises a power member (111), the power member (111) is connected with the rotating member (110), the power member (111) is connected with the controller (10), and the power member (111) rotates based on the control command to drive the rotating member (110) to rotate once at a preset angle at every preset time interval.

4. The quartz tube actuator (1) according to claim 3, characterized in that the rotating member (110) is a thin cylinder, one axial end of the rotating member (110) is connected with the power member (111), and the other axial end of the rotating member (110) is connected with the axial end of the quartz tube (2).

5. Quartz tube actuation device (1) according to claim 4, characterized in that the rotary part (110) and the quartz tube (2) are arranged coaxially.

6. The quartz tube actuation device (1) according to claim 5, characterized in that the diameter of the rotating member (110) is larger than the diameter of the quartz tube (2), the other axial end of the rotating member (110) covering and abutting the axial end of the quartz tube (2).

7. Quartz tube actuation device (1) according to claim 3, characterized in that the preset angle is 1 degree.

8. The quartz tube actuator (1) according to claim 3, characterized in that the power member (111) comprises an output shaft (1110), the output shaft (1110) is connected with the rotating member (110), and the output shaft (1110) rotates based on the control command to rotate once at the preset angle at every other preset time interval.

9. The quartz tube actuation device (1) according to claim 8, characterized in that the output shaft (1110) and the quartz tube (2) are arranged parallel but not coaxially.

10. The quartz tube actuator (1) according to any one of claims 3 to 9, wherein the power member (111) is a motor, and the power member (111) is electrically connected to the controller (10).