TWI824437B - Wafer carrying device - Google Patents

Abstract

A wafer carrying device comprises a wafer carrier which includes a main plate and a plurality of sub plates. The main plate has a first upper surface, a first lower surface and a plurality of recess. Each of the recesses forms an upper opening at the first upper surface. Each of the sub plates has a carrying recess for accommodating a wafer. Each of the sub plates are respectively placed in each of the recesses. Thereby, the sub plate can be detached from the main plate.

Description

Wafer carrier

The present invention relates to chemical vapor deposition equipment; in particular, it refers to a wafer carrying device for chemical vapor deposition equipment.

Figure 1 shows a conventional wafer carrier 100, which has a plurality of carrier slots 100a for placing wafers 102. The wafer carrier 100 is then placed into a process chamber of a chemical vapor deposition equipment. , to deposit a deposition layer on the upper surface of wafer 102 . Since the process chamber is in a high-temperature state when the deposition layer is growing, the material remaining in the holding tank 100a from the previous round of process can easily diffuse into the wafer 102 from the lower surface of the wafer 102, especially the material of the deposition layer from the previous round of process. If the material of the deposition layer is different from that of the current process, serious contamination will be caused to the wafer 102 . Therefore, it is often necessary to clean the wafer carrier 100 to improve the contamination situation.

However, the wafer carrying tray 100 is heavy and difficult for personnel to handle, causing cleaning inconvenience. In addition, in order to maintain throughput, when cleaning the wafer carrying tray 100, another wafer carrying tray 100 must be replaced. However, the manufacturing cost of the wafer carrying tray 100 is high, and multiple wafer carrying trays 100 will inevitably increase the maintenance cost.

In view of this, an object of the present invention is to provide a wafer carrying device with a separable main tray and a sub-tray that can be easily cleaned.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a wafer carrying device that can reduce maintenance costs.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a wafer carrying device including a wafer carrying tray. The wafer carrying tray includes a main tray and a plurality of sub- trays, wherein the main tray has a first upper surface, a first A lower surface and a plurality of receiving slots, each receiving slot is formed with an upper opening on the first upper surface; each sub-tray has a carrying slot for placing wafers, and each sub-tray is placed from its upper opening. into the respective slots.

The effect of the present invention is that through the design of the separable main disk and the sub-disk, the sub-disk is lighter in weight, smaller in size, easy to clean, and can reduce the frequency of cleaning the main disk. The sub-disk is small in size and low in production cost, and a specific sub-disk can be used exclusively in the process of depositing a layer with a specific composition. In this way, maintenance costs can be reduced.

In order to illustrate the present invention more clearly, the preferred embodiments are described in detail below along with the drawings. Please refer to FIGS. 2 to 5 , which is a wafer carrying device 1 according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention. It includes a wafer carrying tray 10 for placing chemical vapor deposition equipment. The process chamber is, for example, an organometallic chemical vapor deposition equipment.

The wafer carrying tray 10 includes a main tray 12 and a plurality of sub- trays 22 , wherein the main tray 12 has a first upper surface 122 and a first lower surface 124 opposite to each other, and from the first upper surface 122 A plurality of recesses 14 are formed in the recess, and each recess 14 forms an upper opening 144 on the first upper surface 122 . In this embodiment, the main plate 12 is made of graphite material, and the shape of each receiving groove 14 is a circular groove, and the groove wall 142 around the receiving groove 14 is closed. The containers 14 have the same structure. One container 14 is taken as an example below. The container 14 has a main tank section 16 and a primary tank section 18 . The secondary tank section 18 is located above the main tank section 16 and has The upper opening 144. The groove width of the secondary groove section 18 is greater than the groove width of the main groove section 16, and there is a shoulder 20 between the secondary groove section 18 and the main groove section 16. The shoulder 20 is facing the upper opening. 144.

Each sub-disk 22 is detachably placed in each of the receiving slots 14 from the upper opening 144 of the receiving slot 14 . In this embodiment, each sub-disk 22 is made of the same material as the main disk 12 and is in the shape of a circular disk. The sub-disks 22 have the same structure, and one sub-disk 22 is taken as an example for description below.

The sub-disk 22 has a bearing groove 222 , and the bearing groove 222 is formed by a concave top of the sub-disk 22 . The sub-disk 22 has a main body 24 and a peripheral portion 26 . The main body 24 has the bearing groove 222 . The peripheral portion 26 is integrally connected to the radial periphery of the main body 24 and surrounds the main body 24 . The top surface of the peripheral portion 26 is defined as a second upper surface 262 . The bottom surface of the main body 24 is defined as a second lower surface 242 .

When the sub-disk 22 is inserted into the corresponding receptacle 14 , the main body portion 24 of the sub-disk 22 is located in the main groove section 16 of the receptacle 14 , the peripheral portion 26 is located in the secondary groove section 18 and the peripheral portion 26 is located in the secondary groove section 18 . The bottom abuts the shoulder portion 20 , and the position of the second upper surface 262 is not higher than the position of the first upper surface 122 . In this embodiment, the second upper surface 262 is substantially flush with the first upper surface 122 , and the second lower surface 242 faces the bottom of the groove 14 .

With the above structure, after the wafer W is placed in the carrier groove 222 of the sub-tray 22, the entire wafer carrier 10 can be placed in the process chamber of the chemical vapor deposition equipment to grow deposition on the wafer W. Stacked layers (such as epitaxial layers). Since the second upper surface 262 is not higher than the first upper surface 122 , when the wafer carrier 10 is placed in the process chamber, it is less likely to affect the flow of the process gas, allowing the process gas to be stabilized on the wafer W. Surface reactions produce a deposited layer. After the deposition process is completed, the wafer carrier tray 10 can be taken out from the process chamber, and the wafer W can be taken out from the carrier slot of the sub tray 22 .

Since the wafer W is only in contact with the sub-disk 22, as long as the original sub-disk 22 is removed from the receptacle 14 of the main disk 12 and replaced with a clean sub-disk 22, it can be reused in a new round of deposition process. Preferably, the number of sub-disks 22 is greater than the number of slots 14 of the main disk 12 , for example, the number of sub-disks 22 is more than twice the number of slots 14 .

The sub-tray 22 is lighter in weight and smaller in size and can be easily cleaned. A specific sub-disk 22 can also be bound to a deposition layer of a specific composition, so as to avoid cross-contamination of the wafer W by deposition layers of different compositions. Since the main disk 12 does not contact the wafer, the main disk 12 does not need to be replaced or cleaned frequently.

6 to 7 show the wafer carrying device 2 according to the second preferred embodiment of the present invention. It has a structure that is substantially the same as that of the first embodiment. The difference is that each receiving slot 304 of the main tray 30 is at the bottom. The first lower surface 302 is formed with a lower opening 304a. When each sub-disk 22 is placed into the corresponding receiving slot 304, the second lower surface 242 of the main body portion 24 of each sub-disk 22 does not protrude from the lower opening 304a of each receiving slot 304. Thereby, when the wafer carrying tray 28 is placed on a flat surface, the first lower surface 302 of the main tray 30 can abut the flat surface, and the flat surface will not push up the sub-tray 22 . When you want to remove the sub-tray 22 from the main tray 30, you can push the sub-tray 22 upward through the lower opening 304a at the bottom of the main tray 30, so that the sub-tray 22 protrudes from the upper opening 304b to separate from the main tray 30.

Figure 8 shows a wafer carrying device 3 according to the third preferred embodiment of the present invention. It is based on the second embodiment and further includes a removal jig 32 with a plurality of bumps 322. The protrusions 322 are respectively located at positions corresponding to the lower openings 304a. A bump 322 is shown in Figure 8 . When the wafer carrier 28 is placed on the removal jig 32 , the bumps 322 respectively abut against the second lower surfaces 242 of the main portions 24 of the sub-plates 22 , and each of the bumps 322 moves upward. At least a part of the sub-pans 22 is pushed upward from the upper opening 304b of each receiving slot 304, thereby allowing the sub-pans 22 to be separated from the main pan 30, making it easier to remove the sub-pans 22.

9 to 12 show the sub-tray 34 of the wafer carrying device according to the fourth preferred embodiment of the present invention. The sub-tray 34 has a structure that is substantially the same as that of the first embodiment. The difference is that the sub-tray 34 is It is composed of at least two disks that are detachably spliced together and has a seam 342. The structures of other sub-disks 34 are the same and will not be described again. In practice, the sub-pan 34 can also be composed of three or more pans and have multiple joints.

The two disks are a first disk 40 and a second disk 50 respectively, and each disk has a part of the main body part 36 and a part of the peripheral part 38 respectively. The first plate body 40 has a first wall surface 42, a first groove surface 44 and a lateral groove 48. The groove wall of the lateral groove 48 forms a first connecting portion 482. The second plate body 50 has a second wall surface 52 and a second groove surface 54, and three side surfaces of the second plate body 50 form a second connecting portion 56. The second connecting portion 56 and the first connecting portion 482 are complementary to each other. The second plate body 50 can be combined with or separated from the lateral groove 48 of the first plate body 40 (refer to FIGS. 9 and 11 ), and the first connecting part 482 and the second connecting part 56 are spliced to each other. A seam 342 is formed therebetween. The first wall surface 42 and the second wall surface 52 constitute the groove wall of the bearing groove 344 . The first groove surface 44 and the second groove surface 54 constitute the groove surface of the bearing groove 344 . The seam 342 extends between the main body part 36 and the peripheral edge part 38 , and a part of the seam 342 is located at the bottom of the main body part 36 and below the bearing groove 344 .

Please refer to Figure 12, along an axis X parallel to the groove surface of the bearing groove 344, there is a maximum distance L1 between the first wall surface 42 and the second wall surface 52. In this embodiment, the maximum distance L1 is the groove width of the bearing groove 344 in the radial direction. In the axial direction X, there is a length L2 between the second wall surface 52 and the top of the second contact surface 562, and the length L2 is no more than one-quarter of the maximum distance L1. In this embodiment, the length L2 is one-quarter of the maximum distance L1 of the carrying groove 344 . Since the length L2 is not greater than a quarter of the maximum distance L1, the wafer W has a larger area in contact with the first disk 40. When the two disks are separated, the first disk 40 can still support it stably. Live wafer W. When the wafer W is placed in the carrying groove 344, the wafer W covers the seam 342 below the carrying groove 344, reducing the area of the seam 342 under the carrying groove 344 that is directly exposed to the outside, so as to reduce the process gas from entering the carrying groove 344. Seam 342 below.

In addition, the first connecting portion 482 of the first plate body 40 has a first connecting surface 482a. The first connecting surface 482a is an inclined surface and is located at the bottom of the main body 36 and below the bearing groove 344. The included angle θ between the lower surface 46 of the first plate 40 and the first joint surface 482a ranges from 30 to 60 degrees. In this embodiment, the included angle θ is 35 degrees. In one embodiment, the included angle θ is also Can be 40 or 45 degrees. The second plate body 50 has a second joint surface 562. The second joint surface 562 is an inclined surface and is located at the bottom of the main body 36 and below the load-bearing groove 344. The second joint surface 562 and the first joint surface 482a contact.

When the two disks are separated, a suction device (not shown) can be moved upward along the first interface 482a and inserted between the wafer W and the first groove surface 44 of the first disk 40 to allow the suction device to move upward. Suction the bottom of the wafer W to remove the wafer W. In addition, as shown in FIG. 13 , the second tray 50 can also be lifted upward, so that the second tray 50 can push up the wafer W at the same time, which is more convenient for taking the wafer W.

Figure 14 shows the sub-tray 58 of the wafer carrying device according to the fifth preferred embodiment of the present invention. The sub-tray 58 has a structure that is substantially the same as that of the fourth embodiment. The difference is that the lower part of the first tray 60 The angle θ between the surface 602 and the first interface 604 is between 120 and 150 degrees. In this embodiment, the angle θ is 145 degrees. In one embodiment, the angle θ can also be 140 or 135 degrees.

Figures 15 to 17 show the sub-tray 62 of the wafer carrying device according to the sixth preferred embodiment of the present invention. The sub-tray 62 has substantially the same structure as the fourth embodiment, except that the first tray body 64 It has a fan-shaped lateral groove 66 , and the second plate body 70 is fan-shaped and spliced with the lateral groove 66 . The two side groove walls 662 of the lateral groove 66 are inclined, and the first contact surface 662a is located at the connection of the two groove walls 662 . The inclination direction of the two side surfaces of the second plate 70 is opposite to the groove wall 662 of the lateral groove 66 , and the second joint surface 72 is located at the connection between the two side surfaces. The angle θ between the lower surface 68 of the first plate body 64 and the first contact surface 662a ranges from 30 to 60 degrees.

Figures 18 and 19 show the sub-tray 74 of the wafer carrying device according to the seventh preferred embodiment of the present invention. The sub-tray 74 has a structure that is substantially the same as that of the sixth embodiment. The difference is that the first tray body 76 The inclination direction of the groove wall of the lateral groove 78 and the inclination direction of the two side surfaces 822 of the second plate body 82 are opposite to those of the sixth embodiment, and the second joint surface 822a is located at the connection of the two side surfaces. The angle θ between the lower surface 80 of the first plate body 76 and the first contact surface 782 is between 120 and 150 degrees.

The sub-disks of the fourth to seventh embodiments described above can be applied to the first to third embodiments.

According to the above, the wafer carrying tray of the wafer carrying device of the present invention has a separable main tray and a sub-tray, which can facilitate cleaning of the sub-tray and reduce the frequency of cleaning or replacement of the main tray. The sub-disks are small in size and low in production cost, and a large number of sub-disks can be prepared for replacement. A specific sub-disk can be used exclusively in the process of depositing layers of specific compositions. Compared with conventional wafer carrying trays, maintenance costs can be effectively reduced.

The above are only the best possible embodiments of the present invention. Any equivalent changes made by applying the description and patent scope of the present invention should be included in the patent scope of the present invention.

[common usage] 100:Wafer carrier 100a: Bearing tank 102:wafer [Invention] 1: Wafer carrying device 10:Wafer carrier 12: Main disk 122:First upper surface 124:First lower surface 14: Container 142:Trough wall 144:Open the top 16: Main groove section 18: Secondary slot section 20: Shoulder 22:Sub plate 222: Bearing tank 24:Main part 242: Second lower surface 26: Peripheral part 262:Second upper surface 2: Wafer carrying device 28:Wafer carrier 30: Main disk 302: First lower surface 304:Tank 304a: Lower opening 304b: Upper opening 3: Wafer carrying device 32:Remove fixture 322: Bump 34: Subplate 342:Seam 344: Bearing tank 36:Main part 38: Peripheral part 40:The first plate 42:First wall 44:First groove surface 46: Lower surface 48: Lateral groove 482:First connection 482a: First interface 50:Second plate body 52:Second wall 54:Second groove surface 56:Second connection 562:Second interface 58 sub-disks 60 first plate 602 lower surface 604 first interface 62 sub-disks 64 first plate 66 lateral slots 662 tank wall 662a first junction 68 lower surface 70 second plate body 72 second interface 74 sub-plates 76 first plate 78 lateral slot 782 first interface 80 lower surface 82 second plate body 822 side 822a second junction L1: Maximum distance L2: length W:wafer X:Axis θ: included angle

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a conventional wafer carrier. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the wafer carrying device according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a top view of the wafer loading tray according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention. Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view along the direction 4-4 of Figure 3 . FIG. 5 is an exploded schematic diagram of a wafer loading tray according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the wafer carrying device according to the second preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a wafer loading tray according to the second preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the wafer carrying device according to the third preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the sub-tray of the wafer carrying device according to the fourth preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a top view of the sub-tray of the wafer carrying device according to the fourth preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view of the sub-tray of the wafer carrying device according to the fourth preferred embodiment of the present invention. Figure 12 is a cross-sectional view along the direction 12-12 of Figure 10 . Figure 13 is a schematic diagram of the daughter disk separation according to the fourth preferred embodiment of the present invention. 14 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the sub-tray of the wafer carrying device according to the fifth preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 15 is a top view of the sub-tray of the wafer carrying device according to the sixth preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 16 is an exploded schematic view of the sub-tray of the wafer carrying device according to the sixth preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 17 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the sub-tray of the wafer carrying device according to the sixth preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 18 is an exploded schematic view of the sub-tray of the wafer carrying device according to the seventh preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 19 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the sub-tray of the wafer carrying device according to the seventh preferred embodiment of the present invention.

1: Wafer carrying device 10:Wafer carrier 12: Main disk 122:First upper surface 14: Container 142:Trough wall 144:Open the top 20: Shoulder 22:Sub plate 222: Bearing tank 24:Main part 26: Peripheral part 262:Second upper surface

Claims (11)

A wafer carrying device includes: a wafer carrying tray, including a main tray and a plurality of sub- trays, wherein: the main tray has a first upper surface, a first lower surface and a plurality of accommodating grooves, each of the accommodating grooves An upper opening is formed on the first upper surface; each sub-tray has a carrying slot for placing wafers, and each sub-tray is placed into each of the receiving slots from the upper opening; wherein, each of the receiving slots The tank wall is closed; wherein, each tank has a main tank section and a primary tank section, the secondary tank section is located above the main tank section and has the upper opening, and between the secondary tank section and the main tank section There is a shoulder portion between the segments; each sub-disk has a main body part and a peripheral part, wherein the main body part has the bearing groove, and the peripheral part is connected to the radial periphery of the main body part; wherein, each sub-disk After the disk is placed in each of the receptacles, the main body of each sub-disk is located in the main groove section of each receptacle, each of the peripheral portions is located in each of the secondary groove sections, and the bottom of each of the peripheral portions is against each of the shoulders. department. The wafer carrying device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the peripheral portion of each sub-disk surrounds the main body portion. The wafer carrying device of claim 1, wherein the main disk and the sub-disks are made of the same material. The wafer carrying device according to claim 1, wherein the peripheral portion of each sub-disk has a second upper surface. After each sub-disk is placed in each of the receiving slots, the position of each second upper surface is no higher than the position of the first upper surface. A wafer carrying device includes: a wafer carrying tray, including a main tray and a plurality of sub- trays, wherein: The main tray has a first upper surface, a first lower surface and a plurality of receiving slots, each of which is formed with an upper opening on the first upper surface; each of the sub-disks has a bearing slot for placement. Wafers are placed into each sub-trough from the upper opening; wherein each container has a main tank section and a primary tank section, and the secondary tank section is located above the main tank section and has the upper tank section. opening, and has a shoulder portion between the secondary groove section and the main groove section; each sub-disk has a main body part and a peripheral part, wherein the main body part has the load-bearing groove, and the peripheral part is connected to the The radial periphery of the main body portion; wherein, after each sub-disk is placed in each of the receiving grooves, the main body portion of each sub-disk is located in the main groove section of each receiving groove, and each peripheral portion is located in each secondary groove section and The bottom of each peripheral portion abuts each shoulder portion; wherein each receiving groove is formed with a lower opening on the first lower surface; the main body portion of each sub-disk has a second lower surface, and each second lower surface The surface should not protrude from each opening. The wafer carrying device as claimed in claim 5 includes a removal jig, the removal jig has a plurality of bumps, and the bumps respectively correspond to the lower openings; the wafer carrier is placed on the transfer jig. In addition to the fixture, and the bumps are respectively against the second lower surface of the main body of the sub-disks, at least a part of each sub-disk is pushed out of the upper opening of each of the grooves. A wafer carrying device includes: a wafer carrying tray, including a main tray and a plurality of sub- trays, wherein: the main tray has a first upper surface, a first lower surface and a plurality of accommodating grooves, each of the accommodating grooves An upper opening is formed on the first upper surface; each sub-tray has a carrying slot for placing wafers, and each sub-tray is placed into each of the receiving slots from the upper opening; wherein, each of the receiving slots It has a main groove section and a primary groove section, the secondary groove section is located above the main groove section and has the upper opening, and there is a shoulder between the secondary groove section and the primary groove section; Each sub-disk has a main body part and a peripheral part, wherein the main body part has the bearing groove, and the peripheral part is connected to the radial periphery of the main body part; wherein, after each sub-disk is placed in each of the receiving grooves, The main body part of each sub-disk is located in the main groove section of each accommodation groove, each peripheral part is located in each secondary groove section, and the bottom of each peripheral part is against each shoulder part; wherein, each sub-disk is It is composed of at least two disks that are detachably spliced together, and each disk has a part of the main body part and a part of the peripheral part respectively. The wafer carrying device of claim 7, wherein the at least two disk bodies of each sub-disk respectively have a first connecting part and a second connecting part facing each other, and the first connecting part and the second connecting part At least one seam is formed between the joint parts, and a part of the at least one seam is located at the bottom of the main body part. The wafer carrying device of claim 8, wherein the first connecting portion of each sub-disk has a first connecting surface at the bottom of the main body, and the second connecting portion has a first connecting portion at the bottom of the main body. Two joint surfaces; the first joint surface and the second joint surface are respectively inclined surfaces. The wafer carrying device of claim 9, wherein the disk with the first interface has a lower surface, and an angle between the lower surface and the first interface is between 30 and 60 degrees or between 120 and 150 degrees. . The wafer carrying device according to claim 8, wherein the at least two disks include a first disk and a second disk, the first disk has a first wall surface and a first groove surface, and the third disk body has a first wall surface and a first groove surface. The two disks have a second wall surface and a second groove surface. The first wall surface and the second wall surface constitute the groove wall of the bearing groove. The first groove surface and the second groove surface constitute the groove surface of the bearing groove. ; Along an axial direction of the groove surface of the load-bearing groove, there is a maximum distance between the first groove wall and the second groove wall, and in the axial direction, the second groove wall to the top of the second interface There is a length between them, the length being no more than one quarter of the maximum distance.

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