Deposition machine with a ring-shaped air extraction unit

Abstract

The present invention relates to a deposition machine with an annular air extraction unit, which comprises a cavity, a carrier plate, an annular air extraction unit and an air inlet unit. The cavity includes an accommodation space and a groove, and the groove surrounds the periphery of the accommodation space. The annular air extraction unit includes an annular main body, an annular cover plate and an annular shielding member. The annular main body includes an annular groove, at least one connection hole and a plurality of exhaust holes. The annular cover plate covers the annular groove so that the annular groove forms an annular channel, and the groove is connected to the accommodation space through the connection hole, the annular channel and the exhaust holes. The annular shielding member is located in the annular channel and can be displaced relative to the annular main body to adjust the area of the connection hole and the gas flow rate extracted by the exhaust holes, and form a stable flow field on the carrier plate.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a deposition machine with an annular air extraction unit, which is conducive to forming a stable flow field on a wafer carried by a carrier plate and improving the quality of thin film deposition. Background Art

[0002] With the continuous progress of integrated circuit technology, current electronic products are developing towards the trends of being thin, light, short, small, high-performance, high-reliability and intelligent. The miniaturization technology of transistors in electronic products is crucial. As the size of transistors shrinks, the current transmission time can be reduced and the power consumption can be lowered to achieve the purpose of fast operation and energy saving. In today's miniaturized transistors, some key thin films are almost only a few atoms thick, and atomic layer deposition process is one of the main technologies for developing these microstructures.

[0003] Atomic layer deposition process is a technology that deposits substances on the surface of a substrate layer by layer in the form of single atoms. There are two chemical substances as the main reactants in atomic layer deposition, which are usually called precursors, and the two precursors are sequentially transported into the reaction space.

[0004] Specifically, first, the first precursor is transported into the reaction space, so that the first precursor is guided to the surface of the substrate, and the chemical adsorption process automatically terminates when the surface is saturated. A cleaning gas is transported into the reaction space, and the gas in the reaction space is extracted to remove the residual first precursor in the reaction space. The second precursor is injected into the reaction space, so that the second precursor reacts with the first precursor chemically adsorbed on the surface of the substrate to form the required thin film, and the reaction process continues until the first precursor adsorbed on the surface of the substrate reacts completely. Then, the cleaning gas is injected into the reaction space to remove the residual second precursor in the reaction space. By repeating the above steps, a thin film can be formed on the substrate.

[0005] During the deposition process, the uniform distribution of precursors in the reaction space and the temperature of the substrate will have a significant impact on the uniformity of the deposited thin film. Therefore, major process equipment manufacturers spare no effort to improve the uniformity of precursor distribution and temperature to improve the quality of the deposition process. Summary of the Invention

[0006] As described in the prior art, how to make the precursors uniformly distributed on the wafer to improve the quality of the thin film deposited on the surface of the wafer is the current direction of efforts in the industry. The present invention proposes a novel deposition machine with an annular air extraction unit, which can form a uniform and stable flow field above the wafer and the carrier plate to improve the quality of the thin film deposited on the surface of the wafer.

[0007] An object of the present invention is to provide a deposition machine having an annular air extraction unit, which mainly includes a cavity, a carrier plate, an annular air extraction unit and an air inlet unit, wherein the cavity includes an accommodation space and a groove. The groove is an annular body and is disposed around the periphery of the accommodation space.

[0008] The annular air extraction unit includes an annular main body and an annular cover body, wherein the annular main body includes an annular groove, at least one connection hole and a plurality of exhaust holes. The exhaust holes are disposed on the inner side surface of the annular main body, and the connection holes are disposed on the bottom surface of the annular main body. The annular cover body is used to cover the annular groove of the annular main body, so that the annular groove forms an annular channel.

[0009] During the deposition process, the exhaust holes of the annular air extraction unit will be located around the carrier surface of the carrier plate and / or the wafer, and the gas will be extracted from the accommodation space through the exhaust holes along the radial direction of the carrier plate to form a uniform flow field on the carrier surface of the carrier plate and / or the upper surface of the wafer.

[0010] An object of the present invention is to provide an annular air extraction unit, which mainly includes an annular main body, an annular cover plate and an annular shielding member, wherein the annular main body has an annular groove. The annular shielding member is located in the annular groove, and the annular cover plate covers the annular groove, so that the annular groove forms an annular channel, and the annular shielding member is located in the annular channel.

[0011] The annular shielding member is connected to a driving rod, and the driving rod drives the annular shielding member to displace relative to the annular main body to change the area of the connection hole on the annular main body blocked by the annular shielding member and adjust the gas flow rate extracted from the accommodation space by the annular air extraction unit.

[0012] To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a deposition machine with an annular air extraction unit, comprising: a cavity including an accommodation space and a groove, wherein the groove is located on the periphery of the accommodation space; an annular air extraction unit including: an annular main body including an annular groove, at least one connection hole, and a plurality of exhaust holes, wherein the annular main body is used to cover the groove of the cavity; an annular cover plate covering the annular groove of the annular main body, such that the annular groove forms an annular channel, wherein the annular channel is connected to the groove through the connection hole and is connected to the accommodation space of the cavity through the exhaust holes; an annular shielding member located in the annular channel, the annular shielding member including a driven engagement unit, wherein the driven engagement unit is connected to a driving rod's driving engagement unit, and when the driving rod rotates, it drives the annular shielding member to rotate relative to the annular main body to adjust the area of the connection hole of the annular main body shielded by the annular shielding member; a carrier plate located in the accommodation space and including a carrying surface for carrying at least one wafer, wherein the exhaust holes of the annular main body are located around the carrying surface of the carrier plate; and an air inlet unit including a plurality of air inlet holes, wherein the air inlet holes face the carrying surface of the carrier plate and are fluidly connected to the accommodation space of the cavity.

[0013] The present invention provides another deposition machine with an annular air extraction unit, comprising: a cavity including an accommodation space and a groove, wherein the groove is located on the periphery of the accommodation space; an annular air extraction unit including: an annular main body including an annular groove, at least one connection hole, and a plurality of exhaust holes, wherein the annular main body is used to cover the groove of the cavity; an annular cover plate covering the annular groove of the annular main body, such that the annular groove forms an annular channel, wherein the annular channel is connected to the groove through the connection hole and is connected to the accommodation space of the cavity through the exhaust holes; an annular shielding member located in the annular channel, the annular shielding member being connected to a driving rod and driven by the driving rod to move up and down relative to the annular main body in the annular channel to adjust the area of the connection hole of the annular main body shielded by the annular shielding member; a carrier plate located in the accommodation space and including a carrying surface for carrying at least one wafer, wherein the exhaust holes of the annular main body are located around the carrying surface of the carrier plate; and an air inlet unit including a plurality of air inlet holes, wherein the air inlet holes face the carrying surface of the carrier plate and are fluidly connected to the accommodation space of the cavity.

[0014] For the deposition machine with an annular air extraction unit described above, the plurality of exhaust holes of the annular air extraction unit are higher than the carrying surface of the carrier plate.

[0015] The described deposition machine with a ring-shaped air extraction unit, wherein the ring-shaped channel of the ring-shaped air extraction unit includes a first ring-shaped space and a second ring-shaped space. The first ring-shaped space is located radially inside the second ring-shaped space, and a first height of the first ring-shaped space is greater than a second height of the second ring-shaped space.

[0016] The described deposition machine with a ring-shaped air extraction unit, wherein the first ring-shaped space is connected to the accommodation space of the cavity through the exhaust hole, and the second ring-shaped space is connected to the groove of the cavity through the connection hole. Moreover, the bottom of the first ring-shaped space is connected to the bottom of the second ring-shaped space through an annular inclined surface.

[0017] The described deposition machine with a ring-shaped air extraction unit, wherein the ring-shaped main body of the ring-shaped air extraction unit includes a first annular inclined surface, which is inclined relative to an axis of the carrier plate and faces the air inlet unit. The air inlet unit includes a second annular inclined surface disposed around the plurality of air inlet holes. The inclination angles of the first annular inclined surface and the second annular inclined surface are the same and are used to align the air inlet unit and the ring-shaped air extraction unit.

[0018] The beneficial effect of the present invention is to provide a novel deposition machine with a ring-shaped air extraction unit, which can form a uniform and stable flow field above the wafer and the carrier plate to improve the quality of the thin film deposited on the wafer surface. Description of the Drawings

[0019] Figure 1 It is a schematic exploded sectional view of an embodiment of the deposition machine with a ring-shaped air extraction unit according to the present invention.

[0020] Figure 2 It is a schematic sectional view of an embodiment of the ring-shaped air extraction unit according to the present invention.

[0021] Figure 3 It is a schematic three-dimensional sectional view of an embodiment of the deposition machine with a ring-shaped air extraction unit according to the present invention.

[0022] Figure 4 It is a schematic sectional view of an embodiment of the ring-shaped air extraction unit of the present invention operating in a shielding state.

[0023] Figure 5 It is a schematic sectional view of an embodiment of the ring-shaped air extraction unit of the present invention operating in an open state.

[0024] Figure 6 It is a top view of an embodiment of the ring-shaped main body and the ring-shaped shielding member of the ring-shaped air extraction unit according to the present invention.

[0025] Figure 7 It is a schematic sectional view of another embodiment of the ring-shaped air extraction unit of the present invention operating in an open state.

[0026] Figure 8 This is a schematic cross-sectional view of another embodiment of the operation of the annular air extraction unit of the present invention in the blocked state.

[0027] Description of reference numerals: 10 - Deposition machine with an annular air extraction unit; 11 - Chamber; 111 - Wafer inlet and outlet; 112 - Accommodation space; 12 - Groove; 13 - Carrier plate; 131 - Carrying surface; 14 - Wafer; 15 - Annular air extraction unit; 151 - Annular main body; 1511 - Bottom; 152 - Annular channel; 1521 - First annular space; 1523 - Second annular space; 153 - Annular cover plate; 154 - Exhaust hole; 155 - Inner side surface; 156 - Connection hole; 157 - Annular protrusion; 158 - Annular groove; 159 - First annular inclined surface; 161 - Annular shielding member; 1611 - Opening; 1613 - Driven engagement unit; 163 - Driving rod; 1631 - Active engagement unit; 17 - Intake unit; 171 - Diffusion surface; 172 - Intake hole; 173 - Second annular inclined surface; 18 - Air extraction motor; 181 - Air extraction pipeline; H1 - First height; H2 - Second height. Detailed description of the embodiments

[0028] Please refer to Figure 1 , which is an exploded schematic cross-sectional view of an embodiment of a deposition machine with an annular air extraction unit according to the present invention. As shown in the figure, the deposition machine 10 with an annular air extraction unit mainly includes a chamber 11, a carrier plate 13, an annular air extraction unit 15 and an intake unit 17. The chamber 11 includes an accommodation space 112 and a groove 12, and the groove 12 is located on the periphery of the accommodation space 112. The carrier plate 13 is located in the accommodation space 112 and includes a carrying surface 131 for carrying at least one wafer 14.

[0029] In an embodiment of the present invention, the accommodation space 112 of the chamber 11 is approximately cylindrical, and the groove 12 is an annular body or a tubular body and is arranged around the outside of the accommodation space 112. In another embodiment of the present invention, the accommodation space 112 can be a polygonal body, and the groove 12 is a polygonal annular body or a tubular body.

[0030] As Figure 1 shown, the annular air extraction unit 15 includes an annular main body 151 and an annular cover plate 153. The annular main body 151 includes a plurality of exhaust holes 154, at least one connection hole 156 and an annular groove 158. The annular groove 158 is arranged on the upper surface of the annular main body 151, the exhaust holes 154 are arranged on the inner side surface 155 of the annular main body 151, and the connection holes 156 are arranged on the bottom 1511 of the annular main body 151. The annular main body 151 is used to cover the groove 12 of the chamber 11, so that the connection holes 156 located at the bottom 151 of the annular main body 151 are connected to the groove 12.

[0031] AsFigure 2 As shown, the annular cover plate 153 is used to cover the annular groove 158 of the annular body 151, so that the annular groove 158 becomes an annular channel 152, wherein the annular channel 152 is connected to the groove 12 via the connection hole 156 and is connected to the accommodation space 112 of the cavity 11 via the exhaust hole 154. In an embodiment of the present invention, the annular channel 152 may include a first annular space 1521 and a second annular space 1523, wherein the first annular space 1521 is located radially inside the second annular space 1523.

[0032] The first height H1 of the first annular space 1521 is greater than the second height H2 of the second annular space 1523, wherein the first annular space 1521 is connected to the accommodation space 112 of the cavity 11 via the exhaust hole 154, and the second annular space 1523 is connected to the groove 12 via the connection hole 156. In addition, the bottom of the first annular space 1521 may be connected to the bottom of the second annular space 1523 via an annular inclined surface to facilitate the gas entering the annular channel 152 from the exhaust hole 154 to be transported to the groove 12.

[0033] In an embodiment of the present invention, the annular air extraction unit 15 may include an annular convex portion 157, wherein the annular convex portion 157 is connected to the inner side surface 155, protrudes from the inner side surface 155 along the radial inner side of the annular air extraction unit 15, and forms a protruding guiding portion below the exhaust hole 154. When the carrier plate 13 approaches the annular air extraction unit 15, the side surface of the carrier plate 13 will be close to the annular convex portion 157 of the annular air extraction unit 15 to define a reaction space in the accommodation space 112, and the gas above the wafer 14 and / or the carrier plate 13 can be guided to the exhaust hole 154 through the annular convex portion 157.

[0034] As Figure 3 shown, the groove 12 of the cavity 11 may be connected to an air extraction motor 18 via an air extraction pipeline 181, wherein the air extraction motor 18 extracts the gas in the accommodation space 112 through the air extraction pipeline 181, the groove 12, the annular channel 152 and the exhaust hole 154. In an embodiment of the present invention, the exhaust holes 154 may be evenly distributed on the inner side surface 155 of the annular air extraction unit 15. In different embodiments, exhaust holes 154 with different densities or pore diameters may be provided on the inner side surface 155 of different regions of the annular air extraction unit 15. For example, the exhaust holes 154 have a higher setting density or pore diameter in the region farther from the air extraction motor 18.

[0035] When depositing the wafer 14 carried by the carrier plate 13, the carrier plate 13 will approach the annular air extraction unit 15, so that the exhaust holes 154 of the annular air extraction unit 15 are located around the carrying surface 131 of the carrier plate 13, wherein the exhaust holes 154 are arranged along the plane parallel to the carrying surface 131 and / or along the radial direction of the carrying surface 131.

[0036] A wafer inlet / outlet 111 may be provided on the cavity 11, where the wafer inlet / outlet 111 is connected to the accommodation space 112. For example, the wafer inlet / outlet 111 and the exhaust motor 18 are respectively provided on two opposite sides of the cavity 11. In addition, the depth of the groove 12 can be adjusted according to the position of the wafer inlet / outlet 111. For example, the depth of the groove 12 above the wafer inlet / outlet 111 is less than the depth of the groove 12 connected to the exhaust pipeline 181.

[0037] As Figure 1 shown, the intake unit 17 includes a diffusion surface 171 and a plurality of intake holes 172. When the intake unit 17 is connected to the cavity 11, the diffusion surface 171 and the intake holes 172 provided on the diffusion surface 171 face the bearing surface 131 of the carrier 13 and / or the wafer 14. The intake holes 172 of the intake unit 17 are fluidly connected to the accommodation space 112 and are used to transport gas or precursor to the upper part of the wafer 14. In actual application, the annular exhaust unit 15 can be first provided on the cavity 11, and then the intake unit 17 is provided on the annular exhaust unit 15 and the cavity 11, where the annular exhaust unit 15 is located between the cavity 11 and the intake unit 17.

[0038] The gas or precursor transported to the accommodation space 112 by the intake unit 17 is discharged from the accommodation space 112 through the exhaust holes 154 of the annular exhaust unit 15. The gas or precursor forms a stable and uniform flow field on the bearing surface 131 of the carrier 13 and / or the upper surface of the wafer 14, which is beneficial to deposit a thin film with uniform thickness on the surface of the wafer 14. For example, during the deposition process, the exhaust holes 154 can be higher than the bearing surface 131 of the carrier 13, or approximately at the same height as the upper surface of the wafer 14.

[0039] As Figure 1 and Figure 2 shown, the annular exhaust unit 15 may include a first annular inclined surface 159, where the first annular inclined surface 159 is located between the inner side surface 155 and the annular cover plate 153, is inclined relative to the axis of the inner side surface 155 and / or the carrier 13, and faces the intake unit 17. The intake unit 17 may include a second annular inclined surface 173, where the second annular inclined surface 173 is disposed around the diffusion surface 171 and / or the plurality of intake holes 172. The inclination angles of the first annular inclined surface 159 and the second annular inclined surface 173 are the same, which can be used to align the intake unit 17 and the annular exhaust unit 15 and improve the tightness of the joint between the intake unit 17 and the annular exhaust unit 15.

[0040] Please refer to Figure 4 、 Figure 5 and Figure 6, respectively, are a cross-sectional schematic view of an embodiment of the operation of the annular air extraction unit of the present invention in the blocked state, a cross-sectional schematic view of an embodiment of the operation in the open state, and a top view of an annular main body and an annular shielding member of the annular air extraction unit in an embodiment. As shown in the figure, the annular air extraction unit 15 includes an annular main body 151, an annular cover plate 153, and an annular shielding member 161. The annular cover plate 153 is connected to the annular main body 151, and an annular channel 152 is formed therebetween. The annular shielding member 161 is located in the annular channel 152.

[0041] The annular shielding member 161 is located above the connection hole 156 of the annular main body 151. In an embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of openings 1611 are provided on the annular shielding member 161, and the number of the openings 1611 can be the same as the number of the connection holes 156 of the annular main body 151. The annular shielding member 161 can rotate relative to the annular main body 151 to adjust the area of the connection hole 156 of the annular main body 151 blocked by the annular shielding member 161 and change the gas flow rate extracted through the exhaust hole 154.

[0042] Specifically, the openings 1611 of the annular shielding member 161 can be aligned with the connection holes 156 of the annular main body 151 so that the connection holes 156 are not blocked by the annular shielding member 161, thereby increasing the gas flow rate extracted through the exhaust hole 154. In actual application, the size of the connection hole 156 can be adjusted according to the process conditions to facilitate the formation of a uniform and stable flow field on the surface of the wafer 14.

[0043] Such as Figure 4 and Figure 5 shown, the driving rod 163 is used to connect and drive the annular shielding member 161 to rotate relative to the annular main body 151. For example, the annular shielding member 161 can be connected to the annular main body 151 through a bearing, and a driven engagement unit 1613 is provided on the annular shielding member 161, while a corresponding driving engagement unit 1631 is provided on the driving rod 163. For example, the driving engagement unit 1631 is a gear or a sprocket, and the driven engagement unit 1613 is a rack, a gear, or a chain. When the motor drives the driving rod 163 to rotate, the annular shielding member 161 will be driven to rotate relative to the annular main body 151 to adjust the area of the connection hole 156 blocked by the annular shielding member 161.

[0044] Such as Figure 7 and Figure 8As shown, in another embodiment of the present invention, the annular shielding member 161 can be connected to a driving rod 163. The driving rod 163 can be connected to a cylinder, and the driving rod 163 drives the annular shielding member 161 to move up and down relative to the annular main body 151 to adjust the area of the connection hole 156 of the annular main body 151 shielded by the annular shielding member 161. When the annular shielding member 161 moves away from the annular main body 151, the gas flow rate extracted through the exhaust hole 154 can be increased. When the annular shielding member 161 approaches the annular main body 151, the gas flow rate extracted through the exhaust hole 154 will be reduced.

[0045] Both the annular shielding member 161 and the driving rod 163 are disposed outside the accommodation space 112 and are located downstream of the gas transmission path. The contamination particles generated when the driving rod 163 drives the annular shielding member 161 to displace will be extracted by the exhaust motor 18 via the groove 12 and the exhaust pipeline 181 along with the extracted gas, without affecting the cleanliness of the accommodation space 12.

[0046] Advantages of the present invention:

[0047] Provide a novel deposition machine with an annular pumping unit, which can form a uniform and stable flow field above the wafer and the carrier plate to improve the quality of the thin film deposited on the wafer surface.

[0048] The above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not used to limit the scope of implementation of the present invention. That is, all equivalent changes and modifications made according to the shape, structure, features, and spirit described in the scope of the patent application of the present invention should be included in the scope of the patent application of the present invention.

Claims

1. A deposition machine with an annular air extraction unit, characterized in that, Comprising: A cavity, comprising a receiving space and a groove, wherein the groove is located on the periphery of the receiving space; An annular air extraction unit, comprising: An annular main body, comprising an annular groove, at least one connection hole and a plurality of exhaust holes, wherein the annular main body is used to cover the groove of the cavity; An annular cover plate, covering the annular groove of the annular main body, such that the annular groove forms an annular channel, wherein the annular channel comprises a first annular space and a second annular space, the first annular space is located radially inside the second annular space, and a first height of the first annular space is greater than a second height of the second annular space, a bottom of the first annular space can be connected to a bottom of the second annular space via an annular inclined surface, the second annular space is connected to the groove via the connection hole, and the first annular space is connected to the receiving space of the cavity via the exhaust hole; An annular shielding member, located in the annular channel, the annular shielding member comprises a driven engagement unit, wherein the driven engagement unit is connected to a driving rod's driving engagement unit, when the driving rod rotates, it drives the annular shielding member to rotate relative to the annular main body to adjust an area of the connection hole of the annular main body shielded by the annular shielding member; A carrier plate, located in the receiving space and comprising a carrying surface for carrying at least one wafer, wherein the exhaust holes of the annular main body are located around the carrying surface of the carrier plate; and An air inlet unit, comprising a plurality of air inlet holes, wherein the air inlet holes face the carrying surface of the carrier plate and are fluidly connected to the receiving space of the cavity; Wherein, the annular main body of the annular air extraction unit comprises a first annular inclined surface, inclined relative to an axis of the carrier plate and facing the air inlet unit, the air inlet unit comprises a second annular inclined surface surrounding the plurality of air inlet holes, wherein the first annular inclined surface and the second annular inclined surface have the same inclination angle and are used for aligning the air inlet unit and the annular air extraction unit.

2. The deposition machine having an annular air extraction unit according to claim 1, wherein, Wherein the plurality of exhaust holes of the annular air extraction unit are higher than the carrying surface of the carrier plate.

3. A deposition machine with a ring-shaped air extraction unit, characterized in that, Comprising: A cavity, comprising a receiving space and a groove, wherein the groove is located on the periphery of the receiving space; An annular air extraction unit, comprising: An annular main body, comprising an annular groove, at least one connection hole and a plurality of exhaust holes, wherein the annular main body is used to cover the groove of the cavity; An annular cover plate, covering the annular groove of the annular main body, such that the annular groove forms an annular channel, wherein the annular channel comprises a first annular space and a second annular space, the first annular space is located radially inside the second annular space, and a first height of the first annular space is greater than a second height of the second annular space, a bottom of the first annular space can be connected to a bottom of the second annular space via an annular inclined surface, the second annular space is connected to the groove via the connection hole, and the first annular space is connected to the receiving space of the cavity via the exhaust hole; An annular shielding member is located within the annular channel. The annular shielding member is connected to a driving rod, and the driving rod drives the annular shielding member to move up and down relative to the annular body within the annular channel, so as to adjust the area of the connection hole of the annular body shielded by the annular shielding member; A carrier plate is located within the accommodating space and includes a carrying surface for carrying at least one wafer. The exhaust holes of the annular body are located around the carrying surface of the carrier plate; and An air inlet unit includes a plurality of air inlet holes. The air inlet holes face the carrying surface of the carrier plate and are fluidly connected to the accommodating space of the cavity; The annular body of the annular air extraction unit includes a first annular inclined surface that is inclined relative to an axis of the carrier plate and faces the air inlet unit. The air inlet unit includes a second annular inclined surface that is disposed around the plurality of air inlet holes. The inclination angles of the first annular inclined surface and the second annular inclined surface are the same and are used to align the air inlet unit and the annular air extraction unit.

4. The deposition machine having an annular air extraction unit according to claim 3, wherein, The plurality of exhaust holes of the annular air extraction unit are higher than the carrying surface of the carrier plate.

Images