Wafer manufacturing equipment adopting prefabricated wafer as pre-sputtering baffle

Abstract

The invention discloses wafer manufacturing equipment adopting a prefabricated wafer as a pre-sputtering baffle, which comprises an EFEM cavity and a plurality of process cavities arranged around a transmission cavity, heaters are arranged in the process cavities, process silicon wafers are placed on the heaters, a vacuum transition cavity is arranged between the transmission cavity and the EFEM cavity, the vacuum transition cavity is communicated with the EFEM cavity, and the pre-sputtering baffle is arranged between the transmission cavity and the EFEM cavity. A vacuum manipulator and at least one buffer mechanism are arranged in the transmission cavity, the buffer mechanism comprises a tray, a prefabricated wafer is arranged in the tray, the tray is connected with a lifting motor through a worm lifting mechanism, and the lifting motor drives the tray and the prefabricated wafer to move up and down together. And the vacuum manipulator grabs the prefabricated wafer and places the prefabricated wafer at the process coating position of the wafer for shielding and pre-cleaning. The prefabricated wafer is used as the pre-sputtering baffle, so that the operation efficiency of equipment can be improved, the process yield is improved, the space of a process cavity is saved, and the complexity and the cost of the equipment are reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to a wafer manufacturing device, in particular to a wafer manufacturing device which adopts a prefabricated wafer as a pre-sputtering baffle. Background Art

[0002] In the field of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, physical vapor deposition (PVD) is a widely used thin film preparation technology. In this technology, the target material is deposited onto the substrate to form a thin film by using physical methods such as sputtering in a vacuum environment. In this process, pre-sputtering is a key step, which is mainly used to clean the target surface to improve the quality of the film. However, the traditional pre-sputtering process usually requires the use of a mechanical baffle mechanism called a shutter, which not only increases the complexity and cost of the equipment, but also takes up space in the process chamber. See Figure 1 The existing pre-sputtering baffle structure 1A includes a baffle sealing chamber 1, a mechanical baffle 2, a baffle rotating shaft 3, a magnetic fluid sealing device 4, a baffle driving motor 5 and a transmission belt 6; the mechanical baffle 2 is located in the baffle sealing chamber 1, the heater 13 and the process silicon wafer 14 thereon are located in the process isolation chamber 12, and the heater 13 is connected to the heater lifting motor 10 through a bellows 11; a process chamber vacuum pump 7, a vacuum pump isolation valve 8 and a vacuum pipeline 9 are arranged below the process isolation chamber 12; a magnetron isolation chamber 17 and a magnetron driving isolation chamber 18 are arranged above the process isolation chamber 12, a magnetron 20 is arranged in the magnetron isolation chamber 17, and an adapter 15 and a target 16 are arranged below the magnetron 20; a magnetron driving motor 19 is arranged in the magnetron driving isolation chamber 18, and the magnetron 20 and the magnetron driving motor 19 are electrically connected. When pre-sputtering and cleaning the target surface, the mechanical baffle 2 is driven to rotate to the top of the heater 13 for shielding. In this method, each process chamber 28 needs to use a pre-sputtering baffle structure 1A, such as Figure 2As shown, the equipment cost and complexity are greatly increased, and the space utilization rate of the process chamber is also affected. At the same time, when the traditional mechanical baffle 2 is used as the pre-sputtering baffle, a film coating and particles will be formed on the mechanical baffle 2. When the silicon wafer 14 is undergoing a normal process, the mechanical baffle 2 rotates and stops on the upper side of the silicon wafer 14. During the normal process coating process, affected by the process airflow, the poorly bonded film layer or particles on the baffle may fall on the silicon wafer, affecting the normal process and reducing the process yield of the silicon wafer process. In addition, after a certain number of pre-sputtering cycles, the mechanical baffle 2 needs to be removed for maintenance and cleaning to maintain a clean chamber process environment. This process requires destroying the vacuum of the coating chamber for maintenance, which is a problem for some processes that are sensitive to the vacuum environment. In addition, the efficiency of this baffle solution is also subject to certain limitations, because it requires the chamber to be shut down to break the vacuum, and the mechanical baffle mechanism to be manually removed and replaced with a new baffle for maintenance. After completion, it is necessary to evacuate the chamber and conduct a complete round of process verification. After the process chamber has been verified, the equipment can proceed with the formal production process. The entire process is time-consuming and requires manual participation, causing great inconvenience to the entire production. Summary of the invention

[0003] The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a wafer manufacturing equipment using a prefabricated wafer as a pre-sputtering baffle, which can improve the operating efficiency of the equipment, save process chamber space and reduce the complexity and cost of the equipment.

[0004] The technical solution adopted by the present invention to solve the above-mentioned technical problems is to provide a wafer manufacturing equipment using a prefabricated wafer as a pre-sputtering baffle, including an EFEM chamber and a plurality of process chambers arranged around a transmission chamber, wherein a heater is provided in the process chamber, a process silicon wafer is placed on the heater, and a vacuum transition chamber is provided between the transmission chamber and the EFEM chamber, wherein a vacuum manipulator and at least one buffer mechanism are provided in the transmission chamber, the buffer mechanism includes a tray, a prefabricated wafer is provided in the tray, the tray is connected to a lifting motor through a worm lifting mechanism, the lifting motor drives the tray to move up and down together with the prefabricated wafer, and the vacuum manipulator grabs the prefabricated wafer and places it on the heater to replace the process silicon wafer for shielding pre-cleaning.

[0005] Furthermore, an EFEM buffer chamber tray and an atmospheric manipulator are provided in the EFEM chamber; when the prefabricated wafer is placed in, the atmospheric manipulator transfers the prefabricated wafer from the loadport to the vacuum transition chamber via the EFEM buffer chamber tray, and the vacuum manipulator grabs the prefabricated wafer from the vacuum transition chamber and places it into the buffer mechanism.

[0006] Furthermore, when the prefabricated wafer is taken out, the vacuum manipulator sends the prefabricated wafer stored in the buffer mechanism out of the vacuum transition chamber, and then transfers it to the EFEM buffer chamber tray via the atmospheric manipulator.

[0007] Furthermore, the EFEM buffer chamber trays are arranged at four right-angled sides of the EFEM chamber, and the number is 1 to 4.

[0008] Furthermore, the EFEM buffer chamber tray is a multi-layer structure, with a prefabricated wafer placed on each layer.

[0009] Furthermore, the number of the loadports is three, which are arranged at equal intervals outside the EFEM chamber, and the atmospheric manipulator is arranged opposite to the middle loadport.

[0010] Furthermore, the material of the prefabricated wafer is ceramic or silicon carbide, and the outer diameter of the prefabricated wafer is larger than the outer diameter of the process silicon wafer, and the thickness of the prefabricated wafer is 1.5mm-2mm larger than the thickness of the process silicon wafer.

[0011] Furthermore, the transmission chamber is in the shape of a regular hexahedron, and four process chambers and two vacuum transition chambers are arranged around the transmission chamber; the number of the buffer mechanisms is two, which are symmetrically arranged on both sides of the vacuum manipulator.

[0012] Furthermore, the transmission chamber includes a transmission chamber cover and a transmission isolation chamber body, the transmission chamber cover is opened with a hole and a buffer isolation chamber with a hollow bottom is installed, the tray is located in the buffer isolation chamber, a buffer cover is arranged above the buffer isolation chamber, the worm lifting mechanism passes through the buffer cover and is connected to the tray, and a lifting motor is connected to the top of the worm lifting mechanism.

[0013] Furthermore, a film scanning sensor is installed on the side wall of the buffer isolation cavity, and the film scanning sensor faces the tray.

[0014] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects: the wafer manufacturing equipment provided by the present invention adopts a prefabricated wafer as a pre-sputtering baffle, and saves process chamber space and further reduces the complexity and cost of the equipment by avoiding the use of the pre-sputtering baffle as a mechanical mechanism; the baffle can be taken out for maintenance and cleaning without destroying the vacuum environment of the coating chamber; the operating efficiency of the equipment is improved, and the equipment downtime maintenance and manual participation are reduced; the film layer or particles with poor bonding on the mechanical baffle are avoided from falling on the silicon wafer to affect the normal coating process, thereby improving the process yield of the silicon wafer process. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the pre-sputtering baffle mechanism of the existing PVD technology; Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the distribution of existing pre-sputtering baffles in wafer manufacturing equipment; Figure 3 This is a schematic structural diagram of a wafer manufacturing device using a prefabricated wafer as a pre-sputtering baffle in the present invention; Figure 4 For along Figure 3 Section view along line AA.

[0016] The markings in the figure are: 1. Baffle sealing chamber; 2. Mechanical baffle; 3. Baffle shaft; 4. Magnetic fluid sealing device; 5. Baffle drive motor; 6. Transmission belt; 7. Process chamber vacuum pump; 8. Vacuum pump isolation valve; 9. Vacuum pipeline; 10. Heater lifting motor; 11. Bellows; 12. Process isolation chamber; 13. Heater; 14. Process silicon wafer; 15. Adapter; 16. Target; 17. Magnetron isolation chamber; 18. Magnetron drive isolation chamber; 19. Magnetron drive motor; 20. Magnetron; 21. Loadport; 22. EFEM chamber; 23. EFEM buffer chamber tray; 24. Vacuum transition chamber; 25. Transmission chamber; 26. Buffer mechanism; 27. Prefabricated wafer; 28. Process chamber; 29. ​​Vacuum manipulator; 30. Atmospheric manipulator; 25-1. Transmission chamber cover; 25-2 Transmission isolation chamber; 26-1. Lifting motor; 26-2. Worm lifting mechanism; 26-3. Tray; 26-4. Buffer cover; 26-5. Buffer isolation chamber; 26-6. Scanning sensor. DETAILED DESCRIPTION The present invention will be further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

[0017] See also Figure 3 and Figure 4The wafer manufacturing equipment using a prefabricated wafer as a pre-sputtering baffle provided by the present invention comprises an EFEM chamber (Equipment front-end module) 22 and a plurality of process chambers 28 arranged around a transmission chamber 25, wherein a heater 13 is arranged in the process chamber 28, and a process silicon wafer 14 is placed on the heater 13; a vacuum transition chamber 24 is arranged between the transmission chamber 25 and the EFEM chamber 22, wherein a vacuum manipulator 29 and at least one buffer are arranged in the transmission chamber 25 The buffer mechanism 26 includes a tray 26-3, a prefabricated wafer 27 is arranged in the tray 26-3, the tray 26-3 is connected to the lifting motor 26-1 through a worm lifting mechanism, and the lifting motor 26-1 drives the tray 26-3 to move up and down together with the prefabricated wafer 27, and the vacuum manipulator 29 grabs the prefabricated wafer 27 and places it on the heater 13 to replace the process silicon wafer 14 for shielding pre-cleaning. After the cleaning is completed, the prefabricated wafer 27 is removed and the process silicon wafer 14 is re-grabbed for subsequent processing. In this way, the present invention can completely avoid the use of the baffle as a mechanical structure, thereby greatly reducing the complexity and cost of the equipment.

[0018] The EFEM chamber 22 of the present invention is provided with an EFEM buffer chamber tray 23 and an atmospheric manipulator 30. The EFEM buffer chamber tray 23 is arranged at the four right-angled sides of the EFEM chamber 22, and the number can be 1 to 4. Each EFEM buffer chamber tray 23 can be a 1-layer to multi-layer structure, which is convenient for placing multi-layer prefabricated wafers 27. The height of the EFEM buffer chamber tray 23 avoids the transfer port position connecting the vacuum transition chamber 24 and the EFEM chamber 22, and does not affect the process in the entire EFEM chamber 22 and the normal operation of the atmospheric manipulator 30.

[0019] The present invention does not need to destroy the vacuum environment of the coating chamber, and only needs the cooperation of the vacuum manipulator 29 and the atmospheric manipulator 30 to conveniently put in or take out the prefabricated wafer 27, so that the prefabricated wafer can be conveniently and quickly maintained and cleaned while ensuring the normal operation of the equipment, thereby improving the use efficiency of the equipment. Specifically, the process of putting in the prefabricated wafer 27 is as follows: the atmospheric manipulator 30 places the prefabricated wafer 27 from the Loadport (wafer loader) 21 in the EFEM buffer chamber tray 23, and repeatedly stores multiple layers of prefabricated wafers 27 in the EFEM buffer chamber tray 23. When the equipment scheduling is required, the atmospheric manipulator 30 places the prefabricated wafer 27 in the EFEM buffer chamber tray 23 in the vacuum transition chamber 24, and the vacuum manipulator 29 grabs the prefabricated wafer 27 from the vacuum transition chamber 24 and puts it into the buffer mechanism 26. The process of taking out the prefabricated wafer 27 is as follows: the vacuum robot 29 sends the prefabricated wafer 27 stored in the buffer mechanism 26 out of the vacuum transition chamber 24, and then transfers it to the EFEM chamber atmospheric storage position EFEM buffer chamber tray 23 through the atmospheric robot 30.

[0020] The EFEM buffer chamber tray 23 of the present invention is preferably a multi-layer structure, which pre-stores multiple prefabricated wafers. Maintenance does not require shutdown for manual baffle replacement operations. Only the prefabricated wafers that need maintenance need to be transferred out of the atmosphere by the robot and taken away for cleaning and maintenance. The process chamber continues to use the remaining prefabricated wafers 27 for production process, thereby improving the operation efficiency of the equipment and reducing equipment shutdown maintenance and manual participation. At the same time, the scanning sensor 26-6 will scan the number of prefabricated wafers 27 in the tray 26-3. When there is a lack of prefabricated wafers, the equipment will alarm or according to the calling program, the robot will automatically replenish a new prefabricated wafer 27 into the buffer mechanism 26, thereby ensuring that the entire process continues to run efficiently without shutdown.

[0021] As a preferred embodiment, the transmission chamber 25 is in the shape of a regular hexahedron, and four process chambers 28 and two vacuum transition chambers 24 are arranged around the transmission chamber 25; the number of the buffer mechanisms 26 is two, which are symmetrically arranged on both sides of the vacuum robot 29. In this way, one vacuum robot 29 is responsible for taking and placing the prefabricated wafers 27 on two buffer mechanisms 26 at the same time, and the prefabricated wafers 27 on each buffer mechanism 26 can be shared by two adjacent process chambers 28, further improving efficiency and flexibility. Specifically, the transmission chamber 25 includes a transmission chamber cover 25-1 and a transmission isolation chamber body 25-12. The transmission chamber cover 25-1 is opened with a hole and a buffer isolation chamber 26-5 with a hollow bottom is installed. The tray 26-3 is located in the buffer isolation chamber 26-5. A buffer cover 26-4 is arranged above the buffer isolation chamber 26-5. The worm lifting mechanism 26-2 passes through the buffer cover 26-4 and is connected to the tray 26-3. A lifting motor 26-1 is connected to the top of the worm lifting mechanism 26-2.

[0022] As a preferred embodiment, the number of the loadports 21 is three, which are arranged at equal intervals outside the EFEM chamber 22, and the atmospheric manipulator 30 is arranged opposite to the middle loadport 21. In this way, one atmospheric manipulator 30 is responsible for the placement and pickup of the prefabricated wafers 27 at three loadports 21 at the same time, further improving efficiency and flexibility; and ensuring that the placement and pickup of the normal silicon wafer 14 will not be affected.

[0023] Preferably, the outer diameter of the prefabricated wafer 27 is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the process silicon wafer 14 to ensure the shielding effect; the thickness of the prefabricated wafer 27 is also slightly larger than the thickness of the process silicon wafer 14 to ensure the frequency of use; the preferred thickness is 1.5mm-2mm. If it is too thick, it will be too heavy and the carrying capacity of the robot will be limited. If it is too thin, it will be easily deformed due to high frequency of use. The material of the prefabricated wafer 27 is ceramic or silicon carbide to ensure the life requirement of repeated use.

[0024] The present invention can be widely used in application fields such as semiconductor manufacturing equipment, vacuum technology and physical vapor deposition technology. Compared with the existing technology, the present invention has the following beneficial effects: 1. Saving space and cost: The present invention uses the prefabricated wafer 27 to replace the pre-sputtering baffle mechanism, avoiding the use of a complex mechanical baffle structure, thereby saving the space position of the process chamber and the complex transmission structure design and procurement costs.

[0025] 2. Improve the process yield: When a traditional baffle is used as a pre-sputtering baffle, a film coating and particles will be formed on the baffle. When the silicon wafer undergoes normal process, the baffle rotates and stops on the upper side of the silicon wafer. During the normal process coating process, affected by the process airflow, the poorly bonded film layer or particles on the baffle may fall on the silicon wafer and affect the normal process, thereby reducing the process yield of the silicon wafer process. The prefabricated wafer 27 is always inside the buffer mechanism 26 during the normal process of the silicon wafer, isolated from the process chamber 28, and will not affect the normal silicon wafer process. The yield of the entire process is greatly improved.

[0026] 3. Maintaining a better vacuum environment: When the prefabricated wafer 27 needs to be taken out for maintenance and cleaning, the present invention can be carried out without breaking the vacuum of the coating chamber. This ensures the stability and reliability of the process for certain processes that are sensitive to the vacuum environment.

[0027] 4. Improve efficiency: The present invention pre-stores one or more prefabricated wafers in the transmission chamber 25, so that the robot can cooperate with the lifting mechanism of the buffer to quickly call and grab the wafer and place it in the process coating position of the substrate for pre-cleaning when needed. At the same time, without stopping the machine, it can be taken out at any time for maintenance and cleaning as needed without affecting the progress of other processes, which has high flexibility and adaptability.

[0028] Although the present invention has been disclosed as above with preferred embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Any person skilled in the art may make some modifications and improvements without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention shall be based on the definition of the claims.

Claims

1. A wafer manufacturing device using a prefabricated wafer as a pre-sputtering baffle, comprising an EFEM chamber (22) and a plurality of process chambers (28) arranged around a transmission chamber (25), wherein a heater (13) is arranged in the process chamber (28), a process silicon wafer (14) is placed on the heater (13), and a vacuum transition chamber (24) is arranged between the transmission chamber (25) and the EFEM chamber (22), characterized in that: A vacuum robot (29) and at least one buffer mechanism (26) are arranged in the transmission chamber (25); the buffer mechanism (26) comprises a tray (26-3); a prefabricated wafer (27) is arranged in the tray (26-3); the tray (26-3) is connected to a lifting motor (26-1) via a worm lifting mechanism (26-2); the lifting motor (26-1) drives the tray (26-3) and the prefabricated wafer (27) to move up and down; the vacuum robot (29) grabs the prefabricated wafer (27) and places it on the heater (13) to replace the process silicon wafer (14) for shielding pre-cleaning.

2. The wafer manufacturing equipment using a prefabricated wafer as a pre-sputtering baffle as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The EFEM chamber (22) is provided with an EFEM buffer chamber tray (23) and an atmospheric robot (30); when the prefabricated wafer (27) is placed, the atmospheric robot (30) transfers the prefabricated wafer (27) from the loadport (21) to the vacuum transition chamber (24) via the EFEM buffer chamber tray (23), and the vacuum robot (29) grabs the prefabricated wafer (27) from the vacuum transition chamber (24) and places it into the buffer mechanism (26).

3. The wafer manufacturing equipment using a prefabricated wafer as a pre-sputtering baffle as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that: When the prefabricated wafer (27) is taken out, the vacuum robot (29) sends the prefabricated wafer (27) stored in the buffer mechanism (26) out of the vacuum transition chamber (24), and then transfers it to the EFEM buffer chamber tray (23) via the atmospheric robot (30).

4. The wafer manufacturing equipment using a prefabricated wafer as a pre-sputtering baffle as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that: The EFEM buffer chamber trays (23) are arranged at four right-angled sides of the EFEM chamber (22), and the number of the trays is 1 to 4.

5. The wafer manufacturing equipment using a prefabricated wafer as a pre-sputtering baffle as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that: The EFEM buffer chamber tray (23) is a multi-layer structure, with a prefabricated wafer (27) placed on each layer.

6. The wafer manufacturing equipment using a prefabricated wafer as a pre-sputtering baffle as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that: The number of the loadports (21) is three, which are arranged at equal intervals outside the EFEM chamber (22), and the atmospheric manipulator (30) is arranged directly opposite the middle loadport (21).

7. The wafer manufacturing equipment using a prefabricated wafer as a pre-sputtering baffle as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The material of the prefabricated wafer (27) is ceramic or silicon carbide, and the outer diameter of the prefabricated wafer (27) is greater than the outer diameter of the process silicon wafer (14), and the thickness of the prefabricated wafer (27) is 1.5 mm to 2 mm greater than the thickness of the process silicon wafer (14).

8. The wafer manufacturing equipment using a prefabricated wafer as a pre-sputtering baffle as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The transmission chamber (25) is in the shape of a regular hexahedron, and four process chambers (28) and two vacuum transition chambers (24) are arranged around the transmission chamber (25); the number of the buffer mechanisms (26) is two, and they are symmetrically arranged on both sides of the vacuum manipulator (29).

9. The wafer manufacturing equipment using a prefabricated wafer as a pre-sputtering baffle as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The transmission chamber (25) comprises a transmission chamber cover plate (25-1) and a transmission isolation chamber body (25-2); a hole is opened on the transmission chamber cover plate (25-1) and a buffer isolation chamber (26-5) with a hollow bottom is installed; the tray (26-3) is located in the buffer isolation chamber (26-5); a buffer cover plate (26-4) is arranged above the buffer isolation chamber (26-5); the worm lifting mechanism (26-2) passes through the buffer cover plate (26-4) and is connected to the tray (26-3); and a lifting motor (26-1) is connected to the top of the worm lifting mechanism (26-2).

10. The wafer manufacturing equipment using a prefabricated wafer as a pre-sputtering baffle as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: A film scanning sensor (26-6) is installed on the side wall of the buffer isolation cavity (26-5), and the film scanning sensor (26-6) faces the tray (26-3).

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