A system and method for breaking off of substandard boule segments

Abstract

Embodiments of the present application disclose a system and method for crushing unqualified crystal bar segments, which can include: a containing unit; a cutting unit for cutting a sheet-shaped plate from the unqualified crystal bar segments; a laying unit for laying the plate in a surface contact manner on the inner wall of the containing unit; a filling unit for filling the remaining material blocks of the unqualified crystal bar segments into the containing unit in a contact manner with the plate laid in the containing unit; and a crushing unit for crushing the remaining material blocks and the plate in the containing unit.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of semiconductor wafer manufacturing, and more particularly to a system and method for crushing defective crystal rod segments. Background Technology

[0002] Wafers used to manufacture semiconductor electronic components such as integrated circuits are mainly produced by slicing single-crystal ingots pulled using the Czochralski method. For example, for silicon wafers, the Czochralski method involves melting polycrystalline silicon in a crucible to obtain a silicon melt, immersing a single-crystal silicon seed crystal in the silicon melt, and continuously lifting and moving the seed crystal away from the surface of the silicon melt. During this movement, a single-crystal silicon ingot is grown at the phase interface. After slicing the single-crystal silicon ingot by wire cutting and subsequent processing such as grinding, polishing, and epitaxy, the finished silicon wafer can be obtained.

[0003] For crystal ingots produced using the Czochralski method, certain portions may be defective. For example, insufficient pulling speed may result in a polycrystalline crystal instead of a monocrystalline one; improper temperature control may lead to excessive oxygen content; dislocations or cracks may form on the surface or inside; and the cone-shaped portions grown during the lead-in and finish-out stages may be unsuitable for wafer fabrication. Furthermore, directly pulled crystal ingots first need to be cut into multiple segments. Segments containing such defective portions are therefore unsuitable for further processing to produce wafers. To recycle these defective ingot segments and reduce raw material costs, they need to be crushed for reuse in the crystal pulling process. Specifically, the crushed defective ingot segments are placed in a crucible and heated to obtain a melt.

[0004] The aforementioned crushing operation is necessary so that defective crystal rod segments can be efficiently melted under heating to obtain a melt. However, in existing crushing operations, defective crystal rod segments are placed in a container and crushed. In this case, the sharp edges of the crystal rod segments themselves, or the sharp edges of the fragments generated during the crushing process, will come into contact with the container. Thus, especially under the impact force, the sharp edges will scratch the inner wall of the container, causing damage. More importantly, it will cause the container to produce flaking debris, which will adhere to the fragments and cause contamination. For example, if the container is made of polypropylene or polyvinyl chloride, it will be contaminated by polypropylene or polyvinyl chloride; if the container is made of titanium alloy, it will be contaminated by titanium metal. Melting the contaminated fragments will produce a contaminated melt, which will adversely affect the crystal pulling process and the pulled crystal rods, especially for the electronic-grade semiconductor industry, which has extremely high requirements for raw material purity, surface metal content, and cleanliness. Summary of the Invention

[0005] To address the aforementioned technical problems, embodiments of the present invention aim to provide a system and method for crushing defective crystal rod segments, which can improve the situation where the container is damaged and the fragments are contaminated during the crushing process of defective crystal rod segments.

[0006] The technical solution of this invention is implemented as follows:

[0007] In a first aspect, embodiments of the present invention provide a system for crushing defective crystal rod segments, the system comprising:

[0008] Reception unit;

[0009] A cutting unit, the cutting unit being used to cut sheet-like plates from the defective crystal rod segments;

[0010] A laying unit is used to lay the sheet material to cover the inner wall of the receiving unit in a surface-contact manner;

[0011] A loading unit is used to load the remaining material blocks other than the plate from the defective crystal rod segments into the receiving unit in such a way that they come into contact with the plate laid in the receiving unit;

[0012] A crushing unit is used to crush the remaining material blocks and the plate in the receiving unit.

[0013] In the system according to an embodiment of the present invention, since the plate is first cut from the defective crystal rod segment and the contact between the plate and the inner wall of the receiving unit is surface contact instead of contact through sharp edges, the inner wall of the receiving unit will not be damaged even under the impact of the crushing process, and no debris will be generated and adhere to the crushed fragments, causing contamination. In other words, the crushing process can be completed in a cleaner way, without adversely affecting the subsequent crystal pulling process that uses the crushed defective crystal rod segment as raw material, and the quality of the pulled crystal rod can be improved.

[0014] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the accommodating space of the accommodating unit is rectangular parallelepiped in shape.

[0015] In this way, the inner wall of the unit will be flat, so the surface where the board contacts the inner wall will also be flat. Flat surfaces are relatively easy to process, so it is convenient to cut the board. In addition, the bottom and each side of the inner wall will be rectangular. It is easier to fill such a shape because only multiple boards need to be rectangular in shape. Rectangular boards are easier to process.

[0016] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the cutting unit cuts the defective crystal rod segment along a cutting plane, the cutting plane being perpendicular to the end face of the defective crystal rod segment and intersecting or adjacent to the center of the end face.

[0017] In this way, not only can a rectangular plate with a large surface area be obtained, but the inner wall of the receiving unit can be filled with a smaller number of plates, and the number of cuts is also reduced, thus simplifying the cutting process.

[0018] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the system further includes a heat treatment unit for heating and then rapidly cooling the remaining material block to form cracks in the remaining material block.

[0019] This makes it easier for the crushing unit to break up the remaining material blocks, or in other words, it can break up the remaining material blocks even with a small impact force. With a small impact force, it further avoids damage to the inner wall of the receiving unit and contamination of the already broken defective crystal rod segments.

[0020] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the heat treatment unit immerses the remaining material block in water for quenching to rapidly cool the remaining material block. The system also includes a drying unit for removing moisture remaining on the remaining material block after quenching.

[0021] This prevents residual moisture from negatively impacting the crushing process.

[0022] In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the housing unit is made of polypropylene or polyvinyl chloride.

[0023] In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the crushing unit includes a tungsten carbide hammer for crushing the remaining material block and the plate.

[0024] Tungsten carbide is a compound composed of tungsten and carbon, and has extremely high hardness similar to diamond. Therefore, hammers made of tungsten carbide are suitable for crushing leftover material blocks and plates, and are less likely to produce flaking debris that would contaminate the leftover material blocks and plates.

[0025] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the plate and the remaining material block are crushed into fragments with a particle size between 5 cm and 20 cm to suit the process step of heating the raw material into a melt in a crucible during the direct pull crystal rod process.

[0026] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the cutting unit is a cutting machine that cuts a crystal rod into multiple crystal rod segments, and the defective crystal rod segments come from the multiple crystal rod segments.

[0027] This eliminates the need for additional specialized equipment to cut the substrate from the defective crystal rod segments, saving on equipment costs.

[0028] Secondly, embodiments of the present invention provide a method for crushing defective crystal rod segments, the method comprising:

[0029] Sheet-shaped plates are cut from the defective crystal rod segments;

[0030] The sheet material is laid to cover the inner wall of the receiving unit in a surface-contact manner;

[0031] The remaining material blocks from the defective crystal rod segments, excluding the plate material, are loaded into the receiving unit in such a way that they come into contact with the plate material laid in the receiving unit;

[0032] The remaining material blocks and the plate in the containing unit are smashed.

[0033] In the method according to an embodiment of the present invention, similarly, since the plate is first cut from the defective crystal rod segment and the contact between the plate and the inner wall of the receiving unit is surface contact, rather than contact through sharp edges, the inner wall of the receiving unit will not be damaged even under the impact during the crushing process, and no debris will be generated and adhere to the crushed fragments, causing contamination. In other words, the crushing process can be completed in a cleaner manner, without adversely affecting the subsequent crystal pulling process that uses the crushed defective crystal rod segments as raw materials, and the quality of the pulled crystal rod can be improved. Attached Figure Description

[0034] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the components of a system for crushing defective crystal rod segments according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0035] Figure 2 A schematic diagram illustrating the processing performed by the cutting unit of a system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0036] Figure 3 A schematic diagram illustrating the processing completed by the laying unit of the system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0037] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the processing performed by the loading unit of a system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0038] Figure 5 A schematic diagram illustrating the processing performed by the crushing unit of a system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0039] Figure 6This is a schematic diagram of the cutting method when the cutting unit of the system according to an embodiment of the present invention cuts defective crystal rod segments;

[0040] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of the tungsten carbide hammer of the crushing unit of the system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0041] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of a method for crushing substandard crystal rod segments according to an embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0042] The technical solutions of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention.

[0043] See Figures 1 to 5 This invention provides a system 1 for crushing substandard crystal rod segments DS, wherein in Figure 2 The diagram specifically illustrates the defective ingot segment DS. The system 1 may include:

[0044] Accommodating unit 10, such as in Figure 3 , Figure 4 and Figure 5 As specifically shown in the text;

[0045] Cutting unit 20 is used to cut sheet-like plates SH from defective ingot segments DS, such as in Figure 2 As specifically shown in the text, in addition Figure 2 The diagram only schematically shows a single cut sheet SH; it is easy to understand that the invention is not limited thereto, and multiple sheets SH can be cut out.

[0046] Laying unit 30 is used to lay the sheet material SH to the inner wall 10W of the receiving unit 10 in a surface contact manner, such as in Figure 3 Specifically shown in the text, among which Figure 3 The image shown is a top view of the receiving unit 10, meaning that the entire opening of the receiving unit 10 can be seen from... Figure 3 In addition, as seen in the text, Figure 3 For the purpose of clarity in the accompanying drawings, only two plates SH are schematically shown above the laying unit 30. It is easy to understand that the invention is not limited to this, and more plates SH can be laid into the receiving unit 10 by the laying unit 30.

[0047] The filling unit 40 is used to load the remaining material block RB from the defective crystal rod segment DS (excluding the plate SH) into the receiving unit 10 in such a way that it contacts the plate SH laid in the receiving unit 10. Figure 4 Specifically shown in the text, among which Figure 4The image shown is a front cross-sectional view of the housing unit 10;

[0048] Crushing unit 50 is used to crush the remaining material blocks RB and plates SH in receiving unit 10, such as in... Figure 5 Specifically shown in the text, among which Figure 5 The diagram shown is also a front cross-sectional view of the housing unit 10.

[0049] In system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention, since the plate SH is first cut from the defective crystal rod segment DS and the plate SH and the inner wall 10W of the receiving unit 10 are in surface contact rather than contact through sharp edges, the inner wall 10W of the receiving unit 10 will not be damaged even under the impact of the crushing process, and no debris will be generated and adhere to the crushed fragments, causing contamination. In other words, the crushing process can be completed in a cleaner way, which will not have an adverse effect on the subsequent crystal pulling process using the crushed defective crystal rod segment DS as raw material and can improve the quality of the pulled crystal rod.

[0050] It should be noted that the laying unit 30 and the filling unit 40 are not necessarily operated in a sequential order, but can be operated alternately. For example, the laying unit 30 can first use the sheet material SH to fill the bottom and the parts of the inner wall 10W of the receiving unit 10 adjacent to the bottom. Then, the filling unit 10 can fill the remaining material block RB into the receiving unit 10, wherein the amount of filling is such that the remaining material block RB only contacts the already laid sheet material SH and does not contact the part of the inner wall 10W of the receiving unit 10 where the sheet material SH is not laid. After the inner wall is in contact, the laying unit 30 can continue to lay the board SH to the part of the inner wall 10W of the receiving unit 10 where the board SH is not laid, and the filling unit 40 can continue to fill the receiving unit 10 with the remaining material blocks RB. The amount of material blocks RB is such that the remaining material blocks RB only contact the already laid board SH and not the part of the inner wall 10W of the receiving unit 10 where the board SH is not laid, until the laying unit 30 fills the inner wall 10W of the receiving unit 10 with the board SH, and the filling unit 40 fills the receiving unit 10 with the remaining material blocks RB. In this way, compared with first filling the inner wall 10W of the receiving unit 10 with the board SH and then filling the receiving unit 10 with the remaining material block RB, the laying of the board SH is easier to achieve. This is because the board SH laid to the side of the inner wall 10W of the receiving unit 10 can be pressed against the inner wall 10W by the remaining material block RB that is inserted into the receiving unit 10, so that it can be stably kept in close contact with the inner wall 10W and will not tip over due to the interference of the subsequently laid board SH. On the other hand, it can also provide stable support for the subsequently laid board SH.

[0051] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, see [link to previous document]. Figure 3 The accommodating space of the accommodating unit 10 can be rectangular. It can be understood that the accommodating space of the accommodating unit 10 is defined by the inner wall 10W of the accommodating unit 10, that is, the inner wall 10W of the accommodating unit 10 corresponds to the five rectangular faces of the cuboid.

[0052] In this case, the inner wall 10W will be flat, so the surface of the board SH that contacts the inner wall 10W will also be flat. Flat surfaces are relatively easy to process, so it is convenient to cut out the board SH. In addition, the bottom and each side of the inner wall 10W will be rectangular. It is easier to fill such a shape because only multiple boards SH need to be rectangular in shape. Rectangular boards SH are easier to process.

[0053] In the above-described circumstances, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, see [link to previous section]. Figure 6 The cutting unit 20 can cut the defective crystal rod segment DS along the cutting plane CP. The cutting plane CP is perpendicular to the end face ES of the defective crystal rod segment DS and intersects or is adjacent to the center CC of the end face ES. It can be understood that the end face ES of the crystal rod segment DS is circular, and the center CC of the end face ES is the center of this circle.

[0054] In this way, not only can a sheet material SH with a rectangular main surface be obtained, as shown in the reference... Figure 6 The intersection line between the defective crystal rod segment DS and the cutting plane CP, shown by solid lines, is easy to understand. Moreover, the area of ​​the main surface of the obtained plate SH is also large. Thus, the inner wall 10W of the housing unit 10 can be filled with a smaller number of plates SH, and the corresponding number of cuts is also smaller, which simplifies the cutting process.

[0055] In a preferred embodiment of the invention, system 1 may further include a heat treatment unit (not shown in the drawings) for heating and rapidly cooling the remaining material block RB to form cracks in the remaining material block RB. This makes it easier for the crushing unit 50 to crush the remaining material block RB, or in other words, it can crush the remaining material block RB even with a smaller impact force. Furthermore, with a smaller impact force, damage to the inner wall 10W of the receiving unit 10 and contamination of the already crushed defective crystal rod segments DS are further avoided.

[0056] Specifically, the heat treatment unit can immerse the remaining material block RB in water for quenching to rapidly cool the remaining material block RB. In this case, the system 1 may also include a drying unit (not shown in the figures) for removing moisture remaining on the remaining material block RB after quenching, thereby avoiding the adverse effects of residual moisture on the crushing process.

[0057] Preferably, the housing unit 10 can be made of polypropylene or polyvinyl chloride.

[0058] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, see [link to previous document]. Figure 7 The crushing unit 50 may include a tungsten carbide hammer 51 for striking the remaining material block RB and the plate SH. Additionally, the crushing unit 50 may include a driver (not shown in the figures) for driving the tungsten carbide hammer 51 to produce repeated striking action, as in... Figure 7 As shown, the tungsten carbide hammer 51 can be driven to reciprocate between the positions shown by the solid line and the dashed line, thereby crushing the remaining material block RB and the plate SH. Tungsten carbide is a compound composed of tungsten and carbon, possessing extremely high hardness similar to diamond. Therefore, hammers made of tungsten carbide are suitable for crushing the remaining material block RB and the plate SH, and are less likely to produce flaking debris that would contaminate the remaining material block RB and the plate SH.

[0059] Preferably, the plate SH and the remaining material block RB can be crushed into fragments with a particle size between 5 cm and 20 cm to suit the process step of heating the raw material into a melt in a crucible during the direct pull crystal rod process.

[0060] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the cutting unit 20 can be a cutting machine that cuts a crystal rod into multiple crystal rod segments, and the defective crystal rod segments DS can come from the multiple crystal rod segments. The cutting machine here can be a wire cutting machine or a band saw cutting machine.

[0061] In this way, no additional specialized equipment is needed to cut the substrate SH from the defective crystal rod segment DS, saving equipment costs.

[0062] See Figure 8 and combined Figures 1 to 5 The present invention also provides a method for crushing substandard crystal rod segments DS, the method comprising:

[0063] S801: Cut sheet-like plates SH from defective crystal rod segments DS;

[0064] S802: The sheet material SH is laid in a surface contact manner to cover the inner wall 10W of the housing unit 10;

[0065] S803: The remaining material block RB in the unqualified crystal rod segment DS, excluding the plate SH, is loaded into the receiving unit 10 in such a way that it contacts the plate SH laid in the receiving unit 10.

[0066] S804: Crush the remaining material block RB and plate SH in the housing unit 10.

[0067] In the method according to an embodiment of the present invention, similarly, since the plate SH is first cut from the defective crystal rod segment DS and the plate SH and the inner wall 10W of the receiving unit 10 are in surface contact rather than contact through sharp edges, the inner wall 10W of the receiving unit 10 will not be damaged even under the impact during the crushing process, and no debris will be generated and adhere to the crushed fragments, causing contamination. In other words, the crushing process can be completed in a cleaner manner, without adversely affecting the subsequent crystal pulling process using the crushed defective crystal rod segment DS as raw material, and the quality of the pulled crystal rod can be improved.

[0068] Regarding the aforementioned segmentation, in one specific implementation, see [link to relevant documentation]. Figure 6 The defective crystal rod segment DS can be cut along the cutting plane CP. The cutting plane CP is perpendicular to the end face ES of the defective crystal rod segment DS and intersects or is adjacent to the center CC of the end face ES.

[0069] In this way, not only can a sheet material SH with a rectangular main surface be obtained, as shown in the reference... Figure 6 The intersection line between the defective crystal rod segment DS and the cutting plane CP, shown by solid lines, is easy to understand. Moreover, the area of ​​the main surface of the obtained plate SH is also large. Thus, the inner wall 10W of the housing unit 10 can be filled with a smaller number of plates SH, and the corresponding number of cuts is also smaller, which simplifies the cutting process.

[0070] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the method may further include heating the remaining material block RB and then rapidly cooling it to form cracks in the remaining material block RB.

[0071] This makes it easier to break the remaining material block RB, or even if the impact force is small, the remaining material block RB can be broken. Under the condition of small impact force, the inner wall 10W of the housing unit 10 is further protected from damage and the contamination of the already broken defective crystal rod segment DS is further avoided.

[0072] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the remaining material block RB can be immersed in water for quenching to rapidly cool the remaining material block RB. In this case, the method may further include removing the moisture remaining on the remaining material block RB after quenching, thereby avoiding the residual moisture from adversely affecting the crushing process.

[0073] Unless otherwise defined, the technical or scientific terms used in this application shall have the ordinary meaning understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention pertains. The terms "first," "second," and similar terms used in this disclosure do not indicate any order, quantity, or importance, but are merely used to distinguish different components. Terms such as "comprising" or "including" mean that the element or object preceding the word encompasses the elements or objects listed following the word and their equivalents, without excluding other elements or objects. Terms such as "connected" or "linked" are not limited to physical or mechanical connections, but can include electrical connections, whether direct or indirect. Terms such as "upper," "lower," "left," and "right" are used only to indicate relative positional relationships; when the absolute position of the described object changes, the relative positional relationship may also change accordingly.

[0074] It should be noted that the technical solutions described in the embodiments of the present invention can be combined arbitrarily without conflict.

[0075] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present invention, but the scope of protection of the present invention is not limited thereto. Any variations or substitutions that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in the present invention should be included within the scope of protection of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention should be determined by the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method for breaking substandard boule segments, characterized by, The method comprises: cutting a sheet-shaped plate from the unqualified crystal bar segment; piling the plate in a surface-contacting manner on the inner wall of a containing unit; loading the remaining material block of the unqualified crystal bar segment into the containing unit in a manner of contacting the plate laid in the containing unit; crushing the remaining material block and the plate in the containing unit, wherein the method further comprises rapidly cooling the remaining material block after heating to form cracks in the remaining material block, wherein the unqualified crystal bar segment is cut along a cutting plane, the cutting plane being perpendicular to the end surface of the unqualified crystal bar segment and intersecting or adjacent to the center of the end surface.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, The step of rapidly cooling the remaining material block after heating comprises quenching the remaining material block by immersing it in water to rapidly cool the remaining material block, and the method further comprises removing the moisture remaining on the remaining material block after quenching.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The crushing step is performed by using a tungsten carbide hammer.

4. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, In the piling step, the containing space of the containing unit is in the shape of a cuboid.

5. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The containing unit is made of polypropylene material or polyvinyl chloride material.

6. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein, The crushing step comprises crushing the plate and the remaining material block into fragments with a particle size of 5 cm to 20 cm.

7. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein, The cutting step is performed by using a cutting machine for cutting a crystal bar into a plurality of crystal bar segments, and the unqualified crystal bar segment is from the plurality of crystal bar segments.

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