A temperature control method, device, electronic device and storage medium

Abstract

The present application discloses a temperature control method, an electronic device and a semiconductor process device, belonging to the field of semiconductor technology. The method includes: obtaining a current temperature set value; performing temperature control on each of the temperature control zones according to the current temperature set value, and keeping the temperature of the temperature control zones that reach the current temperature set value until the temperature difference between the temperatures of all the temperature control zones and the current temperature set value is within a predetermined range; repeating the steps of obtaining the next temperature set value, performing temperature control on each of the temperature control zones according to the next temperature set value, and keeping the temperature of the temperature control zones that reach the next temperature set value until the temperature difference between the temperatures of all the temperature control zones and the next temperature set value is within a predetermined range, until the wafer bearing surface reaches the target temperature.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application belongs to the field of semiconductor technology, and particularly relates to a temperature control method, device, electronic device, and storage medium. Background Art

[0002] In semiconductor process equipment such as Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) equipment, in the process of controlling the heating base to rise to a set temperature in a vacuum environment and using high-energy particles to bombard the surface of the target to deposit atoms in the target onto the silicon wafer, the temperature and fluctuations of the chamber base will affect the quality of the silicon wafer coating process.

[0003] However, during the process of controlling the temperature of the chamber base, each temperature control zone on the bearing surface is independently controlled. When heating up or cooling down, each temperature control zone independently controls according to its own control loop, resulting in inconsistent temperature change speeds of each temperature control zone and large differences in the temperatures of each temperature control zone, causing uneven heating of the wafers on the heating bearing surface and cracking. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of the embodiments of this application is to provide a temperature control method, device, electronic device, and storage medium, which can ensure that each temperature control zone on the bearing surface basically realizes synchronous temperature control with a certain step size, ensure uniform heating of semiconductor devices on the heating bearing surface, and avoid cracking.

[0005] To solve the above technical problems, this application is implemented as follows:

[0006] In a first aspect, the embodiments of this application provide a temperature control method for a wafer carrying device. The wafer carrying surface of the wafer carrying device includes multiple temperature control zones. The method includes: obtaining a current temperature set value; controlling the temperature of each of the temperature control zones according to the current temperature set value, and insulating the temperature control zones that reach the current temperature set value until the temperature difference between the temperatures of all the temperature control zones and the current temperature set value is within a predetermined range; repeatedly obtaining the next temperature set value, controlling the temperature of each of the temperature control zones according to the next temperature set value, and insulating the temperature control zones that reach the next temperature set value until the temperature difference between the temperatures of all the temperature control zones and the next temperature set value is within a predetermined range, until the wafer carrying surface reaches the target temperature.

[0007] In a second aspect, the embodiments of this application provide an electronic device. The electronic device includes a processor, a memory, and a program or instruction stored on the memory and executable on the processor. When the program or instruction is executed by the processor, the steps of the method described in the first aspect are implemented.

[0008] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a readable storage medium, on which a program or instruction is stored, and when the program or instruction is executed by a processor, the steps of the method described in the first aspect are implemented.

[0009] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a semiconductor processing apparatus, including: a process chamber, a heating base, and a controller. The heating base is disposed in the process chamber. The controller includes at least one processor and at least one memory, and a computer program is stored in the memory. When the computer program is executed by the processor, the steps of the method described in the first aspect are implemented.

[0010] In the embodiment of the present application, by obtaining a current temperature set value; controlling the temperature of each temperature control area according to the current temperature set value, and keeping the temperature of the temperature control area that reaches the current temperature set value until the temperature difference between the temperature of all the temperature control areas and the current temperature set value is within a predetermined range; repeatedly obtaining the next temperature set value, controlling the temperature of each temperature control area according to the next temperature set value, and keeping the temperature of the temperature control area that reaches the next temperature set value until the temperature difference between the temperature of all the temperature control areas and the next temperature set value is within a predetermined range, until the wafer support surface reaches the target temperature, it can be ensured that the temperature control of each temperature control area on the support surface is basically synchronized, ensuring that the semiconductor devices on the heating support surface are heated evenly and avoiding fragmentation. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application or the prior art, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for the description of the embodiments or the prior art. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments recorded in the present application. For those of ordinary skill in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative efforts.

[0012] Figure 1a is a schematic structural diagram of a wafer support surface in a semiconductor processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0013] Figure 1b is a schematic flowchart of a temperature control method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0014] Figure 2 is a schematic flowchart of generating a current temperature set value in a temperature control method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0015] Figure 3 is a schematic flowchart of a temperature control method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0016] Figure 4 It is a schematic flowchart for obtaining the sampled temperature filtering value of each temperature control zone in a temperature control method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0017] Figure 5 It is a schematic flowchart for obtaining the output value of the PID algorithm in a temperature control method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0018] Figure 6 It is a schematic flowchart for the alarm step in a temperature control method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0019] Figure 7 It is a schematic structural diagram of a temperature control device according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0020] Figure 8 It is a schematic hardware structure diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present application. Specific embodiments

[0021] In order to enable those skilled in the art to better understand the technical solutions in the present application, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present application, rather than all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without making creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present application.

[0022] In a semiconductor process equipment, the wafer carrier surface 1 is used to carry wafers. If the temperature of the wafer carrier surface 1 is controlled by a single control loop, it will cause the temperature at the position close to the center of the wafer carrier surface 1 to change rapidly, and the temperature at the position far from the center of the wafer carrier surface 1 to change slowly, resulting in a large overall temperature difference on the wafer carrier surface 1. To avoid this problem, the wafer carrier surface 1 can be divided into multiple temperature control zones. Figure 1a It is a schematic structural diagram of the wafer carrier surface in a semiconductor process equipment according to an embodiment of the present application. As Figure 1a shown, the wafer carrier surface 1 in the semiconductor process equipment includes multiple temperature control zones. For example Figure 1a the temperature control zones 11, 12, and 13 in [description of the figure]. Each temperature control zone is independently controlled. When heating or cooling is required, each temperature control zone independently controls according to its own control loop, avoiding the problem that the central temperature changes faster than the edge caused by a single control loop. However, the temperature change speeds of the temperature control zones are inconsistent, and there are large differences in the temperatures of the temperature control zones, resulting in uneven heating of the wafers on the heating carrier surface and wafer breakage.

[0023] Figure 1bIt is a schematic flowchart of a temperature control method provided by an embodiment of the present application. This method can be executed by software or hardware installed on the host computer or lower computer of semiconductor process equipment. The method includes:

[0024] S101: Obtain the current temperature set value.

[0025] In the related art, the temperature control of multiple temperature control zones on the wafer carrying surface may not be synchronized independently. The current temperature set value SP_out (Set Point_out, SP_out) obtained in this step can be used as the target value for the temperature synchronization of each of the temperature control zones at the current stage.

[0026] Optionally, the current temperature can be generated by a set value generator before this step. In one implementation, when the difference between the initial temperature and the target temperature of the wafer carrying surface is greater than the preset temperature control step, the current temperature can be determined according to the initial temperature of the wafer carrying surface and the preset temperature control step. Otherwise, the target temperature can be directly used as the current temperature.

[0027] In the related art, there may be a large difference in the temperature of each temperature control zone. To avoid a large difference in the temperature of the temperature control zones in the embodiment of the present application, a preset temperature control step is set in this step. Optionally, the preset temperature control step may be related to the attributes of the wafer carried by the wafer carrying device. For example, if the wafer material is fragile, the preset temperature control step can be set relatively small.

[0028] S102: Control the temperature of each of the temperature control zones according to the current temperature set value, and keep the temperature control zones that reach the current temperature set value at a constant temperature until the temperature difference between all the temperature control zones and the current temperature set value is within a predetermined range.

[0029] Control the temperature of each of the temperature control zones to rise, fall, or maintain at the current temperature. Specifically, multiple temperature control zones perform independent temperature control, and the temperature of each of the temperature control zones may not reach the current temperature simultaneously. For example, Figure 1bWhen the current temperature set value is reached in temperature zone 1, temperature zone 1 is kept warm; when the current temperature set value is reached in temperature zone 2, temperature zone 2 is kept warm, and so on. When the current temperature set value is reached in temperature zone N (N≥2), temperature zone N is kept warm. Thus, when the temperatures of some of the multiple temperature control zones reach the current temperature, these partial temperature control zones can be kept warm. Usually, it is impossible to precisely keep the temperature completely unchanged during warming, so it is difficult for the temperatures of the multiple temperature control zones to be exactly the same. When the temperature difference between the multiple temperature control zones is within a preset range, it is determined that the temperatures of the multiple temperature control zones reach the current temperature. For example, when the initial temperature of multiple wafer carrier surfaces is 10 degrees and the target temperature is 15 degrees, the preset range can be 0.1 degree. That is, when the temperature difference between the multiple temperature control zones is within 0.1 degree, it is determined that the temperatures of the multiple temperature control zones are the same.

[0030] S103: Repeatedly obtain the next temperature set value, control the temperature of each temperature control zone according to the next temperature set value, and keep warm the temperature control zones that reach the next temperature set value until the temperature difference between the temperatures of all the temperature control zones and the next temperature set value is within a predetermined range, until the wafer carrier surface reaches the target temperature.

[0031] When the temperature difference between the multiple temperature control zones is within a preset range, obtain the next temperature set value according to the preset temperature control step size until the current temperature is equal to the target temperature and the temperatures of all the temperature control zones reach the target temperature.

[0032] For example, the initial temperature of multiple wafer carrier surfaces is 10 degrees, the target temperature is 15 degrees, and the preset temperature control step size is 1 degree. In S101, the current temperature set value of the wafer carrier surface is obtained as 11 degrees. In S102, when the temperatures of all the temperature control zones reach 11 degrees, according to the preset temperature control step size of 1 degree, the next temperature set value is obtained as 12 degrees. Repeat the above steps until the current temperature is equal to the target temperature (15 degrees) and the temperatures of all the temperature control zones reach the target temperature (15 degrees).

[0033] Thus, through the above steps, the embodiments of the present application can ensure that each temperature control zone performs temperature control with a certain temperature control step size, so as to ensure that the temperatures of each temperature control zone change basically synchronously, the time difference for the temperatures of each temperature control zone to reach the target temperature is small, synchronous temperature control is achieved, the wafers on the carrier surface are heated evenly, and fragmentation is avoided.

[0034] Figure 2 is a schematic flowchart of generating the current temperature set value in a temperature control method provided by an embodiment of the present application. InFigure 2 After the embodiments generate the respective current temperature set values, the embodiment of FIG. 1 obtains the current temperature set value of the wafer carrying surface through S101.

[0035] As Figure 2 shown, generating the current temperature set value may include the following steps:

[0036] S201: Determine the relationship between the received temperature control value and the maximum and minimum limit values of the temperature of the wafer carrying surface.

[0037] Specifically, in the embodiment of FIG. 1, the current temperature set value may be generated by a set value generator. The set value generator may receive the initial temperature control value input by the host computer. In this step, the relationship between the received temperature control value and the maximum and minimum limit values of the temperature of the wafer carrying surface is determined.

[0038] Wherein, SP_tmin and SP_tmax are the minimum and maximum limit values of the temperature of the wafer carrying surface. If the set value SP_t input by the host computer is greater than the maximum limit value, it is processed according to the maximum limit value. If it is less than the minimum limit value, it is processed according to the minimum limit value. That is, when the received temperature control value is greater than the maximum limit value of the temperature of the wafer carrying surface, the maximum limit value of the temperature is used as the target temperature. When the received temperature control value is less than the minimum limit value of the temperature of the wafer carrying surface, the minimum limit value of the temperature is used as the target temperature.

[0039] S202: Determine the initial set value SP_s and the preset temperature control step st according to the current temperature of the base.

[0040] S203: Calculate the set value difference d(SP)=SP - SP_s, and record the last changed set output value L_SPout = SP_s.

[0041] S204: Determine whether |d(SP)|≤st holds, that is, determine whether the set value reaches the target set value SP.

[0042] Determine whether the difference |d(SP)| between the current temperature set value and the target temperature is less than or equal to the preset temperature control step. Optionally, the current temperature set value may be the initial temperature of the wafer carrying surface. For example, the initial temperature of the wafer carrying surface is 10 degrees, the target temperature is 12 degrees, and the preset temperature control step is 5 degrees. If the current temperature set value is the initial temperature 10 degrees of the wafer carrying surface, then this situation satisfies that the difference (2 degrees) between the current temperature set value and the target temperature is less than the preset temperature control step 5 degrees.

[0043] S205: If d(SP) > 0, then K = 1; if d(SP) < 0, then K = -1; if d(SP) = 0, then K = 0.

[0044] Determine the step change coefficient according to the sign of the difference between the current temperature set value t and the target temperature, that is, determine whether to increase the temperature, decrease the temperature or keep the temperature constant in the temperature control area. Specifically, if d(SP) > 0, increase the temperature; otherwise, decrease the temperature. If d(SP) = 0, keep the temperature constant.

[0045] S206: Determine whether the temperature increases or decreases according to the target temperature, and then change the next temperature set value calculated and output every time the time t elapses. The change formula is: next temperature set value = L_SPout + k * st, where L_SPout = SP_out, and L_SPout records the current temperature set value of the previous change.

[0046] When the difference between the next temperature set value and the target temperature is less than or equal to the preset temperature control step, determine the target temperature as the next temperature set value.

[0047] Suppose the initial temperature of the wafer carrier surface is 10 degrees, the target temperature is 12 degrees, and the preset temperature control step is 5 degrees. Optionally, the current temperature set value can be the initial temperature of the wafer carrier surface. In this case, the difference (2 degrees) between the current temperature set value and the target temperature is less than the preset temperature control step of 5 degrees. At this time, determine the target temperature of 12 degrees as the next temperature set value.

[0048] When the difference between the current temperature set value and the target temperature is greater than the preset temperature control step, determine the next temperature set value according to the current temperature set value, the preset temperature control step and the step change coefficient.

[0049] Suppose the initial temperature of the wafer carrier surface is 10 degrees, the target temperature is 13 degrees, and the preset temperature control step is 2 degrees. Optionally, the current temperature set value can be the initial temperature of 10 degrees of the wafer carrier surface. In this case, the difference of 3 degrees between the current temperature set value of 10 degrees and the target temperature of 13 degrees is greater than the preset temperature control step of 2 degrees. At this time, determine the next temperature set value according to the current temperature set value, the preset temperature control step and the step change coefficient, that is, next temperature set value = L_SPout + k * st, SP_out = L_SPout + k * st, L_SPout = SP_out, where L_SPout records the set output value of the previous change.

[0050] Thereby, the next temperature set value is obtained in S102. For example, after the temperature control is performed on the initial temperature of 10 degrees of the wafer carrying surface based on the preset temperature control step of 2 degrees, the next temperature set value obtained is 12 degrees. Furthermore, when the difference of 1 degree between the next temperature set value of 12 degrees and the target temperature of 13 degrees is less than or equal to the preset temperature control step, the target temperature of 13 degrees is determined as the next temperature set value. Thereby, the integer-gradient temperature control between the initial temperature of the wafer carrying surface and the target temperature is realized.

[0051] S207: Determine whether the next temperature set value is equal to SP, and end the process until the next temperature set value is equal to the target temperature.

[0052] The temperature setting method provided by the embodiments of the present application can set the upper and lower limits of the temperature control set value. When there is a large difference in the temperature control set value, it does not directly respond to the temperature control set value, but gradually changes the temperature set value within a certain time until the set value reaches the target set value. That is, it can be controlled that when the temperature control set value and the actual value differ greatly, the controller actually issues the set value step by step at a certain gradient inside, so that the temperature of the wafer carrying surface of the wafer carrying device changes slowly, avoiding the wafer on the base from cracking.

[0053] Figure 3 FIG. shows a flowchart of a temperature control method provided by an embodiment of the present application. This method can be executed by an electronic device, such as a host computer or a slave computer of a semiconductor process device. In other words, the method can be executed by software or hardware installed in the host computer or the slave computer of the semiconductor process device. As Figure 3 shown, the method may include the following steps:

[0054] S301: Obtain the current temperature set value of the wafer carrying surface output by the set value generator.

[0055] S302: Respectively obtain the sampled temperature filtering values yn of each temperature control zone.

[0056] In one implementation, the temperature of at least one of the temperature control zones can be sampled within a predetermined time to obtain a plurality of sampled temperatures; when the difference between two continuously sampled temperatures is greater than the preset sampled temperature threshold, the sampled temperature with a later sampling order among the two continuously sampled temperatures is deleted; the average value of the plurality of sampled temperatures within the predetermined time is used as the sampled temperature filtering value of the temperature control zone.

[0057] Combined with Figure 4 shown, this step may include:

[0058] S401: Initialize the buffer (i = 0).

[0059] S402: The actual temperature value c[i] of this sampling.

[0060] In this step, the temperature value of the temperature control area is collected through the thermocouple module and recorded as c[i].

[0061] S403: Calculate the difference from the previous temperature sampling value and determine whether it exceeds the limit.

[0062] Specifically, determine whether the difference exceeds the first preset value.

[0063] S404a: If the difference does not exceed the first preset value, keep the current sampling value c[i].

[0064] S404b: If the difference exceeds the first preset value, replace the current sampling value c[i] with the previous sampling value L_c.

[0065] S405: Execute i = i + 1.

[0066] S406: Determine whether i is equal to N, where N is the maximum number of samplings.

[0067] S407: When i is equal to N, reset i to 0. When i is not equal to N, continue to collect the actual temperature value c[i] of the temperature control area, that is, execute step S402 again.

[0068] S408: Determine whether the refresh time has arrived. If the refresh time has not arrived, continue to execute step S402.

[0069] S409: If the refresh time has arrived, calculate the sum of N valid temperature values Sum = c[0] + c[1] + … + c[N - 1].

[0070] S410: Calculate the average value f_ave = Sum / N to obtain the collected temperature value of the temperature control area.

[0071] Take this collected temperature value as the sampled temperature filtering value yn of the temperature control area.

[0072] The temperature acquisition method provided by the embodiment of the present application processes the sampled temperature values of the chamber heating base. For temperature feedback, it usually contains interference, which will cause the control system to adjust frequently. The digital filtering algorithm is used to reduce the influence of the interference signal on the effective base temperature value, thereby effectively reducing the adjustment frequency of the control system. At the same time, the embodiment of the present application filters the temperature signals in the base temperature control area by combining the limit filtering and recursive average filtering methods respectively. Compare the deviation between the current sampled value and the previous sampled value. If the deviation exceeds the maximum allowable value, it is considered that random interference has occurred, discard the current sampled value, replace it with the previous sampled value, circularly store the effective values in the array c[i], and finally calculate the arithmetic average of the N effective values in the array to obtain a more accurate acquired temperature value in the temperature control area, thereby improving the accuracy of temperature control.

[0073] S303: PID calculation and output for each temperature control area.

[0074] According to the filtered sampled temperature value and the current temperature SP_out, determine the duty cycle of the on / off of the solid-state relay for temperature control of each temperature control area. According to the duty cycle, control the on / off of the solid-state relay, so as to control heating to control the temperature of each temperature control area.

[0075] In one implementation, the difference between the filtered sampled temperature value and the current temperature is used as the input of the proportional integral derivative (PID) algorithm to obtain the output value of the PID algorithm; the quotient of the output value of the PID algorithm and the preset maximum PID value is determined as the duty cycle, and the duty cycle is not greater than 1. The PID algorithm is a method for controlling the controlled object and is mainly applied in automatic control systems. The PID controller can be regarded as a loop for controlling a specific variable of the controlled object. Specifically, this controller compares the actual value of the controlled object with the set value and calculates an error value. The error value will be fed back to the PID controller, and by continuously adjusting the output signal of the controller, the control of the controlled object can be achieved. In this step, the duty cycle of the on / off of the solid-state relay corresponding to each temperature control area is obtained through this algorithm.

[0076] As Figure 5 shown, this step may include:

[0077] S501: Initialize parameter settings, including: setting the pulse width period tPWMPeriod, setting the task cycle tTaskCycleTime, and clearing the counter Counter.

[0078] S502: Judge whether Counter*tTaskCycleTime≥tPWMPeriod holds.

[0079] S503a: When Counter * tTaskCycleTime < tPWMPeriod, determine whether Counter * tTaskCycleTim ≤ PID output duty cycle * tPWMPeriod holds.

[0080] S503b: When Counter * tTaskCycleTime ≥ tPWMPeriod, clear the counter Counter.

[0081] S504a: When Counter * tTaskCycleTim ≤ PID output duty cycle * tPWMPeriod, output a high level.

[0082] S504b: When Counter * tTaskCycleTim > PID output duty cycle * tPWMPeriod, output a low level.

[0083] S505: Increment the counter Counter by 1.

[0084] Then repeat step S502 until the temperature in the temperature control zone reaches the target control temperature.

[0085] Among them, for example, the pulse width period tPWMPeriod = 1 second, the task cycle tTaskCycleTime = 10 milliseconds. Then when the counter Counter = 100, Counter * tTaskCycleTime ≥ tPWMPeriod holds, and the counter is reset to zero for counting. Within each pulse width period, when Counter * tTaskCycleTim ≤ PID output duty cycle * tPWMPeriod, a high level is output; when Counter * tTaskCycleTim > PID output duty cycle * tPWMPeriod, a low level is output. Thus, according to the PID output duty cycle, it is controlled how many task cycles output a high level to turn on the heating of the solid state relay and how many task cycles output a low level to turn off the heating of the solid state relay, realizing the temperature control function of the temperature control zone.

[0086] S304: When the temperature in each temperature control zone reaches the current temperature set value SP_out, perform heat preservation treatment on the corresponding temperature control zone.

[0087] S305: Determine whether the temperature difference between each of the temperature control zones is within the limit range.

[0088] Such as whether it is less than the second preset value.

[0089] S306: When the temperature differences in each temperature control zone fall within the limit range, obtain the next temperature set value until the obtained next temperature set value is equal to the target temperature and the temperatures in each temperature control zone reach the target temperature, that is, the wafer bearing surface reaches the target temperature.

[0090] If the temperature differences in each temperature control zone do not fall within the limit range, wait until the temperature differences in the three temperature control zones fall within the limit range, obtain the next temperature set value, control the temperature of each temperature control zone according to the next temperature set value, and keep the temperature of the temperature control zone that reaches the next temperature set value constant until the temperature differences between the temperatures of all temperature control zones and the next temperature set value are within a predetermined range, until the wafer bearing surface reaches the target temperature.

[0091] The temperature control method provided by the embodiment of the present application controls each temperature control zone of the base independently. However, each temperature control zone uniformly obtains the temperature control set value output by the set value generator, and then calculates the deviation from the sampled temperature filtered value of each temperature control zone as the PID calculation input of each temperature control zone. When the temperature of a certain temperature control zone reaches the current temperature set value, it enters the heat preservation program until the temperature differences in the three temperature control zones fall within the limit range, and then obtains the next temperature set value of the base temperature output by the set value generator. Thereby, it can ensure that each temperature control zone realizes synchronous temperature control with a certain gradient, ensure that the wafer on the heating base is heated evenly, and avoid fragmentation.

[0092] In one implementation, the embodiment of the present application further includes alarm processing, specifically including:

[0093] When the target temperature exceeds the preset temperature limit value, issue an alarm for temperature setting overrun. When the collected temperature values in each temperature control zone exceed the target temperature, issue an over-temperature alarm. When the alarm code of the thermocouple acquisition module of the wafer bearing device indicates that the thermocouple is abnormal, issue a thermocouple alarm.

[0094] As Figure 6 shown, the alarm steps may include:

[0095] S601: Set the high limit value C_High and low limit value C_Low of the chamber temperature, and the high limit value SP_High and low limit value SP_Low of the temperature set value.

[0096] This step is used to set the high and low limit values of the temperature and the high and low limit values of the temperature set value.

[0097] S602: Sample the actual temperature value C.

[0098] This step is used to collect the actual temperature value C of the temperature control zone.

[0099] S603: Determine whether C_Low < C < C_High holds.

[0100] If C_Low < C < C_High does not hold, that is, when the temperature in the temperature control area exceeds the limit value during the temperature change process, an over-temperature alarm is thrown.

[0101] S604: If C_Low < C < C_High holds, continue to determine whether SP_Low < SP < SP_High holds.

[0102] If SP_Low < SP < SP_High does not hold, that is, the set temperature exceeds the limit value during setting, a temperature setting over-limit alarm is thrown.

[0103] S605: If SP_Low < SP < SP_High holds, obtain the thermocouple status code from the DeviceNet controller of the device bus.

[0104] S606: Determine whether the thermocouple status is normal.

[0105] If the thermocouple status is not normal, a thermocouple alarm is thrown.

[0106] S607: If the thermocouple status is normal, determine whether the refresh time has arrived.

[0107] If the refresh time has arrived, re-execute step S602 to collect the actual temperature value C of the temperature control area at the next moment for monitoring.

[0108] S608: Output the alarm information.

[0109] The temperature control method provided by the embodiment of the present application can monitor the entire control process, for example, including tolerance range monitoring and thermocouple status monitoring (open circuit, reverse voltage connection, etc.). By setting the upper and lower limit values of the temperature and the upper and lower limit values of the set temperature, when the temperature exceeds the limit value during the change process or the set temperature exceeds the limit value during setting, the upper computer records the alarm. The status of the thermocouple is monitored through the analog temperature acquisition module. If an abnormality occurs, the upper computer PC will obtain the alarm information from the DeviceNet controller and display these alarm information.

[0110] The present application further provides a temperature control device. Figure 7 The structural schematic diagram of a temperature control device provided by the embodiment of the present application is shown, as Figure 7As shown, the device 700 includes: a temperature setting module 710 for obtaining the current temperature setting value, and a control module 720 for controlling the temperature of each temperature control area according to the current temperature setting value, and maintaining the temperature of the temperature control area that reaches the current temperature setting value until the temperature difference between the temperatures of all the temperature control areas and the current temperature setting value is within a predetermined range; a temperature update module 730 for repeatedly obtaining the next temperature setting value, controlling the temperature of each temperature control area according to the next temperature setting value, and maintaining the temperature of the temperature control area that reaches the next temperature setting value until the temperature difference between the temperatures of all the temperature control areas and the next temperature setting value is within a predetermined range, until the wafer bearing surface reaches the target temperature.

[0111] In one implementation, the temperature setting module 710 is configured to determine the next temperature setting value according to the current temperature setting value, the preset temperature control step, and the step change coefficient when the difference between the current temperature setting value and the target temperature is greater than the preset temperature control step; and determine the target temperature as the next temperature setting value when the difference between the current temperature setting value and the target temperature is less than or equal to the preset temperature control step.

[0112] In one implementation, the temperature setting module 710 is further configured to set the step change coefficient to 1 when the difference between the initial temperature of the wafer bearing surface and the target temperature is greater than 0; set the step change coefficient to -1 when the difference between the initial temperature of the wafer bearing surface and the target temperature is less than 0; and set the step change coefficient to 0 when the difference between the initial temperature of the wafer bearing surface and the target temperature is equal to 0.

[0113] In one implementation, the temperature setting module 710 is further configured to use the maximum temperature limit value of the wafer bearing surface as the target temperature when the received temperature control value is greater than the maximum temperature limit value of the wafer bearing surface; and use the minimum temperature limit value of the wafer bearing surface as the target temperature when the received temperature control value is less than the minimum temperature limit value of the wafer bearing surface.

[0114] In one implementation, the device further includes: a temperature acquisition module for acquiring the sampled temperature filtering value of each temperature control area; and a temperature control module for determining the duty cycle of the on / off of the solid state relay for temperature control of each temperature control area according to the sampled temperature filtering value and the current temperature SP_out; and controlling the on / off of the solid state relay according to the duty cycle to control heating to control the temperature of each temperature control area.

[0115] In one implementation, the temperature acquisition module is configured to sample the temperature of at least one of the temperature control zones within a predetermined time to obtain a plurality of sampled temperatures; when the difference between two consecutively sampled temperatures is greater than a preset sampled temperature threshold, delete the sampled temperature with a later sampling order among the two consecutively sampled temperatures; and determine a sampled temperature filtering value of the temperature control zone according to the plurality of sampled temperatures within the predetermined time.

[0116] In one implementation, the temperature control module is configured to use the difference between the sampled temperature filtering value and the current temperature SP_out as the input of a proportional integral derivative (PID) algorithm to obtain an output value of the PID algorithm; and determine the duty cycle as the quotient of the output value of the PID algorithm and a preset maximum PID value, where the duty cycle is not greater than 1.

[0117] In one implementation, the device further includes: an alarm module, configured to issue an alarm indicating that the temperature setting exceeds the limit when the target temperature exceeds a preset temperature limit value; issue an over-temperature alarm when the collected temperature value of each temperature control zone exceeds the target temperature; and issue a thermocouple alarm when the alarm code of the thermocouple acquisition module of the wafer carrier device indicates that the thermocouple is abnormal.

[0118] The temperature control device provided in the embodiments of the present application can execute the temperature control method described in at least one of the foregoing method embodiments and can achieve the same technical effects as the foregoing method embodiments, which will not be elaborated herein.

[0119] The temperature control device in the embodiments of the present application can be a device, or a component, an integrated circuit, or a chip in a terminal. The device can be a mobile electronic device or a non-mobile electronic device. Exemplarily, the mobile electronic device can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a handheld computer, a vehicle-mounted electronic device, a wearable device, an ultra-mobile personal computer (UMPC), a netbook, or a personal digital assistant (PDA), etc., and the non-mobile electronic device can be a server, a network attached storage (NAS), a personal computer (PC), a television (TV), a teller machine, or a self-service machine, etc. The embodiments of the present application do not make specific limitations.

[0120] The temperature control device in the embodiments of the present application can be a device with an operating system. The operating system can be the Android operating system, the iOS operating system, or other possible operating systems, which are not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0121] Figure 8 The hardware structure diagram of the semiconductor process equipment provided by the embodiments of the present application is shown. Referring to this figure, at the hardware level, the semiconductor process equipment includes a process chamber, a heating base, and a controller. The heating base is arranged in the process chamber. The controller includes at least one processor and at least one memory, and a computer program is stored in the memory. Among them, the memory may include internal memory, such as high-speed random access memory (Random-Access Memory, RAM), and may also include non-volatile memory, such as at least one disk memory, etc. Of course, this electronic device may also include other hardware required for other services.

[0122] The processor, network interface, and memory can be interconnected through an internal bus. The internal bus can be an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, or an Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus, etc. The bus can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For the sake of representation, only a bidirectional arrow is used in this figure, but it does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

[0123] The memory is used to store programs. Specifically, the program can include program code, and the program code includes computer operation instructions. The memory can include internal memory and non-volatile memory, and provide instructions and data to the processor.

[0124] The processor reads the corresponding computer program from the non-volatile memory into the internal memory and then runs it. The processor executes the program stored in the memory and is specifically used to execute: each step of the temperature control method described in at least one of the above method embodiments.

[0125] In the embodiments of the present application, the controller can be, for example, the host computer or the slave computer of a semiconductor process device. A computer can serve as the host computer, and a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) can serve as the slave computer. Through the combination of the host computer and the slave computer, various functions of the above-mentioned controller can be realized. Utilizing the computing and data processing capabilities of the computer, a temperature control algorithm is designed. The temperature control algorithm includes: obtaining the current temperature set value; controlling the temperature of each temperature control zone according to the current temperature set value, and maintaining the temperature of the temperature control zone that reaches the current temperature set value until the temperature difference between the temperatures of all the temperature control zones and the current temperature set value is within a predetermined range; repeating the steps of obtaining the next temperature set value, controlling the temperature of each temperature control zone according to the next temperature set value, and maintaining the temperature of the temperature control zone that reaches the next temperature set value until the temperature difference between the temperatures of all the temperature control zones and the next temperature set value is within a predetermined range until the wafer carrying surface reaches the target temperature, thereby solving the dependence on the thermostat hardware, saving hardware costs, reducing the complexity of the system, improving the stability of the system, and realizing the convenient control of the temperature of the heating base of the semiconductor equipment chamber through software technology.

[0126] Among them, a thermocouple can be used as a common temperature measuring element in the temperature measurement system to directly measure the temperature and convert the temperature signal into a thermal electromotive force signal, which is converted into the temperature of the measured medium through the temperature acquisition module. The PLC determines the acquired temperature value of the temperature control zone based on the temperature signal; at the same time, the PLC serving as the slave computer is connected to the host computer through the fieldbus DeviceNet for data transmission at the control layer. The host computer receives the acquired temperature value sent by the slave computer, determines the current temperature set value based on the acquired temperature value and the target control temperature value, and then transmits the output result to the slave computer through PID calculation, and the slave computer executes the heating control. The host computer and the slave computer control the temperature of each temperature control zone according to the current temperature set value, and maintain the temperature of the temperature control zone that reaches the current temperature set value until the temperature difference between the temperatures of all the temperature control zones and the current temperature set value is within a predetermined range; repeating the steps of obtaining the next temperature set value, controlling the temperature of each temperature control zone according to the next temperature set value, and maintaining the temperature of the temperature control zone that reaches the next temperature set value until the temperature difference between the temperatures of all the temperature control zones and the next temperature set value is within a predetermined range until the wafer carrying surface reaches the target temperature.

[0127] The methods disclosed in the embodiments shown in the flowcharts of the present application as described above can be applied to a processor or implemented by a processor. The processor may be an integrated circuit chip with the ability to process signals. During implementation, the steps of the above methods can be completed by the integrated logic circuit in the hardware of the processor or instructions in software form. The above-mentioned processor may be a general-purpose processor, including a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Network Processor (NP), etc.; it may also be a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components. It can implement or execute the various methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present application. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may also be any conventional processor, etc. The steps of the method disclosed in combination with the embodiments of the present application can be directly embodied as being executed and completed by a hardware decoding processor, or executed and completed by a combination of the hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module may be located in a mature storage medium in the art such as a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory, or an electrically erasable programmable memory, a register, etc. This storage medium is located in the memory, and the processor reads the information in the memory and combines its hardware to complete the steps of the above method.

[0128] The electronic device can also execute the temperature control method described in at least one of the foregoing method embodiments, and can achieve the same technical effects as the foregoing method embodiments, which will not be elaborated herein.

[0129] Of course, in addition to the software implementation, the electronic device of the present application does not exclude other implementation manners, such as a logic device or a combination of software and hardware, etc. That is to say, the execution subject of the following processing flow is not limited to each logic unit, and may also be hardware or a logic device.

[0130] The embodiments of the present application also propose a computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable medium stores one or more programs. When the one or more programs are executed by an electronic device including a plurality of application programs, the electronic device is caused to execute each step of the temperature control method described in at least one of the foregoing method embodiments.

[0131] Among them, the computer-readable storage medium includes a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, an optical disc, and the like.

[0132] Furthermore, an embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program product. The computer program product includes a computer program stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The computer program includes program instructions. When the program instructions are executed by a computer, the steps of at least one of the above method embodiments are implemented.

[0133] In summary, the above are only the preferred embodiments of the present application and are not intended to limit the protection scope of the present application. Any modifications, equivalent replacements, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present application shall be included in the protection scope of the present application.

[0134] The systems, devices, modules or units illustrated in the above embodiments can be specifically implemented by computer chips or entities, or by products with certain functions. A typical implementation device is a computer. Specifically, the computer can be, for example, a personal computer, a laptop computer, a cellular phone, a camera phone, a smart phone, a personal digital assistant, a media player, a navigation device, an email device, a game console, a tablet computer, a wearable device, or any combination of these devices.

[0135] Computer-readable media includes both permanent and non-permanent, removable and non-removable media and can be implemented by any method or technology for storing information. The information can be computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data. Examples of computer storage media include, but are not limited to, phase change memory (PRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), other types of random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other memory technologies, compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), digital versatile discs (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other non-transmission media that can be used to store information that can be accessed by a computing device. As defined herein, computer-readable media does not include transitory computer-readable media such as modulated data signals and carrier waves.

[0136] It should also be noted that the terms "include", "comprise" or any other variants thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, commodity or device comprising a series of elements not only includes those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or further includes elements inherent to such process, method, commodity or device. Without further limitation, an element defined by the statement "comprising an..." does not exclude the presence of additional identical elements in the process, method, commodity or device comprising said element.

[0137] Each embodiment in this specification is described in a progressive manner. For the same or similar parts among the embodiments, reference can be made to each other. Each embodiment focuses on the differences from other embodiments. In particular, for system embodiments, since they are basically similar to method embodiments, the description is relatively simple, and reference can be made to the corresponding parts of the method embodiments for the relevant content.

Claims

1. A temperature control method for a wafer carrier device, wherein the wafer carrying surface of the wafer carrier device includes a plurality of temperature control zones, characterized in that, The method includes: Obtaining a current temperature set value; Controlling the temperature of each of the temperature control zones according to the current temperature set value, and keeping warm the temperature control zones that reach the current temperature set value until the temperature difference between the temperatures of all the temperature control zones and the current temperature set value is within a predetermined range; Repeating the steps of obtaining the next temperature set value, controlling the temperature of each of the temperature control zones according to the next temperature set value, and keeping warm the temperature control zones that reach the next temperature set value until the temperature difference between the temperatures of all the temperature control zones and the next temperature set value is within a predetermined range, until the wafer bearing surface reaches the target temperature.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The obtaining of the next temperature set value includes: When the difference between the current temperature set value and the target temperature is greater than the preset temperature control step, determining the next temperature set value according to the current temperature set value, the preset temperature control step, and the step change coefficient; When the difference between the current temperature set value and the target temperature is less than or equal to the preset temperature control step, determining the target temperature as the next temperature set value.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein When the difference between the initial temperature of the wafer bearing surface and the target temperature is greater than 0, the step change coefficient is 1; when the difference between the initial temperature of the wafer bearing surface and the target temperature is less than 0, the step change coefficient is -1; when the difference between the initial temperature of the wafer bearing surface and the target temperature is equal to 0, the step change coefficient is 0.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, Before obtaining the current temperature set value, the method further includes: When the received temperature control value is greater than the maximum temperature limit value of the wafer bearing surface, using the maximum temperature limit value as the target temperature; When the received temperature control value is less than the minimum temperature limit value of the wafer bearing surface, using the minimum temperature limit value as the target temperature.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein Before repeating the obtaining of the next temperature set value, it further includes: Obtaining the sampled temperature filtering value of each of the temperature control zones; Determining the duty ratio of the on / off of the solid state relay for temperature control of each of the temperature control zones according to the sampled temperature filtering value and the current temperature set value; Controlling the on / off heating of the solid state relay according to the duty ratio to control the temperature of each of the temperature control zones.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that, The obtaining of the sampled temperature filtering value of each of the temperature control zones includes: Sampling the temperature of at least one of the temperature control zones within a predetermined time to obtain a plurality of sampled temperatures; When the difference between two continuously sampled temperatures is greater than the preset sampled temperature threshold, deleting the sampled temperature with a later sampling order among the two continuously sampled temperatures; Determining the sampled temperature filtering value of the temperature control zone according to the plurality of sampled temperatures within the predetermined time.

7. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that, The determining of the duty ratio of the on / off of the solid state relay for temperature control of each of the temperature control zones according to the sampled temperature filtering value and the current temperature set value includes: Use the difference between the sampled temperature filtered value and the current temperature set value as the input of the proportional integral derivative (PID) algorithm to obtain the output value of the PID algorithm; Determine the duty cycle as the quotient of the output value of the PID algorithm and a preset maximum PID value, where the duty cycle is not greater than 1.

8. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, The method further includes: When the target temperature exceeds the preset temperature limit value, issue an over-temperature setting alarm; When the collected temperature value in each temperature control area exceeds the target temperature, issue an over-temperature alarm; When the alarm code of the thermocouple acquisition module of the wafer carrier device indicates an abnormality of the thermocouple, issue a thermocouple alarm.

9. An electronic device, characterized in that, It includes a processor, a memory, and a program or instruction stored on the memory and executable on the processor. When the program or instruction is executed by the processor, it implements the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1-8.

10. A semiconductor processing apparatus, characterized in that, It includes: A process chamber, a heating base, and a controller. The heating base is disposed in the process chamber. The controller includes at least one processor and at least one memory. A computer program is stored in the memory. When the computer program is executed by the processor, it implements the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1-8.

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