TWI748637B - Wafer processing device and wafer processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a wafer processing device and a wafer processing method. The wafer processing device includes Contains a first cavity, a second cavity, an outer shell, a cover, a first discharge channel, a second discharge channel, at least one fluid inlet channel, at least one heating element, a first vacuum area device, and a second vacuum area Device. The wafer processing method is a process of processing, cleaning and drying wafers by the wafer processing device. Through the above-mentioned wafer processing device and wafer processing method, the problem that the transfer process of the wafer between different processing devices will reduce the work efficiency of the wafer process can be solved, and the damage of the wafer during the transfer process can be reduced. risk.

Description

Wafer processing device and wafer processing method

The present invention relates to a wafer processing device and a wafer processing method, in particular to a wafer processing device and a wafer processing method that can process, clean and dry wafers in the same device.

In the wafer manufacturing process, processing steps such as etching, cleaning, and drying are included. When the wafer enters the cleaning and drying process after the etching step is completed, it is usually necessary to transport the processed wafer from the etching equipment to the wafer cleaning The device and the wafer drying device complete the entire wafer manufacturing process by sequentially transporting the wafers to different processing devices to perform various wafer processing steps.

However, the time spent in the transfer process of the wafers between the aforementioned different processing devices will reduce the efficiency of the wafer manufacturing process, and the wafers may also be damaged during the transfer process.

The purpose of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and provide a wafer processing apparatus, which includes: a first cavity including an accommodating groove; a second cavity located in the accommodating groove, the second cavity including A wafer accommodating groove; an outer shell, which surrounds the outer surface of the second cavity and defines a liquid sealing groove together with the second cavity; The board is connected to the bottom of the cover On the other hand, the cover plate covers the opening of the first cavity, the enclosure plate extends into the liquid sealing groove and surrounds the second cavity, and there is a gap between the enclosure plate and the bottom of the liquid sealing groove; A first discharge channel penetrates the bottom of the first cavity and the second cavity to communicate with the wafer accommodating groove; a second discharge channel penetrates the outer shell and the first cavity to communicate with the liquid seal Groove; at least one fluid inlet channel penetrates the first cavity and the second cavity to communicate with the wafer accommodating groove; at least one heating element is disposed in the accommodating groove of the first cavity and located in the first cavity Outside of the wafer accommodating groove of the two cavities; and a first vacuum area device and a second vacuum area device, respectively connected to the accommodating groove of the first cavity and the wafer accommodating groove of the second cavity Pass.

In the wafer processing apparatus as described above, the bottom of the second cavity has a funnel-shaped inclined surface or inclined surface design, and the first discharge channel is connected to the lowest part of the funnel-shaped inclined surface.

To achieve the above and other objectives, the present invention provides a wafer processing method, including the following steps: (a) Put the wafer to be processed into the wafer accommodating groove of the second cavity of the wafer processing apparatus as described above (B) processing the wafer to be processed in the wafer accommodating groove of the second cavity to form a processed wafer; (c) processing the wafer to be processed in the wafer accommodating groove of the second cavity The processed wafer is cleaned to form a cleaned wafer; (d) the second cavity is heated by the heating element, and (e) liquid is required in the liquid sealing tank, and the liquid needs to be higher than the lower edge of the enclosure Height to separate the two vacuum chambers, and use a vacuum area device to extract the gas in the accommodating groove of the first cavity and the wafer accommodating groove of the second cavity to dry the cleaned wafer .

In the wafer processing method as described above, in step e, the inside of the first cavity and the second cavity are maintained in a vacuum state of -20 to -95 kPa.

In the wafer processing method as described above, in step d, the temperature of the heating element ranges from 25 to 100°C.

Through the above-mentioned wafer processing device and wafer processing method, the problem that the transfer process of the wafer between different processing devices will reduce the work efficiency of the wafer process can be solved, and the damage of the wafer during the transfer process can be reduced. risk.

1: Wafer processing device

11: The first cavity

110: holding tank

12: The second cavity

120: Wafer holding tank

121: Carrier Platform

13: outer shell

130: Liquid Seal Tank

131: Protective layer

14: capping

141: Cover

142: Hoarding

15: The first discharge channel

16: Second discharge channel

17: fluid inlet channel

18: Heating element

191: The first vacuum area device

192: The second vacuum area device

A: The first sealed space

B: The second sealed space

T1: Pipeline

T2: Pipeline

W: Wafer

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a wafer processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the operation of the wafer processing apparatus of FIG. 1.

In order to fully understand the purpose, features and effects of the present invention, the following specific embodiments are used in conjunction with the accompanying drawings to give a detailed description of the present invention. The description is as follows:

An embodiment of the present invention provides a wafer processing apparatus 1. Referring to FIG. 1, the wafer processing apparatus 1 includes a first cavity 11, a second cavity 12, an outer shell 13, a cover 14, and a second cavity. A discharge channel 15, a second discharge channel 16, at least one fluid inlet channel 17, at least one heating element 18, a first vacuum area device 191 and a second vacuum area device 192.

As shown in FIG. 1, the first cavity 11 includes a accommodating groove 110. In this embodiment, the first cavity 11 is designed in a rectangular box shape or a circular box shape. The second cavity 12 is located in the accommodating groove 110. The second cavity 12 includes a wafer accommodating groove 120. In this embodiment, the second cavity 12 is designed to be rectangular box or round.形箱-shaped. The outer shell 13 surrounds the outer surface of the second cavity 12 and defines a liquid sealing groove 130 together with the second cavity 12. In this embodiment, the liquid sealing groove 130 surrounds the second cavity The shape of the groove outside the body 12. The cover 14 includes a cover plate 141 and a closed A surrounding wall 142 is connected to the lower surface of the cover 141. The first discharge channel 15 penetrates the bottom of the second cavity 12 and the first cavity 11, that is, the first discharge channel 15 communicates with the wafer accommodating groove 120 to the outside of the wafer processing apparatus 1; For the working fluid to be discharged from the wafer accommodating groove 120 through the first cavity 11 to the outside. The second discharge channel 16 penetrates the outer shell 13 and the first cavity 11, that is, the second discharge channel 16 connects the liquid sealing groove 130 to the outside of the wafer processing apparatus 1 for the working fluid to pass from the wafer processing apparatus 1 The liquid sealing tank 13 is discharged to the outside through the first cavity 11. The fluid inlet channel 17 penetrates the first cavity 11 and the second cavity 12, that is, the fluid inlet channel 17 connects the wafer accommodating groove 120 to the outside of the wafer processing apparatus 1 to provide working fluid When it flows into the wafer accommodating groove 120 from the outside, and the number of the fluid inlet channels 17 is two, the fluid inlet channels 17 are arranged oppositely in space. The heating element 18 is arranged on the inner side wall of the first cavity 11, and the number of the heating element 18 can be two. The first vacuum area device 191 communicates with the containing tank 110 through a pipeline T1. The second vacuum area device 192 communicates with the wafer accommodating tank 120 through a pipeline T2.

Through the above arrangement, the complete process of wafer processing, cleaning, and drying can be completed in the wafer processing device 1, without the need to transport the wafers between multiple devices in response to different process stages, thereby improving the crystallinity. The efficiency of the round process and reduce the risk of wafer damage during the transportation process.

The number of the aforementioned first discharge channel 15, the second discharge channel 16 and the fluid inlet channel 17 can be designed to be one or more according to usage requirements, respectively.

In this embodiment, the first cavity 11 is made of stainless steel, and the second cavity 12, the outer shell 13, and the cover 14 are made of quartz. In other embodiments, it can be selected according to needs. Other known materials are used to prepare the components in the wafer processing apparatus 1.

In the following, referring to FIG. 2, the specific operation mode of the wafer processing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment and the method of wafer processing by the wafer processing apparatus 1 will be described in detail.

First, the wafer process etching processing step is performed. A wafer boat box (not shown in FIG. 2) is placed on the carrier platform 121 in the wafer accommodating groove 120 of the second cavity 12, and the carrier platform 121 can be set in the second cavity 12 by a bracket In the wafer accommodating slot 120, the wafer boat box holds at least one wafer. Then, the etching liquid is injected into the wafer accommodating groove 120 through the first cavity 11 from the two fluid inlet channels 17. The arrangement of the two fluid inlet channels 17 helps to disperse the liquid into the wafer accommodating groove 120. The hydraulic pressure of the etching liquid. The cover 14 is then used to close the opening of the first cavity 11 to close the opening of the first cavity 11. When the cover 141 closes the opening of the first cavity 11, the enclosure 142 extends into The liquid sealing groove 130 surrounds the second cavity 12, and there is a gap between the enclosure plate 142 and the bottom of the liquid sealing groove 130. At this point, the wafer etching process begins.

The second sealed space B can prevent the external particles entering the first cavity 11 from entering the second cavity 12 through the aforementioned liquid sealing structure. When the external particles approach the second cavity 12, they will be immersed first. The liquid in the liquid sealing structure cannot enter the second cavity 12 anymore. The aforementioned double-layer sealed space formed by the liquid sealing effect can prevent external particles from entering the wafer accommodating groove 120 that is being processed.

In this etching step, the etching liquid system in the wafer accommodating tank 120 generates a connected siphon phenomenon through the liquid suction pipe, and the liquid is stably pumped out of the wafer accommodating tank. After the liquid level separates from the lower edge of the wafer surface, The first discharge channel 15 discharges slowly. Since the bottom of the second cavity 12 has a funnel-shaped inclined surface, the etching liquid can flow into the first discharge channel 15 along the inclined bottom surface of the second cavity 12 Does not remain at the bottom of the second cavity 12, but in other embodiments, The bottom of the second cavity 12 can still be designed as a plane or other shapes as required. In addition, the etching solution system in the liquid sealing tank 130 is discharged through the second discharge channel 16.

In this embodiment, the wafer processing step is a wafer processing etching step, but in other embodiments, the wafer processing apparatus 1 can be applied to other wafer processing processes.

When the wafer processing is completed, the wafer cleaning step is followed. In this step, deionized water is used as a cleaning fluid to be injected into the wafer accommodating groove 120 from the two fluid inlet channels 17 to clean the wafer. The arrangement of the two fluid inlet channels 17 allows the wafer to be uniformly cleaned by the cleaning fluid. It also helps to disperse the water pressure of the cleaning liquid entering the wafer accommodating tank 120, and avoids that the water pressure is too strong to break the wafer due to the concentrated water of the cleaning liquid in the process of cleaning the wafer. When the deionized water injected into the wafer accommodating tank 120 fills the wafer accommodating tank 120 and overflows into the liquid sealing tank 130, the deionized water will simultaneously wash off the impurity particles from the wafer. It is brought into the liquid sealing tank 130 to make the deionized water remaining in the wafer accommodating tank 120 cleaner and can fully clean the wafer. Moreover, when the level of the deionized water in the liquid sealing tank 130 is higher than the lowest point of the enclosure 142, a liquid sealing effect is formed, thereby forming a double-layer sealed space as described above, which can effectively prevent external particles from entering Inside the wafer accommodating slot 120 that is being processed.

In this cleaning step, the cleaning liquid in the wafer accommodating tank 120 is also slowly discharged through the first discharge channel 15, and the cleaning liquid in the liquid sealing tank 130 is also discharged through the second discharge channel 16. In addition, the above-mentioned injecting, cleaning, and discharging process of the cleaning solution can be repeated several times to facilitate sufficient cleaning of the wafer.

After the wafer cleaning is completed, the wafer drying step is followed. In this step, the second cavity 12 is heated by the heating element 18 provided on the inner wall of the first cavity 11. In this embodiment, the heating temperature is about 25°C to 100°C at room temperature. The temperature range is sufficient for the second cavity 12 generates radiant heat, which accelerates the vaporization of the liquid remaining on the surface of the wafer, and further increases the kinetic energy of the gas molecules formed after the vaporization of the liquid. In this embodiment, in order to prevent the heat radiation of the two heating elements 18 from directly irradiating the second cavity 12 and causing damage to the second cavity 12, a protective layer 131 is provided on the outer surface of the outer shell 13. The protective layer 131 covers the bottom and side walls of the outer shell 13 to prevent the second cavity 12 from directly receiving heat radiation. The covering area and setting position of the protective layer 131 can be adjusted according to the requirements of use. The material of the protective layer 131 is polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), which is temperature-resistant. The protective layer 131 can also be selected from other currently known suitable materials, and In other embodiments, the protective layer 131 can also be selected not to be provided.

While the two heating elements 18 are heating, the first vacuum area device 191 is used to extract a vacuum from the first sealed space A, and the second vacuum area device 192 is used to extract a vacuum from the second sealed space B. The second vacuum area device 192 will draw the gas (including the gas formed by liquid vaporization) and impurity particles in the wafer accommodating groove 120 from the wafer accommodating groove 120 to make the wafer accommodating groove 120 A vacuum state is formed in the wafer 120. In the process of forming a vacuum state, as the air pressure in the wafer accommodating tank 120 drops, the boiling point of the liquid in the wafer accommodating tank 120 will also decrease. At the same time, the two heating elements 18 is also heating and increasing the temperature of the second cavity 12, therefore, the water or chemical solvent remaining on the surface of the wafer W can be more easily volatilized into gas and be evacuated by the second vacuum area device 192, that is, through the The second vacuum area device 192 uses a vacuum drying method to dry the wafer W placed in the wafer accommodating tank 120. On the other hand, since the wafer accommodating tank 120 is kept in a vacuum state, it can Avoid contaminating the wafer with impurity particles in the wafer accommodating groove 120. In addition, by drawing a vacuum to the first sealed space A through the first vacuum area device 191, a second layer of vacuum isolation environment can be formed outside the wafer accommodating tank 120, and this double-layer vacuum environment can be more fully Prevent external particles from entering the wafer accommodating groove 120. In this embodiment, the first sealed space A can pump negative pressure to about -50 In a rough vacuum state in the kpa range, the second sealed space B can be pumped to a rough vacuum state in the range of -55 kpa to prevent external particles from entering the wafer accommodating tank 120. The aforementioned vacuum negative pressure range can be used Demand adjustment.

In this embodiment, the two heating elements 18 are ceramic heaters. In other embodiments, infrared lamps, heat pipes that can inject hot water, or other heating devices can also be used. In this embodiment, the two heating elements 18 are spatially oppositely arranged on both sides of the inner wall of the first cavity 11. In other embodiments, the two heating elements 18 can also be selected according to the function or structure configuration requirements. The number of heating elements 18 can be configured as a single heating element 18 or a plurality of heating elements 18 in any suitable position outside the second cavity 12 in the accommodating groove 110.

In this embodiment, the first vacuum area device 191 and the second vacuum area device 192 are arranged above the first cavity 11 and the second cavity 12 to facilitate the first vacuum area device 191 and The second vacuum area device 192 extracts gas molecules and other particles that move upward due to the effect of heat radiation. The first vacuum area device 191 and the second vacuum area device 192 may preferably be set in It is located at any suitable position above the first cavity 11 and the second cavity 12.

In this embodiment, the first vacuum area device 191 and the second vacuum area device 192 are respectively connected to the accommodating tank 110 and the wafer accommodating tank 120 through a pipeline T1 and a pipeline T2, but in other implementations In an example, the first vacuum area device 191 and the second vacuum area device 192 can also be connected to the accommodating groove 110 and the wafer accommodating groove 120 through other known arrangements or devices.

The first vacuum area device 191 and the second vacuum area device 192 are a synchronous vacuuming environment (in this embodiment, it is a pump), which extracts from the first sealed space A and the second sealed space B Of air to keep the first sealed space A and the second sealed space B In a vacuum state. However, in other embodiments, general mechanical pumps or other vacuum area devices can also be used for vacuum pumping, which is not limited to this embodiment.

As mentioned above, through the setting of the vacuum area device of the above-mentioned wafer processing device, the problem that the transfer process of the wafer between different processing devices will reduce the working efficiency of the wafer process can be solved, and the problem of the wafer during the transfer process can be reduced. The risk of loss. On the other hand, through the liquid sealing structure formed by the cover and the liquid sealing groove, the wafer processing apparatus can form a double-layer sealed space that is isolated from the inside and the outside. Furthermore, the funnel-shaped inclined surface at the bottom of the second cavity can prevent liquid from remaining on the bottom of the second cavity. Secondly, the two fluid inlet channels arranged oppositely in space can reduce the hydraulic pressure of the fluid entering the second cavity. In addition, the two vacuum area devices corresponding to the two independent sealed spaces can respectively form a double-layer vacuum environment in the two sealed spaces, which can more fully prevent external particles from entering the wafer accommodating groove.

The present invention has been disclosed above in a preferred embodiment, but those skilled in the art should understand that the embodiment is only used to describe the present invention and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present invention. It should be noted that all changes and substitutions equivalent to this embodiment should be included in the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention should be defined by the scope of the patent application.

1: Wafer processing device

11: The first cavity

110: holding tank

12: The second cavity

120: Wafer holding tank

121: Carrier Platform

13: outer shell

130: Liquid Seal Tank

131: Protective layer

14: capping

141: Cover

142: Hoarding

15: The first discharge channel

16: Second discharge channel

17: fluid inlet channel

18: Heating element

191: The first vacuum area device

192: The second vacuum area device

A: The first sealed space

B: The second sealed space

T1: Pipeline

T2: Pipeline

Claims (5)

A wafer processing device includes: a first cavity including an accommodating groove; a second cavity located in the accommodating groove; the second cavity including a wafer accommodating groove; and an outer shell, It surrounds the outer surface of the second cavity and defines a liquid sealing groove together with the second cavity; the sealing cover includes a cover plate and an enclosure plate, the enclosure plate is connected to the lower surface of the cover plate, the A cover plate closes the opening of the first cavity, the enclosure plate extends into the liquid sealing groove and surrounds the second cavity, and there is a gap between the enclosure plate and the bottom of the liquid sealing groove; a first A discharge channel penetrates the bottom of the first cavity and the second cavity to communicate with the wafer accommodating groove; a second discharge channel penetrates the outer shell and the first cavity to communicate with the liquid sealing groove; at least A fluid inlet channel penetrates the first cavity and the second cavity to communicate with the wafer accommodating groove; at least one heating element is disposed in the accommodating groove of the first cavity and located in the second cavity And a first vacuum area device and a second vacuum area device, which are respectively communicated with the accommodating groove of the first cavity and the wafer accommodating groove of the second cavity. The wafer processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the bottom of the second cavity has a funnel-shaped inclined surface or inclined surface, and the first discharge channel is connected to the lowest part of the funnel-shaped inclined surface or the inclined surface, or is matched with a siphon The liquid in the wafer accommodating tank is discharged by the method. A wafer processing method includes the following steps: (a) Put the wafer to be processed into the wafer accommodating groove of the second cavity of the wafer processing apparatus as described in claim 1 or 2; (b) Place the wafer in the second cavity The wafer to be processed is processed in the groove to form a processed wafer; (c) the processed wafer is cleaned in the wafer accommodating groove of the second cavity to form a cleaned wafer; (d) ) Use the heating element to heat the second cavity, and use the vacuum area devices to extract the gas in the accommodating groove of the first cavity and the wafer accommodating groove of the second cavity to make the The cleaned wafers are dried; and (e) There needs to be liquid in the liquid sealing tank, and the liquid needs to be higher than the height of the lower edge of the enclosure plate to separate the two vacuum chambers, and use these vacuum areas to install the first chamber The gas in the accommodating groove and the wafer accommodating groove of the second cavity is extracted to dry the cleaned wafer. According to the wafer processing method of claim 3, in step e, the accommodating groove and the wafer accommodating groove are kept in a vacuum state of -20~-95kpa. According to the wafer processing method described in claim 3, in step d, the temperature of the heating element ranges from 25 to 100°C.

Images