Low-cost semiconductor manufacturing equipment and process

Abstract

The invention provides low-cost semiconductor manufacturing equipment and a low-cost semiconductor manufacturing process. The equipment comprises a process cavity, an exhaust pipeline, a vacuum pump, a first protective gas supply device for supplying first protective gas, a second protective gas supply device for supplying second protective gas and a controller, two ends of the exhaust pipeline are respectively connected with the process cavity and the vacuum pump; and the controller controls the supply of the first protective gas and the second protective gas, so that the first protective gas which does not react with the process gas is introduced into the vacuum pump when gas is exhausted from the exhaust pipeline, and the second protective gas is introduced into the vacuum pump when no process gas is exhausted from the exhaust pipeline. And second protective gas with the cost lower than that of the first protective gas is introduced into the vacuum pump through a linear gas inlet channel and a spiral gas inlet channel. The cleaning capacity of the vacuum pump is improved while the use amount of the high-cost first protective gas is reduced, the service life of the vacuum pump is prolonged, the use cost of equipment is reduced, and the output rate is increased.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of integrated circuit manufacturing equipment, and in particular to low-cost semiconductor manufacturing equipment and process. Background Art

[0002] Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is a process in which vapors of gaseous or liquid reactants containing thin film elements and gases required for the reaction, such as carrier gases, are introduced into the reaction chamber, chemical reactions occur on the substrate surface, and thin films are deposited. Vacuum needs to be maintained during the chemical vapor deposition process, so the vacuum pump connected to the deposition chamber needs to be kept in a pumping state during the process. During the pumping process, the residual process gas and reaction by-products in the deposition chamber will be pumped into the vacuum pump. Depending on the chemical vapor deposition equipment and process, the amount of deposited products will also vary. In order to reduce the amount of deposited products and avoid damage to the vacuum pump, nitrogen needs to be introduced into the vacuum pump as a protective gas during the process to blow away the deposited products in the vacuum pump and prevent the vacuum pump from getting stuck. When the equipment is in a non-process film running state, in order to prevent gas backflow and chamber contamination, the vacuum pump also needs to be in a working state, so nitrogen needs to be continuously introduced for protection, resulting in a large nitrogen consumption and an increase in production costs. Moreover, the protective gas in the prior art is directly passed to the rotor of the vacuum pump through a single linear pipeline, which can only clean the rotor. Even impurities on the rotor may be blown onto the inner wall of the vacuum pump body, affecting the service life of the vacuum pump.

[0003] In addition to the vapor deposition equipment, the vacuum pump of the dry etching equipment is also in a similar working state. It should be noted that the above introduction to the technical background is only for the convenience of a clear and complete description of the technical solutions of the present invention and for the convenience of understanding by those skilled in the art. It cannot be considered that the above technical solutions are well known to those skilled in the art simply because they are described in the background technology section of the present invention. Summary of the invention

[0004] In view of the shortcomings of the prior art mentioned above, the object of the present invention is to provide a low-cost semiconductor manufacturing equipment and process to solve the problem that existing semiconductor manufacturing equipment such as chemical vapor deposition equipment, regardless of whether it is in a process running state, introduces a constant flow of nitrogen as a protective gas, resulting in increased nitrogen consumption, increased production costs, and difficulty in cleaning the inner wall of the vacuum pump and other parts.

[0005] To achieve the above-mentioned purpose and other related purposes, the present invention provides a low-cost semiconductor manufacturing equipment, including: a process chamber, an exhaust pipeline, a vacuum pump, a first protective gas supply device for supplying a first protective gas, a second protective gas supply device for supplying a second protective gas, and a controller; the two ends of the exhaust pipeline are respectively connected to the process chamber and the vacuum pump; the controller controls the supply of the first protective gas and the second protective gas, so that when there is gas discharge in the exhaust pipeline, the first protective gas that does not react with the process gas is introduced into the vacuum pump, and when there is no process gas discharge in the exhaust pipeline, the second protective gas with a lower cost than the first protective gas is introduced into the vacuum pump through a linear air inlet channel and a spiral air inlet channel respectively.

[0006] Optionally, the first protective gas includes nitrogen, and the second protective gas includes CDA.

[0007] Optionally, the semiconductor manufacturing equipment also includes a gas switching module and a flow controller. The first protective gas supply device and the second protective gas supply device are connected to the controller via the gas switching module. The controller controls the operation of the gas switching module to realize the switching of the first protective gas and the second protective gas. The flow controller is connected to the gas switching module and the controller.

[0008] Optionally, the semiconductor manufacturing equipment also includes a gas detector for detecting the type and flow of exhaust gas in the exhaust pipeline, and the controller is connected to the gas detector to control the supply of the first protective gas and the second protective gas according to the detection result of the gas detector.

[0009] Optionally, the controller further adjusts the flow rate of the first protective gas according to the gas flow rate in the exhaust pipeline detected by the gas detector.

[0010] Optionally, the process chamber includes a vapor deposition chamber and / or a dry etching chamber.

[0011] Optionally, the semiconductor manufacturing equipment further comprises a temperature control device connected to the first protective gas supply device, and the temperature control device adjusts the temperature of the first protective gas according to the gas temperature in the exhaust pipeline.

[0012] Optionally, the exhaust pipeline is a U-shaped pipeline comprising two detachably connected branch pipelines, a dust removal device is provided at the bottom of the branch pipeline near the vacuum pump, a one-way stop valve is provided at the upper part of the branch pipeline near the process chamber, and the controller is connected to the one-way stop valve to control the conduction of the branch pipeline as needed.

[0013] Optionally, the exhaust pipe is partially made of a detachable metal hose with a pleated structure. The present invention also provides a low-cost semiconductor manufacturing process, which is performed based on the semiconductor manufacturing equipment described in any of the above solutions.

[0014] As described above, the low-cost semiconductor manufacturing equipment provided by the present invention has the following beneficial effects: the low-cost semiconductor manufacturing equipment provided by the present invention, when there is gas discharge in the exhaust pipeline, the first protective gas that does not react with the process gas is introduced into the vacuum pump, and when there is no process gas discharge in the exhaust pipeline, the second protective gas with a lower cost than the first protective gas is introduced into the vacuum pump through a linear air intake channel and a spiral air intake channel respectively. Through such an improved design, the amount of the high-cost first protective gas can be effectively reduced while improving the cleaning ability of the vacuum pump, avoiding the adverse effects of the vacuum pump caused by the adhesion of pollutants on the inner wall of the vacuum pump, etc., which helps to extend the service life of the equipment, improve the equipment utilization rate, and reduce production costs. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] Figure 1 Shown is an exemplary cross-sectional structural schematic diagram of a low-cost semiconductor manufacturing equipment provided by the present invention.

[0016] Figure 2 It is a partial structural schematic diagram of another example of the semiconductor manufacturing equipment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0017] The following describes the embodiments of the present invention through specific examples, and those skilled in the art can easily understand other advantages and effects of the present invention from the contents disclosed in this specification. The present invention can also be implemented or applied through other different specific embodiments, and the details in this specification can also be modified or changed in various ways based on different viewpoints and applications without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, when describing the embodiments of the present invention in detail, for the sake of convenience, the cross-sectional view showing the device structure will not be partially enlarged according to the general proportion, and the schematic diagram is only an example, which should not limit the scope of protection of the present invention. In addition, in actual production, the three-dimensional dimensions of length, width and depth should be included.

[0018] For ease of description, spatially relative terms such as "under", "below", "below", "below", "above", "on", etc. may be used herein to describe the relationship of one element or feature shown in the drawings to other elements or features. It will be understood that these spatially relative terms are intended to encompass other orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the drawings. In addition, when a layer is referred to as being "between" two layers, it can be the only layer between the two layers, or one or more intervening layers may also be present.

[0019] In the context of the present invention, a structure in which a first feature is described as being "above" a second feature may include embodiments in which the first and second features are formed in direct contact, and may also include embodiments in which additional features are formed between the first and second features, such that the first and second features may not be in direct contact.

[0020] It should be noted that the diagrams provided in this embodiment are only schematic illustrations of the basic concept of the present invention, and the diagrams only show the components related to the present invention rather than the number, shape and size of the components in actual implementation. The type, quantity and proportion of each component in actual implementation may be changed at will, and the layout of the components may also be more complicated. In order to make the diagrams as concise as possible, not all structures are marked in the drawings.

[0021] Most vacuum pumps used in the semiconductor field are relatively expensive high-precision equipment. In order to prevent the rotor from being blocked during operation, the existing practice is to continuously introduce a constant flow of nitrogen or other protective gas that does not react with the process gas into the rotor of the vacuum pump through a linear pipeline to clean the vacuum pump. This not only leads to an increase in the use of protective gas and an increase in production costs, but also makes it difficult to effectively clean the inner wall of the vacuum pump. For example, impurity particles blown off the rotor may adhere to the inner wall of the vacuum pump. For this reason, the inventor of this case has proposed an improvement plan after long-term research. Embodiment 1

[0022] like Figure 1 As shown, the present invention provides a low-cost semiconductor manufacturing equipment, including: a process chamber 11, an exhaust pipeline 12, a vacuum pump 13, a first protective gas supply device 14 for supplying a first protective gas, a second protective gas supply device for supplying a second protective gas, and a controller 16.

[0023] The semiconductor manufacturing equipment may be equipment such as CVD, PVD, dry etching, etc., which has high requirements for vacuum during the process and needs to be continuously evacuated, and may include more than one process chamber 11. When the number of process chambers 11 is more than 2, different process chambers 11 are preferably connected to different vacuum pumps 13. The process chamber 11 is generally a generally cylindrical metal chamber, such as an aluminum alloy or stainless steel chamber, and the inner wall of the chamber may be plated with a high-temperature resistant and anti-pollution coating such as ceramic. The internal arrangement of the process chamber 11 varies according to the process. For example, in some examples, the process chamber 11 is a CVD chamber, and an air intake device such as a gas diversion plate is arranged at the top of the chamber, a base for placing a wafer is arranged below the air intake device, a baffle is arranged inside the chamber to prevent chamber contamination, the chamber or the baffle may be grounded, a wafer inlet and outlet channel such as a gate valve may be arranged on the side wall, and an exhaust port may be arranged on the side wall or the bottom of the chamber. In some other examples, the process chamber 11 is a PVD chamber, and a target material and a magnetron sputtering device are arranged on the top of the chamber. In addition, a radio frequency device can be arranged inside and / or outside the process chamber 11. Or the process chamber 11 can also be another type of vapor deposition chamber such as MOCVD. In some other examples, the process chamber 11 can be a dry etching chamber. The type of equipment is not limited in this embodiment. Any semiconductor equipment that needs to continuously supply protective gas to the vacuum pump 13 during the start-up of the equipment is applicable to the present invention.

[0024] The two ends of the exhaust pipe 12 are connected to the process chamber 11 and the vacuum pump 13 respectively, so as to continuously evacuate the process chamber 11 through the vacuum pump 13. The process gas residual gas, carrier gas and clean gas for cleaning the process chamber 11 in the process chamber 11 are all discharged to the vacuum pump 13 through the exhaust pipe 12, and finally discharged to the factory service end through the exhaust end of the vacuum pump 13, for example, discharged to the tail gas treatment device 21, and discharged into the atmosphere after harmless treatment (for example, combustion, water washing, acid-base neutralization, etc.).

[0025] The first protective gas supply device 14 and the second protective gas supply device are used to supply the first protective gas and the second protective gas respectively, and both include corresponding gas sources and gas supply pipelines, and electric valves, manual valves, flow control valves and other components for controlling gas supply may be provided on the gas supply pipelines. The storage method of the gas source varies depending on the type of gas. In this embodiment, considering that the vacuum pump 13 works continuously, the required gas consumption is relatively large, so the gas source is recommended to be a gas station with a large storage tank.

[0026] The controller 16 controls the supply of the first protective gas and the second protective gas, so that when there is gas discharge in the exhaust pipeline 12, the first protective gas that does not react with the process gas is introduced into the vacuum pump 13, and when there is no process gas discharge in the exhaust pipeline 12, the second protective gas with a lower cost than the first protective gas is introduced into the vacuum pump 13 through a linear air inlet channel 151 and a spiral air inlet channel 152. That is, in this embodiment, the second protective gas supplied by the second protective gas supply device is divided into two paths, one path is introduced into the vacuum pump 13 through the linear air inlet channel 151, and the other path is introduced into the vacuum pump 13 through the spiral air inlet channel 152 (preferably synchronously supplied). For example, during the process, the residual gas and reaction by-products of the process gas are continuously discharged from the process chamber 11. In this process, in order to prevent the impurities and pollutants such as the reaction by-products generated by the mutual reaction between the residual gases from being deposited on the vacuum pump 13 and causing the vacuum pump 13 to be blocked, causing equipment abnormality, a large flow of the first protective gas is continuously introduced into the vacuum pump 13 through a gas supply pipeline independent of the exhaust pipeline 12 (a small amount of protective gas may enter the exhaust pipeline 12), and the protective gas flows in through the pipeline inside the vacuum pump 13 to purge and protect the rotor of the vacuum pump 13 to prevent the deposits from blocking the rotor. The first protective gas is a gas that does not react with the process gas and does not pollute the pipeline. It is more recommended to use nitrogen that has been purified and cleaned. In addition, depending on the process, hydrogen can also be used, and inert gases such as argon can also be used if necessary. Since there may be a certain hysteresis in the discharge of the gas, that is, there are still certain reaction gas residues and by-products in the exhaust pipeline 12 for a period of time after the end of the process, it is necessary to continue to introduce the first protective gas. Until no process gas is discharged from the exhaust pipeline 12, a second protective gas (whose cost is lower than the first protective gas) which does not react with the process gas and does not pollute the exhaust pipeline 12 and is relatively cheap is introduced into the vacuum pump through the linear air inlet channel 151 and the spiral air inlet channel 152 respectively, so as to continuously purge the vacuum pump 13. The gases in these two channels can be connected to the same air inlet of the vacuum pump 13 or to different air inlets. In a preferred example, the two are introduced into the vacuum pump through different air inlets. For example, the air inlet of the linear air inlet channel 151 is located in the middle of the vacuum pump 13, and the second protective gas enters the vacuum pump 13 through the channel to directly purge the rotor of the vacuum pump 13. The air inlet of the spiral air inlet channel 152 is located on one side of the linear air inlet. After passing through the channel, the second protective gas enters the vacuum pump 13 in a spiral air intake manner, thereby forming a spiral airflow in the vacuum pump 13.During its flow, the spiral airflow will diffuse along the wall due to the collision with the inner wall of the vacuum pump 13, thereby causing the gas to diffuse to the inner wall of the vacuum pump 13 and other directions. Not only can the inner wall of the vacuum pump be cleaned, but the diffused airflow will intersect and collide with the linear airflow, further increasing the impact force and coverage of the protective gas, and allowing the interior of the vacuum pump 13 to be purged more comprehensively and thoroughly, preventing impurity particles from adhering to the inner wall of the vacuum pump 13 and falling onto the rotor.

[0027] The gas flow rate in the linear air inlet channel 151 and the spiral air inlet channel 152 can be determined as needed, for example, they are the same as the first protective gas flow rate in the process. This has the advantage of having a stronger cleaning power for the vacuum pump, but it will increase the exhaust pressure of the vacuum pump, so the power of the vacuum pump needs to be adjusted accordingly in this process. In some other examples, the total gas flow rate introduced into the vacuum pump 13 through the linear air inlet channel 151 and the spiral air inlet channel 152 can be the same as the flow rate of the first protective gas in the process, so that the vacuum pump 13 maintains a constant power and can reduce the adverse effects of repeated adjustment of process parameters on the equipment. The second protective gas can use CDA (compressed air) or a mixture of CDA and other gases. Although there is gas discharge in the exhaust pipe 12, when there is no process gas in the exhaust gas, for example, in the cleaning process of the process chamber 11, nitrogen is usually introduced for cleaning, and the exhaust pipe 12 is discharged with nitrogen. In this case, a low-cost second protective gas with the same flow rate as in the process can be introduced into the vacuum pump 13. In some other examples, even if process gas is discharged during the process, as long as the shielding gas does not react with the process gas or reaction by-products, a low-cost second shielding gas may be introduced during the process gas discharge.

[0028] The improved structure and process design of the present invention can effectively reduce the high-cost usage of the first protective gas while improving the cleaning ability of the vacuum pump, avoiding the adverse effects on the vacuum pump caused by the adhesion of pollutants on the inner wall of the vacuum pump, etc., which helps to extend the service life of the equipment, improve the equipment utilization rate, and reduce production costs.

[0029] The linear inlet passages of the first protective gas and the second protective gas can be passed into the vacuum pump 13 through two completely independent gas pipelines. Under this setting, multiple sets of devices for controlling the on-off and flow of gas are required, that is, control valves and flow controllers 18 need to be set on each pipeline. In some other examples, the semiconductor manufacturing equipment also includes a gas switching module 17 and a flow controller 18, the first protective gas supply device 14 and the second protective gas supply device are connected to the controller 16 via the gas switching module 17, the controller 16 controls the operation of the gas switching module 17, and realizes the on-off of the first protective gas and the second protective gas, the flow controller 18 is connected to the gas switching module 17 and the controller 16, and the controller 16 controls the flow of the corresponding gas via the gas switching module 17 and the flow controller 18. For example, the controller 16 is a device such as a host computer including storage and logic operation functions, in which process parameters (recipe) can be stored, and the switching of the two gases is controlled according to the process parameters, so only one set of flow controller 18 is needed to control the supply flow of the two gases.

[0030] As mentioned above, the controller 16 can control the first protective gas to be introduced into the vacuum pump 13 during the process and the second protective gas to be introduced during the non-process according to the process parameters. However, due to reasons such as hysteresis in gas emission or equipment failure, there may be residual gas of the process gas remaining in the exhaust pipeline 12 during the non-process. Therefore, in a preferred example, the semiconductor manufacturing equipment also includes a gas detector 19 for detecting the type and flow of the exhaust gas in the exhaust pipeline 12. The controller 16 is connected to the gas detector 19, and controls the supply of the first protective gas and the second protective gas according to the detection result of the gas detector 19, ensuring that the first protective gas is continuously introduced when there is process gas in the exhaust pipeline 12, preventing the reaction between the protective gas and the process gas, and preventing the protective gas from causing adverse effects on the pipeline due to the high temperature of the process gas emission, thereby reducing the sedimentation of the deposits. Therefore, by setting the gas detector 19, better protection can be provided for the vacuum pump 13. In a further example, the controller 16 further adjusts the flow rate of the first protective gas according to the gas flow rate in the exhaust pipeline 12 detected by the gas detector 19. For example, when it is detected that the process gas discharge flow rate in the exhaust pipeline 12 is large, the flow rate of the first protective gas is appropriately increased to ensure thorough purging of the deposits, otherwise the flow rate of the first protective gas is appropriately reduced.

[0031] In the prior art, the protective gas is introduced into the vacuum pump in a constant temperature state. For example, the protective gas is generally a room temperature gas, or the protective gas is introduced into the vacuum pump 13 in a room temperature state. In a preferred example provided by the present invention, the semiconductor manufacturing equipment also includes a temperature control device 20 connected to the first protective gas supply device 14, and the temperature control device 20 adjusts the temperature of the first protective gas according to the gas temperature in the exhaust pipeline 12. The temperature control device 20 includes, for example, a resistance heater or an electromagnetic heating ring, which is coated on the outlet pipeline of the first protective gas device. When the gas temperature in the exhaust pipeline 12 is too high, the temperature of the first protective gas is appropriately reduced, and the vacuum pump 13 can be appropriately cooled to prevent the vacuum pump 13 from malfunctioning due to overheating; when the gas temperature in the exhaust pipeline 12 is too low, the temperature of the first protective gas is appropriately increased to appropriately increase the temperature of the vacuum pump 13, increase the momentum of impurities such as by-products in the exhaust pipeline 12, and reduce the low-temperature precipitation of deposits. Or in some other examples, the temperature of the protective gas may be increased to increase the temperature of the vacuum pump 13 to a temperature that is conducive to the decomposition of the deposits (provided that the temperature is controlled within the temperature resistance range of the vacuum pump 13 ).

[0032] The exhaust pipe 12 can be made of hard metal material throughout the entire section, that is, any position thereof has the same material and volume. In other examples, a part of the exhaust pipe 12 adopts a detachable metal hose with a pleated structure. Its pleated structure can be used to absorb and adsorb certain sediments, reduce impurities discharged to the vacuum pump 13, and the exhaust pipe 12 can be kept clean by regularly cleaning this section of the pipe. At the same time, the ventilation cross-section of the metal hose is flexible and variable, and the pipe will not be blocked due to the adsorption of impurities, thereby improving the safety of the equipment. In other examples, a part of the exhaust pipe 12 can be provided with an electric adsorption device (not shown) to adsorb charged particles in the exhaust gas to prevent the charged particles from causing adverse effects on the vacuum pump 13. A water vapor adsorption device can also be provided in the exhaust pipe 12 to prevent water vapor from entering the vacuum pump 13. Embodiment 2

[0033] like Figure 2As shown, this embodiment provides a semiconductor device of another structure. The main difference between this embodiment and the first embodiment is that the exhaust pipeline 12 of the semiconductor device in the first embodiment is a single pipeline, or the process chamber 11 is connected to the vacuum pump 13 through a single exhaust pipeline 12. In this embodiment, the exhaust pipeline 12 is a U-shaped pipeline including two detachably connected bifurcated pipelines 121, or the two bifurcated pipelines 121 are detachably connected between the process chamber 11 and the vacuum pump 13, and the two bifurcated pipelines 121 can be connected to the interface pipeline at the air inlet of the vacuum pump 13. The corner of the exhaust pipeline 12 forms a U-shaped surface, which helps to avoid the accumulation of particulate impurities at the corner. A one-way stop valve 123 is provided near the upper part of the bifurcated pipeline 121 near the process chamber 11 to ensure that only one-way exhaust from the process chamber 11 to the vacuum pump 13 can be carried out in the bifurcated pipeline 121 to prevent gas backflow. A dust removal device 122 may be further provided near the bottom of the vacuum pump 13 on one or both of the branched pipelines 121, and a valve may also be provided on the pipeline between the dust removal device 122 and the vacuum pump 13. The controller 16 is connected to the one-way stop valve 123 to control the conduction of the branched pipeline 121 as required. The dust removal device 122 includes, for example, a filter to filter dust particles in the gas passing through the branched pipeline 121. The filter may be a metal filter that does not affect the exhaust, or other adsorption filters. In some other examples, a conical baffle with an opening and an adjustable opening angle can be provided in the bifurcated pipeline 121. One end of the baffle is connected to the inner wall of the bifurcated pipeline 121, and it forms a certain angle with the pipe wall of the bifurcated pipeline 121. The other end is a free end. The space corresponding to the angle faces the process chamber 11 and becomes a space for accommodating particulate impurities. The size of the opening can be adjusted according to the process requirements, thereby adjusting the size of the accommodating space, or a filter can be provided on the opening surface to intercept particulate impurities in the exhaust gas through the cooperation of the conical baffle and the filter. In a further example, the filter is elastic. As the opening of the baffle changes, the filter surface of the filter is adjusted accordingly, which can effectively improve the filtering capacity of impurities and avoid the risk of the filter being completely blocked in extreme cases. There can be more than one filter, for example, multiple filter screens are spaced and distributed along the air intake direction of the bifurcated pipeline 121, and the meshes of different filter screens are staggered. And the setting of the filter screen and / or the conical baffle in this embodiment can also be applied to the exhaust pipeline 12 of the first embodiment. That is, in the solution of the first embodiment, the conical baffle of the above structure and / or the filter with elastically variable filtering area can also be provided on the exhaust pipe 12. The dust removal device 122 / filter can be cleaned regularly, or the exhaust state in the bifurcated pipe 121 can be monitored to determine whether the filter needs to be cleaned. When the dust removal device 122 in one of the bifurcated pipes 121 needs to be cleaned, the valve is closed and the other bifurcated pipe 121 is enabled.In some other examples, the bifurcated pipeline 121 can partially adopt the aforementioned flexible pipeline with a pleated structure. For example, the pipeline between the one-way stop valve 123 and the dust removal device 122 is partially set as a flexible pipeline with a pleated structure. When one of the bifurcated pipelines 121 is closed, the flexible pipeline with the pleated structure can be vibrated to remove foreign particles attached to its surface to achieve pipeline cleaning. Through such a setting, the sedimentation in the vacuum pump 13 can be further reduced without stopping the equipment, thereby extending the service life of the vacuum pump 13. In addition to the above differences, the other structures and settings of the semiconductor device of this embodiment are the same as those of the first embodiment. Please refer to the description in the first embodiment for details, which will not be repeated for the purpose of brevity.

[0034] The present invention also provides a low-cost semiconductor manufacturing process, which is carried out based on the semiconductor manufacturing equipment described in any of the above schemes. Therefore, the above description of the semiconductor manufacturing equipment can be quoted here in full, and will not be repeated for the purpose of brevity. For example, the semiconductor manufacturing process can be a chemical vapor deposition process or a dry etching process. The common point of the two is that when the equipment is in an on state (including the equipment is in a running or idle state), the vacuum pump is continuously turned on, and when there is gas discharge in the exhaust pipeline, the first protective gas that does not react with the process gas is introduced into the vacuum pump. When there is no process gas discharge in the exhaust pipeline, the second protective gas with a cost lower than the first protective gas is introduced into the vacuum pump through a linear air inlet channel and a spiral air inlet channel. For example, during the process and for a period of time after the process production ends, the first protective gas with a flow rate required by the vacuum pump is continuously introduced. After a period of time after the process ends, the second protective gas with a flow rate required by the vacuum pump is switched to maintain a constant working state of the vacuum pump, while avoiding the accumulation of deposits, minimizing the adverse effects of the parameter adjustment of the vacuum pump. During the cleaning of the process chamber, while the cleaning gas such as nitrogen is discharged from the exhaust pipe, a low-cost second protective gas is continuously introduced at a constant flow rate.

[0035] The semiconductor manufacturing process provided by the present invention is used in processes such as vapor deposition and dry etching, and can improve the cleaning ability of the vacuum pump while reducing the amount of the first protective gas, thereby extending the service life of the vacuum pump and reducing production costs.

[0036] In summary, the present invention provides a low-cost semiconductor manufacturing equipment and process, which, when there is gas discharge in the exhaust pipeline, introduces a first protective gas that does not react with the process gas into the vacuum pump, and when there is no process gas discharge in the exhaust pipeline, introduces a second protective gas with a lower cost than the first protective gas into the vacuum pump through a linear air intake channel and a spiral air intake channel. Through such an improved design, the cleaning ability of the vacuum pump can be improved while the amount of the first protective gas is effectively reduced, and the adverse effects on the vacuum pump caused by the attachment of pollutants to the inner wall of the vacuum pump can be avoided, which helps to extend the service life of the equipment, improve the equipment utilization rate, and reduce production costs. Therefore, the present invention effectively overcomes the various shortcomings of the prior art and has a high industrial utilization value.

[0037] The above embodiments are merely illustrative of the principles and effects of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the present invention. Anyone familiar with the art may modify or alter the above embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, all equivalent modifications or alterations made by a person of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and technical concept disclosed by the present invention shall still be covered by the claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. A low-cost semiconductor manufacturing equipment, characterized in that: include: A process chamber, an exhaust pipeline, a vacuum pump, a first protective gas supply device for supplying a first protective gas, a second protective gas supply device for supplying a second protective gas, and a controller; the two ends of the exhaust pipeline are respectively connected to the process chamber and the vacuum pump; the controller controls the supply of the first protective gas and the second protective gas, so that when there is gas discharge in the exhaust pipeline, the first protective gas that does not react with the process gas is introduced into the vacuum pump, and when there is no process gas discharge in the exhaust pipeline, the second protective gas with a lower cost than the first protective gas is introduced into the vacuum pump through a linear air inlet channel and a spiral air inlet channel respectively.

2. The semiconductor manufacturing equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that The first shielding gas includes nitrogen, and the second shielding gas includes CDA.

3. The semiconductor manufacturing equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that The semiconductor manufacturing equipment also includes a gas switching module and a flow controller. The first protective gas supply device and the second protective gas supply device are connected to the controller via the gas switching module. The controller controls the operation of the gas switching module to realize the switching of the first protective gas and the second protective gas. The flow controller is connected to the gas switching module and the controller.

4. The semiconductor manufacturing equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that The semiconductor manufacturing equipment also includes a gas detector for detecting the type and flow of exhaust gas in the exhaust pipeline. The controller is connected to the gas detector and controls the supply of the first protective gas and the second protective gas according to the detection result of the gas detector.

5. The semiconductor manufacturing equipment according to claim 4, characterized in that The controller also adjusts the flow rate of the first protective gas according to the gas flow rate in the exhaust pipeline detected by the gas detector.

6. The semiconductor manufacturing equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that The process chamber includes a vapor deposition chamber and / or a dry etching chamber.

7. The semiconductor manufacturing equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that The semiconductor manufacturing equipment also includes a temperature control device connected to the first protective gas supply device, and the temperature control device adjusts the temperature of the first protective gas according to the gas temperature in the exhaust pipeline.

8. The semiconductor manufacturing equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that The exhaust pipeline is a U-shaped pipeline including two detachably connected bifurcated pipelines, a dust removal device is provided at the bottom of the bifurcated pipeline near the vacuum pump, a one-way stop valve is provided at the upper part of the bifurcated pipeline near the process chamber, and the controller is connected to the one-way stop valve to control the conduction of the bifurcated pipeline as needed.

9. The semiconductor manufacturing equipment according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that: Part of the exhaust pipe adopts a detachable metal hose with a pleated structure.

10. A low-cost semiconductor manufacturing process, characterized in that: The semiconductor manufacturing process is performed based on the semiconductor manufacturing equipment according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

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