CN219040434U - Semiconductor processing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

The application discloses semiconductor process equipment relates to the field of semiconductor equipment. A semiconductor processing apparatus, comprising: the device comprises a microenvironment chamber, a transfer platform and a sealing clamping device; the sealing clamping device is provided with a first compression end and a second compression end, the first compression end and the second compression end are positioned at two sides of the wafer box in the horizontal direction, the transfer platform is used for bearing wafers, and the transfer platform can be close to or far away from the micro-environment chamber; the first pressing end and the second pressing end are respectively used for pressing edge parts of two sides of the wafer box in the horizontal direction under the condition that the wafer box is adjacent to the micro-environment chamber, so that the wafer box is in close contact with the micro-environment chamber. The application can solve the problem of untight sealing and the like.

Description

Semiconductor processing equipment

Technical Field

The application belongs to the technical field of semiconductor equipment, and particularly relates to semiconductor process equipment.

Background

Currently, the process environment of some vertical furnace equipment is in need of oxygen concentration content such that the micro-environmental chamber of the vertical furnace equipment needs to be completely isolated from air. When the vertical furnace equipment needs to process the wafer, the wafer box is butted to the micro-environment chamber of the mainframe box through the door opening mechanism, the door plate of the wafer box is opened, and the sealing isolation between the interior of the wafer box and the micro-environment chamber and the external environment needs to be ensured during and after the door plate opening action of the wafer box.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, in some vertical furnace apparatuses of the related art, a direction in which the door opening mechanism 30 moves the wafer cassette to seal and butt against the micro-environment chamber 40 is a horizontal direction, and the door opening mechanism seals and clamps the wafer cassette 20 up and down by the clamping device 10, which on one hand causes the wafer cassette to be sealed with the micro-environment chamber in a loose manner, which is easy to cause leakage, and on the other hand causes clamping force to be increased to improve sealing, so that the wafer cassette is easy to be clamped and deformed.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application aims to provide semiconductor process equipment, which can solve the problems of loose sealing and the like.

In order to solve the technical problems, the application is realized as follows:

the embodiment of the application provides semiconductor process equipment, which comprises the following steps: the device comprises a microenvironment chamber, a transfer platform and a sealing clamping device;

the sealing clamping device is provided with a first pressing end and a second pressing end, and the first pressing end and the second pressing end are positioned on two sides of the wafer box in the horizontal direction;

the transfer platform is used for bearing the wafer box and can be close to or far away from the micro-environment chamber;

the first pressing end and the second pressing end are respectively used for pressing edge parts of two sides of the wafer box in the horizontal direction under the condition that the wafer box is adjacent to the micro-environment chamber, so that the wafer box is in close contact with the micro-environment chamber.

In this embodiment, can bear the wafer box and carry the wafer box and move towards micro-environmental chamber direction through carrying the platform to make the wafer box can dock with micro-environmental chamber, treat carrying the wafer box and move to the position of neighbouring micro-environmental chamber when waiting to carry the platform, seal clamping device's first end that compresses tightly and second end and be close to towards the marginal portion of wafer box respectively, thereby can extrude the marginal portion of the both sides on the wafer box horizontal direction, with the marginal portion of compressing tightly in micro-environmental chamber of both sides, thereby can guarantee the leakproofness between wafer box and the micro-environmental chamber. Compared with the mode of fixing and clamping the wafer box up and down, the clamping force applied to the wafer box in the embodiment of the application has the direction parallel to the direction of the sealing force, so that the clamping force applied to the wafer box is improved, the compression effect between the wafer box and the micro-environment chamber is improved, the sealing performance between the wafer box and the micro-environment chamber is further ensured, the isolation between the micro-environment chamber and the wafer box and the external atmosphere can be realized, the capability of the micro-environment chamber for lower oxygen content is improved, and the device is used as the basic condition of the semiconductor process equipment for carrying out higher process.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of a micro-environment chamber, a door opening mechanism sealing and clamping device and a wafer cassette of a vertical furnace apparatus in the related art;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a related art wafer cassette tilted with respect to a micro-chamber;

fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a micro-environment chamber, a carrying table, a door opening device, a sealing and clamping device and a wafer box according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of a door opening device, a sealing and clamping device, and a wafer box according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is an exploded schematic view of a first sealing and clamping mechanism (or a second sealing and clamping mechanism) disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an assembly of a first seal clamping mechanism (or a second seal clamping mechanism) as disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a wafer cassette sealing and clamping action disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating a wafer cassette cancelling seal clamping operation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Reference numerals illustrate:

10-sealing and clamping device of door opening mechanism; 20-a wafer cassette; 30-a door opening mechanism; 40-a microenvironment chamber;

100-microenvironment chambers;

200-door opening device; 210-mounting a motherboard; 220-sealing rings; 230-door opening panel;

300-sealing clamping device; 310-a first sealing clamping mechanism; 311-a first telescoping member; 312-a second telescoping member; 313-clamping the bracket; 3131-a first arm; 3132-a second arm; 31321-through holes; 3133—a first compacting end; 314-a first fixed bracket; 315-a second fixed bracket; 320-a second sealing clamping mechanism;

400-a transfer platform;

500-wafer cassette; 510-edge portion.

Detailed Description

The following description of the embodiments of the present application will be made clearly and fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which it is evident that the embodiments described are some, but not all, of the embodiments of the present application. All other embodiments, which can be made by one of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments herein without making any inventive effort, are intended to be within the scope of the present application.

The terms first, second and the like in the description and in the claims, are used for distinguishing between similar objects and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order. It is to be understood that the data so used may be interchanged, as appropriate, such that embodiments of the present application may be implemented in sequences other than those illustrated or described herein, and that the objects identified by "first," "second," etc. are generally of a type and not limited to the number of objects, e.g., the first object may be one or more. Furthermore, in the description and claims, "and/or" means at least one of the connected objects, and the character "/", generally means that the associated object is an "or" relationship.

The embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings by means of specific embodiments and application scenarios thereof.

Referring to fig. 3 to 8, the embodiment of the present application discloses a semiconductor process apparatus, wherein the semiconductor process apparatus may be a vertical furnace apparatus, and of course, may also be other apparatuses, and the specific type is not limited. The disclosed semiconductor processing apparatus includes a micro-environmental chamber 100, a transfer station 400, and a seal clamping device 300. The micro-environment chamber 100 is used for performing process treatment on a wafer, the transfer platform 400 is used for carrying and transferring the wafer cassette 500, and the sealing clamping device 300 can keep the sealing performance between the wafer cassette 500 and the micro-environment chamber 100 and the external environment, so that the wafer in the wafer cassette 500 can be processed by the subsequent equipment in the micro-environment chamber 100 under the condition of isolating the external atmosphere environment.

The transfer station 400 may be closer to or farther from the micro-environmental chamber 100, specifically, the transfer station 400 may be movable in a first direction, and the wafer cassette 500 placed on the transfer station 400 may be moved by the transfer station 400 from a position away from the micro-environmental chamber 100 to a position closer to the micro-environmental chamber 100 in the first direction, or vice versa. Illustratively, the transfer station 400 may be slidably coupled to the guide and driven by the linear drive such that the transfer station 400 may be moved along the guide in a first direction toward or away from the micro-chamber 100.

The sealing clamping device 300 has a first pressing end 3133 and a second pressing end (not shown), wherein the first pressing end 3133 and the second pressing end are located at both sides of the wafer cassette 500 in the horizontal direction. Specifically, the first pressing end 3133 and the second pressing end may be disposed at intervals in the second direction, and, for example, the first direction and the second direction may each be a horizontal direction and are perpendicular to each other. The first pressing end 3133 and the second pressing end are each movable in the first direction such that, in a case where the wafer cassette 500 is adjacent to the micro environment chamber 100, the first pressing end 3133 and the second pressing end are respectively used to press the edge portions 510 of the wafer cassette 500 at both sides in the horizontal direction so as to closely contact between the wafer cassette 500 and the micro environment chamber 100.

Illustratively, when the transfer platform 400 transfers the wafer cassette 500 to a position close to the micro-environment chamber 100, the edge portions 510 on both sides of the wafer cassette 500 are respectively pressed by the first pressing end 3133 and the second pressing end from both sides, so that the wafer cassette 500 can be firmly pressed to the micro-environment chamber 100, and good tightness between the wafer cassette 500 and the micro-environment chamber 100 can be ensured, and at the same time, the wafers in the wafer cassette 500 can be processed by the subsequent equipment in the micro-environment chamber 100 under the condition of isolating the atmosphere.

In this embodiment, the transfer platform 400 can carry the wafer cassette 500 and move towards the direction of the micro-environmental chamber 100, so that the wafer cassette 500 can be docked with the micro-environmental chamber 100, when the transfer platform 400 moves to a position adjacent to the micro-environmental chamber 100 while carrying the wafer cassette 500, the first compression end 3133 and the second compression end of the sealing clamping device 300 respectively move towards the edge portions of the wafer cassette 500, so that the edge portions 510 on two sides of the wafer cassette 500 in the horizontal direction can be extruded, and the edge portions 510 on two sides can be compressed in the micro-environmental chamber 100, thereby ensuring the tightness between the wafer cassette 500 and the micro-environmental chamber 100.

Compared with the mode of fixing and clamping the wafer box 500 up and down, the direction of the clamping force applied to the wafer box 500 is parallel to the direction of the sealing force in the embodiment of the application, so that the clamping force applied to the wafer box 500 is improved, the compression effect between the wafer box 500 and the micro-environment chamber 100 is improved, the tightness between the wafer box 500 and the micro-environment chamber 100 is further ensured, and further, isolation between the micro-environment chamber 100 and the wafer box 500 and the external atmosphere can be realized, and the capability of the micro-environment chamber 100 for lower oxygen content is improved to serve as a basic condition for performing higher process of semiconductor process equipment; in addition, the clamping force does not act on the side surface of the wafer cassette 500, but acts on the edge portion 510, so that the wafer cassette 500 can be effectively prevented from being deformed due to the clamping force, and the integrity of the wafer cassette 500 is ensured.

Referring to fig. 4, in some embodiments, the sealing clamping device 300 may include a first sealing clamping mechanism 310 and a second sealing clamping mechanism 320 disposed at both sides of the wafer cassette 500 in a horizontal direction, respectively, by which the edge portion 510 of the wafer cassette 500 may be clamped from both sides of the wafer cassette 500 in the horizontal direction so that the wafer cassette 500 is in close contact with the micro environment chamber 100. It should be noted that, the first sealing clamping mechanism 310 and the second sealing clamping mechanism 320 are respectively located at two side regions of the wafer cassette 500 in the second direction, so as to correspondingly press two side edges of the wafer cassette 500.

Referring to fig. 5 and 6, the first sealing clamping mechanism 310 and the second sealing clamping mechanism 320 may have the same structure, each may include a first compressing end 3133 or a second compressing end of the clamping bracket 313, and the clamping bracket 313 is connected to the compressing end of the first compressing end 311, so that the first compressing end 311 is used to drive the clamping bracket 313 to approach or separate from the edge portion 510 of the wafer cassette 500 along a first direction, so that the edge portion 510 of the wafer cassette 500 may be compressed on the micro-environmental chamber 100 to ensure tightness between the wafer cassette 500 and the micro-environmental chamber 100, and further, the compressing action on the edge portion 510 of the wafer cassette 500 may be released after the process is completed, so that the wafer cassette 500 may be separated from the micro-environmental chamber 100.

Alternatively, the first telescopic member 311 may be a cylinder, and of course, may be other members, which is not specifically limited in the embodiment of the present application.

With continued reference to fig. 5 and 6, to prevent the clamping bracket 313 from interfering with the movement of the wafer cassette 500 in the first direction, the first sealing clamping mechanism 310 and the second sealing clamping mechanism 320 may further each include a second telescopic member 312, where a main body portion of the first telescopic member 311 is connected to a telescopic end of the second telescopic member 312, and the second telescopic member 312 is used to drive the first telescopic member 311 and the clamping bracket 313 to approach or depart from a side of the wafer cassette 500 in the horizontal direction from one side of the wafer cassette 500, that is, the second telescopic member 312 is used to drive the first telescopic member 311 and the clamping bracket 313 to approach or depart from a side of the wafer cassette 500 in the second direction. The second telescopic member 312 may be an air cylinder, or may be other members, as an example, and the embodiment of the present application is not limited thereto.

Based on the above arrangement, before the transfer platform 400 carries the wafer cassette 500 to move toward the micro-environment chamber 100, the second telescopic member 312 is in a contracted state, and at this time, the clamping support 313 is spaced from the side surface of the wafer cassette 500 by a certain distance, so that the first pressing end 3133 and the second pressing end are respectively far away from the edge portions 510 on both sides of the wafer cassette 500, thereby not obstructing the wafer cassette 500 from moving toward the micro-environment chamber 100; when the wafer cassette 500 moves to a position close to the micro-environment chamber 100, the second telescopic members 312 of the first sealing clamping mechanism 310 and the second sealing clamping mechanism 320 extend out and carry the first telescopic members 311 and the clamping support 313 to be close to the side surfaces of the wafer cassette 500, so that the first pressing ends 3133 and the second pressing ends respectively move to the side surfaces of the edge portions 510 on the two sides of the wafer cassette 500, which are away from the micro-environment chamber 100, respectively, and then the first telescopic members 311 of the first sealing clamping mechanism 310 and the second sealing clamping mechanism 320 extend out and carry the clamping support 313 to move, so that the first pressing ends 3133 and the second pressing ends respectively press the edge portions 510 on the two sides of the wafer cassette 500, and further tight contact between the wafer cassette 500 and the micro-environment chamber 100 can be ensured, and tightness between the wafer cassette 500 and the micro-environment chamber 100 is further realized.

Referring to fig. 5 and 6, in some embodiments, the first and second sealing clamping mechanisms 310 and 320 may each further include a first and second fixed brackets 314 and 315, wherein a body portion of the first telescoping member 311 is mounted to the first fixed bracket 314, the first fixed bracket 314 is connected to a telescoping end of the second telescoping member 312, a body portion of the second telescoping member 312 is mounted to the second fixed bracket 315, and the second fixed bracket 315 is mounted to the micro-environmental chamber 100. So, the second fixing support 315 can realize the fixing effect on the second telescopic member 312 to ensure the stability and the firmness of the installation, the first fixing support 314 can realize the fixing effect on the first telescopic member 311 to ensure the stability and the firmness of the installation, and at the same time, the first fixing support 314 can also be driven by the second telescopic member 312, so that the movement of the first telescopic member 311 and the clamping support 313 can be realized.

Alternatively, the first telescopic member 311 may be mounted to the first fixing bracket 314 by a fastening screw to facilitate disassembly; the second telescopic member 312 may be mounted to the second fixing bracket 315 by a fastening screw to facilitate disassembly and assembly; the first fixing bracket 314 may be mounted to the telescopic end of the second telescopic member 312 by fastening screws to facilitate the disassembly and assembly.

Referring to fig. 5, in a more specific embodiment, the holding frame 313 may include a first arm 3131 and a second arm 3132, where the first arm 3131 extends in a first direction toward or away from the micro-environment chamber 100, the second arm 3132 is connected to an end of the first arm 3131 away from the micro-environment chamber 100 and extends in a second direction toward a direction away from the transfer platform 400, the second arm 3132 of the first sealing and holding mechanism 310 extends in a direction away from the second sealing and holding mechanism 320, the second arm 3132 of the second sealing and holding mechanism 320 extends in a direction away from the first sealing and holding mechanism 310, and the first pressing end 3133 or the second pressing end is disposed at an end of the first arm 3131 adjacent to the micro-environment chamber 100. Based on this, the first pressing end 3133 or the second pressing end may protrude from the side surface of the first support arm 3131, so that the edge portion 510 may be pressed by the first pressing end 3133 or the second pressing end without contact between the side surface of the first support arm 3131 and the side surface of the wafer cassette 500, thereby ensuring that the first pressing end 3133 or the second pressing end may contact the edge portion 510 of the wafer cassette 500 and ensuring the pressing effect on the edge portion 510. The clamping bracket 313 may be in a Z-shaped configuration, for example, but of course, is not limited to this shape, and may be any other shape as desired.

Further, to prevent the first fixing bracket 314 from interfering with the clamping bracket 313, the second support arm 3132 may be provided with a through hole 31321, and the first fixing bracket 314 may pass through the through hole 31321, so that the clamping bracket 313 may move in the first direction in the through hole 31321, thereby ensuring that the clamping bracket 313 can perform a pressing motion without being affected by the first fixing bracket 314.

To prevent the arrangement of the first telescopic member 311 and the second telescopic member 312 from affecting the transfer of the wafer cassette 500, in this embodiment of the present application, the first telescopic member 311 and the second telescopic member 312 of the first sealing clamping mechanism 310 are located on one side of the first fixing support 314 facing away from the second sealing clamping mechanism 320, while the first telescopic member 311 and the second telescopic member 312 of the second sealing clamping mechanism 320 are located on one side of the first fixing support 314 facing away from the first sealing clamping mechanism 310, and the respective first telescopic members 311 of the first sealing clamping mechanism 310 and the second sealing clamping mechanism 320 are located on one side of the corresponding second support arm 3132 facing away from the first support arm 3131, and the respective second telescopic members 312 and the first telescopic members 311 are located on two sides of the corresponding second support arm 3132.

Specifically, in the first sealing and clamping mechanism 310 or the second sealing and clamping mechanism 320, after the first fixing support 314 passes through the through hole 31321 of the second support arm 3132, a distance is respectively extended between two sides of the second support arm 3132, so that a first accommodating space is formed between one end of the first fixing support 314 and one side surface of the second support arm 3132, so as to accommodate the first telescopic member 311, thereby effectively preventing the first telescopic member 311 from being disposed on the transfer path of the wafer cassette 500 to affect the normal transfer of the wafer cassette 500; similarly, a second accommodating space is formed between the other end of the first fixing bracket 314 and the other side of the second arm 3132, so as to accommodate the second telescopic member 312, thereby effectively preventing the second telescopic member 312 from being disposed on the transfer path of the wafer cassette 500 to affect the normal transfer of the wafer cassette 500.

In some embodiments, the semiconductor processing apparatus may further include a door opener 200 for opening the micro-environment chamber 100 and the wafer cassette 500, respectively, so that the inner cavity of the wafer cassette 500 communicates with the inner cavity of the micro-environment chamber 100.

The door opening device 200 may include a mounting main board 210, where the mounting main board 210 is disposed on an outer side surface of the micro-environment chamber 100, and the mounting main board 210 is provided with a window communicating with an inlet and an outlet of the micro-environment chamber 100. In practical situations, when the wafer cassette 500 is moved to a position close to the micro-environment chamber 100, the end face of the wafer cassette 500 will be abutted against the mounting motherboard 210, and the door panel of the wafer cassette 500 is opposite to the window, so that after the door panel of the wafer cassette 500 and the inlet and outlet of the micro-environment chamber 100 are opened respectively, the inner cavity of the wafer cassette 500 is communicated with the inner cavity of the micro-environment chamber 100 through the window and the inlet and outlet in sequence, so as to ensure the normal process.

Further, in order to improve the tightness between the wafer box 500 and the mounting main board 210, the door opening device 200 may further include a sealing ring 220, as shown in fig. 4, the sealing ring 220 is disposed on a side of the mounting main board 210 away from the micro-environment chamber 100 and located at the periphery of the window, so that when the wafer box 500 is transferred to a position close to the micro-environment chamber 100, the side surface of the wafer box 500 can be abutted against the sealing ring 220, thereby ensuring tightness to prevent the occurrence of air leakage.

In this embodiment, the first sealing clamping mechanism 310 and the second sealing clamping mechanism 320 are both installed on the installation motherboard 210 and located at the left and right sides of the transfer platform 400, when the wafer cassette 500 is transferred to be in close contact with the sealing ring 220 under the action of the transfer platform 400, the first pressing end 3133 of the first sealing clamping mechanism 310 and the second pressing end of the second sealing clamping mechanism 320 respectively press the edges of the two sides of the wafer cassette 500, and apply the extrusion force along the first direction, so that sufficient pressing sealing between the wafer cassette 500 and the sealing ring 220 can be ensured, and the edge portion 510 of the wafer cassette 500 can be ensured to be stressed uniformly, so as to improve the sealing capability and avoid the sealing failure caused by the inclination of the wafer cassette 500.

Referring to fig. 4, in some embodiments, the door opening device 200 may further include a door opening panel 230 and a driving mechanism, where the door opening panel 230 is movably disposed on an inner side surface of the micro-environmental chamber 100 and is connected to a driving end of the driving mechanism, so that in a first state, the driving mechanism drives the door opening panel 230 to block the inlet and the outlet, and in a second state, the driving mechanism drives the door opening panel 230 to open the inlet and the outlet and synchronously drives the door panel of the wafer cassette 500 to open, so that the wafer cassette 500 communicates with the micro-environmental chamber 100.

Alternatively, the door opening panel 230 may be slidably mounted to the inner side surface of the micro-environmental chamber 100 through a sliding rail, and the driving mechanism may drive the door opening panel 230 to move along the sliding rail, so as to open or close the access opening of the micro-environmental chamber 100. In addition, the driving mechanism may be a linear driving mechanism, such as an air cylinder, a hydraulic cylinder, an electric cylinder, or the like.

In order to enable the door panel 230 to carry the door panel of the wafer cassette 500 to move synchronously, the door panel 230 may be provided with a structure such as a gripper and a sucker, and when the door panel of the wafer cassette 500 needs to be opened, the door panel may be connected to the door panel through the structure such as the gripper or the sucker, and the door panel is driven to move synchronously by the movement of the door panel 230, so as to realize the communication or the separation between the micro-environment chamber 100 and the wafer cassette 500.

To ensure that the edge portion 510 of the wafer cassette 500 is subjected to a relatively uniform pressing force, in some embodiments, the first pressing end 3133 and the second pressing end are symmetrically disposed with respect to a symmetry plane of the mounting motherboard 210 in a horizontal direction. Specifically, the mounting main board 210 has a symmetry plane in the second direction in the horizontal plane, that is, a middle plane of the mounting main board 210 in the second direction, and when the wafer cassette 500 moves close to the micro-environment chamber 100, the wafer cassette 500 may be symmetrically disposed with respect to the symmetry plane of the mounting main board 210, so that, in order to apply equal pressing force to the two side edge portions 510 of the wafer cassette 500, the first pressing end 3133 and the second pressing end are symmetrically disposed with respect to the symmetry plane of the mounting main board 210 in the second direction, so as to ensure that the distribution of the pressing force applied to the two side edge portions 510 of the wafer cassette 500 is more uniform, and to improve the sealing effect to a certain extent, so as to avoid the influence on the sealing performance caused by the occurrence of gaps between the edge portions 510 of the wafer cassette 500 and the door opener 200 due to uneven stress.

To ensure the positional accuracy of the wafer cassette 500, the transfer station 400 may be provided with a bearing surface, where a plurality of positioning protrusions protruding from the bearing surface are provided on the bearing surface, for positioning the wafer cassette 500. Through this kind of setting, can dock respectively with the location structure of wafer box 500 bottom through a plurality of location protruding to can guarantee the position accuracy of wafer box 500 on transfer station 400, further guarantee the position accuracy of the wafer in the wafer box 500. The positioning protrusion may be a cylindrical positioning pin, but may be other structures, and is not particularly limited.

In this embodiment, the process of the sealing and clamping actions of the wafer cassette 500 is:

as shown in fig. 7, before the clamping operation of the wafer cassette 500 is not performed, the first telescopic member 311 and the second telescopic member 312 of each of the first sealing clamping mechanism 310 and the second sealing clamping mechanism 320 are in a contracted state; placing the wafer cassette 500 on the transfer platform 400, positioning the wafer cassette 500 through a plurality of positioning protrusions, and then the transfer platform 400 drives the wafer cassette 500 to move towards the micro-environment chamber 100, and enabling the side surface of the wafer cassette 500 to be abutted against the sealing ring 220; then, the second telescopic members 312 of the first sealing clamping mechanism 310 and the second sealing clamping mechanism 320 are started, and drive the first telescopic members 311 and the clamping supports 313 to move along the second direction, so that the first pressing ends 3133 and the second pressing ends respectively move to positions capable of being pressed to the edge portions 510 of the wafer cassette 500; then, the first telescopic members 311 of the first sealing clamping mechanism 310 and the second sealing clamping mechanism 320 are started, and drive the clamping support 313 to move along the first direction, so that the first pressing end 3133 and the second pressing end respectively press the edge portions 510 at two sides of the wafer box 500, and apply a sufficient clamping force, and the wafer box 500 and the sealing ring 220 can be uniformly pressed by the clamping action at two sides, thereby achieving the complete sealing between the wafer box 500 and the micro-environment chamber 100.

In this embodiment, the process of canceling the sealing and clamping action of the wafer cassette 500 is as follows:

as shown in fig. 8, when the sealing and clamping actions need to be canceled, the first telescopic members 311 of the first sealing and clamping mechanism 310 and the second sealing and clamping mechanism 320 are started, and drive the clamping bracket 313 to move along the first direction, so that the first pressing end 3133 and the second pressing end are separated from the edge portions 510 on both sides of the wafer cassette 500, and the clamping action on the edge portions 510 is canceled; then, the second telescopic members 312 of the first sealing clamping mechanism 310 and the second sealing clamping mechanism 320 are started, and drive the first telescopic members 311 and the clamping supports 313 to move along the second direction, so that the first pressing ends 3133 and the second pressing ends move out of the transferring path of the wafer box 500, and interference between the first pressing ends 3133 and the second pressing ends on transferring of the wafer box 500 can be avoided; then, the transfer station 400 carries the wafer cassette 500 away from the micro-environment chamber 100 along the first direction, and the wafer cassette 500 and the seal ring 220 are illustrated, and the sealing clamping action is canceled.

In summary, in the embodiment of the present application, the sealing and clamping device 300 can be used for sealing and clamping and positioning the wafer cassette 500 and the micro-environment chamber 100, so that the problem that the oxygen content in the micro-environment chamber 100 fluctuates or does not reach the standard due to the air leakage caused by the sealing between the wafer cassette 500 and the micro-environment chamber 100 is effectively solved; moreover, the embodiment of the application can further ensure that the wafer box 500 is stressed uniformly between the side surface of the wafer box 500 and the sealing ring 220 under the extrusion action of the sealing clamping device 300 and the sealing surface in parallel, the situation that the top sealing is insufficient due to the fact that the wafer box 500 is bent backwards does not exist, and the sealing device applies force to the edge portion 510 of the wafer box 500, so that the problem that the wafer box 500 is deformed and unstably due to the application of force to the side surface of the wafer box 500 can be effectively avoided.

The embodiments of the present application have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the present application is not limited to the above-described embodiments, which are merely illustrative and not restrictive, and many forms may be made by those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit of the present application and the scope of the claims, which are also within the protection of the present application.

Claims (10)

1. A semiconductor processing apparatus, comprising: a microenvironment chamber (100), a transfer station (400) and a sealing and clamping device (300);

the sealing clamping device (300) is provided with a first pressing end (3133) and a second pressing end, and the first pressing end (3133) and the second pressing end are positioned on two sides of the wafer box (500) in the horizontal direction;

the transfer station (400) is used for bearing the wafer box (500), and the transfer station (400) can be close to or far away from the micro-environment chamber (100);

in a case where the wafer cassette (500) is adjacent to the micro-environment chamber (100), the first pressing end (3133) and the second pressing end are respectively used to press edge portions (510) of both sides of the wafer cassette (500) in the horizontal direction so as to bring the wafer cassette (500) into close contact with the micro-environment chamber (100).

2. The semiconductor processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sealing clamping device (300) comprises a first sealing clamping mechanism (310) and a second sealing clamping mechanism (320) disposed on both sides of the wafer cassette (500) along the horizontal direction, respectively;

the first sealing clamping mechanism (310) and the second sealing clamping mechanism (320) comprise a first telescopic piece (311) and a clamping support (313), the clamping support (313) is provided with a first compression end (3133) or a second compression end, the clamping support (313) is connected with the telescopic end of the first telescopic piece (311), and the first telescopic piece (311) is used for driving the clamping support (313) to be close to or far away from the edge (510) of the wafer box (500).

3. The semiconductor processing apparatus of claim 2, wherein the first and second sealing clamping mechanisms (310, 320) each further comprise a second telescoping member (312), a main body portion of the first telescoping member (311) being connected to a telescoping end of the second telescoping member (312), the second telescoping member (312) being configured to drive the first telescoping member (311) and the clamping bracket (313) toward or away from a side of the wafer cassette (500) in a horizontal direction from the side of the wafer cassette (500).

4. The semiconductor processing apparatus of claim 3, wherein the first sealing clamp mechanism (310) and the second sealing clamp mechanism (320) each further comprise a first stationary support (314) and a second stationary support (315);

the main body part of the first telescopic piece (311) is mounted to the first fixed bracket (314), and the first fixed bracket (314) is connected with the telescopic end of the second telescopic piece (312);

the main body portion of the second telescoping member (312) is mounted to the second stationary bracket (315), the second stationary bracket (315) being mounted to the microenvironment chamber (100).

5. The semiconductor processing apparatus of claim 4, wherein the clamp bracket (313) comprises a first arm (3131) and a second arm (3132);

the first support arm (3131) extends along a direction approaching or separating from the micro-environment chamber (100), the second support arm (3132) is connected to one end, far from the micro-environment chamber (100), of the first support arm (3131), the second support arm (3132) of the first sealing clamping mechanism (310) extends towards a direction separating from the second sealing clamping mechanism (320), the second support arm (3132) of the second sealing clamping mechanism (320) extends towards a direction separating from the first sealing clamping mechanism (310), and the first compression end (3133) or the second compression end is arranged at one end, adjacent to the micro-environment chamber (100), of the first support arm (3131);

the second support arm (3132) is provided with a through hole (31321), and the first fixing bracket (314) passes through the through hole (31321);

the first telescopic piece (311) and the second telescopic piece (312) of the first sealing clamping mechanism (310) are located on one side of the first fixed support (314) which faces away from the second sealing clamping mechanism (320), and the first telescopic piece (311) and the second telescopic piece (312) of the second sealing clamping mechanism (320) are located on one side of the first fixed support (314) which faces away from the first sealing clamping mechanism (310);

the first telescopic parts (311) of the first sealing clamping mechanism (310) and the second sealing clamping mechanism (320) are respectively located at one side, away from the first support arm (3131), of the corresponding second support arm (3132), and the second telescopic parts (312) and the first telescopic parts (311) of the first sealing clamping mechanism and the second sealing clamping mechanism are respectively located at two sides of the corresponding second support arm (3132).

6. The semiconductor processing apparatus of any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein the first telescoping member (311) and the second telescoping member (312) are each air cylinders.

7. The semiconductor processing apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a door opener (200), the door opener (200) comprising a mounting motherboard (210) and a gasket (220);

the installation mainboard (210) set up in the lateral surface of micro-environment room (100), installation mainboard (210) be equipped with the window of the import and export intercommunication of micro-environment room (100), sealing washer (220) set up in the one side of deviating from of installation mainboard (210) micro-environment room (100) is located the periphery of window.

8. The semiconductor processing apparatus of claim 7, wherein the door opener (200) further comprises a door opening panel (230) and a driving mechanism, the door opening panel (230) being movably disposed on an inner side surface of the micro-environment chamber (100) and connected to a driving end of the driving mechanism;

in a first state, the driving mechanism drives the door opening panel (230) to seal the inlet and the outlet, and in a second state, the driving mechanism drives the door opening panel (230) to open the inlet and the outlet and synchronously drives the door plate of the wafer box (500) to open so that the wafer box (500) is communicated with the micro-environment chamber (100).

9. The semiconductor processing apparatus of claim 7, wherein the first pinched end (3133) and the second pinched end are symmetrically disposed with respect to a plane of symmetry of the mounting main board (210) in the horizontal direction.

10. The semiconductor processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transfer stage (400) is provided with a carrying surface provided with a plurality of positioning protrusions protruding from the carrying surface for positioning the wafer cassette (500).

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