Semiconductor process equipment and wafer position acquisition and calibration device and method thereof

Abstract

The invention discloses semiconductor process equipment and a wafer position acquisition and calibration device and method thereof, and belongs to a semiconductor process technology. The wafer position acquisition device comprises a bearing base which comprises a wafer bearing surface which is used for bearing a wafer; the light emitting assembly is located right above the wafer bearing surface and is used for emitting an annular light beam to the wafer on the wafer bearing surface, so that the edge of the wafer falls into the irradiation range of the annular light beam; and the optical detection assembly comprises an optical detector array distributed right below the wafer bearing surface and is used for receiving irradiation of the annular light beam to obtain contour information of the wafer, and the contour information is used for indicating position information of the wafer. According to the technical scheme, the wafer calibration time can be greatly saved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application belongs to the field of semiconductor process technology, and in particular, relates to a semiconductor process equipment and a wafer position calibration device and method thereof. Background Art

[0002] Semiconductor integrated circuits integrate many components into one chip, and the substrate that carries these chips is the wafer. The wafer is formed from a single crystal silicon rod through many processes, one of which is to use a chamfering mechanism to form a notch (i.e., Notch, also known as a V-groove) on the wafer. The national standard stipulates that the depth of the Notch is 1mm and the angle is 90°. It is a concave structure with a certain angle and depth. The function of the Notch on the wafer is to identify the crystallization direction of the wafer and ensure the consistency of the direction in the entire subsequent process. Therefore, whether it is photolithography, etching or deposition, in a series of semiconductor process, there will be a step to determine the direction of the wafer Notch to calibrate the position of the wafer and ensure the consistency of the direction of the wafer in the entire process.

[0003] In the prior art, the mainstream wafer position calibration device is based on single-point detection by laser, and its simple schematic diagram is as follows: Figure 1 As shown, 1 represents the mechanical support mechanism for wafer calibration, 2 represents the laser emission component, 3 represents the laser detection component, 4 represents the motion mechanism, and 5 represents the wafer. The existing method rotates the wafer 5 through the motion mechanism 4, and the laser detector 3 forms the position data of a single point during the rotation of the wafer 5, and then infers the shape of the wafer 5 through the time and the speed of the motion mechanism 4, and then confirms the center of mass position of the wafer 5 according to the inferred shape, and then adjusts the position of the wafer 5 through the motion mechanism 4. Finally, enter the next rotation cycle, and then confirm the direction of the Notch mouth 51 of the wafer 5. It can be seen that the existing wafer position device rotates the wafer 5 through the motion mechanism 4, and then infers the shape of the wafer 5 from the position information formed at the laser detector 3, resulting in the accuracy of this method strongly relying on the accuracy of the time and speed information of the movement, which can easily cause errors in the calculation of the center of mass of the wafer 5, resulting in the need for the wafer 5 to rotate multiple times to continuously correct the center of mass information. At the same time, the confirmation of the center of mass of the wafer 5 and the confirmation of the Notch mouth 51 of the wafer 5 are carried out twice, which greatly increases the wafer calibration time. Summary of the invention

[0004] The embodiments of the present application provide a semiconductor process equipment and a wafer position acquisition, calibration device and method thereof, aiming to solve the technical problem that the wafer position calibration device in the prior art consumes a lot of time when performing wafer position calibration.

[0005] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a wafer position acquisition device, which is applied in a semiconductor process equipment, and the wafer position acquisition device includes:

[0006] A supporting base, comprising a wafer supporting surface, wherein the wafer supporting surface is used to support the wafer;

[0007] A light emitting component, located just above the wafer carrying surface, for emitting an annular light beam to the wafer on the wafer carrying surface so that the edge of the wafer falls within the irradiation range of the annular light beam;

[0008] The optical detection component includes an optical detector array distributed directly below the wafer carrying surface, and is used to obtain the contour information of the wafer by receiving the irradiation of the annular light beam, and the contour information is used to indicate the position information of the wafer.

[0009] Optionally, in some embodiments, the light emitting assembly includes a collimated light source and an aconical lens, wherein the collimated light source is used to face the center of the wafer carrying surface and emit a collimated light beam of a predetermined diameter;

[0010] The axicon is located on the irradiation path of the collimated light beam, and is used for converting the collimated light beam into the annular light beam, and making the width of the annular light beam be half of the predetermined diameter.

[0011] Optionally, in some embodiments, when the annular light beam falls on the plane where the wafer is located on the wafer supporting surface, the diameter of the wafer is larger than the inner ring diameter of the annular light beam and smaller than the outer ring diameter of the annular light beam.

[0012] Optionally, in some embodiments, the wafer position acquisition device further includes a liftable bracket for supporting and fixing the light emitting assembly, so that a vertical distance from the light emitting assembly to the wafer on the wafer carrying surface is adjustable.

[0013] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a wafer position calibration device, which is used in semiconductor process equipment. The wafer position calibration system includes a controller, a moving mechanism, and the above-mentioned wafer position acquisition device; wherein,

[0014] The controller is used to obtain the position information of the wafer according to the contour information of the wafer obtained by the wafer position acquisition device; and control the movement mechanism to operate according to the position information so that the wafer moves to the target position.

[0015] Optionally, in some embodiments, the moving mechanism includes a rotating mechanism and a translation mechanism; the rotating mechanism is used to drive the supporting base to rotate; the translation mechanism is used to drive the wafer on the wafer supporting surface to translate relative to the wafer supporting surface;

[0016] The controller is used to control the rotating mechanism to drive the supporting base to rotate according to the position information so as to drive the wafer to rotate to the target position; and is used to control the translation mechanism to drive the wafer to translate to the target position according to the position information.

[0017] Optionally, in some embodiments, the step of acquiring the position information of the wafer according to the contour information of the wafer obtained by the wafer position acquisition device includes:

[0018] Fitting an outer shape curve of the wafer according to the contour information of the wafer, and determining whether the outer shape curve of the wafer is complete;

[0019] When it is determined that the outer shape curve of the wafer is complete, the position information of the wafer is determined according to the outer shape curve of the wafer.

[0020] Optionally, in some embodiments, the step of determining the position information of the wafer according to the outer shape curve of the wafer includes:

[0021] Determining the notch direction and centroid position of the wafer according to the outer shape curve of the wafer;

[0022] The position information of the wafer is determined according to the centroid position of the wafer and the notch direction of the wafer.

[0023] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a semiconductor process equipment, including a process chamber and a wafer temporary storage chamber connected to the process chamber, wherein the above-mentioned wafer position acquisition device or the above-mentioned wafer position calibration device is installed in the wafer temporary storage chamber.

[0024] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a wafer position calibration method, comprising the following steps:

[0025] Sending an annular light beam to the wafer on the wafer carrying surface so that the edge of the wafer falls within the irradiation range of the annular light beam;

[0026] Receiving the irradiation of the annular light beam to detect and obtain the contour information of the wafer;

[0027] According to the contour information of the wafer, obtaining the position information of the wafer;

[0028] According to the position information of the wafer, the wafer is controlled to move to a target position.

[0029] Optionally, in some embodiments, the step of acquiring the position information of the wafer according to the contour information of the wafer includes:

[0030] Fitting an outer shape curve of the wafer according to the contour information of the wafer, and determining whether the outer shape curve of the wafer is complete;

[0031] When it is determined that the outer shape curve of the wafer is complete, the position information of the wafer is determined according to the outer shape curve of the wafer.

[0032] Optionally, in some embodiments, the step of determining the position information of the wafer according to the outer shape curve of the wafer includes:

[0033] Determining the notch direction and centroid position of the wafer according to the outer shape curve of the wafer;

[0034] Determining the position information of the wafer according to the center of mass position of the wafer and the notch direction of the wafer;

[0035] Optionally, in some embodiments, the step of controlling the wafer to move to a target position according to the position information of the wafer includes:

[0036] According to the center of mass position of the wafer, controlling the translation of the wafer so that the center of mass position of the wafer coincides with the center point position of the wafer carrying surface;

[0037] According to the notch direction of the wafer, the wafer carrying surface is controlled to drive the wafer to rotate, so that the notch direction of the wafer faces the target orientation.

[0038] In the present application, since the light emitting component of the wafer position acquisition device can emit an annular light beam to the wafer on the wafer carrying surface, and make the edge of the wafer fall into the irradiation range of the annular light beam, at the same time, the light detection component of the wafer position acquisition device includes a light detector array distributed directly below the wafer carrying surface, which can receive the irradiation of the annular light beam to obtain the contour information of the wafer, and the contour information can indicate the position information of the wafer (including the notch direction and the center of mass position of the wafer). In addition, the controller of the wafer position calibration device can obtain the position information of the wafer according to the contour information of the wafer, and control the movement mechanism to work according to the position information of the wafer, so that the wafer moves to the target position to achieve the position calibration of the wafer. It can be seen that in the present technical solution, in the process of confirming the entire wafer position information, only one irradiation detection is needed to complete the confirmation of the entire wafer position information. At the same time, the wafer does not need to perform any movement including rotation in the process of confirming the entire position information. It only needs to move to the target position once through the movement mechanism after the position information is confirmed.

[0039] Therefore, wafer calibration time can be greatly saved. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0040] The technical solution and beneficial effects of the present application will be made apparent by describing in detail the specific implementation methods of the present application in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0041] Figure 1 It is a working schematic diagram of a wafer position calibration device in the prior art.

[0042] Figure 2 It is a working schematic diagram of the wafer position calibration device provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0043] Figure 3 yes Figure 2 The working principle diagram of the wafer position calibration device is shown.

[0044] Figure 4 It is a flow chart of the wafer position calibration method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0045] Figure 5 yes Figure 4 The flowchart of step S130 of the wafer position calibration method is shown.

[0046] Figure 6 yes Figure 4 FIG. 1 is a flow chart of step S140 of the wafer position calibration method. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0047] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application are clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present application. In the absence of conflict, the following embodiments and their technical features can be combined with each other.

[0048] Semiconductor integrated circuits integrate many components into one chip, and the substrate that carries these chips is the wafer. The wafer is formed from a single crystal silicon rod through many processes, one of which is to use a chamfering mechanism to form a notch (i.e., Notch, also known as a V-groove) on the wafer. The national standard stipulates that the depth of the Notch is 1mm and the angle is 90°. It is a concave structure with a certain angle and depth. The function of the Notch on the wafer is to identify the crystallization direction of the wafer and ensure the consistency of the direction in the entire subsequent process. Therefore, whether it is photolithography, etching or deposition, in a series of semiconductor process, there will be a step to determine the direction of the wafer Notch to calibrate the position of the wafer and ensure the consistency of the direction of the wafer in the entire process.

[0049] In the prior art, the mainstream wafer position calibration device is based on single-point detection by laser, and its simple schematic diagram is as follows: Figure 1 As shown, 1 represents the mechanical support mechanism for wafer calibration, 2 represents the laser emission component, 3 represents the laser detection component, 4 represents the motion mechanism, and 5 represents the wafer. The existing method drives the wafer 5 to rotate through the motion mechanism 4, and the laser detector 3 forms the position data of a single point during the rotation of the wafer 5, and then infers the shape of the wafer 5 through the time and the speed of the motion mechanism 4, and then confirms the center of mass position of the wafer 5 according to the inferred shape, and then adjusts the position of the wafer 5 through the motion mechanism 4. Finally, enter the next rotation cycle, and then confirm the direction of the Notch mouth 51 of the wafer 5. It can be seen that the existing wafer position device rotates the wafer 5 through the motion mechanism 4, and then infers the shape of the wafer 5 from the position information formed at the laser detector 3, resulting in the accuracy of this method strongly relying on the accuracy of the time and speed information of the movement, which can easily cause errors in the calculation of the center of mass of the wafer 5, resulting in the need for the wafer 5 to rotate multiple times to continuously correct the center of mass information. At the same time, the center of mass of the wafer 5 and the Notch mouth 51 of the wafer 5 are confirmed twice, which greatly increases the wafer calibration time.

[0050] Based on this, it is necessary to provide a new solution for wafer position calibration method to solve the technical problem that the prior art wafer position calibration device consumes a lot of time when performing wafer position calibration.

[0051] In one embodiment, Figure 2 and Figure 3As shown, an embodiment of the present application provides a semiconductor process equipment, which includes a process chamber (not shown) and a wafer temporary storage chamber (not shown) connected to the process chamber, and a wafer position calibration device or a wafer position acquisition device 100 is installed in the wafer temporary storage chamber. The wafer position calibration device may specifically include a controller (not shown), a moving mechanism (not shown) and a wafer position acquisition device 100. The wafer position acquisition device 100 may specifically include a supporting base 110, a light emitting component 120 and a light detection component 130. Among them, the supporting base 110 may specifically include a wafer supporting surface, and the wafer supporting surface is used to support a wafer 200. The light emitting component 120 is located directly above the wafer supporting surface, and is used to emit an annular light beam to the wafer 200 on the wafer supporting surface, so that the edge of the wafer 200 falls into the irradiation range of the annular light beam. The light detection assembly 130 may specifically include a light detector array distributed directly below the wafer carrying surface, which is used to obtain the contour information of the wafer 200 by receiving the irradiation of the annular light beam, and the contour information is used to indicate the position information of the wafer 200. The above-mentioned controller is used to obtain the position information of the wafer 200 according to the contour information of the wafer 200 obtained by the wafer position acquisition device 100; and control the movement mechanism to work according to the position information, so that the wafer 200 moves to the target position to achieve the position calibration of the wafer 200. More specifically, the position information may include the notch position (i.e., notch direction) of the wafer 200 and the position of the wafer 200 on the wafer carrying surface; the target position may include the position to which the notch of the wafer 200 needs to be rotated and the position of the wafer 200 needed on the wafer carrying surface.

[0052] It is understandable that the wafer bearing surface on the bearing base 110 for bearing the wafer 200 should be slightly smaller than the size of the smallest wafer, so that when a wafer 200 of any size greater than or equal to the smallest wafer is carried on the wafer bearing surface, the bearing surface can be completely covered. The coverage range of the light detector array should be much larger than the size of the wafer 200, and is mainly set within a certain size range directly below the wafer bearing surface, and can be kept in a default state directly below the wafer bearing surface, that is, no corresponding light detector may be set here, so that when the edge of the wafer 200 falls into the irradiation range of the annular light beam, a part of the annular light beam is irradiated on the edge of the wafer 200, and another part of the annular light beam is irradiated on the light detector array, so that the light detector array can detect and obtain the contour information of the wafer 200 accordingly. At the same time, the controller can obtain the position information of the wafer 200 according to the contour information, and the position information may specifically include the center of mass of the wafer 200 and the notch direction of the notch 210 of the wafer 200. The detailed detection process will be further described in detail in the method embodiment below and will not be described here.

[0053] In addition, to better realize the setting of the light detector array, the light detector array can be directly distributed in a matrix on the upper surface of the support platform 140 of the entire device, or distributed in a ring array on the upper surface of the support platform 140 of the entire device. At the same time, in order to minimize the measurement error of the light detector array on the position information of the wafer 200, the height difference between the wafer supporting surface of the supporting base 110 and the upper surface should be as small as possible, so that the surface of the wafer 200 and the surface of the light detector array can be as close to the same level as possible. The light detector array can be a CCD matrix.

[0054] Thus, in the present application, since the light emitting component 120 of the wafer position acquisition device 100 can emit an annular light beam to the wafer 200 on the wafer carrying surface, and make the edge of the wafer 200 fall into the irradiation range of the annular light beam, at the same time, the light detection component 130 of the wafer position acquisition device 100 includes a light detector array distributed directly below the wafer carrying surface, which can receive the irradiation of the annular light beam to obtain the contour information of the wafer, and the contour information can indicate the position information of the wafer 200 (including the notch direction and the center of mass position of the wafer 200). In addition, the controller of the wafer position calibration device can obtain the position information of the wafer according to the contour information of the wafer, and drive the moving mechanism to work according to the position information of the wafer 200, so that the wafer 200 moves to the target position to realize the position calibration of the wafer 200. It can be seen that in the present technical solution, only one irradiation detection is needed to complete the confirmation of the entire wafer position information during the entire wafer position information confirmation process. At the same time, the wafer 200 does not need to perform any movement including rotation during the entire position information confirmation process. It only needs to be moved to the target position once through the moving mechanism after the position information is confirmed. Therefore, the wafer calibration time can be greatly saved.

[0055] In some examples, such as Figure 2 and Figure 3As shown, the light emitting assembly 120 may specifically include a collimated light source 21 and an aconical lens 122, wherein the collimated light source 121 is used to face the center of the wafer bearing surface and emit a collimated light beam of a predetermined diameter d1, and the collimated light beam may be, for example, a laser beam. The aconical lens 122 is located on the irradiation path of the collimated light beam, and the collimated light beam forms a Bessel beam characteristic through the aconical lens 122, which can convert the collimated light beam into an annular light beam, and make the width d2 of the annular light beam half of the predetermined diameter d1, that is, d2 = d1 / 2. This is because when the collimated light beam passes through the aconical lens 122, it will be refracted and reflected, causing the propagation direction of the light to change. When the incident angle meets the requirements of the internal angle of the aconical lens 122, the light will be reflected multiple times inside the aconical lens 122, forming a small angle rotation. This rotation can change the direction of the light beam with a very narrow lateral distribution width. As the light is continuously reflected through the triangular plane, its trajectory will gradually shift and wrap around, thus forming an annular light spot. This phenomenon is called beam rotation or optical vortex mode. In order to better emit a collimated light beam and better convert the collimated light beam into a desired annular light beam, the collimated light source 121 may be, for example, a laser, and the conical lens 122 may be, for example, a circular conical lens.

[0056] In some examples, such as Figure 2 and Figure 3 As shown, in order to better ensure that the edge of the wafer 200 falls into the irradiation range of the annular beam, when the annular beam falls on the plane where the wafer 200 is located on the wafer bearing surface, the diameter of the wafer 200 should be greater than the inner ring diameter d3 of the annular beam and smaller than the outer ring diameter d4 of the annular beam. Preferably, d4 = wafer diameter + d2 is generally preferred, that is, the edge of the wafer 200 falls into the middle of the annular beam. At this time, the width d2 of the annular beam also determines the standard value (spec value) of the calibration of the wafer calibration device 100. When the center of mass of the wafer 200 deviates from the center point of the wafer bearing surface of the bearing base 110 by more than the standard value, it is considered that the workstation needs to be recalibrated before the wafer position is calibrated, that is, the standard value can be specifically equal to half of the width d2 of the annular beam.

[0057] At the same time, since the outer ring diameter d4 of the annular light beam is in direct proportion to the height L from the vertex angle of the conical lens 122 to the wafer 200 (the direct proportional relationship can be obtained based on the law of refraction of light and the tangent theorem: assuming that the refraction angle is θ and the incident angle is π / 2-(π / 2-α)=α, then nsinα=sinθ; the tangent theorem can obtain d4=2Ltan(θ-α), and according to n>1, θ>α, it can be obtained that the coefficient in the linear relationship between d4 and L is positive and in direct proportion. Since the base angle α of the conical lens 122 is very small, according to the small angle approximation principle nsinα=sinθ, θ=nα can be obtained): d3=2L*tan[(n-1)α];

[0058] Where n is the refractive index of the axicon lens 122, which is related to the material of the axicon lens 122. Due to this optical property, the position calibration of wafers 200 of different sizes can be achieved by adjusting the height L. At this time, the wafer position acquisition device 100 also includes a liftable bracket 150 for supporting and fixing the light emitting component 120, so that the vertical distance from the light emitting component 120 to the wafer 200 on the wafer supporting surface is adjustable, and then by changing the above-mentioned height L, different outer ring diameters d4 of the annular light beam are formed to correspond to the position calibration of wafers 200 of different sizes. Taking the prism 122 with a refractive index n of 1.8 and an α angle of 30 degrees as an example, the laser beam diameter is 20 mm. Using the approximate formula, it can be calculated that tan[(1.8-1)*30o]=0.445, d4=300mm+10mm, L=d4 / (2*0.445)≈348mm, that is, when the diameter of the wafer 200 is 300 mm, the above-mentioned height L needs to be adjusted to approximately 348 mm.

[0059] In this way, compared with the existing wafer position calibration device which only calibrates the position of wafers of a single size, the wafer position calibration device can be compatible with the position calibration of wafers of different sizes without changing the calibration equipment.

[0060] In some examples, the above-mentioned moving mechanism may specifically include a rotating mechanism and a translation mechanism. Among them, the rotating mechanism can be used to drive the supporting base 110 to rotate, that is, the rotating mechanism can directly act on the supporting base 110, so that its wafer bearing surface drives the wafer 200 on the wafer bearing surface to rotate, thereby making the notch direction of the wafer 200 face the target direction, and the rotating mechanism can be, for example, a motor. The translation mechanism can be used to drive the wafer 200 on the wafer bearing surface to translate relative to the wafer bearing surface, that is, the translation mechanism directly acts on the wafer 200 on the wafer bearing surface, and specifically can be a manipulator arranged above the wafer bearing surface to directly grab the wafer 200 on the wafer bearing surface, so that the wafer 200 translates relative to the wafer bearing surface, thereby making the center of mass position of the wafer 200 coincide with the center point position of the wafer bearing surface. It can also be a power mechanism arranged below the wafer bearing surface, which can support the edge of the wafer 200 through a plurality of lifting pins to drive the wafer 200 to translate relative to the wafer bearing surface, thereby making the center of mass position of the wafer 200 coincide with the center point position of the wafer bearing surface. Further, the controller is used to control the rotation mechanism to drive the bearing base 110 to rotate according to the position information (i.e., the notch direction of the wafer 200) to drive the wafer 200 to rotate to the target position (i.e., the target notch direction); and is used to control the translation mechanism to drive the wafer 200 to translate to the target position (i.e., the target center of mass position) according to the position information (i.e., the center of mass position of the wafer 200).

[0061] In one embodiment, the present application also separately provides a wafer position acquisition device for semiconductor process equipment. The structure and function of the wafer position acquisition device can be specifically referred to the wafer position acquisition device 100 of the above embodiment, which will not be described again here.

[0062] In one embodiment, the embodiment of the present application also separately provides a wafer position calibration device for semiconductor process equipment. The structure and function of the wafer position calibration device can be specifically referred to the wafer position calibration device of the above embodiment, and will not be repeated here.

[0063] In one embodiment, Figure 4 As shown, an embodiment of the present application provides a wafer position calibration method, which may specifically include the following steps:

[0064] Step S110: emitting an annular light beam toward the wafer on the wafer carrying surface, so that the edge of the wafer falls within the irradiation range of the annular light beam.

[0065] It is understandable that if Figure 2 As shown, after the wafer 200 is placed on the wafer carrying surface of the carrying base 110 , the light emitting assembly 120 can emit an annular light beam to the wafer 200 , so that the edge of the wafer 200 falls into the irradiation range of the annular light beam.

[0066] In addition, based on the above description, it can be known that in order to better ensure that the edge of the wafer 200 falls into the irradiation range of the annular beam, when the annular beam falls on the plane where the wafer 200 is located, the diameter of the wafer 200 should be greater than the inner ring diameter d3 of the annular beam and smaller than the outer ring diameter d4 of the annular beam. Preferably, d4 = wafer diameter + d2 is generally preferred, that is, the edge of the wafer 200 falls into the middle of the annular beam. At the same time, since the outer ring diameter d4 of the annular beam is in direct proportion to the height L from the vertex angle of the conical lens 122 to the wafer 200: d3 = 2L*tan[(n-1)α]; where n is the refractive index of the conical lens 122, which is related to the material of the conical lens 122. Due to this optical characteristic, the position calibration of wafers 200 of different sizes can be achieved by adjusting the height L. At this time, the vertical distance from the light emitting component 120 to the wafer 200 on the wafer supporting surface can be adjusted through the liftable bracket 150, so as to form different outer ring diameters d4 of the annular light beam by changing the above-mentioned height L, thereby ensuring that the edges of wafers 200 of different sizes can fall into the irradiation range of the annular light beam.

[0067] Step S120: receiving the irradiation of the annular light beam to detect and obtain the contour information of the wafer.

[0068] It can be understood that, after the edge of the wafer 200 falls into the irradiation range of the annular light beam through the above method steps, the irradiation of the annular light beam can be received by the light detection component 130 to detect and obtain the contour information of the wafer. Specifically, the light detector array of the light detection component can be encoded with data to obtain the contour information of the wafer when the light detector array receives the irradiation of the annular light beam.

[0069] The data encoding of the steps of the method can specifically be to form a corresponding XY coordinate system on the surface where the light detector array is located. In this way, a corresponding blocked annular light spot can be formed on the light detector array through partial blocking of the annular light beam by the wafer 200, and the light detector array can obtain the contour information of the wafer by detecting the blocked annular light spot. The contour information should include the coordinates of each point along the edge of the wafer 200.

[0070] Step S130: acquiring the position information of the wafer according to the contour information of the wafer.

[0071] It can be understood that after the contour information of the wafer 200 is obtained through the above method steps, the position information of the wafer 200 can be obtained by analyzing and calculating the contour information of the wafer 200. The position information may specifically include the notch direction and center of mass position of the wafer 200.

[0072] Step S140: controlling the wafer to move to a target position according to the position information of the wafer.

[0073] It can be understood that after the position information of the wafer 200 is obtained through the above-mentioned method steps, the wafer 200 can be controlled to move to the target position according to the position information of the wafer 200. This can be specifically achieved through the moving mechanism mentioned above, that is, the wafer 200 is driven to move by the moving mechanism so that the center of mass position of the wafer 200 coincides with the center point position of the wafer supporting surface and the notch direction of the wafer 200 is facing the target direction.

[0074] In this way, in the technical solution of this embodiment, in the process of confirming the entire wafer position information, only one irradiation detection is needed to complete the confirmation of the entire wafer position information. At the same time, the wafer 200 does not need to perform any movement including rotation in the process of confirming the entire position information. It only needs to be moved to the target position once through the moving mechanism after the position information is confirmed. Therefore, the wafer calibration time can be greatly saved.

[0075] In some examples, in order to better confirm the position information of the wafer, the process of executing the above method step of "obtaining the position information of the wafer according to the contour information of the wafer" is specifically as follows:

[0076] Step S131: fitting the outer shape curve of the wafer according to the contour information of the wafer, and determining whether the outer shape curve of the wafer is complete.

[0077] It can be understood that after the contour information of the wafer is obtained through the above method steps, the shape curve of the wafer can be fitted according to the contour information of the wafer, and it can be determined whether the shape curve of the wafer is complete. Based on the above statement, it can be known that when the distance of the center of mass of the wafer 200 deviating from the center point of the bearing surface of the supporting base 110 exceeds the standard value, it is considered that the station needs to be recalibrated. Therefore, this method step can confirm whether the distance of the center of mass of the wafer 200 deviating from the center point of the wafer bearing surface of the supporting base 110 exceeds the standard value by judging whether the shape curve of the wafer is complete. This is because when the distance of the center of mass of the wafer 200 deviating from the center point of the wafer bearing surface of the supporting base 110 exceeds the standard value, it will cause part of the edge of the wafer 200 to exceed the irradiation range of the annular light beam, thereby making it impossible to obtain the complete contour information of the wafer 200, and finally, causing the shape curve to be incomplete. Therefore, when it is determined that the shape curve of the wafer is incomplete, it is necessary to recalibrate the station and then calibrate the wafer position.

[0078] Step S132: when it is determined that the outer shape curve of the wafer is complete, determining the position information of the wafer according to the outer shape curve of the wafer.

[0079] It can be understood that when the shape curve of the wafer is determined to be complete through the above method steps, the position information of the wafer can be determined according to the shape curve of the wafer. The specific process is as follows: first, the notch direction (i.e., the orientation of the notch 210) and the centroid position (i.e., the coordinate information of the centroid position, which can be determined by the least square method according to the shape curve of the wafer 200) of the wafer 200 are determined according to the shape curve of the wafer 200. Then, the centroid position of the wafer 200 and the notch direction of the wafer 200 are integrated to determine the position information of the wafer 200.

[0080] In some examples, in order to better control the wafer to move to the target position, the process of executing the above method step of "controlling the wafer to move to the target position according to the position information of the wafer" is specifically as follows:

[0081] Step S141: According to the center of mass position of the wafer, the wafer is controlled to translate so that the center of mass position of the wafer coincides with the center point position of the wafer carrying surface.

[0082] It is understandable that if Figure 2 As shown, in order to move the wafer 200 to the target position, that is, to realize the position calibration of the wafer 200, it is necessary to first ensure that the center of mass position of the wafer 200 coincides with the center point position of the wafer carrying surface. At this time, the center of mass position of the wafer 200 in the position information of the wafer 200 obtained according to the above method steps can be used to control the translation of the wafer 200, specifically, relative translation relative to the wafer carrying surface, until the wafer 200 is translated to the point where the center of mass position of the wafer 200 coincides with the center point position of the wafer carrying surface.

[0083] Step S142: According to the notch direction of the wafer, the wafer carrying surface is controlled to drive the wafer to rotate, so that the notch direction of the wafer faces the target orientation.

[0084] It is understandable that if Figure 2 As shown, in order to move the wafer 200 to the target position, that is, to realize the position calibration of the wafer 200, it is also necessary to ensure that the center of mass position of the wafer 200 and the center point position of the wafer supporting surface coincide with each other, and then control the rotation of the wafer 200 according to the notch direction of the wafer 200 in the position information of the wafer 200 obtained by the above method steps, specifically, control the wafer supporting surface to drive the wafer 200 to rotate until the notch direction of the wafer 200 is toward the target position, and the position calibration of the wafer 200 can be completed.

[0085] Although the present application has been shown and described with respect to one or more implementations, equivalent variations and modifications will occur to those skilled in the art based on reading and understanding of this specification and the accompanying drawings. The present application includes all such modifications and variations and is limited only by the scope of the appended claims. In particular, with respect to the various functions performed by the above-mentioned components, the terms used to describe such components are intended to correspond to any component (unless otherwise indicated) that performs the specified function of the component (e.g., it is functionally equivalent), even if it is not structurally equivalent to the disclosed structure that performs the functions in the exemplary implementation of this specification shown herein.

[0086] That is, the above description is only an embodiment of the present application, and does not limit the patent scope of the present application. Any equivalent structure or equivalent process transformation made using the contents of the specification and drawings of the present application, such as the mutual combination of technical features between the embodiments, or direct or indirect application in other related technical fields, are also included in the patent protection scope of the present application.

[0087] In addition, in the description of the present application, it should be understood that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "length", "width", "thickness", "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inside", "outside" and the like indicate positions or positional relationships based on the positions or positional relationships shown in the drawings, which are only for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation on the present application. In addition, for structural elements with the same or similar characteristics, the present application may use the same or different reference numerals for identification. In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are only used for descriptive purposes, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Therefore, the features defined as "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more features. In the description of the present application, the meaning of "multiple" is two or more, unless otherwise clearly and specifically defined.

[0088] In this application, the word "exemplary" is used to mean "used as an example, illustration or description". Any embodiment described as "exemplary" in this application is not necessarily to be construed as being more preferred or more advantageous than other embodiments. In order to enable any technician in the field to implement and use the present application, the present application provides the above description. In the above description, various details are listed for the purpose of explanation. It should be understood that a person of ordinary skill in the art can recognize that the present application can be implemented without using these specific details. In other embodiments, well-known structures and processes will not be elaborated in detail to avoid unnecessary details that make the description of the present application obscure. Therefore, the present application is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown, but is consistent with the widest range of principles and features disclosed in the present application.

Claims

1. A wafer position acquisition device, used in semiconductor process equipment, characterized in that: The wafer position acquisition device comprises: A supporting base, comprising a wafer supporting surface, wherein the wafer supporting surface is used to support the wafer; A light emitting component, located just above the wafer carrying surface, for emitting an annular light beam to the wafer on the wafer carrying surface so that the edge of the wafer falls within the irradiation range of the annular light beam; The optical detection component includes an optical detector array distributed directly below the wafer carrying surface, and is used to obtain the contour information of the wafer by receiving the irradiation of the annular light beam, and the contour information is used to indicate the position information of the wafer.

2. The wafer position acquisition device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The light emitting assembly includes a collimated light source and an aconic lens, wherein: The collimated light source is used to face the center of the wafer carrying surface and emit a collimated light beam with a predetermined diameter; The axicon is located on the irradiation path of the collimated light beam, and is used for converting the collimated light beam into the annular light beam, and making the width of the annular light beam be half of the predetermined diameter.

3. The wafer position acquisition device according to claim 2, characterized in that: When the annular light beam falls on the plane where the wafer is located on the wafer carrying surface, the diameter of the wafer is larger than the inner ring diameter of the annular light beam and smaller than the outer ring diameter of the annular light beam.

4. The wafer position acquisition device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The position acquisition device further comprises a liftable bracket for supporting and fixing the light emitting assembly, so that a vertical distance from the light emitting assembly to the wafer on the wafer carrying surface is adjustable.

5. A wafer position calibration device, used in semiconductor process equipment, characterized in that: The wafer position calibration system comprises a controller, a moving mechanism and a wafer position acquisition device as described in any one of claims 1 to 4; wherein, The controller is used to obtain the position information of the wafer according to the contour information of the wafer obtained by the wafer position acquisition device; and control the movement mechanism to operate according to the position information so that the wafer moves to the target position.

6. The wafer position calibration device according to claim 5, characterized in that: The moving mechanism includes a rotating mechanism and a translating mechanism; the rotating mechanism is used to drive the bearing base to rotate; The translation mechanism is used to drive the wafer on the wafer carrying surface to translate relative to the wafer carrying surface; The controller is used to control the rotating mechanism to drive the supporting base to rotate according to the position information so as to drive the wafer to rotate to the target position; and is used to control the translation mechanism to drive the wafer to translate to the target position according to the position information.

7. The wafer position calibration device according to claim 5, characterized in that: The step of acquiring the position information of the wafer according to the contour information of the wafer obtained by the wafer position acquisition device comprises: Fitting an outer shape curve of the wafer according to the contour information of the wafer, and determining whether the outer shape curve of the wafer is complete; When it is determined that the outer shape curve of the wafer is complete, the position information of the wafer is determined according to the outer shape curve of the wafer.

8. The wafer position calibration device according to claim 7, characterized in that: The step of determining the position information of the wafer according to the outer shape curve of the wafer comprises: Determining the notch direction and centroid position of the wafer according to the outer shape curve of the wafer; The position information of the wafer is determined according to the centroid position of the wafer and the notch direction of the wafer.

9. A semiconductor process equipment, characterized in that: It comprises a process chamber and a wafer temporary storage chamber connected to the process chamber, wherein the wafer temporary storage chamber is provided with a wafer position acquisition device as described in any one of claims 1 to 4 or a wafer position calibration device as described in any one of claims 5 to 8.

10. A wafer position calibration method, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: Sending an annular light beam to the wafer on the wafer carrying surface so that the edge of the wafer falls within the irradiation range of the annular light beam; Receiving the irradiation of the annular light beam to detect and obtain the contour information of the wafer; According to the contour information of the wafer, obtaining the position information of the wafer; According to the position information of the wafer, the wafer is controlled to move to a target position.

11. The wafer position calibration method according to claim 10, characterized in that: The step of obtaining the position information of the wafer according to the contour information of the wafer comprises: Fitting an outer shape curve of the wafer according to the contour information of the wafer, and determining whether the outer shape curve of the wafer is complete; When it is determined that the outer shape curve of the wafer is complete, the position information of the wafer is determined according to the outer shape curve of the wafer.

12. The wafer position calibration method according to claim 11, characterized in that: The step of determining the position information of the wafer according to the outer shape curve of the wafer comprises: Determining the notch direction and centroid position of the wafer according to the outer shape curve of the wafer; The position information of the wafer is determined according to the centroid position of the wafer and the notch direction of the wafer.

13. The wafer position calibration method according to claim 12, characterized in that: The step of controlling the wafer to move to a target position according to the position information of the wafer comprises: According to the center of mass position of the wafer, controlling the translation of the wafer so that the center of mass position of the wafer coincides with the center point position of the wafer carrying surface; According to the notch direction of the wafer, the wafer carrying surface is controlled to drive the wafer to rotate so that the notch direction of the wafer faces the target orientation.

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