TWM491249U - Flow field former - Google Patents

Description

Flow field shaper 【0001】

This creation is about a flow field shaper, especially for semiconductor process equipment.

【0002】

In recent years, semiconductor manufacturing processes have mostly been carried out in a high-cleanness space. However, in the process of semiconductor manufacturing, wafer handling is sometimes required, and it is obviously costly to make the entire plant in a high-clean environment. In order to reduce the maintenance cost of the clean room space, containers for wafer loading have been used in advanced semiconductor manufacturing plants, such as Front Opening Unified Pod (FOUP) for wafers. Stored in a high-clean, dust-free container, allowing the wafer to be transferred to other processing units while maintaining a high cleanliness environment.

[0003]

The front open wafer cassette has a main body which is usually an open box and has a cover for sealing the opening; the main body includes a supporter for accommodating a plurality of wafers, when the wafer is discharged On the shelf, the wafers are parallel to each other and the wafer enters and exits the container through the opening.

[0004]

Generally, when using the front open wafer cassette, it will be filled with dry nitrogen or compressed dry air, or similar gas to enter the front open wafer cassette to eliminate moisture, particulate, oxygen or other gaseous molecular pollution in the front open wafer cassette. In order to form a positive pressure inside the front open wafer cassette, the current open wafer cassette can prevent the external gas of the front open cassette from entering the front open wafer cassette when the cover is opened by the load port (Load Port). Internally contaminating the wafer; however, when the wafer in the container needs to be removed and placed in other processing devices, the front open wafer cassette needs to remain connected to the load machine, and contaminants may enter the front opening crystal at this time. In the round box, the wafer is polluted. For example, oxygen entering the container may form an oxide film on the surface of the wafer. Such an oxide film may affect the purity of the manufacturing environment, thereby affecting the quality of the wafer.

[0005]

In response to the above problems, the author believes that there is a need to configure a flow field shaper on the load machine to further isolate the probability of air-contaminated wafers to avoid contamination of the wafers in the front-opening cassette.

[0006]

According to the above object, the present invention proposes a flow field shaping device which can be connected to an opening of a semiconductor process device and an internal environment to a process chamber for generating a gas barrier so that the inside of the FOUP is not affected by the outside air. Maintain a low relative humidity within the FOUP.

【0007】

The flow field shaper of the present invention is connected to the opening of the process chamber in the semiconductor process equipment and the internal environment, so when the inside of the semiconductor device is connected with other devices, impurities and air do not enter the interior of the FOUP via other devices. .

[0008]

In accordance with the above objectives, the present application proposes a flow field shaper comprising: a first outer casing having an inner surface and an outer surface opposite the inner surface, the inner surface having a plurality of locks extending from the inner surface to the outer surface a solid hole, the inner surface further has a groove, the groove is located below the locking hole, and the groove has a plurality of air holes penetrating to the outer surface; a second outer casing has an inner surface and an outer surface opposite to the inner surface The inner surface has a plurality of locking holes extending from the inner surface to the outer surface, the inner surface further has a groove and a rectifying groove, the groove is located below the locking hole, and the rectifying groove is located below the groove, wherein The inner surface of the second outer casing is opposite to the inner surface of the first outer casing, and each of the locking holes of the second outer casing corresponds to one of the locking holes of the first outer casing, and the groove of the second outer casing is a recess corresponding to the first outer casing; and a bracket between the first outer casing and the second outer casing, and respectively connected to the inner surface of the first outer casing and the inner surface of the second outer casing, and the bracket has a plurality of perforations , each perforation and the first One of the locking holes of the casing and one of the locking holes of the second casing; wherein the bracket forms a gap between the first casing and the second casing, the width of the gap being the same as the thickness of the bracket .

[0015]

12‧‧‧ first shell
120‧‧‧ inner surface
122‧‧‧ outer surface
124‧‧‧ Groove
126‧‧‧Lock hole
128‧‧‧ stomata
14‧‧‧ second casing
140‧‧‧ inner surface
142‧‧‧ outer surface
144‧‧‧ Groove
146‧‧‧Lock hole
148‧‧ ‧ rectification tank
16‧‧‧ bracket
160‧‧‧Perforation
168‧‧‧ gap
2‧‧‧Flow Field Shaper

【0009】

Figure 1A is a schematic diagram of the explosion of the flow field shaper of the present invention;
1B is a schematic view of a second outer casing of the present flow field shaping device;
Figure 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the creation flow field shaper.

[0010]

This creation is about a flow field shaper and can be used in the semiconductor manufacturing process, but the semiconductor process is not the focus of this creation, so it will not be described in detail; at the same time, the illustration of this creation is used to describe the creation. Features do not need to be presented in real proportions.

[0011]

Please refer to FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B. FIG. 1A is a schematic diagram of the explosion of the flow field shaping device of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram of the second outer casing of the creation flow field shaping device. As shown in FIG. 1A, the flow field shaper 2 of the present invention includes a first outer casing 12, a second outer casing 14, and a bracket 16; wherein the first outer casing 12 has an inner surface 120 and an inner surface 120 opposite outer surface 122, and a plurality of locking holes 126 are penetrated from the inner surface 120 to the outer surface 122. The inner surface 120 further has a recess 124. The recess 124 is below the locking hole 126 and the recess 124 is located. The area is not overlapped with the area where the locking hole 126 is located, and the groove 124 further has at least one air hole 128 extending from the groove 124 to the outer surface 122; as shown in FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B, The outer casing 14 has an inner surface 140 and an outer surface 142 opposite the inner surface 140, and the inner surface 140 is opposite the inner surface 122 of the first outer casing 12. The inner surface 140 has a plurality of locking holes 146 from the inner surface 140. Throughout the outer surface 142, and the locking holes 146 correspond to the locking holes 126 of the first outer casing 12, the inner surface 140 further has a recess 144, the recess 144 is below the locking hole 146 and the recess 144 is located The area does not overlap with the area where the locking hole 126 is located; For example, the outer shape of the first outer casing 12 and the second outer casing 14 are symmetrical; in addition, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a rectifying groove 148 may be further provided on the inner surface of the second outer casing 14 in a concave manner. Below the slot 144; the bracket 16 is a sheet having a plurality of perforations 160 therein, the perforations 160 being located corresponding to the locking holes 126 of the first outer casing 12 and the locking holes 146 of the second outer casing 14, in the present creation In one embodiment, the bracket 16 is U-shaped, so that when the bracket 16 is in contact with the inner surface 120 of the first outer casing 12 and the inner surface 140 of the second outer casing 14, the bracket 16 does not cover the recesses 124, 144. Only the area where the locking holes 126, 146 are located may be covered; in addition, in the present invention, the material of the first outer casing 12, the second outer casing 14 and the bracket 16 may be one of stainless steel or aluminum.

[0012]

Please also refer to FIG. 1A and FIG. 2, wherein FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the flow field shaping device of the present invention. When the first outer casing 12, the second outer casing 14, and the bracket 16 of FIG. 1A are combined into the flow field shaper 2, the cross-sectional view of the flow field shaper 2 will be as shown in FIG. 2, and the bracket 16 is located in the first outer casing 12. And the second outer casing 14, and the bracket 16 is respectively in contact with the inner surface 120 of the first outer casing 12 and the inner surface 140 of the second outer casing 14, the bracket 16 such that the lower edges of the first outer casing 12 and the second outer casing 14 A gap 168 is formed therebetween; obviously, since the bracket 16 can be precisely machined so that the flatness of the overall thickness of the bracket 16 is uniform, the present invention can control the width of the gap 168 to be the same as the thickness of the bracket 16, the gap 168 and The rectifying grooves 148 are in communication, so that the flow field shaper 2 can control the gap 168 of the flow field shaper 2 by the number of stacks of the brackets 16 according to different needs. It will be apparent that the present invention can determine the width of the gap 168 by varying the thickness of the bracket 16. Each of the locking holes 126 of the first outer casing 12 and one of each of the locking holes 146 of the second outer casing 14 and one of each of the perforations 160 of the bracket 16 can correspond to each other, so that a plurality of screws can be used. The first outer casing 12, the second outer casing 14 and the bracket 16 are fixed to each of the locking holes 126 of the first outer casing 12, each of the locking holes 146 of the second outer casing 14, and each of the perforations 160 of the bracket 16. Together, the groove 124 of the first outer casing 12 and the groove 144 of the second outer casing 14 will correspond to each other and communicate; obviously, the space through which the groove 124 and the groove 144 communicate will also communicate with the gap 168; In the case of the device 2, the gas is made to pass through the air hole 128 into the space formed by the groove 124 and the groove 144. Then, the gas will flow out through the gap 168 to form a gas barrier, wherein the rectifying groove 148 can make the gas barrier more uniform; In addition, when the width of the gap 168 is 9.5 mm, 25 mm, 32 mm, 84 mm, and 89 mm, respectively, the effective distances of the gas screens are 51 mm, 102 mm, 152 mm, 305 mm, and 457 mm, respectively. According to the above description, a preferred embodiment of the present invention is to make the thickness of the bracket 16 proportional to the length and width of the rectifying groove 148; for example, when the thickness of the bracket 16 is 0.05 mm, the length of the rectifying groove 148 may be 1 mm~ 900mm, and the width can be 0.02mm~3mm, which can make the gas barrier more uniform. Further, the thickness of the bracket 16 and the length ratio of the rectifying groove 148 can be 1:20~1:18000, and the thickness and rectification of the bracket 16 The width ratio of the groove 148 may be 1:0.4 to 1:60, and the thickness of the bracket 16 may be 0.05 mm to 3 mm.

[0013]

The flow field shaper 2 provided by the present invention can be installed on a load machine of the device wafer container. In a preferred implementation state, the flow field shaper 2 is inside the load machine and the external environment. The communication port formed by the flow field shaper 2 can block the connection between the load machine and the outside, so that the interior of the load machine can maintain high cleanliness; in addition, when the load port of the load machine is connected with the front open crystal When the round box is connected, the gas barrier created by the flow field shaper 2 also prevents impurities or air from entering the micro-environment device branch.

[0014]

In summary, the present invention has been described in detail through the above embodiments and variations. However, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that all the embodiments of the present invention are merely exemplary and not limiting, that is, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Other variations and modifications of the sample adjustment controller and its method of manufacture are covered by this work, which is defined by the scope of the appended patent application.

12‧‧‧ first shell

120‧‧‧ inner surface

122‧‧‧ outer surface

124‧‧‧ Groove

126‧‧‧Lock hole

128‧‧‧ stomata

14‧‧‧ second casing

140‧‧‧ inner surface

142‧‧‧ outer surface

144‧‧‧ Groove

146‧‧‧Lock hole

16‧‧‧ bracket

160‧‧‧Perforation

2‧‧‧Flow Field Shaper

Claims (7)

[Item 1] A flow field shaper comprising:
a first outer casing having an inner surface and an outer surface opposite the inner surface, the inner surface having a plurality of locking holes extending from the inner surface to the outer surface, the inner surface further having a groove, the concave The groove is located below the locking holes, and the groove has a plurality of air holes penetrating the outer surface;
a second outer casing having an inner surface and an outer surface opposite the inner surface, the inner surface having a plurality of locking holes extending from the inner surface to the outer surface, the inner surface further having a groove and a rectification a groove, the groove is located below the locking holes, the rectifying groove is located below the groove, wherein the inner surface of the second outer casing is opposite to the inner surface of the first outer casing, and the first Each of the locking holes of the two outer casings corresponds to one of the locking holes of the first outer casing, the groove of the second outer casing is corresponding to the groove of the first outer casing; And a bracket between the first outer casing and the second outer casing, and respectively connected to the inner surface of the first outer casing and the inner surface of the second outer casing, the bracket has a plurality of perforations, each One of the perforations corresponds to one of the locking holes of the first outer casing and one of the locking holes of the second outer casing;
The bracket forms a gap between the first outer casing and the second outer casing, and the gap has the same width as the bracket. [Item 2] The flow field shaper of claim 1, wherein the flow field shaper further has a plurality of screws while passing through the locking holes of the first outer casing, the perforations of the bracket, and The locking holes of the second outer casing to lock the first outer casing, the bracket and the second outer casing. [Item 3] The flow field shaper of claim 1, wherein the flow field shaper passes a gas into the air holes, and the gas further flows out of the gap to form a gas barrier. [Item 4] The flow field shaper according to claim 1, wherein the first outer casing, the second outer casing and the bracket are made of one of aluminum and stainless steel. [Item 5] The flow field shaper according to claim 1, wherein the ratio of the thickness of the bracket to the length of the rectifying groove ranges from 1:20 to 1:18000. [Item 6] The flow field shaper according to claim 1, wherein the ratio of the thickness of the bracket to the width of the rectifying groove is 1:0.4 to 1:60. [Item 7] The flow field shaper according to claim 1, wherein the holder has a thickness of 0.05 mm to 3 mm.