Vacuum degree monitoring system and method

Abstract

The invention relates to a vacuum degree monitoring system and method. The system comprises a sensor module and a data analysis module which are electrically connected with each other, the sensor module is arranged in one sealed chamber and is used for acquiring vacuum degree data in the sealed chamber at regular time; the data analysis module is used for receiving and storing the vacuum degree data sent by the sensor module, carrying out operation processing by utilizing the vacuum degree data and preset vacuum degree data to obtain a processing value, judging whether the processing value is in a range formed by a preset upper limit value and a preset lower limit value, and if not, outputting the vacuum degree data according to a judgment result corresponding to the processing value. And generating alarm information. According to the system, the vacuum degree change of the sealed chamber can be monitored in real time, and the corresponding vacuum degree data is stored, so that the influence of a vacuum process operation link and a semiconductor surface state of semiconductor device manufacturing on the vacuum degree can be greatly reduced, and the vacuum stability of the sealed chamber is stabilized.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of vacuum monitoring, and in particular relates to a vacuum degree monitoring system and method. Background Art

[0002] An ion implanter is a small high-voltage accelerator that accelerates ions to energies of several hundred or several thousand electron volts and then implants them into solid materials. The vacuum degree of an ion implanter refers to the rarefaction of the gas inside the machine, usually expressed in terms of vacuum degree. Pure vacuum conditions are crucial to the performance of an ion implanter, because high vacuum can reduce the scattering of ion beams by gas molecules. Secondly, a pure doping process requires high vacuum conditions to avoid interference from impurity ions and ensure the purity and uniformity of the doping. Finally, stable vacuum conditions can ensure the repeatability and reliability of the ion implantation process, thereby improving the transmission efficiency and accuracy of the ion beam.

[0003] However, in the vacuum process operation link of semiconductor device manufacturing, it is easily affected by the surface state of the semiconductor and the vacuum fluctuation is large, resulting in the inability to guarantee product quality and production efficiency. Summary of the invention

[0004] In order to solve the above problems existing in the prior art, the present invention provides a vacuum degree monitoring system and method. The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is achieved through the following technical solutions:

[0005] In a first aspect, the present invention provides a vacuum monitoring system, comprising: a sensor module and a data analysis module electrically connected to each other; the sensor module is arranged in a sealed chamber, and is used to regularly collect vacuum data in the sealed chamber; the data analysis module is used to receive and store the vacuum data sent by the sensor module, and use the vacuum data and preset vacuum data to perform calculations to obtain a processing value, and judge whether the processing value is within the range composed of a preset upper limit value and a preset lower limit value, and if not, generate an alarm message based on the judgment result corresponding to the processing value.

[0006] In some embodiments, the vacuum degree monitoring system further includes: a control module; the control module is electrically connected to the data analysis module, and the control module is disposed in the sealed chamber, and is used to control whether the sealed chamber is working or not in response to the alarm information.

[0007] In some embodiments, the sensor module includes: a network port submodule, which is used to send the vacuum degree data collected by the sensor module to the data analysis module.

[0008] In some embodiments, the vacuum degree monitoring system further includes: a power supply module, configured to provide direct current power to the data analysis module, the sensor module, and the control module, respectively.

[0009] In some embodiments, the sensor module is a vacuum gauge.

[0010] In a second aspect, the present invention further provides a vacuum degree monitoring method, which is applied to the vacuum degree monitoring system of the first aspect, and the method includes: obtaining J vacuum degree data corresponding to I sealed chambers; wherein I is a positive integer greater than 1, and J is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1; performing calculations on the J vacuum degree data and preset vacuum degree data to obtain J processing values; determining whether the jth processing value among the J processing values ​​is within the range formed by a preset upper limit value and a preset lower limit value, 1≤j≤J; if not, generating corresponding alarm information based on the determination result corresponding to the jth processing value.

[0011] In some embodiments, before performing computational processing on the J vacuum degree data and preset vacuum degree data to obtain J processing values, the method further includes: storing the J vacuum degree data.

[0012] In some embodiments, the method further includes: obtaining the historical vacuum data record corresponding to the i-th sealed chamber among the I sealed chambers; and determining the vacuum fluctuation of the i-th sealed chamber using the historical vacuum data record corresponding to the i-th sealed chamber, 1≤i≤I.

[0013] In some embodiments, the alarm information is used to reflect the severity of the failure of the sealed chamber corresponding to the j-th processing value.

[0014] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the present invention include:

[0015] Aiming at the problem that an ion implanter is easily affected by the surface state of a semiconductor during operation and has large vacuum fluctuations, which leads to the inability to guarantee product quality and production efficiency, the present invention provides a vacuum monitoring system and method. The system uses a sensor module arranged in a sealed chamber of the ion implanter to collect vacuum data inside the sealed chamber in real time, and calculates and processes the received data through a data analysis module to determine whether the vacuum in the current sealed chamber is within a preset range, and generates an alarm message when the vacuum in the current sealed chamber is not within the preset range to control whether the current sealed chamber is working; in addition, the data analysis module stores the vacuum data received each time, which is convenient for technicians to monitor the vacuum fluctuations within a period of time; by real-time monitoring of the vacuum changes in the sealed chamber and storing the corresponding vacuum data, the vacuum fluctuations in the sealed chamber during the operation process can be closely monitored, and timely measures can be taken to maintain stability, thereby greatly reducing the vacuum process operation links in the manufacture of semiconductor devices, the influence of the semiconductor surface state on the vacuum, and stabilizing the vacuum stability of the sealed chamber. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] Figure 1 is a structural block diagram of a vacuum degree monitoring system provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0017] Figure 2 This is an example diagram of the vacuum degree monitoring system provided by the present invention being applied to an ion implanter;

[0018] Figure 3 It is a flow chart of a vacuum degree monitoring method provided in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0019] Reference numerals:

[0020] 1. Ion source; 2. Extraction assembly; 3. Analysis magnet; 4. Accelerator tube; 5. Scanning disk; 11. Plasma; 31. Ion beam. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] The present invention is further described in detail below with reference to specific embodiments, but the embodiments of the present invention are not limited thereto.

[0022] In the description of the present invention, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the features. In the description of the present invention, the meaning of "plurality" is two or more, unless otherwise clearly and specifically defined.

[0023] In the description of this specification, the description with reference to the terms "one embodiment", "some embodiments", "example", "specific example", or "some examples" etc. means that the specific features, structures, materials or characteristics described in conjunction with the embodiment or example are included in at least one embodiment or example of the present invention. In this specification, the schematic representations of the above terms do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Moreover, the specific features, structures, materials or characteristics described may be combined in any one or more embodiments or examples in a suitable manner. In addition, those skilled in the art may combine and combine different embodiments or examples described in this specification.

[0024] Although the present invention is described herein in conjunction with various embodiments, in the process of implementing the claimed invention, those skilled in the art may understand and implement other variations of the disclosed embodiments by viewing the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims. In the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other components or steps, and "one" or "an" does not exclude multiple situations. A single processor or other unit may implement several functions listed in the claims. Certain measures are recorded in different dependent claims, but this does not mean that these measures cannot be combined to produce good results.

[0025] A vacuum degree monitoring system and method proposed by the present invention will now be described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Figure 1 : is a structural block diagram of a vacuum degree monitoring system provided by an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1 As shown, the system includes: a sensor module and a data analysis module electrically connected to each other; the sensor module is arranged in a sealed chamber and is used to regularly collect vacuum data in the sealed chamber; the data analysis module is used to receive and store the vacuum data sent by the sensor module, and use the vacuum data and preset vacuum data to perform calculations and processing to obtain a processing value, and judge whether the processing value is within the range formed by a preset upper limit value and a preset lower limit value. If not, an alarm message is generated based on the judgment result corresponding to the processing value.

[0026] Here, the sealed chamber is a chamber in an ion implanter. Exemplarily, the first sealed chamber may be a mass analyzer (AMU) disposed in the ion implanter, and other sealed chambers except the first sealed chamber may be process chambers (PC) disposed in the ion implanter. Furthermore, the sensor module includes: a network port submodule for sending vacuum degree data collected by the sensor module to a data analysis module. Exemplarily, the sensor module is a vacuum gauge. Furthermore, the first sensor module may be a sensor module disposed in the AMU; except the first sensor module, other sensor modules may be sensor modules disposed in the PC.

[0027] It should be noted that the sensor module here can be a sensor device built into the sealed chamber, or a sensor device installed on the sealed chamber. The present invention does not limit the specific product model of the vacuum gauge.

[0028] It should be noted that the data analysis module can be electrically connected to a plurality of sensor modules. In order to grasp the vacuum fluctuation in the sealed chamber in detail, the plurality of sensor modules can be arranged in one sealed chamber, or one sensor module can be arranged in each sealed chamber.

[0029] Exemplarily, the preset vacuum degree data may be the vacuum degree data collected by the first sensor module when multiple sensor modules collect data synchronously. After receiving the vacuum degree data sent by the sensor module, the data analysis module performs calculation processing on the vacuum degree data and the preset vacuum degree data. Specifically, the vacuum degree data is divided by the preset vacuum degree data to obtain a ratio; or the vacuum degree data is added to the preset vacuum degree data to obtain a sum value; or the vacuum degree data is subtracted from the preset vacuum degree data to obtain a difference value; or the vacuum degree data is multiplied by the preset vacuum degree data to obtain a product; or the vacuum degree data and the preset vacuum degree data are processed by an algorithm to obtain a processed value.

[0030] Here, the data analysis module includes: a storage submodule for storing the vacuum degree data sent by the sensor module. Specifically, in order to facilitate understanding of the vacuum fluctuation of the chamber in the ion implanter, the vacuum degree data sent by the sensor module each time is stored, so that when necessary, the collected multiple sets of vacuum degree data can be used for data analysis to determine the vacuum degree fluctuation trend.

[0031] Here, the alarm information can reflect the urgency of the fault. Exemplarily, when the processing value is between 3 and 4, no alarm information is generated; when the processing value is between 4 and 5, a minor fault alarm information is generated; when the processing value is greater than 5, a serious fault alarm information is generated. After the alarm information is generated, corresponding measures should be taken according to the urgency of the fault reflected in the alarm information. Specifically, the vacuum monitoring system also includes: a control module; the control module is electrically connected to the data analysis module, and the control module is arranged in the sealed chamber, and is used to respond to the alarm information and control whether the sealed chamber works or not. Exemplarily, when the alarm information is a minor fault alarm information, the control module does not end the working state of the sealed chamber; when the alarm information is a serious fault alarm information, the control module ends the working state of the sealed chamber.

[0032] Here, the vacuum monitoring system further includes: a power module for providing DC power to the data analysis module, the sensor module and the control module respectively. It should be understood that a battery pack can also be used in the present invention to power the data analysis module, the sensor module and the control module.

[0033] Figure 2 FIG. 1 is an example diagram of the vacuum monitoring system provided by the present invention applied to an ion implanter. Figure 2 As shown, the interior of the AMU of the ion implanter is provided with an ion source 1, an aspiration component 2, an analysis magnet 3 and an acceleration tube 4, the ion source 1 is used to generate a plasma 11, and the analysis magnet 3 can generate an ion beam 31; a magnetic field vacuum gauge G1 is arranged at the entrance of the acceleration tube; a scanning disk 5 is arranged in the PC of the ion implanter, and a process chamber vacuum gauge G2 is arranged in the PC of the ion implanter; the magnetic field vacuum gauge G1 and the process chamber vacuum gauge G2 collect vacuum degree data of the corresponding chamber in real time and send them to the data analysis module; the data analysis module divides the vacuum degree data corresponding to the magnetic field vacuum gauge G1 and the vacuum degree data corresponding to the process chamber vacuum gauge G2 to obtain a ratio G1; it is determined whether G1 is within the range formed by a preset upper limit value and a preset lower limit value, and a corresponding judgment result is given, and the sealed chamber is controlled to work or not according to the judgment result to ensure the vacuum stability during the operation process.

[0034] It should be understood that a plurality of vacuum gauges G are provided in a vacuum chamber of an ion implanter. a , G b , G c and G d When calculating the vacuum degree of different parts, the vacuum degree data corresponding to different vacuum gauges can be selected according to the needs to determine the vacuum degree changes in different parts. a Corresponding vacuum degree data and vacuum gauge G c Divide the corresponding vacuum degree data to obtain the ratio G a / c , this ratio can reflect the vacuum gauge G c The vacuum degree at the location is relative to the vacuum gauge G a Fluctuation of vacuum degree at the location.

[0035] Figure 3 FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a vacuum degree monitoring method provided by an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 3 As shown, corresponding to the vacuum degree monitoring system provided by the present invention, the present invention also provides a vacuum degree monitoring method, the method comprising:

[0036] S1. Obtain J vacuum degree data corresponding to I sealed chambers; wherein I is a positive integer greater than 1, and J is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0037] Exemplarily, when the value of J is 1, one sensor module is disposed in each sealed chamber; when the value of J is greater than 1, J sensor modules are evenly disposed in each sealed chamber. Each sensor module collects one vacuum degree data each time.

[0038] S2. Using J vacuum degree data, respectively perform calculation processing with preset vacuum degree data to obtain J processing values.

[0039] Here, before executing S2, the method further includes: storing J vacuum degree data. The vacuum degree data will be stored in a special file list (for example, a folder named after the label of the jth sensor module) for further data analysis. Specifically, the method further includes: obtaining the historical vacuum degree data record corresponding to the i-th sealed chamber among the I sealed chambers; using the historical vacuum degree data record corresponding to the i-th sealed chamber, determining the vacuum fluctuation of the i-th sealed chamber, 1≤i≤I.

[0040] S3. Determine whether the jth processed value among the J processed values ​​is within a range formed by a preset upper limit value and a preset lower limit value, 1≤j≤J.

[0041] Here, each of the J processing values ​​is judged in turn, and a one-to-one corresponding judgment result is given.

[0042] S4. If not, generate corresponding alarm information based on the judgment result corresponding to the jth processing value.

[0043] Here, the alarm information is used to reflect the severity of the failure of the sealed chamber corresponding to the jth processing value.

[0044] Aiming at the problem that an ion implanter is easily affected by the surface state of a semiconductor during operation and has large vacuum fluctuations, which leads to the inability to guarantee product quality and production efficiency, the present invention provides a vacuum monitoring system and method. The system uses a sensor module arranged in a sealed chamber of the ion implanter to collect vacuum data inside the sealed chamber in real time, and calculates and processes the received data through a data analysis module to determine whether the vacuum in the current sealed chamber is within a preset range, and generates an alarm message when the vacuum in the current sealed chamber is not within the preset range to control whether the current sealed chamber is working; in addition, the data analysis module stores the vacuum data received each time, which is convenient for technicians to monitor the vacuum fluctuations within a period of time; by real-time monitoring of the vacuum changes in the sealed chamber and storing the corresponding vacuum data, the vacuum fluctuations in the sealed chamber during the operation process can be closely monitored, and timely measures can be taken to maintain stability, thereby greatly reducing the vacuum process operation links in the manufacture of semiconductor devices, the influence of the semiconductor surface state on the vacuum, and stabilizing the vacuum stability of the sealed chamber.

[0045] The above contents are further detailed descriptions of the present invention in combination with specific preferred embodiments, and it cannot be determined that the specific implementation of the present invention is limited to these descriptions. For ordinary technicians in the technical field to which the present invention belongs, several simple deductions or substitutions can be made without departing from the concept of the present invention, which should be regarded as falling within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A vacuum degree monitoring system, characterized in that: include: The sensor module and the data analysis module are electrically connected to each other. The sensor module is disposed in a sealed chamber and is used to regularly collect vacuum degree data in the sealed chamber; The data analysis module is used to receive and store the vacuum degree data sent by the sensor module, and use the vacuum degree data and preset vacuum degree data to perform calculations to obtain a processing value, and determine whether the processing value is within the range formed by a preset upper limit value and a preset lower limit value. If not, an alarm message is generated based on the judgment result corresponding to the processing value.

2. The vacuum degree monitoring system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The vacuum degree monitoring system further includes: a control module; the control module is electrically connected to the data analysis module, and the control module is disposed in the sealed chamber and is used to control whether the sealed chamber is working or not in response to the alarm information.

3. The vacuum degree monitoring system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The sensor module comprises: a network port submodule, which is used to send the vacuum degree data collected by the sensor module to the data analysis module.

4. The vacuum degree monitoring system according to claim 2, characterized in that: The vacuum degree monitoring system further includes: a power supply module, which is used to provide direct current power to the data analysis module, the sensor module and the control module respectively.

5. The vacuum degree monitoring system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The sensor module is a vacuum gauge.

6. A vacuum degree monitoring method, characterized in that: The method is applied to the vacuum degree monitoring system described in any one of claims 1 to 5; the method comprises: Acquire J vacuum degree data corresponding to I sealed chambers; wherein I is a positive integer greater than 1, and J is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1; Performing calculation processing on the J vacuum degree data and the preset vacuum degree data to obtain J processing values; Determine whether the jth processed value among the J processed values ​​is within a range formed by a preset upper limit value and a preset lower limit value, 1≤j≤J; If not, a corresponding alarm message is generated based on the judgment result corresponding to the j-th processing value.

7. The vacuum degree monitoring method according to claim 6, characterized in that: Before performing computational processing on the J vacuum degree data and the preset vacuum degree data to obtain J processing values, the method further includes: The J vacuum degree data are stored.

8. The vacuum degree monitoring method according to claim 6, characterized in that: The method also includes: obtaining a historical vacuum degree data record corresponding to the i-th sealed chamber among the I sealed chambers; and determining a vacuum fluctuation condition of the i-th sealed chamber using the historical vacuum degree data record corresponding to the i-th sealed chamber, 1≤i≤I.

9. The vacuum degree monitoring method according to claim 6, characterized in that: The alarm information is used to reflect the severity of the failure of the sealed chamber corresponding to the j-th processing value.

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