Detection Method and System for the Lifting State of Insulating Posts in a Thin Film Deposition Equipment

Abstract

The present invention discloses a detection method and system for the lifting state of an insulating column in a thin film deposition device. The detection method includes detecting the vertical height value between the highest point of a wafer on the insulating column and a preset plane, where the preset plane is the plane where the upper end face of the insulating column is located when the insulating column is in a normal state. According to the comparison and judgment of the detected vertical height value with the thickness threshold range of the wafer: if the vertical height value is within the thickness threshold range of the wafer, it is judged that the insulating column is in a normal state; otherwise, it is judged that the insulating column is in an abnormal state. Once the lifting state of the insulating column is abnormal, the robotic arm can be controlled to stop the wafer picking action, thereby avoiding the collision between the robotic arm and the wafer, reducing the probability of chamber debris and the probability of mechanical finger hitting the wafer, reducing the equipment failure time and the arc hardware damage caused by abnormal deposition of the wafer.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of component detection in semiconductor thin film deposition equipment, and particularly to a detection method and a detection system for the lifting state of an insulating column in a semiconductor thin film deposition equipment. Background Art

[0002] Currently, automation is widely used in the processing of wafers. The loading and unloading of wafers in the wafer transfer station of semiconductor thin film deposition equipment are also completed by robotic arms.

[0003] In the past, there was no detection equipment for the lifting state of the insulating column in semiconductor thin film deposition equipment. It was found in actual work that if the lifting state of the insulating column is abnormal, the wafer will tilt. At this time, if the robotic arm directly picks up the wafer, it will touch the wafer and break the wafer or damage the fingers of the robotic arm, resulting in a high failure rate.

[0004] Therefore, how to detect the lifting state of the insulating column in semiconductor thin film deposition equipment to reduce the failure rate of equipment operation has become an urgent problem to be solved by people. Summary of the Invention

[0005] In view of this, the present invention provides a detection method and a detection system for the lifting state of an insulating column in a semiconductor thin film deposition equipment to realize the detection of the lifting state of the insulating column and reduce the failure rate of equipment operation.

[0006] A detection method for the lifting state of an insulating column in a thin film deposition equipment provided by the present invention includes:

[0007] Detecting the vertical height value between the highest point of the wafer on the insulating column and a preset plane, where the preset plane is the plane where the upper end face of the insulating column is located when the insulating column is in a normal state;

[0008] Judging according to a comparison between the detected vertical height value and the thickness threshold range of the wafer:

[0009] If the vertical height value is within the thickness threshold range of the wafer, it is judged that the insulating column is in a normal state; otherwise, it is judged that the insulating column is in an abnormal state.

[0010] Further, the otherwise, judging that the insulating column is in an abnormal state includes:

[0011] If the vertical height value is higher than the upper limit value of the thickness threshold range, it is judged that the insulating column is in an abnormal state of being broken;

[0012] If the vertical height value is lower than the lower limit value of the thickness threshold range, it is judged that the insulating column is in an abnormal state of not rising to the proper position normally.

[0013] Further, for the vertical height value between the highest point of the wafer on the insulating post and a preset plane, the preset plane is the plane where the upper end face of the insulating post is located when the insulating post is in a normal state, including:

[0014] Use a laser sensor to move downward along the thickness direction of the wafer on the insulating post to the preset plane;

[0015] Obtain the time period between when the laser sensor detects the highest point of the wafer and the preset plane and the downward moving speed of the laser sensor, and calculate to obtain the vertical height value.

[0016] Further, the laser sensor is arranged at the bottom of the robotic arm in the semiconductor thin film deposition equipment, and the laser sensor moves up / down along the height direction relative to the wafer transfer stage in the semiconductor thin film deposition equipment with the robotic arm, and the moving speed of the laser sensor is the moving speed of the robotic arm up / down.

[0017] Further, it further includes:

[0018] If it is determined that the insulating post is in an abnormal state, a stop wafer taking signal is sent to the robotic arm.

[0019] A detection system for the lifting state of an insulating post in a thin film deposition equipment according to the present invention includes:

[0020] A detection module for detecting the vertical height value between the highest point of the wafer on the insulating post and a preset plane, the preset plane is the plane where the upper end face of the insulating post is located when the insulating post is in a normal state;

[0021] A comparison module for comparing and judging the vertical height value detected by the detection module with the thickness threshold range of the wafer: if the vertical height value is within the thickness threshold range of the wafer, it is determined that the insulating post is in a normal state; otherwise, it is determined that the insulating post is in an abnormal state.

[0022] Further, the comparison module is further used to compare and judge the vertical height value detected by the detection module with the thickness threshold range of the wafer: if the vertical height value is higher than the upper limit value of the thickness threshold range, it is determined that the insulating post is in an abnormal state of being broken;

[0023] If the vertical height value is lower than the lower limit value of the thickness threshold range, it is determined that the insulating post is in an abnormal state of not rising in place normally.

[0024] Further, the detection module includes a laser sensor, a timing unit, and a calculation unit;

[0025] The laser sensor is installed at the bottom of the robotic arm;

[0026] The timing unit is configured to receive the detection signal sent by the laser sensor and time the duration of the detection signal transmission;

[0027] The input end of the calculation unit is connected to the output end of the timing unit. The calculation unit is configured to calculate the vertical height value based on the speed at which the robotic arm moves up and down in the height direction relative to the wafer transfer stage stored therein, and receive the timing result sent by the timing unit;

[0028] The comparison module is configured to receive the vertical height value sent by the calculation unit and compare the vertical height value with the thickness threshold range of the wafer stored in the comparison module to determine the current state of the insulating post.

[0029] Further, the output end of the comparison module is connected to the control end of the robotic arm. The comparison module controls the robotic arm to continue / stop picking up the wafer based on the judgment result.

[0030] Further, the laser sensor is a mapping sensor.

[0031] In the detection method for the lifting state of the insulating post in the semiconductor thin film deposition equipment provided by the present invention, since there are several insulating posts in the thin film deposition equipment, usually three, when all these insulating posts are in a normal state, the upper end faces of all the insulating posts will be in the same plane (i.e., the preset plane), and the wafer placed on the upper ends of the insulating posts is in a horizontal state. At this time, the vertical height value measured from the preset plane to the highest point of the wafer is the thickness of the wafer. Therefore, to determine whether the insulating post is in a normal state, it is only necessary to determine whether the measured vertical height value is consistent with the thickness of the wafer. Since high temperature and deposited thin films will both cause the wafer to warp normally, according to different warps, the thickness of the wafer will be within a thickness threshold range, and the thickness threshold range includes a thickness upper limit value and a thickness lower limit value. Therefore, by comparing the measured vertical height value with the thickness threshold range of the wafer, if the measured vertical height value is within the thickness threshold range, that is, greater than or equal to the thickness lower limit value and less than or equal to the thickness upper limit value, it can be determined that the insulating post is in a normal state. Otherwise, it is determined that the insulating post is in an abnormal state. When it is determined that the insulating post is in an abnormal state, an alarm reminder is required.

[0032] The detection method for the lifting state of the insulating post in the thin film deposition equipment provided by the present invention is simple and easy to implement, can give an early warning to the subsequent robotic arm, and can effectively reduce the failure rate of the equipment.

[0033] The detection system for the lifting state of the insulating column in the thin film deposition equipment provided by the present invention is a detection system developed based on the above detection method, and has the advantages of reasonable design and simple structure. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0034] In order to more clearly illustrate the specific embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for the description of the specific embodiments or the prior art. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are some embodiments of the present invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, without creative efforts, other drawings can also be obtained based on these drawings.

[0035] Figure 1 It is a flowchart of the detection method for the lifting state of the insulating column in the thin film deposition equipment provided by the embodiment of the present invention;

[0036] Figure 2 It is a flowchart for judging the abnormal state of the insulating column;

[0037] Figure 3 It is a flowchart for detecting the vertical height value of the wafer;

[0038] Figure 4 It is a structural block diagram of the detection system for the lifting state of the insulating column in the thin film deposition equipment;

[0039] Figure 5 It is a schematic structural diagram of the insulating support pillar supporting the wafer.

[0040] Reference numerals: 1 - detection module; 11 - laser sensor; 12 - timing unit; 13 - calculation unit; 2 - comparison module; 3 - wafer; 4 - insulating column. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0041] The following will clearly and completely describe the technical solutions of the present invention in conjunction with the embodiments. Obviously, the described embodiments are some but not all of the embodiments of the present invention. All other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative efforts fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0042] In order to detect the lifting state of the insulating column and reduce the failure rate of the equipment operation, the embodiment of the present invention provides a detection method for the lifting state of the insulating column in a semiconductor thin film deposition equipment. By detecting the lifting state of the insulating column, corresponding warning control is carried out on the subsequent wafer picking operation of the robotic arm, avoiding the robotic arm from entering the wafer picking when the lifting state of the insulating column is abnormal, preventing phenomena such as the robotic arm colliding with the wafer, wafer fragmentation or mechanical finger damage, and reducing the failure rate of the equipment.

[0043] In the detection method for the lifting state of the insulating column in the thin film deposition equipment provided by the embodiment of the present invention, the detection problem of the lifting state of the insulating column with a relatively high difficulty coefficient is transformed into the detection problem of the vertical height value of the wafer above the preset plane with a relatively low difficulty coefficient, thereby making the entire detection method simple and easy to implement.

[0044] As Figure 1 shown, the embodiment of the present invention provides a detection method for the lifting state of the insulating column in the thin film deposition equipment, including:

[0045] S101. Detect the vertical height value between the highest point of the wafer on the insulating column and the preset plane, where the preset plane is the plane where the upper end face of the insulating column is located when the insulating column is in a normal state;

[0046] S102. Compare and judge according to the detected vertical height value and the thickness threshold range of the wafer:

[0047] If the vertical height value is within the thickness threshold range of the wafer, it is judged that the insulating column is in a normal state; otherwise, it is judged that the insulating column is in an abnormal state.

[0048] As Figure 5 shown, since there are several insulating columns in the thin film deposition equipment, usually three, if all these insulating columns are in a normal state, the upper end faces of all insulating columns will be in the same plane (i.e., the preset plane), and the wafer placed on the upper end of the insulating column is in a horizontal state. At this time, the vertical height value measured from the preset plane to the highest point of the wafer is the thickness of the wafer. Therefore, to judge whether the insulating column is in a normal state, it is only necessary to judge whether the measured vertical height value is consistent with the thickness of the wafer. And because high temperature and deposited film will both cause the wafer to warp normally, according to different warps, the thickness of the wafer will be within a thickness threshold range, and the thickness threshold range includes a thickness upper limit value and a thickness lower limit value. Therefore, by comparing the measured vertical height value with the thickness threshold range of the wafer, if the measured vertical height value is within the thickness threshold range, that is, greater than or equal to the thickness lower limit value and less than or equal to the thickness upper limit value, it can be judged that the insulating column is in a normal state. Otherwise, it is judged that the insulating column is in an abnormal state. When it is judged that the insulating column is in an abnormal state, an alarm reminder is required.

[0049] Further, in order to know the reason for the abnormality of the insulating column for timely processing, as Figure 2 shown, the otherwise, judging that the insulating column is in an abnormal state includes:

[0050] S201. If the vertical height value is higher than the thickness upper limit value of the thickness threshold range, it is judged that the insulating column is in an abnormal state of being broken;

[0051] S202. If the vertical height value is lower than the lower limit value of the thickness threshold range, it is determined that the insulating post is in an abnormal state of not rising to the proper position normally.

[0052] Since if there is a break in the insulating post, it will cause the wafer on the insulating post to tilt, and the measured vertical height value of the tilted wafer will be higher than the upper limit value of the thickness threshold range. Therefore, if the measured vertical height value is higher than the upper limit value of the thickness threshold range, it is determined that the insulating post is in an abnormal state of being broken.

[0053] If all the insulating posts do not rise to the proper position for various reasons, such as the servo motor not driving the insulating post to rise to the normal height, then the plane where the upper end surface of the insulating post that has not risen to the proper position is located will be lower than the preset plane. Therefore, the measured vertical height value is lower than the lower limit value of the thickness threshold range. Thus, by the measured vertical height value being lower than the lower limit value of the thickness threshold range, it can be determined that the insulating post is in an abnormal state of not rising to the proper position normally.

[0054] Specifically, as Figure 3 shown, the steps of detecting the vertical height value between the highest point of the wafer on the insulating post and the preset plane include:

[0055] S301. Use a laser sensor to move downward along the thickness direction of the wafer on the insulating post to the preset plane.

[0056] S302. Obtain the time period between when the laser sensor detects the highest point of the wafer and the preset plane and the downward moving speed of the laser sensor, and calculate to obtain the vertical height value. In S302, when the laser sensor moves vertically downward and approaches the highest point of the wafer, the total number of received light sources will decrease at this time. When it is lower than the standard value, the laser sensor starts to operate (ON). At this time, the timing device starts timing. When the laser sensor moves to the position where the preset plane is located (when the insulating post is not broken, the preset plane is the plane where the lowest edge of the wafer is located), at this time, the operation of the laser sensor becomes (OFF), and the timing device stops timing, so as to obtain the time period T between when the laser sensor detects the highest point of the wafer and the preset plane. If the downward moving speed of the laser sensor is V, then the vertical height value S = VT.

[0057] The above laser sensor preferably adopts a mapping sensor, which consists of two parts: an optical sensor head and an amplifier. This mapping sensor is commercially available.

[0058] In order to make full use of the existing components in the thin film deposition equipment and reduce the complexity of the structure, it is preferred that the laser sensor is arranged at the bottom of the robotic arm in the semiconductor thin film deposition equipment. The laser sensor moves up / down along the height direction relative to the wafer transfer stage in the semiconductor thin film deposition equipment with the robotic arm. The moving speed of the laser sensor is the same as the up / down moving speed of the robotic arm. By controlling the robotic arm to move to the position where the laser sensor and the preset plane are located and then stop moving downward, it is ensured that the vertical height value detected by the laser sensor is the vertical height value between the highest point of the wafer and the preset plane.

[0059] In order to be able to timely control the robotic arm to stop the wafer picking (wafer taking) operation when it is found that the insulating column is in an abnormal state, the above detection method further includes: if it is determined that the insulating column is in an abnormal state, a stop wafer picking signal is sent to the robotic arm.

[0060] In this way, the robotic arm can stop wafer picking in time, prevent the phenomenon of the robotic arm colliding with the wafer, avoid the occurrence of phenomena such as wafer fragmentation or damage to mechanical fingers, and reduce the failure rate of the equipment.

[0061] As Figure 4 shown, a detection system for the lifting state of an insulating column in a thin film deposition equipment provided by an embodiment of the present invention includes:

[0062] A detection module 1 for detecting the vertical height value between the highest point of the wafer 3 on the insulating column 4 and a preset plane, where the preset plane is the plane where the upper end face of the insulating column 4 is located when the insulating column 4 is in a normal state;

[0063] A comparison module 2 for comparing and judging the vertical height value detected by the detection module 1 with the thickness threshold range of the wafer 3: if the vertical height value is within the thickness threshold range of the wafer 3, it is determined that the insulating column 4 is in a normal state; otherwise, it is determined that the insulating column 4 is in an abnormal state.

[0064] Further, the comparison module 2 is also used to compare and judge the vertical height value detected by the detection module 1 with the thickness threshold range of the wafer 3: if the vertical height value is higher than the upper limit value of the thickness threshold range, it is determined that the insulating column 4 is in an abnormal state of being broken;

[0065] if the vertical height value is lower than the lower limit value of the thickness threshold range, it is determined that the insulating column 4 is in an abnormal state of not rising to the proper position normally.

[0066] Specifically, the detection module 1 includes a laser sensor 11, a timing unit 12, and a calculation unit 13;

[0067] The laser sensor 11 is installed at the bottom of the robotic arm;

[0068] The timing unit 12 is configured to receive the detection signal sent by the laser sensor 11 and time the duration of the detection signal transmission;

[0069] The input end of the calculation unit 13 is connected to the output end of the timing unit 12. The calculation unit 13 is configured to calculate the vertical height value based on the speed of the robotic arm moving up and down in the height direction relative to the film transfer stage stored therein and receive the timing result sent by the timing unit 12;

[0070] The comparison module 2 is configured to receive the vertical height value sent by the calculation unit 13 and compare the vertical height value with the thickness threshold range of the wafer 3 stored in the comparison module 2 to determine the current state of the insulating column 4.

[0071] Further, the output end of the comparison module 2 is connected to the control end of the robotic arm. The comparison module 2 controls the robotic arm to continue / stop picking up the wafer according to the judgment result.

[0072] In this embodiment, preferably, the laser sensor 11 is a mapping sensor.

[0073] The specific working process of the above detection system is as follows: During the process of the robotic arm moving downward from top to bottom into the film deposition chamber of the semiconductor thin film deposition equipment, the laser sensor 11 moves downward with the robotic arm to detect the vertical height value between the highest point of the wafer 3 on the insulating column 4 and a preset plane. When the highest point of the wafer 3 is detected, a signal is sent to the timing unit 12, and the timing unit 12 starts timing. When the laser sensor 11 moves to the position where the preset plane is located, a signal is sent to the timing unit 12 again to stop timing. The timing unit 12 sends the statistically obtained time value to the calculation unit 13. The calculation unit 13 calculates the vertical height value according to the running speed of the robotic arm stored therein and the time value sent by the timing unit 12 according to S = VT, and sends the calculated vertical height value of the wafer 3 to the comparison module 2. The comparison module 2 compares the vertical height value of the wafer 3 with the thickness threshold stored therein. When the vertical height value is greater than or equal to the lower thickness limit value and less than or equal to the upper thickness limit value, it is determined that the lifting state of the insulating column 4 is normal, otherwise there is an abnormality. When there is an abnormality, a signal is sent to the robotic arm, and the robotic arm stops the wafer picking action, thereby avoiding the wafer 3 from being broken or the robotic fingers from being damaged.

[0074] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, rather than to limit it; although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions recorded in the foregoing embodiments, or perform equivalent replacements on some or all of the technical features; and these modifications or replacements do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. A detection method for the lifting state of an insulating column in a thin film deposition device, characterized in that, including: detecting the vertical height value between the highest point of the wafer on the insulating column and a preset plane, where the preset plane is the plane where the upper end face of the insulating column is located when the insulating column is in a normal state; defining the thickness threshold range of the wafer to include the upper limit value and the lower limit value of the thickness of the wafer after warping caused by high temperature and deposited thin films; judging by comparing the detected vertical height value with the thickness threshold range of the wafer: if the vertical height value is within the thickness threshold range of the wafer, it is judged that the insulating column is in a normal state; otherwise, it is judged that the insulating column is in an abnormal state.

2. The detection method for the lifting state of the insulating column in the thin film deposition equipment according to claim 1, wherein, The "otherwise, it is judged that the insulating column is in an abnormal state" includes: if the vertical height value is higher than the upper limit value of the thickness threshold range, it is judged that the insulating column is in an abnormal state of being broken; if the vertical height value is lower than the lower limit value of the thickness threshold range, it is judged that the insulating column is in an abnormal state of not rising to the proper position normally.

3. The detection method for the lifting state of the insulating post in the thin film deposition equipment according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The "detecting the vertical height value between the highest point of the wafer on the insulating column and a preset plane, where the preset plane is the plane where the upper end face of the insulating column is located when the insulating column is in a normal state" includes: using a laser sensor to move downward along the thickness direction of the wafer on the insulating column to the preset plane; obtaining the time period between when the laser sensor detects the highest point of the wafer and the preset plane and the downward moving speed of the laser sensor, and calculating to obtain the vertical height value.

4. The detection method for the lifting state of the insulating column in the thin film deposition equipment according to claim 3, wherein, The laser sensor is arranged at the bottom of the robotic arm in the semiconductor thin film deposition equipment, and the laser sensor moves up / down along the height direction relative to the wafer transfer stage in the semiconductor thin film deposition equipment with the robotic arm, and the moving speed of the laser sensor is the moving speed of the robotic arm up / down.

5. The detection method for the lifting state of the insulating post in the thin film deposition equipment according to claim 4, characterized in that, also including: if it is judged that the insulating column is in an abnormal state, sending a stop wafer-taking signal to the robotic arm.

6. A detection system for the lifting state of an insulating column in a thin film deposition device, based on the method for detecting the lifting state of an insulating column in a thin film deposition device according to any one of claims 1-5, characterized in that, including: a detection module for detecting the vertical height value between the highest point of the wafer on the insulating column and a preset plane, where the preset plane is the plane where the upper end face of the insulating column is located when the insulating column is in a normal state; a comparison module for comparing and judging the vertical height value detected by the detection module with the thickness threshold range of the wafer: if the vertical height value is within the thickness threshold range of the wafer, it is judged that the insulating column is in a normal state; otherwise, it is judged that the insulating column is in an abnormal state.

7. The detection system for the lifting state of the insulating column in the thin film deposition equipment according to claim 6, characterized in that the comparison module is further configured to compare and judge the vertical height value detected by the detection module with the thickness threshold range of the wafer: if the vertical height value is higher than the upper limit value of the thickness threshold range, it is judged that the insulating column is in an abnormal state of being broken; if the vertical height value is lower than the lower limit value of the thickness threshold range, it is judged that the insulating column is in an abnormal state of not rising to the proper position normally.

8. The detection system for the lifting state of the insulating column in the thin film deposition equipment according to claim 7, characterized in that The detection module includes a laser sensor, a timing unit, and a calculation unit; The laser sensor is installed at the bottom of the robotic arm of the thin film deposition equipment; The timing unit is configured to receive the detection signal sent by the laser sensor and time the duration of the detection signal transmission; The input end of the calculation unit is connected to the output end of the timing unit. The calculation unit is configured to calculate a vertical height value based on the speed at which the robotic arm moves up and down in the height direction relative to the wafer transfer stage stored therein and receive the timing result sent by the timing unit; The comparison module is configured to receive the vertical height value sent by the calculation unit and compare the vertical height value with the thickness threshold range of the wafer stored in the comparison module to determine the current state of the insulating column.

9. The detection system for the lifting state of the insulating column in the thin film deposition equipment according to claim 8, wherein, The output end of the comparison module is connected to the control end of the robotic arm. The comparison module controls the robotic arm to continue / stop picking up wafers based on the judgment result of the comparison module.

10. The detection system for the lifting state of the insulating column in the thin film deposition equipment according to claim 8, characterized in that, The laser sensor is a mapping sensor.

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