Turnover device and method for semiconductor wafer

Abstract

The invention discloses a turnover device and method for a semiconductor wafer, the device comprises a clamping assembly, the clamping assembly comprises two groups of adjusting support frames, each adjusting support frame comprises two symmetrically arranged deflection rods, and the other end of each deflection rod is provided with a wafer support block; the adjusting piece pushes the two deflection rods to deflect reversely so that the adjusting supporting frame can be opened, the two installation bases move oppositely at the same time to ensure that the wafer plate is located in the wafer supporting block, and the clamping assembly is adjusted to be in an overturning state from a cleaning state so that the clamping strength can be enhanced to conduct wafer plate overturning work. After the adjusting supporting frames are adjusted to be in the overturning state, the two adjusting supporting frames are opened, so that the wafer supporting blocks change the supporting position of the wafer plate, the limiting area of the wafer plate can be increased to enhance the limiting strength of the wafer plate, an external device does not need to be used for assistance, and therefore the situation that the wafer plate is separated from the clamping assembly and damaged in the overturning process is avoided.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of semiconductor production, and in particular relates to a flipping device for semiconductor wafers and a flipping working method for cleaning semiconductor wafers. Background Art

[0002] Wafers need to be cleaned frequently during the manufacturing process to remove impurities, residues and particles on the surface and inside to ensure that their quality and performance are not affected. Wafer cleaning is an important process step in the wafer manufacturing process. It is necessary to use chemical solutions, clean water or gas to remove impurities remaining on the surface of the wafer without destroying the surface characteristics and electrical characteristics of the wafer. In the wafer cleaning process, after one side of the wafer is cleaned, it needs to be flipped over using a supporting component in preparation for cleaning the other side, so the wafer needs to be flipped over.

[0003] In order to prevent the clamping assembly from affecting the moving path of the cleaning assembly, clamping assemblies are usually set at both ends of the wafer plate to clamp the wafer plate. However, the clamping assembly has a small restriction area on the wafer plate. In order to prevent the wafer plate from falling off when flipping, an external auxiliary device needs to be set to support the wafer plate, which is very inconvenient to use. Summary of the invention

[0004] The present invention aims to solve the problem in the prior art that an external auxiliary device needs to be provided to increase the limiting area of ​​the clamping assembly to prevent the wafer from falling off when flipping, and proposes the following technical solution:

[0005] A turning device for semiconductor wafers, comprising:

[0006] A rotating seat, one end of which is connected to an external rotating driving member, and two mounting seats are arranged inside the rotating seat, and the two mounting seats move toward or in opposite directions;

[0007] A clamping assembly, wherein the clamping assembly is multiple, and the clamping assembly includes two groups of adjustment support frames, one end of the adjustment support frame is located in a corresponding mounting seat, and the end of the adjustment support frame is provided with an adjustment member for pushing the adjustment support frame to open, and the adjustment support frame includes two symmetrically arranged deflection rods, the two deflection rods deflect with their ends toward or in the opposite direction, and the other end of the deflection rod is provided with a wafer support block;

[0008] The adjusting member pushes the two deflection rods to deflect in opposite directions so that the adjusting support frame opens, and the two mounting seats move toward each other at the same time to ensure that the wafer plate is in the wafer support block. The clamping assembly is adjusted from the cleaning state to the flipping state to enhance the clamping strength for wafer plate flipping.

[0009] As a preferred embodiment of the above technical solution, the adjusting member includes a first gear and a second gear that are meshed together, and the first gear and the second gear are respectively fixedly connected to the corresponding deflection rods. A rack part is meshedly connected to one side of the first gear, and the rack part moves toward the center of the wafer plate to push the first gear and the second gear to rotate in the opposite direction, and the two deflection rods deflect in the opposite direction to open the adjusting support frame.

[0010] As a preferred embodiment of the above technical solution, the clamping assembly further includes a push rod, which is connected to an external power member, and the movement of the push rod drives the multiple rack parts to move simultaneously.

[0011] As a preferred embodiment of the above technical solution, the rack assembly includes a first rack and a second rack, a strong spring is fixedly connected between the first rack and the second rack, and the second rack is fixedly connected to the push rod.

[0012] As a preferred embodiment of the above technical solution, a ball screw is rotatably inserted inside the second rack, an auxiliary gear is provided at one end of the ball screw, a slider is sleeved on the surface of the ball screw, and one end of the slider is fixedly connected to the first rack.

[0013] As a preferred embodiment of the above technical solution, a driving screw is rotatably inserted inside the mounting seat, an auxiliary rack is threadedly sleeved on the surface of the driving screw, and the auxiliary rack matches the auxiliary gear.

[0014] As a preferred embodiment of the above technical solution, a ratchet and pawl mechanism is provided between the ball screw and the auxiliary gear, and the ratchet and pawl mechanism is used to limit the one-way rotation of the auxiliary gear relative to the ball screw.

[0015] As a preferred embodiment of the above technical solution, an elastic ring is arranged in the middle of the wafer supporting block, and the elastic ring is hollow.

[0016] As a preferred embodiment of the above technical solution, a sealing sheet is provided between the adjusting support frame and the mounting seat, and the sealing sheet is deformed as the adjusting support frame opens and closes.

[0017] The working method of the semiconductor wafer flipping device comprises the following steps:

[0018] S1, clamping component state adjustment;

[0019] The push rods on both sides move toward each other to push the multiple rack parts at the same time. The rack parts are pushed to rotate by the first gear and drive the second gear to rotate. The two deflection rods then deflect in the opposite direction to open the adjustment support frame.

[0020] S2, keep the wafer plate supported;

[0021] The mounting seats move toward each other to drive the multiple clamping components to move, and the wafer support block moves on the side of the wafer plate and maintains support for the wafer plate;

[0022] S3, wafer flipping;

[0023] The external rotating drive drives the rotating seat to rotate, and the two mounting seats synchronously drive multiple clamping components to rotate the wafer plate. After the rotation is completed, subsequent cleaning work can be carried out.

[0024] The beneficial effects of the present invention are:

[0025] 1. The adjustment support frame is in a retracted state when in the cleaning state, and the line of the external cleaning device is avoided to avoid affecting the cleaning of the wafer plate. After the adjustment support frame is adjusted to the flipping state, the two adjustment support frames are opened to allow the wafer support block to change the supporting position of the wafer plate, which can increase the restriction area of ​​the wafer plate to enhance the restriction strength of the wafer plate, without the need for external devices to assist, thereby avoiding the wafer plate from being separated from the clamping assembly and damaged during the flipping process;

[0026] 2. The rack assembly can be pushed and split into two parts, the first rack and the second rack. The adjustment support frame can be partially opened by pushing the first rack to move, so that the wafer support block leaves the support position, and the wafer plate can be loaded or unloaded;

[0027] 3. The auxiliary racks that move up and down pass through multiple adjustment support frames in turn, and the rack parts are split through the cooperation of the ball screw and the slider to open the adjustment support frame. The wafer plates can be loaded from bottom to top in sequence, and the wafer plates can be loaded from top to bottom or from bottom to top. There is no need to use a complicated loading method of first stacking the wafer plates on the loading device and then using the loading device for batch loading and unloading. This makes the loading and unloading of the wafer plates simpler, thereby avoiding damage to the wafer plates during transportation. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] Figure 1 What is shown is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the embodiment;

[0029] Figure 2 What is shown is a diagram of the flipping state of the clamping assembly in the embodiment;

[0030] Figure 3 What is shown is a cleaning state diagram of the clamping assembly in the embodiment;

[0031] Figure 4 What is shown is a cleaning state diagram of the adjusting member in the embodiment;

[0032] Figure 5 The diagram shows the flipping state of the adjusting member in the embodiment;

[0033] Figure 6 The diagram shows the loading and unloading state of the adjusting member in the embodiment;

[0034] Figure 7 What is shown is a top view of the rack assembly in the embodiment;

[0035] Figure 8 Shown is a left side cross-sectional view of a wafer support block in an embodiment.

[0036] In the figure: 10, rotating seat; 20, mounting seat; 30, adjusting support frame; 31, wafer support block; 311, elastic ring; 32, deflection rod; 40, adjusting member; 41, first gear; 42, second gear; 43, rack assembly; 431, first rack; 432, second rack; 433, strong spring; 434, ball screw; 435, auxiliary gear; 436, slider; 437, ratchet and pawl mechanism; 44, driving screw; 45, auxiliary rack; 60, push rod; 70, sealing sheet; 80, wafer plate. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0037] In order to make the purpose, technical solution and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention more clear, the technical solution of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the embodiments and the accompanying drawings of the specification.

[0038] Example

[0039] Figure 1-Figure 6 A semiconductor wafer flipping device, comprising:

[0040] A rotating seat 10, one end of which is connected to an external rotating driving member, two mounting seats 20 are arranged inside the rotating seat 10, the two mounting seats 20 move towards or in opposite directions, the two mounting seats 20 are both connected to an external power driving member, and a limiting device is arranged between the two mounting seats 20 and the rotating seat 10;

[0041] A clamping assembly, wherein the clamping assembly is multiple, and the clamping assembly includes two groups of adjustment support frames 30, one end of the adjustment support frame 30 is located in the corresponding mounting seat 20, and the end of the adjustment support frame 30 is provided with an adjustment member 40 for pushing the adjustment support frame 30 to open, and the adjustment support frame 30 includes two symmetrically arranged deflection rods 32, the two deflection rods 32 are deflected toward or in the opposite direction with their ends, and the other end of the deflection rod 32 is provided with a wafer support block 31;

[0042] The adjusting member 40 pushes the two deflection rods 32 to deflect in the opposite direction so that the adjusting support frame 30 opens, and the two mounting seats 20 move toward each other at the same time to ensure that the wafer plate 80 is in the wafer support block 31, and the clamping assembly is adjusted from the cleaning state to the flipping state to enhance the clamping strength to perform the wafer plate 80 flipping operation.

[0043] The adjusting member 40 includes a first gear 41 and a second gear 42 that are meshed together. The first gear 41 and the second gear 42 are respectively fixedly connected to the corresponding deflection rods 32. A rack member 43 is meshedly connected to one side of the first gear 41. The rack member 43 moves toward the center of the wafer plate 80 to push the first gear 41 and the second gear 42 to rotate in the opposite direction. The two deflection rods 32 then deflect in the opposite direction to open the adjusting support frame 30.

[0044] The clamping assembly further includes a push rod 60 , which is connected to an external power member. The push rod 60 moves to push the multiple rack components 43 to move simultaneously.

[0045] When it is necessary to flip the cleaned wafer plate 80, the external power member corresponding to the push rod 60 moves the two push rods 60 toward each other at the same time, and the multiple rack parts 43 move accordingly and pass through the position of the first gear 41. The first gear 41 pushes and rotates and drives the second gear 42 to rotate synchronously. The two deflection rods 32 deflect in the opposite direction to open the adjustment support frame 30. In this process, the external power member corresponding to the mounting seat moves the two mounting seats 20 toward each other and drives the multiple clamping components to move, so that the side of the wafer plate 80 is in the wafer support block 31 and is supported by the wafer support block 31. The wafer support block 31 The wafer plate 80 moves and rotates relative to the side surface of the wafer plate 80 to avoid friction with the side surface of the wafer plate 80. After the two adjustment support frames 30 are opened, the wafer plate 80 is restricted inside the clamping assembly to prevent the wafer plate 80 from escaping from the clamping assembly when flipping. Then the external rotating drive drives the rotating seat 10 to rotate, and the two mounting seats 20 synchronously drive multiple clamping assemblies to rotate the wafer plate 80. After the rotation is completed, subsequent cleaning work can be carried out. After cleaning is completed, the rotating seat 10 is reset first, and the mounting seat 20 and the clamping assembly are then reset synchronously, waiting for the next loading work.

[0046] The adjustment support frame 30 is in a retracted state when in the cleaning state, avoiding the line of the external cleaning device to avoid affecting the cleaning of the wafer plate 80. After the adjustment support frame 30 is adjusted to the flipping state, the two adjustment support frames 30 are opened to make the wafer support block 31 change the supporting position of the wafer plate 80, which can increase the restriction area of ​​the wafer plate 80 to enhance the restriction strength of the wafer plate 80 without the use of external devices for assistance, thereby avoiding the wafer plate 80 from detaching from the clamping assembly and being damaged during the flipping process.

[0047] The working method of the semiconductor wafer flipping device comprises the following steps:

[0048] S1, clamping component state adjustment;

[0049] The push rods 60 on both sides move toward each other to push the multiple rack parts 43 at the same time. The rack parts 43 are pushed to rotate by the first gear 41 and drive the second gear 42 to rotate. The two deflection rods 32 then deflect in the opposite direction to open the adjustment support frame 30.

[0050] S2, maintaining the wafer plate 80 supported;

[0051] The mounting seats 20 move toward each other to drive the multiple clamping components to move, and the wafer support block 31 moves on the side of the wafer plate 80 and maintains support for the wafer plate 80;

[0052] S3, the wafer plate 80 is turned over;

[0053] The external rotary drive component drives the rotating seat 10 to rotate, and the two mounting seats 20 synchronously drive the multiple clamping components to rotate the wafer plate 80. After the rotation is completed, subsequent cleaning work can be carried out.

[0054] Figure 3-Figure 7 In the embodiment, the rack assembly 43 includes a first rack 431 and a second rack 432. The first rack 431 and the second rack 432 are both limited by the internal space of the mounting seat 20. A strong spring 433 is fixedly connected between the first rack 431 and the second rack 432. The second rack 432 is fixedly connected to the push rod 60.

[0055] A ball screw 434 is rotatably inserted inside the second rack 432 , an auxiliary gear 435 is provided at one end of the ball screw 434 , a slider 436 is sleeved on the surface of the ball screw 434 , and one end of the slider 436 is fixedly connected to the first rack 431 .

[0056] A driving screw rod 44 is rotatably inserted inside the mounting seat 20 , and an auxiliary rack 45 is threadedly sleeved on the surface of the driving screw rod 44 . The auxiliary rack 45 is limited by the internal space of the mounting seat 20 , and the auxiliary rack 45 matches the auxiliary gear 435 .

[0057] A ratchet and pawl mechanism 437 is disposed between the ball screw 434 and the auxiliary gear 435 , and the ratchet and pawl mechanism 437 is used to limit the auxiliary gear 435 from rotating in one direction relative to the ball screw 434 .

[0058] When feeding is required, the driving screw 44 is pushed to drive the auxiliary rack 45 to move upward, and the auxiliary rack 45 can push multiple auxiliary gears 435 to rotate in sequence from bottom to top. When the auxiliary rack 45 pushes the auxiliary gear 435 to rotate, the ratchet pawl mechanism 437 connects the ball screw 434 with the auxiliary gear 435, and the ball screw 434 moves accordingly and pushes the slider 436. When the slider 436 moves, it moves the first rack 431 to separate the rack assembly 43, and the strong spring 433 is stretched and deformed accordingly, and the first rack 431 and the first gear 41 contacts and partially rotates, and the two deflection rods 32 deflect a certain angle accordingly, so that the wafer support block 31 leaves the supporting position, and the wafer plate 80 can be loaded. After the wafer plate 80 is placed in place, the driving screw 44 continues to rotate to make the auxiliary rack 45 leave the auxiliary gear 435 position, and the stretched and deformed strong spring 433 resets and pushes the first rack 431 to reset, and the slider 436 resets accordingly and rotates the ball screw 434 and the auxiliary gear 435 back to their original state. The first rack 431 resets the first gear 41 and the two deflection rods 32, and the wafer The support block 31 supports the wafer plate 80, and when unloading is required, the driving screw 44 is reversed to bring the auxiliary rack 45 back to the bottom. During this process, the auxiliary rack 45 passes through multiple auxiliary gears 435 from top to bottom and drives them to rotate. The ratchet pawl mechanism 437 no longer connects the ball screw 434 with the auxiliary gear 435. The auxiliary gear 435 rotates relative to the surface of the ball screw 434 and will not drive the ball screw 434 to rotate in the opposite direction, thereby avoiding excessive contraction and squeezing of the wafer plate 80 by the adjustment support frame 30, causing damage to the wafer plate 80. The driving screw 44 drives the auxiliary rack 45 again to push multiple auxiliary gears 435 to rotate from bottom to top in sequence, completing the unloading work from bottom to top. The second material taking method can also be used. The driving screw 44 is reversed to move the auxiliary rack 45 to the bottom of the top auxiliary gear 435. The auxiliary gear 435 rotates on the surface of the ball screw 434 due to the ratchet pawl mechanism 437. The driving screw 44 drives the auxiliary rack 45 to move upward again to open the top adjustment support frame 30, and the adjustment support frame 30 is opened in sequence from top to bottom to complete the unloading work from top to bottom.

[0059] The rack assembly 43 can be pushed and split into two parts, a first rack 431 and a second rack 432. Only by pushing the first rack 431 to move, the adjustment support frame 30 can be partially opened, so that the wafer support block 31 leaves the supporting position, and the wafer plate 80 can be loaded or unloaded. In addition, the auxiliary rack 45 that moves up and down passes through multiple adjustment support frames 30 in turn and pushes them to open. At the same time, the wafer plates 80 can be loaded from bottom to top in sequence, and the wafer plates 80 can be loaded from top to bottom or from bottom to top. There is no need to use a complicated loading method of first stacking the wafer plates 80 on the loading device and then using the loading device for batch loading and unloading, which makes the loading and unloading of the wafer plates 80 simpler, thereby avoiding damage to the wafer plates 80 during transportation.

[0060] Figure 8 In the figure, an elastic ring 311 is arranged in the middle of the wafer supporting block 31, and the elastic ring 311 is hollow.

[0061] When the wafer support block 31 moves relative to the side surface of the wafer plate 80 and when the wafer support block 31 re-restricts the side of the wafer plate 80 , the elastic ring 311 contacts the side surface of the wafer plate 80 and deforms, preventing the wafer support block 31 from squeezing and damaging the wafer plate 80 .

[0062] Figure 1-Figure 2 In the embodiment, a sealing sheet 70 is provided between the adjusting support frame 30 and the mounting seat 20 , and the sealing sheet 70 is deformed as the adjusting support frame 30 opens and closes.

[0063] The sealing sheet 70 is deformed as the adjustment support frame 30 opens and closes, thereby preventing detergent from entering the mounting seat 20 during flushing and affecting the adjustment member 40 .

[0064] The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, rather than to limit them.

Claims

1. Flipping device for semiconductor wafers, It is characterized in that include: A rotating seat (10), one end of the rotating seat (10) is connected to an external rotating driving member, two mounting seats (20) are arranged inside the rotating seat (10), and the two mounting seats (20) move towards or in opposite directions; A clamping assembly, wherein the clamping assembly is multiple, and the clamping assembly comprises two groups of adjustment support frames (30), one end of the adjustment support frame (30) is located in the corresponding mounting seat (20), and the end of the adjustment support frame (30) is provided with an adjustment member (40) for pushing the adjustment support frame (30) to open, and the adjustment support frame (30) comprises two symmetrically arranged deflection rods (32), the two deflection rods (32) are deflected with their ends toward or in opposite directions, and the other end of the deflection rod (32) is provided with a wafer support block (31); The adjusting member (40) pushes the two deflection rods (32) to deflect in opposite directions so that the adjusting support frame (30) opens, and the two mounting seats (20) simultaneously move towards each other to ensure that the wafer plate (80) is in the wafer support block (31), and the clamping assembly is adjusted from a cleaning state to a flipping state to enhance the clamping strength to perform a flipping operation on the wafer plate (80).

2. The semiconductor wafer flipping device according to claim 1, It is characterized in that The adjusting member (40) comprises a first gear (41) and a second gear (42) which are meshed with each other. The first gear (41) and the second gear (42) are respectively fixedly connected to corresponding deflection rods (32). One side of the first gear (41) is meshed with a rack member (43). The rack member (43) moves toward the center of the wafer plate (80) to push the first gear (41) and the second gear (42) to rotate in the opposite direction. The two deflection rods (32) then deflect in the opposite direction to open the adjusting support frame (30).

3. The semiconductor wafer flipping device according to claim 2, It is characterized in that The clamping assembly also includes a push rod (60), which is connected to an external power member. The push rod (60) moves to push the multiple rack parts (43) to move simultaneously.

4. The semiconductor wafer flipping device according to claim 3, It is characterized in that The rack assembly (43) comprises a first rack (431) and a second rack (432), a strong spring (433) is fixedly connected between the first rack (431) and the second rack (432), and the second rack (432) is fixedly connected to the push rod (60).

5. The semiconductor wafer flipping device according to claim 4, It is characterized in that A ball screw (434) is rotatably inserted inside the second rack (432), one end of the ball screw (434) is provided with an auxiliary gear (435), a sliding block (436) is sleeved on the surface of the ball screw (434), and one end of the sliding block (436) is fixedly connected to the first rack (431).

6. The semiconductor wafer flipping device according to claim 5, It is characterized in that A driving screw rod (44) is rotatably inserted inside the mounting seat (20), an auxiliary rack (45) is threadedly sleeved on the surface of the driving screw rod (44), and the auxiliary rack (45) matches the auxiliary gear (435).

7. The semiconductor wafer flipping device according to claim 5, It is characterized in that A ratchet and pawl mechanism (437) is provided between the ball screw (434) and the auxiliary gear (435), and the ratchet and pawl mechanism (437) is used to limit the unidirectional rotation of the auxiliary gear (435) relative to the ball screw (434).

8. The semiconductor wafer flipping device according to claim 1, It is characterized in that An elastic ring (311) is arranged in the middle of the wafer supporting block (31), and the elastic ring (311) is hollow.

9. The semiconductor wafer flipping device according to claim 1, It is characterized in that A sealing sheet (70) is provided between the adjustment support frame (30) and the mounting seat (20), and the sealing sheet (70) is deformed as the adjustment support frame (30) opens and closes.

10. The working method of the semiconductor wafer flipping device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, It is characterized in that The following steps are included: S1, clamping component state adjustment; The push rods (60) on both sides move toward each other to push the multiple rack parts (43) at the same time. The rack parts (43) are pushed to rotate through the first gear (41) and drive the second gear (42) to rotate. The two deflection rods (32) then deflect in the opposite direction to open the adjustment support frame (30). S2, maintaining the wafer plate (80) supported; The mounting seats (20) move toward each other to drive the multiple clamping components to move, and the wafer support block (31) moves on the side of the wafer plate (80) and maintains support for the wafer plate (80); S3, the wafer plate (80) is turned over; The external rotary drive member drives the rotating seat (10) to rotate, and the two mounting seats (20) synchronously drive the multiple clamping components to rotate to rotate the wafer plate (80), and subsequent cleaning work can be carried out after the rotation is completed.

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