Semiconductor workpiece box detection device and detection method

Abstract

The invention relates to a semiconductor workpiece box detection device and a detection method. Comprising a first carrying table used for placing a box body in an opening abutting mode, and abutting between the first carrying table and an opening of a containing cavity can form sealed connection; the blowing assembly is arranged on the first carrying table, can be inserted into the containing cavity through the opening and is used for blowing gas to the inner wall of the box body; the gas conveying mechanism comprises a gas supply pipe connected with the blowing assembly, a first valve arranged on the gas supply pipe, a gas extraction pipe communicated with the accommodating cavity, a second valve arranged on the gas extraction pipe, an intercommunicating pipe communicated with the gas supply pipe and the gas extraction pipe, and a third valve arranged on the intercommunicating pipe; the first valve and the second valve are arranged between the intercommunicating pipe and the blowing assembly; and the detection mechanism is used for carrying out environment detection on the gas in the exhaust pipe. According to the technical scheme, the accuracy of environment detection is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of semiconductor manufacturing, and in particular to a semiconductor workpiece box detection device and detection method. Background Art

[0002] With the continuous development of semiconductor process technology, wafer boxes, as containers for wafers, must maintain high purity and low particle contamination during the manufacturing process to reduce the risk of wafer contamination and improve wafer processing quality.

[0003] Existing particle detection technology after wafer box cleaning has some limitations, which affects the accuracy of detection. Summary of the invention

[0004] In view of this, the present application provides a semiconductor workpiece box detection device and detection method to solve at least one problem existing in the background technology.

[0005] To achieve the above purpose, the technical solution of this application is implemented as follows:

[0006] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a semiconductor workpiece box detection device for performing environmental detection on a semiconductor workpiece box, wherein the semiconductor workpiece box comprises a box body and a cover body, wherein the box body has a receiving cavity and an opening connected to one end of the receiving cavity, and the cover body can cover the opening to close the box body; the semiconductor workpiece box detection device comprises a detection station, and the detection station comprises:

[0007] A first carrier, for placing the box body with its opening abutting against it, wherein the abutment between the first carrier and the opening of the accommodating cavity can form a sealed connection;

[0008] a blowing assembly, mounted on the first carrier, capable of being inserted into the accommodating cavity through the opening, and used for blowing gas toward the inner wall of the box body;

[0009] A gas delivery mechanism, comprising an air supply pipe connected to the blowing assembly and a first valve arranged on the air supply pipe, an air extraction pipe connected to the accommodating chamber and a second valve arranged on the air extraction pipe, and an interconnecting pipe connecting the air supply pipe and the air extraction pipe and a third valve arranged on the interconnecting pipe, wherein the first valve and the second valve are arranged between the blowing assembly; a detection mechanism, for performing environmental detection on the gas in the air extraction pipe.

[0010] Optionally, the spray assembly is provided with a plurality of nozzles, and each inner wall of the box body is covered by a spraying area of ​​at least one of the nozzles.

[0011] Optionally, the spray assembly includes a first bracket, which includes interconnected columns and beams; the nozzles are provided on the columns and the beams, and are respectively facing the top wall and the side wall of one side of the box body; the first bracket can rotate along the circumference of the box body so that the spray airflow covers each side wall of the box body.

[0012] Optionally, the spray assembly includes a second bracket, which includes a plurality of columns and a plurality of beams; the nozzles are provided on the columns and the beams and face the side walls and top wall of the box body respectively; the number of the columns corresponds to the number of the side walls.

[0013] Optionally, the first carrier includes a table top and a retaining ring protruding from the table top and forming a circle, and the box body is placed with its open opening abutting against the retaining ring.

[0014] Optionally, the semiconductor workpiece box detection device further includes:

[0015] The unlocking station is used to separate the cover of the semiconductor workpiece box from the box body; the unlocking station and the detection station are arranged along the first direction, and the unlocking station and the detection station have the same width.

[0016] Optionally, the unlocking station includes a second platform, which is arranged adjacent to and vertically connected to the first platform.

[0017] Optionally, the unlocking station includes a second carrier, there is a distance between the first carrier and the second carrier, and the plane where the first carrier is located is parallel to the plane where the second carrier is located; the semiconductor workpiece box detection device also includes:

[0018] A guide rail, located between the first platform and the second platform;

[0019] A workpiece pallet can move on the guide rail so that the box body moves between the unlocking station and the detection station; the workpiece pallet includes a sliding member that cooperates with the guide rail.

[0020] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a semiconductor workpiece box detection method, comprising:

[0021] Placing the semiconductor workpiece box on an unlocking station, and separating the cover body from the box body through the unlocking station;

[0022] The box body is removed from the unlocking station, and is placed on the inspection station, so that the open end of the box body accommodating cavity abuts against the table surface, the blowing assembly is located in the box body accommodating cavity, and the air supply pipe and the air exhaust pipe are connected to the accommodating cavity;

[0023] The detection mechanism is started to perform environmental detection on the gas in the exhaust pipe; when or before the detection mechanism is started, the spraying component is started to spray for a preset time.

[0024] Optionally, before performing environmental detection on the gas in the box body, the detection method further includes:

[0025] Close the first valve and the second valve, open the third valve, and connect the air supply pipe to the air extraction pipe;

[0026] Start the detection mechanism to perform environmental detection on the gas passing through the gas supply pipe and the gas exhaust pipe; and / or

[0027] Close the third valve, open the first valve and the second valve, and connect the air extraction pipe and the air supply pipe to the cavity of the cover body;

[0028] The detection mechanism is started to perform environmental detection on the gas in the cavity of the cover body.

[0029] The semiconductor workpiece box detection device and detection method provided by the embodiment of the present application include: a first carrier for placing the box body with an open abutment, and the abutment between the first carrier and the open of the accommodating cavity can form a sealed connection; a spray assembly installed on the first carrier, which can be inserted into the accommodating cavity through the open and is used to spray gas to the inner wall of the box body; a gas delivery mechanism, including a gas supply pipe connected to the spray assembly and a first valve arranged on the gas supply pipe, an exhaust pipe connected to the accommodating cavity and a second valve arranged on the exhaust pipe, and an interconnecting pipe connecting the gas supply pipe and the exhaust pipe and a third valve arranged on the interconnecting pipe, and the first valve and the second valve are arranged between the interconnecting pipe and the spray assembly; a detection mechanism, which is used to perform environmental detection on the gas in the exhaust pipe. It can be seen that the semiconductor workpiece box detection device and detection method of the embodiment of the present application, by setting the nozzle for stripping the particles on the inner wall of the semiconductor workpiece box into the accommodating cavity of the semiconductor workpiece box, can strip more particles on the inner wall of the semiconductor workpiece box, thereby improving the accuracy of environmental detection. Furthermore, by controlling the on and off of the first valve, the second valve, and the third valve in coordination with the spray assembly and the detection mechanism, it is possible to perform environmental detection on the air supply pipe and the air extraction pipe before detecting the semiconductor workpiece box, thereby reducing the contamination of the semiconductor workpiece box by the air supply pipe and the air extraction pipe and reducing the detection error. Therefore, the semiconductor workpiece box detection device and detection method of the embodiment of the present application improve the accuracy of environmental detection.

[0030] Additional aspects and advantages of the present application will be given in part in the description below, and in part will become apparent from the description below, or will be learned through the practice of the present application. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0031] The drawings described herein are used to provide a further understanding of the present application and constitute a part of the present application. The illustrative embodiments of the present application and their descriptions are used to explain the present application and do not constitute an improper limitation on the present application. In the drawings:

[0032] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a semiconductor workpiece box;

[0033] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a semiconductor workpiece box detection device provided in a first embodiment of the present application;

[0034] Figure 3 for Figure 1 Orthographic projection diagram of ;

[0035] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of a detection station and an unlocking station in a semiconductor workpiece box detection device provided in the first embodiment of the present application;

[0036] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of a first embodiment of a blowing assembly in a semiconductor workpiece box detection device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0037] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of a second embodiment of a blowing assembly in a semiconductor workpiece box detection device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0038] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of a semiconductor workpiece box detection device provided in a second embodiment of the present application;

[0039] Figure 8 for Figure 7 Orthographic projection diagram of ;

[0040] Fig. 9 A schematic diagram of a detection station and an unlocking station in a semiconductor workpiece box detection device provided in a second embodiment of the present application;

[0041] Fig.10 A schematic flow chart of a semiconductor workpiece box detection method provided in the third embodiment of the present application.

[0042] Description of reference numerals:

[0043] 10. Semiconductor workpiece box; 11. Box body; 12. Cover body; 20. Inspection station; 21. First carrier; 211. Table; 213. Air outlet; 214. Retaining ring; 22. Spray assembly; 221. Nozzle; 222. First bracket; 223. Second bracket; 231. Air supply pipe; 232. First valve; 241. Exhaust pipe; 242. Second valve; 251. Intercommunication pipe; 252. Third valve; 26. Cover body; 30. Unlocking station; 31. Second carrier; 40. Guide rail; 50. Workpiece pallet; 60. Robot; 70. Inspection room; 80. Fan filter unit. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0044] In order to make the technical solutions and beneficial effects of the present application more obvious and easy to understand, the following is a detailed description by listing specific embodiments. The drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, and local features may be enlarged or reduced to more clearly show the details of the local features; unless otherwise defined, the technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meanings as those in the technical field to which the present application belongs.

[0045] In the description of the present application, terms such as "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "length", "width", "thickness", "height", "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inside", "outside", "clockwise", "counterclockwise" and the like indicating orientations or positional relationships are based on the orientations or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings and are only for the convenience of simplified description of the present application, and do not indicate that the referred device or element must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and should not be understood as a limitation on the present application.

[0046] In this application, the terms "first" and "second" are used only for the purpose of clear description and should not be understood as the relative importance of the indicated features or the number of the indicated technical features. Therefore, the features defined as "first" and "second" can explicitly include at least one of the features. In the description of this application, "multiple" means at least two, such as two, three, etc.; "several" means at least one, such as one, two, three, etc., unless otherwise clearly and specifically defined.

[0047] In this application, unless otherwise clearly defined, the terms "install", "connect", "connect", "fix", "set", etc. should be understood in a broad sense. For example, "connection" can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can be a direct connection, or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium, or it can be the internal connection of two elements or the interaction relationship between two elements. For ordinary technicians in this field, the specific meanings of the above terms in this application can be understood according to specific circumstances.

[0048] In the present application, unless otherwise clearly defined, a first feature being “on”, “above”, “above”, “below”, “below”, “below” or “below” a second feature may mean that the first feature is in direct contact with the second feature, or the first feature and the second feature are in indirect contact with each other through an intermediate medium. Moreover, a first feature being “on”, “above” or “above” a second feature may mean that the first feature is directly above or obliquely above the second feature, or simply means that the horizontal height of the first feature is higher than the horizontal height of the second feature. A first feature being “below”, “below” or “below” a second feature may mean that the first feature is directly below or obliquely below the second feature, or simply means that the horizontal height of the first feature is lower than the horizontal height of the second feature.

[0049] In order to thoroughly understand the present application, detailed steps and detailed structures will be presented in the following description to illustrate the technical solution of the present application. The preferred embodiments of the present application are described in detail below, but in addition to these detailed descriptions, the present application may also have other implementation methods.

[0050] The applicant of this application discovered during research and development that the cleanliness of the wafer box can be improved by cleaning. However, there is a possibility that the cleaning effect is not good, resulting in insufficient cleanliness of the wafer box, or the cleaned wafer box is contaminated by particulate matter in the air during transportation, resulting in insufficient cleanliness of the wafer box. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct environmental testing including the number of particulate matter on the cleaned wafer box, and the wafer boxes that pass the test will be unloaded, and the unqualified wafer boxes will be cleaned repeatedly.

[0051] The existing environmental detection of wafer boxes is not accurate enough due to unreasonable detection methods and structural settings. Among them, the environmental detection of wafer boxes includes the detection of the number of particles in the wafer box, AMC (Airborne Molecular Contamination, gaseous molecular contaminants) detection, etc. In this embodiment, the environmental detection of the wafer box is the detection of the number of particles.

[0052] The applicant of this application has found that the problems existing in the current detection method include:

[0053] 1) Two openings are set on one side wall of the wafer box. The two openings serve as air inlet and air extraction holes respectively, and are connected to the air inlet device and the air extraction device respectively to detect the number of particles in the wafer box. However, due to the small apertures of the air inlet and the air extraction holes, the speed and pressure of the air inlet device when it enters the wafer box through the air inlet are limited. The small air flow speed and pressure make it impossible to separate the particles adhering to the inner wall of the wafer box from the wafer box, so that they cannot leave the wafer box through the air extraction hole and be detected, which reduces the detection accuracy.

[0054] 2) Filter structures are set at the air inlet and air extraction holes to prevent particles in the air from entering the wafer box from the air inlet and air extraction holes. Due to the existence of the filter structure, the airflow in and out of the wafer box is blocked by the filter structure, which affects the speed and pressure of the airflow on the one hand, and the speed and pressure of the airflow out of the air extraction hole on the other hand. Both of these effects will reduce the accuracy of the detection.

[0055] 3) The detection device itself is also adhered to particles. The number of particles detected in the wafer box finally includes not only the particles in the wafer box, but also the particles in the detection device itself, which affects the detection accuracy.

[0056] Therefore, after discovering the above technical problems, the applicant studied methods to solve the above technical problems and proposed the following technical solutions.

[0057] The present application embodiment provides a semiconductor workpiece box 10 detection device for performing environmental detection on the semiconductor workpiece box 10. Figure 1 The semiconductor workpiece box 10 includes a box body 11 and a cover body 12, wherein the box body 11 has a receiving cavity and an opening connected to one end of the receiving cavity, and the cover body 12 can cover the opening to close the box body 11; the semiconductor workpiece box 10 detection device includes a detection station 20, reference Figure 2-Figure 5 , the detection station 20 comprises:

[0058] A first carrier 21 is used for placing the box body 11 with its opening abutting against it, and the abutment between the first carrier 21 and the opening of the accommodating cavity can form a sealed connection;

[0059] A blowing assembly 22, mounted on the first carrier 21, can be inserted into the accommodating cavity through the opening, and is used to blow gas toward the inner wall of the box body 11;

[0060] The gas delivery mechanism includes a gas supply pipe 231 connected to the blowing assembly 22 and a first valve 232 arranged on the gas supply pipe 231, an air extraction pipe 241 communicating with the accommodating chamber and a second valve 242 arranged on the air extraction pipe 241, and an interconnecting pipe 251 communicating with the gas supply pipe 231 and the air extraction pipe 241 and a third valve 252 arranged on the interconnecting pipe 251, and the first valve 232 and the second valve 242 are arranged between the interconnecting pipe 251 and the blowing assembly 22;

[0061] The detection mechanism is used to perform environmental detection on the gas in the exhaust pipe 241. It can be understood that in actual production, the semiconductor workpiece box 10 is widely used as a wafer box, so the following mainly takes the wafer box as an example for introduction. It can be understood that other semiconductor workpiece boxes 10 are also applicable. In the following description, no distinction is made between semiconductor workpiece boxes and wafer boxes. It can be understood that what is expressed as a wafer box can also be used for a semiconductor workpiece box.

[0062] It can be understood that the inspection station 20 can be understood as a location or area for performing environmental inspection, and the platform, equipment, tools and raw materials required for the inspection can be set at the station, which will not be described in detail.

[0063] For easier understanding, in this embodiment, it is assumed that the inspection station 20 is placed in the most common way, that is, the table 211 of the first stage 21 is placed horizontally. It can be understood that the table 211 of the first stage 21 can also be placed in other directions, and the equipment, tools and raw materials on the station can be adjusted accordingly.

[0064] It can be understood that the box body 11 is placed with the opening abutting, that is, the box body 11 is placed upside down, so that the opening abuts the first carrier 21 to achieve a sealing effect. Due to the upside-down placement, the inner wall of the box body 11 is divided into a side wall and a top wall. Since the box body 11 is placed upside down, the spray assembly 22 set on the first carrier 21 enters the accommodating cavity of the box body 11 in the upside-down state. Compared with the air inlet of the prior art, the spray assembly 22 has been improved in terms of spray coverage area, air flow velocity and pressure.

[0065] It should be noted that the exhaust pipe 241 can be connected to the accommodating cavity of the inverted box body 11 through the through hole opened in the first carrier 21. Compared with the exhaust holes in the prior art, the through hole opened in the first carrier 21 is used as an exhaust hole, and the aperture can be set to be relatively large. Therefore, the speed and pressure of the extracted air flow are improved, and the gas containing particulate matter can be effectively extracted from the semiconductor workpiece box 10. In addition, the exhaust hole is fixed on the first carrier 21 and connected to the exhaust equipment, and there is no need to set a filtering structure, so there is no problem of the filtering structure affecting the speed and pressure of the air flow. The through hole is Figure 6 The middle mark is the air outlet 213.

[0066] The semiconductor workpiece box 10 detection device and detection method of the embodiment of the present application can peel off more particles on the inner wall of the semiconductor workpiece box 10 by setting the nozzle 221 for peeling off particles on the inner wall of the semiconductor workpiece box 10 into the accommodating cavity of the semiconductor workpiece box 10, thereby improving the accuracy of environmental detection.

[0067] Furthermore, in the embodiment of the present application, by controlling the on and off of the first valve 232, the second valve 242 and the third valve 252 in cooperation with the spray assembly 22 and the detection mechanism, it is possible to perform environmental detection on the air supply pipe 231 and the air extraction pipe 241 before detecting the semiconductor workpiece box 10, thereby reducing the contamination of the air supply pipe 231 and the air extraction pipe 241 to the semiconductor workpiece box 10 and reducing the detection error, further improving the accuracy of the detection.

[0068] It should be noted that the interconnecting pipe 251 is arranged close to the spray assembly 22, so that the first valve 232 and the second valve 242 are arranged closer to the spray assembly 22, thereby reducing the error effect of the pipeline between the first valve 232, the second valve 242 and the spray assembly 22 on the detection result. In this embodiment, the distance between the interconnecting pipe 251 and the first carrier is set to 2cm-5cm to meet the installation of the first valve 232 and the second valve 242. This distance is short, and the number of particles therein can be ignored during detection.

[0069] Furthermore, the detection device also includes a cover body 26 disposed on the detection station. The bottom opening of the cover body 26 is placed upside down on the first carrier 21 and is sealed and connected to the first carrier 21. The cover body 26 has a cover body cavity and an opening located above, and the opening can be opened or closed so that the cover body cavity is connected to the opening or the cover body cavity is sealed. By providing the cover body 26, on the one hand, it is possible to prevent external particles from adhering to the spray assembly 22, and on the other hand, by first detecting the cover body cavity and the spray assembly 22 in the cover body cavity before performing environmental detection on the wafer box, the error of the wafer box environmental detection can be reduced.

[0070] It can be understood that when the wafer box is inspected, the wafer box is placed into the cavity of the cover through the opening so that the accommodating cavity of the wafer box is connected to the blowing assembly 22 to inspect the wafer box.

[0071] In other embodiments of the present application, reference Figure 5 and Figure 6 The spray assembly 22 is provided with a plurality of nozzles 221 , and each inner wall of the box body 11 is covered by a spray area of ​​one nozzle 221 or by a spray area composed of a plurality of nozzles 221 .

[0072] That is, a plurality of nozzles 221 are arranged, and the spraying areas of each nozzle 221 are staggered with each other, so that each area of ​​each inner wall can be sprayed. If the spraying area of ​​a nozzle 221 is large enough, one nozzle 221 may cover all areas of an inner wall. Otherwise, a plurality of nozzles 221 may spray together, and the total coverage area of ​​the plurality of nozzles 221 may cover all areas of an inner wall.

[0073] The spraying areas of each of the nozzles 221 are staggered with each other and may be partially overlapped, so that the inner walls of the box body 11 are not missed.

[0074] In other embodiments of the present application, reference Figure 5 The spray assembly 22 includes a first bracket 222, and the first bracket 222 includes interconnected columns and beams; the nozzles 221 are provided on the columns and the beams, and are respectively facing the top wall and the side wall of the box body 11; the first bracket 222 can rotate along the circumference of the box body 11 so that the spray airflow covers each side wall of the box body 11.

[0075] The above is the first embodiment of the blowing assembly.

[0076] Since the box body 11 has a top wall in addition to the side walls, the first bracket 222 includes a column and a beam. The nozzles 221 arranged on the column correspond to the side walls, and the nozzles 221 on the beam correspond to the top wall.

[0077] Specifically, the circumferential rotation of the first bracket 222 may be uniform rotation. In this way, the circumferential airflow spraying is uniform and can also cover the entire circumferential sidewall area.

[0078] Furthermore, the circumferential rotation of the first bracket 222 may also be a non-uniform rotation, for example, the speed may be relatively slow at the corner where the two side walls meet.

[0079] In other embodiments of the present application, reference Figure 6 The spray assembly 22 includes a second bracket 223, and the second bracket 223 includes a plurality of columns and a plurality of beams; the nozzles 221 are provided on the columns and the beams, and are respectively facing the side walls and the top wall of the box body 11; the number of the columns corresponds to the number of the side walls.

[0080] The above is the second embodiment of the blowing assembly.

[0081] In the case of no rotation, multiple columns and multiple beams can be set, that is, the number of nozzles 221 and the spraying direction are increased to achieve the purpose of covering all inner walls.

[0082] In some other embodiments of the present application, the nozzle 221 includes:

[0083] The first nozzle 221 is installed in a manner of perpendicularly intersecting the column or the beam;

[0084] The second nozzle 221 is installed in a manner of obliquely intersecting with the column or the beam, and the oblique intersection includes: the angle between the second nozzle 221 and the column, or the second nozzle 221 and the beam is between 30° and 60°.

[0085] By vertically intersecting and obliquely intersecting, the inner wall of the box body 11 can be sprayed more comprehensively. For example, by obliquely intersecting, the corner area of ​​the inner wall of the box body 11 can be sprayed better.

[0086] In other embodiments of the present application, reference Figure 6 The first carrier 21 includes a table 211 and a retaining ring 214 protruding from the table 211 and forming a circle, and the box body 11 is placed on the retaining ring 214 with its open end abutting against the retaining ring 214.

[0087] In order to achieve better sealing performance, a retaining ring 214 is provided on the first stage 21. The area of ​​the retaining ring 214 is much smaller than the area of ​​the entire surface of the first stage. The surface treatment that is conducive to sealing can be performed or different materials can be used, such as a smoother treatment or an elastic material. In this way, the cost of surface treatment is also reduced due to the small area, or the use of elastic materials does not affect the overall strength of the entire first stage 21.

[0088] In other embodiments of the present application, reference Figure 4 and Fig. 9 , the semiconductor workpiece box 10 detection device also includes:

[0089] The unlocking station 30 is used to separate the cover 12 of the semiconductor workpiece box 10 from the box body 11 ; the unlocking station 30 and the detection station 20 are arranged along the first direction, and the unlocking station 30 and the detection station 20 have the same width.

[0090] In this way, the structure of the semiconductor workpiece box 10 detection device is made more compact and the occupied area is reduced.

[0091] In other embodiments of the present application, reference Figure 4 The unlocking station 30 includes a second platform 31, and the second platform 31 is arranged adjacent to the first platform 21 and vertically connected to each other.

[0092] Thus, compared with horizontal connection, vertical connection reduces the length of the semiconductor workpiece box 10 detection device in the second direction, making the structure of the semiconductor workpiece box 10 detection device more compact.

[0093] Specifically, the first stage 21 may be placed horizontally, and the second stage 31 may be placed vertically.

[0094] The semiconductor workpiece box detection device provided in the first embodiment of the present application is described above. The semiconductor workpiece box detection device provided in the second embodiment of the present application is described below. It can be understood that the two embodiments are mainly different in the positions of the detection station and the unlocking station, as well as the adaptive structural changes, and the rest can be the same.

[0095] In other embodiments of the present application, reference Fig. 9 The unlocking station 30 includes a second carrier 31, there is a distance between the first carrier 21 and the second carrier 31, and the plane where the first carrier 21 is located is parallel to the plane where the second carrier 31 is located; the semiconductor workpiece box 10 detection device also includes:

[0096] A guide rail 40, located between the first carrier 21 and the second carrier 31;

[0097] The workpiece pallet 50 can move on the guide rail 40 so that the box body 11 moves between the unlocking station 30 and the detection station 20 ; the workpiece pallet 50 includes a sliding member that cooperates with the guide rail 40 .

[0098] It can be understood that the existence of the interval can be a certain interval.

[0099] In this embodiment, the first carrier 21 can be placed vertically, and the second carrier 31 is also placed vertically, and the two are spaced a certain distance apart in the horizontal direction. In this way, after the box body 11 is separated from the unlocking station 30, the manipulator 60 does not need to grab the box body 11 and then turn around to put it into the inspection station 20, which makes the operation faster and does not increase the floor space in the second direction.

[0100] Specifically, the first carrier 21 and the second carrier 31 may also be arranged as follows: the first carrier 21 is on the top and the second carrier 31 is on the bottom, so that when the robot 60 grabs the box body 11, the moving track will not be blocked.

[0101] Since the first carrier 21 is placed vertically, a workpiece tray 50 and a guide rail 40 are provided to make the position of the box body 11 more stable during the detection process. In this way, the robot 60 can put the separated box body 11 into the tray. Then, the tray moves to the detection station 20 under the action of the driving force to achieve a sealed contact with the first carrier 21. Due to the support of the tray, the position of the box body 11 is relatively stable during the detection process.

[0102] In other embodiments of the present application, reference Figure 2 , Figure 3 , Figure 7 and Figure 8The semiconductor workpiece box 10 detection device also includes an inspection room 70, and the inspection station 20 and the unlocking station 30 are both located in the inspection room 70; the inspection room 70 is provided with a fan filter unit 80 (Fan Filter Unit, FFU), and the fan filter unit 80 continuously supplies air toward the inspection station 20 and the unlocking station 30 to ensure a clean environment near the inspection station 20 and the unlocking station 30.

[0103] FFU is a self-powered air supply and filtering device, a modular terminal air supply device with filtering effect. The fan filter unit 80 sucks air from the top and filters it through a high efficiency particulate air filter (HEPA). The filtered clean air is evenly delivered at a speed of about 0.45m / s±20% on the entire air outlet surface. This is conducive to reducing the pollution of the semiconductor workpiece box 10 by the outside air, and preventing particulate matter in the surrounding environment from entering the semiconductor workpiece box 10, resulting in increased detection errors.

[0104] The present application also provides a method for detecting a semiconductor workpiece box 10, referring to Fig.10 , the semiconductor workpiece box 10 detection method includes:

[0105] Step 901: placing a semiconductor workpiece box on an unlocking station, and separating the cover body from the box body through the unlocking station;

[0106] Step 902: removing the box body from the unlocking station and placing the box body on the inspection station, so that the open end of the box body accommodating cavity abuts against the table surface, the blowing assembly is located in the box body accommodating cavity, and the air supply pipe and the air exhaust pipe are connected to the accommodating cavity;

[0107] Step 903: Start the detection mechanism to perform environmental detection on the gas in the box body; when or before starting the detection mechanism, start the blowing component to blow for a preset time.

[0108] It can be understood that the size of the serial number of the above-mentioned processes does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiment of the present application.

[0109] It should be noted that if the blowing assembly 22 is started after the detection mechanism is started, since there is no blowing assembly 22 to separate the particles on the inner wall from the inner wall, the number of particles detected by the detection mechanism will be less than the actual number of particles in the wafer box, which increases the detection error. Therefore, it is necessary to set the detection mechanism and the blowing assembly 22 to start at the same time, or the detection mechanism is slightly later than the blowing assembly 22, for example, 2s-4s later. Specifically, the preset time can be 60s-90s. In this way, by setting a certain blowing time for sufficient blowing, the particles adhering to the inner wall of the box body 11 can be effectively peeled off, so that the gas flowing out of the box body 11 is detected and the total amount of particles in the gas is counted to obtain the detection result.

[0110] Furthermore, setting the detection mechanism and the blowing assembly to work simultaneously, rather than starting the detection mechanism for detection after the blowing assembly has finished working, can prevent the particles peeled off from the inner wall of the box body 11 by the blowing assembly 22 from adhering to or falling on the first carrier again, and the detection result of the number of pollutant particles in the wafer box cannot be guaranteed. In this embodiment, before the semiconductor workpiece box 10 is detected, that is, before executing step 904, the gas in the air supply pipe 231 and the air exhaust pipe 241 can be environmentally tested. In this way, the number of particles in the air supply pipe 231 and the air exhaust pipe 241 can be measured first, thereby improving the accuracy of detecting the number of particles in the wafer box.

[0111] The specific detection steps are: close the first valve 232 and the second valve 242, and open the third valve 252, so that the air supply pipe 231 does not pass through the box body 11, but is directly connected to the exhaust pipe 241 through the interconnecting pipe 251. The environmental data detected by the detection mechanism reflects the amount of particulate matter in the air supply pipe 231 and the exhaust pipe 241.

[0112] In this embodiment, before performing environmental detection on the gas in the box body 11, environmental detection can also be performed on the gas in the cover body 26. In this way, the number of particles attached to the spray assembly can be measured first, further reducing the error in detecting the number of particles in the wafer box.

[0113] The specific detection steps are: close the third valve 252, open the first valve 232 and the second valve 242, and connect the exhaust pipe 241 and the air supply pipe 231 to the cavity of the cover body; start the detection mechanism to perform environmental detection on the gas in the cavity of the cover body.

[0114] It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the step of performing environmental testing on the air supply pipe 231 and the air exhaust pipe 241 can be performed before placing the box body 11 at the testing station, or after placing the box body 11 at the testing station. The step of testing the number of particles adhered to the outer wall of the spray assembly 22 in the cover body 26 needs to be performed before placing the box body 11 at the testing station.

[0115] In this embodiment, before inspecting the wafer box, if the outer wall of the blowing assembly 22 is clean enough, only the gas supply pipe 231 and the gas exhaust pipe 241 may be inspected, depending on the situation.

[0116] The semiconductor workpiece box 10 detection method of the embodiment of the present application can peel off more particles on the inner wall of the semiconductor workpiece box 10 by setting the nozzle 221 for peeling off particles on the inner wall of the semiconductor workpiece box 10 into the accommodating cavity of the semiconductor workpiece box 10, thereby improving the accuracy of environmental detection.

[0117] In some other embodiments of the present application, before performing environmental detection on the gas in the box body 11, the detection method further includes:

[0118] Close the first valve 232 and the second valve 242, and open the third valve 252, so that the air supply pipe 231 is connected to the air extraction pipe 241;

[0119] Start the detection mechanism to perform environmental detection on the gas passing through the gas supply pipe 231 and the gas extraction pipe 241; and / or

[0120] Close the third valve 252, open the first valve 232 and the second valve 242, and connect the air extraction pipe 241 and the air supply pipe 231 to the cavity of the housing;

[0121] The detection mechanism is started to perform environmental detection on the gas in the cavity of the cover body.

[0122] In this way, the pollution of the air supply pipe 231 and the air extraction pipe 241 to the semiconductor workpiece box 10 can be reduced, the detection error can be reduced, and the accuracy of the detection can be further increased.

[0123] In addition, before performing environmental testing on the wafer box, the cover cavity and the blowing assembly 22 in the cover cavity are tested first, which can also reduce the error of the wafer box environmental testing and further increase the accuracy of the testing.

[0124] In some other embodiments of the present application, starting the blowing assembly 22 to blow for a preset time includes:

[0125] The air pressure of the airflow sprayed by the spray component 22 is set to 0.6Mpa-0.8Mpa, and the flow rate of the airflow sprayed by the spray component 22 is set to 30L / min-50L / min.

[0126] In this way, there is sufficient air pressure and flow rate to effectively peel off particles on the inner wall of the semiconductor workpiece box 10, further improving the accuracy of environmental detection.

[0127] Specifically, the preset time may be 60s-90s.

[0128] It should be understood that the above embodiments are exemplary and are not intended to include all possible implementations included in the claims. Various modifications and changes may be made on the basis of the above embodiments without departing from the scope disclosed in the present application. Similarly, the various technical features of the above embodiments may be arbitrarily combined to form other embodiments of the present application that may not be explicitly described. Therefore, the above embodiments only express several implementations of the present application and do not limit the scope of protection of the patent of this application.

Claims

1. A semiconductor workpiece box detection device, characterized in that: Used for performing environmental detection on a semiconductor workpiece box, the semiconductor workpiece box comprises a box body and a cover body, the box body has a receiving cavity and an opening connected to one end of the receiving cavity, and the cover body can cover the opening to close the box body; The semiconductor workpiece box detection device includes a detection station, and the detection station includes: A first carrier, for placing the box body with its opening abutting against it, wherein the abutment between the first carrier and the opening of the accommodating cavity can form a sealed connection; a blowing assembly, mounted on the first carrier, capable of being inserted into the accommodating cavity through the opening, and used for blowing gas toward the inner wall of the box body; A gas delivery mechanism, comprising an air supply pipe connected to the blowing assembly and a first valve disposed on the air supply pipe, an air extraction pipe communicating with the accommodating chamber and a second valve disposed on the air extraction pipe, and an interconnecting pipe communicating the air supply pipe and the air extraction pipe and a third valve disposed on the interconnecting pipe, wherein the first valve and the second valve are disposed between the interconnecting pipe and the blowing assembly; The detection mechanism is used to perform environmental detection on the gas in the exhaust pipe.

2. The semiconductor workpiece box detection device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The spray assembly is provided with a plurality of nozzles, and each inner wall of the box body is covered by a spraying area of ​​at least one of the nozzles.

3. The semiconductor workpiece box detection device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The spray assembly includes a first bracket, which includes interconnected columns and beams; the nozzles are provided on the columns and the beams, and are respectively facing the top wall and the side wall of the box body; the first bracket can rotate along the circumference of the box body so that the spray airflow covers each side wall of the box body.

4. The semiconductor workpiece box detection device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The spray assembly includes a second bracket, which includes a plurality of columns and a plurality of beams; the nozzles are arranged on the columns and the beams and face the side walls and the top wall of the box body respectively; the number of the columns corresponds to the number of the side walls.

5. The semiconductor workpiece box detection device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first carrier comprises a table top and a retaining ring protruding from the table top and forming a circle, and the box body is placed with its open opening abutting against the retaining ring.

6. The semiconductor workpiece box detection device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The semiconductor workpiece box detection device also includes: The unlocking station is used to separate the cover of the semiconductor workpiece box from the box body; the unlocking station and the detection station are arranged along the first direction, and the unlocking station and the detection station have the same width.

7. The semiconductor workpiece box detection device according to claim 6, characterized in that: The unlocking station includes a second platform, which is disposed adjacent to and vertically connected to the first platform.

8. The semiconductor workpiece box detection device according to claim 6, characterized in that: The unlocking station includes a second platform, there is a distance between the first platform and the second platform, and the plane where the first platform is located is parallel to the plane where the second platform is located; The semiconductor workpiece box detection device also includes: A guide rail, located between the first platform and the second platform; A workpiece pallet can move on the guide rail so that the box body moves between the unlocking station and the detection station; the workpiece pallet includes a sliding member that cooperates with the guide rail.

9. A semiconductor workpiece box detection method, characterized in that: include: Placing the semiconductor workpiece box on an unlocking station, and separating the cover body from the box body through the unlocking station; The box body is removed from the unlocking station, and is placed on the inspection station, so that the open end of the box body accommodating cavity abuts against the table surface, the blowing assembly is located in the box body accommodating cavity, and the air supply pipe and the air exhaust pipe are connected to the accommodating cavity; The detection mechanism is started to perform environmental detection on the gas in the box body; when or before the detection mechanism is started, the blowing component is started to blow for a preset time.

10. The semiconductor workpiece box detection method according to claim 9, characterized in that: Before performing environmental detection on the gas in the box body, the detection method further includes: Close the first valve and the second valve, open the third valve, and connect the air supply pipe to the air extraction pipe; Start the detection mechanism to perform environmental detection on the gas passing through the gas supply pipe and the gas exhaust pipe; and / or Close the third valve, open the first valve and the second valve, and connect the air extraction pipe and the air supply pipe to the cavity of the cover body; The detection mechanism is started to perform environmental detection on the gas in the cavity of the cover body.

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