Ion Beam Blocking Device and Semiconductor Processing Equipment

Abstract

The present invention provides an ion beam blocking device and a semiconductor processing apparatus. The ion beam blocking device includes an ion screening member and an ion collection member that are sequentially arranged along the ion movement direction and are electrically insulated from each other. A closed space is formed between the ion screening member and the ion collection member. The ion screening member has a plurality of screening holes for allowing ions to pass through, and the screening holes communicate with the closed space. When a positive potential and a negative potential are respectively applied to the ion screening member and the ion collection member, an electric field formed in the closed space can guide the ions to pass through the screening holes and enter the closed space, and move towards the ion collection member.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of semiconductor manufacturing, and more particularly, to an ion beam blocking device and a semiconductor processing apparatus. Background Art

[0002] Ion Beam Etching (IBE) is an etching technique that generates plasma through glow discharge, then uses a grid structure to extract and accelerate the ions in the plasma to form an ion beam with a directional movement speed. This ion beam is used to directly perform pure physical sputtering on the material to be etched, thereby achieving the purpose of etching or modification. Before the etching process, the ion beam source needs a certain time to stabilize. During the waiting time for the ion beam source to stabilize, it is necessary to block the ion beam to prevent the generated directional ion beam from etching and damaging the wafer or the stage.

[0003] The existing baffle structure directly uses a flat structure made of an etching-resistant material (such as graphite or molybdenum metal, etc.) to directly block the side where the ions are output from the grid structure. However, when the ion beam hits the baffle, it is inevitable that baffle material will be sputtered out. The sputtered particles will deposit on the surface of the grid structure, damaging the life and performance of the grid structure, and further reducing the performance and life of the entire etching system. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The present invention aims to at least solve one of the technical problems existing in the prior art, and provides an ion beam blocking device and a semiconductor processing apparatus, which can solve the problem that the particles generated by the baffle structure in the prior art damage the life and performance of the grid structure.

[0005] To achieve the object of the present invention, an ion beam blocking device is provided, which is applied to a semiconductor processing apparatus and includes an ion screening member and an ion collecting member that are sequentially arranged along the ion movement direction and are electrically insulated from each other; a closed space is formed between the ion screening member and the ion collecting member, the ion screening member has a plurality of screening holes for allowing ions to pass through, and the screening holes communicate with the closed space;

[0006] When a positive potential and a negative potential are respectively applied to the ion screening member and the ion collecting member, an electric field formed in the closed space can guide the ions to pass through the screening holes and enter the closed space, and move towards the ion collecting member.

[0007] In some embodiments, the potential applied to the ion screening member is a first potential, and the positive potential applied to the first grid in the grid structure of the semiconductor processing apparatus is a second potential;

[0008] The first potential is less than the second potential.

[0009] In some embodiments, the first potential is greater than or equal to 0.3 times the second potential and less than or equal to 0.9 times the second potential.

[0010] In some embodiments, the absolute value of the potential applied to the ion screening member is the first potential, and the absolute value of the negative potential applied to the ion collection member is the third potential; the third potential is greater than or equal to 0.3 times the first potential and less than or equal to 1 time the first potential.

[0011] In some embodiments, the percentage of the sum of the radial cross-sectional areas of all the screening holes in the total surface area of the ion screening member is greater than or equal to 60% and less than or equal to 90%.

[0012] In some embodiments, the surface of the ion collection member exposed to the enclosed space is an arc-shaped concave surface, and the arc-shaped concave surface is recessed in a direction away from the ion screening member.

[0013] In some embodiments, a first insulating member is further included, the first insulating member is annular, and is disposed between the ion screening member and the ion collection member;

[0014] The enclosed space is formed by enclosing the opposite surfaces of the ion screening member and the ion collection member and the inner peripheral surface of the first insulating member.

[0015] In some embodiments, the arc-shaped concave surface is coplanar with the inner peripheral surface of the first insulating member.

[0016] In some embodiments, a grounding member is further included, the grounding member is annular, and is disposed on a side of the ion screening member away from the ion collection member and is electrically insulated from the ion screening member.

[0017] In some embodiments, the inner peripheral portion of the grounding member protrudes toward the axis of the grounding member relative to the edge of the surface of the ion screening member exposed to the enclosed space.

[0018] In some embodiments, the screening holes are distributed in a circular area centered on the center of the surface of the ion screening member exposed to the enclosed space;

[0019] The inner peripheral diameter of the inner peripheral portion of the grounding member is equal to the diameter of the circular area.

[0020] In some embodiments, the inner peripheral diameter of the grounding member is greater than the diameter of the gate mesh structure of the semiconductor process equipment.

[0021] In some embodiments, a second insulating member is further included, the second insulating member is annular, and is disposed between the grounding member and the ion screening member.

[0022] In some embodiments, a connecting member is further included. The connecting member is fixedly connected to the ion screening member and the ion collection member and is electrically insulated.

[0023] An introducing channel is provided in the connecting member for respectively introducing the cables applying the positive potential and the negative potential to the ion screening member and the ion collection member.

[0024] In some embodiments, a protective housing is further included. The protective housing is configured to be disposed on the ion output side of the grid structure of the semiconductor process equipment, and one side of the protective housing facing the grid structure is open.

[0025] The ion screening member and the ion collection member are disposed inside the protective housing; the connecting member penetrates through the protective housing.

[0026] As another technical solution, the present invention further provides a semiconductor process equipment, including:

[0027] A process chamber having an opening;

[0028] A stage disposed in the process chamber and having a bearing surface opposite to the opening for bearing a wafer.

[0029] An ion source disposed outside the process chamber and including a plasma generating device and a grid structure for extracting ions in the plasma. One side of the grid structure for outputting ions is opposite to the opening.

[0030] The ion beam blocking device according to any one of claims 1-15 is movably disposed in the process chamber and can be located at a blocking position between the opening and the bearing surface or moved away from the blocking position.

[0031] The present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0032] The ion beam blocking device provided by the present invention is used, when the ion beam is unstable and a positive potential and a negative potential are respectively applied to the ion screening member and the ion collection member, to utilize the electric field formed in the closed space formed between the ion screening member and the ion collection member to guide ions to pass through the screening holes of the ion screening member into the closed space and move towards the ion collection member, and finally be absorbed by the ion collection member. The direction of the electric field lines of the above-mentioned electric field points from the ion screening member to the ion collection member and can accelerate the ions, so that most of the ions entering the closed space can be directly absorbed by the negatively charged ion collection member. For the small part of particles or ions after secondary sputtering, it is very difficult to flow back to the surface of the grid structure through the screening holes under the hindering effect of the electric field in the closed space, thereby effectively reducing the number of particles or ions deposited on the surface of the grid structure, further improving the service life of the grid structure, effectively solving the problems of efficiency and cost brought by replacing the grid structure, and improving the service life and process performance of semiconductor process equipment.

[0033] The semiconductor process equipment provided by the present invention can effectively reduce the number of particles or ions deposited on the surface of the grid structure by adopting the above-mentioned ion beam blocking device provided by the present invention, thereby further improving the service life of the grid structure, effectively solving the problems of efficiency and cost brought by replacing the grid structure, and improving the service life and process performance of semiconductor process equipment. Description of the Drawings

[0034] Figure 1 It is a structural diagram of the semiconductor process equipment provided by an embodiment of the present invention in a state;

[0035] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the grid structure in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0036] Figure 3 It is a structural diagram of the semiconductor process equipment provided by an embodiment of the present invention in another state;

[0037] Figure 4 It is a half-sectional perspective view of the ion beam blocking device provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0038] Figure 5 It is a distribution diagram of the electric field vectors when the ion beam blocking device and the grid structure provided by an embodiment of the present invention are working;

[0039] Figure 6 It is a perspective view of the ion beam blocking device provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0040] Figure 7 It is a three-dimensional perspective view of the connecting member adopted in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0041] Figure 8 It is a perspective view of the protective housing adopted in an embodiment of the present invention. Detailed implementation manners

[0042] To enable those skilled in the art to better understand the technical solutions of the present invention, the ion beam blocking device and semiconductor process equipment provided by the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0043] Please refer to Figure 1 , an embodiment of the present invention provides an ion beam blocking device 100, which is applied to a semiconductor process equipment 200. The semiconductor process equipment 200 is, for example, an ion beam etching (IBE) equipment. Specifically, the equipment includes a process chamber 201 with an opening, a stage 202, and an ion source 300. Among them, the stage 202 is disposed in the process chamber 201 and has a bearing surface opposite to the opening of the process chamber 201 for bearing a wafer 203; the ion source 300 is disposed outside the process chamber 201 and includes a plasma generating device and a grid structure 301 for extracting ions from the plasma. The grid structure 301 is vertically disposed, and the side of the grid structure 301 that outputs ions is opposite to the opening. The ion beam output by the grid structure 301 is, for example, parallel to the horizontal plane. The plasma generating device may specifically include a plasma generating chamber 302, a gas inlet device 303, a radio frequency coil 304, a radio frequency source, and a shielding outer cavity 305. Among them, the plasma generating chamber 302 is disposed outside the opening of the process chamber 201 and is fixedly connected to the side wall of the process chamber 201; the gas inlet device 303 is used to deliver process gas into the plasma generating chamber 302; the radio frequency coil 304 is disposed around the plasma generating chamber 302; the radio frequency source includes a radio frequency power supply 306 and a matcher 307. The radio frequency power supply 306 is electrically connected to the radio frequency coil 304 through the matcher 307 and is used to excite the process gas in the plasma generating chamber 302 to form plasma; the shielding outer cavity 305 covers the plasma generating chamber 302 and the radio frequency coil 304 to shield radio frequency. The grid structure 301 is disposed between the plasma generating chamber 302 and the process chamber 201 and is used to extract and accelerate the ions in the plasma in the plasma generating chamber 302 to form an ion beam with a directional movement speed (such as Figure 1 shown by the dashed arrow in), and output it into the process chamber 201 through the opening.

[0044] As Figure 2 shown, the grid structure 301 for realizing the above functions includes, for example, three layers of grids. The three layers of grids are all made of an etching-resistant metal material (such as graphite or molybdenum metal, etc.), and are respectively along the direction close to the process chamber 201 (i.e., Figure 2The first grid 301a, the second grid 301b, and the third grid 301c are arranged in sequence in the X direction (in []) and are all vertically arranged. This can avoid the deformation of the grid caused by the gravitational force, thereby damaging the function of the grid. During the process, a positive potential is applied to the first grid 301a to absorb electrons in the plasma, that is, to filter electrons; a negative potential is applied to the second grid 301b, and the electric field formed between the second grid 301b and the first grid 301a can extract ions in the plasma; the third grid 301c is grounded and is used to cooperate with the first grid 301a and the second grid 301b to control the divergence angle of the extracted ion beam to ensure that most ions can move along their axial direction. The ion beam output by the three-layer grid moves along the axial direction of the three-layer grid into the process chamber 201.

[0045] The ion beam blocking device 100 provided in the embodiment of the present invention is movably arranged in the process chamber 201 and can be located at the blocking position (i.e., Figure 1 the position where the ion beam blocking device 100 is located in []) between the opening and the bearing surface, or moved away from the blocking position, for example, moved to Figure 3 the position where the ion beam blocking device 100 is located in []. Specifically, when the ion beam is not in a stable state or the wafer 203 and the stage 202 do not reach the specified positions, the ion beam blocking device 100 needs to be moved to the blocking position to block the ion beam to prevent the ion beam from etching and damaging the wafer 203 and the stage 202. After the ion beam reaches a stable state, the ion beam blocking device 100 is moved away from the blocking position so that the ion beam can enter the process chamber 201 for the etching process.

[0046] Please refer to Figure 4 The ion beam blocking device 100 that realizes the above functions includes an ion screening member 101 and an ion collection member 102 that are arranged in sequence along the ion movement direction and are electrically insulated from each other; the above ion movement direction is the movement direction of the ion beam output from the grid structure 301, for example, parallel to the axial direction of the three-layer grid (i.e., Figure 4 the X direction in []). A closed space 103 is formed between the ion screening member 101 and the ion collection member 102. The ion screening member 101 has a plurality of screening holes 101a for ions to pass through, and the screening holes 101a communicate with the closed space 103; when a positive potential and a negative potential are respectively applied to the ion screening member 101 and the ion collection member 102, an electric field formed in the closed space 103 can guide ions to pass through the screening holes 101a into the closed space 103 and move towards the ion collection member 102.

[0047] Please refer to Figure 5, when the ion beam is unstable, with the ion screening member 101 and the ion collection member 102 being applied with a positive potential and a negative potential respectively, by using the electric field formed in the above-mentioned enclosed space 103, ions are guided to pass through the screening holes 101a of the ion screening member 101 into the enclosed space 103, and move towards the ion collection member 102, and are finally absorbed by the ion collection member 102. The direction of the electric field lines of the above-mentioned electric field (as shown by the blue arrow between the ion screening member 101 and the ion collection member 102 in Figure 5 ) points from the ion screening member 101 to the ion collection member 102, and can accelerate the ions, so that most of the ions entering the enclosed space 103 can be directly absorbed by the negatively charged ion collection member 102. For a small number of particles or ions that have undergone secondary sputtering, under the hindering effect of the electric field in the enclosed space 103, it is very difficult to flow back to the surface of the grid structure 301 through the screening holes 101a. Thus, the number of particles or ions deposited on the surface of the grid structure 301 can be effectively reduced, and further, the lifespan of the grid structure 301 can be increased, effectively solving the problems of efficiency and cost brought by replacing the grid structure 301, and improving the lifespan and process performance of the semiconductor process equipment 200.

[0048] In an embodiment where the grid structure 301 of the semiconductor process equipment 200 includes the first grid 301a, the potential applied to the ion screening member 101 is the first potential, and the positive potential applied to the first grid 301a is the second potential; the first potential is less than the second potential. In this way, the direction of the electric field lines of the electric field formed between the first grid 301a and the ion screening member 101 can be made to point from the first grid 301a to the ion screening member 101. The electric field lines of this electric field are as shown by the colored arrows including red, orange, green, and yellow in Figure 5 . Among them, the direction of most of the electric field lines including red, orange, etc. points from the first grid 301a to the ion screening member 101, thereby preventing the ion beam from moving reversely into the grid structure 301 and causing pollution and damage to the grid structure 301. In some embodiments, the first potential is greater than or equal to 0.3 times the second potential and less than or equal to 0.9 times the second potential, preferably 0.7 times. This can ensure that the second potential is large enough and improve the collection efficiency of the ion beam blocking device 100 for ions, so as to effectively prevent the ion beam from moving reversely into the grid structure 301.

[0049] In some embodiments, the absolute value of the potential applied to the ion screening member 101 is the first potential, and the absolute value of the negative potential applied to the ion collection member 102 is the third potential; the third potential is greater than or equal to 0.3 times the first potential and less than or equal to 1 times the first potential. The third potential should not be too large, otherwise the ion beam will be accelerated too strongly, causing damage to the ion collection member 102; the third potential should not be too small, otherwise the acceleration of the ion beam will be too weak, affecting the effect of guiding the ions to move towards the ion collection member 102. By making the third potential greater than or equal to 0.3 times the first potential and less than or equal to 1 times the first potential, the above situation can be effectively avoided. Preferably, the third potential is 0.5 times the first potential.

[0050] In a specific embodiment, the amplitude range of the positive potential applied to the first grid 301a is greater than 0V and less than or equal to 1500V; the amplitude range of the negative potential applied to the second grid 301b is greater than or equal to -1500V and less than 0V; the amplitude range of the first potential is greater than 0V and less than or equal to 1000V; the amplitude range of the third potential is greater than or equal to -1000V and less than 0V. The third grid 301c is grounded and its potential is 0V.

[0051] In some embodiments, the ion screening member 101 is in a flat plate shape, and the ion screening member 101 and the grid structure 301 are arranged opposite to each other along the axial direction of the grid structure 301 (i.e., Figure 4 the X direction in ), and is located on the side where the grid structure 301 outputs ions; the surfaces of the ion screening member 101 opposite to and away from the grid structure 301 are both planes, and this plane is perpendicular to the axial direction of the grid structure 301, that is, perpendicular to the above-mentioned ion movement direction. A plurality of screening holes 101a are distributed in the ion screening member 101, and both ends of each screening hole 101a are located on the surface of the ion screening member 101 opposite to the grid structure 301 and the surface away from the grid structure 301, respectively, for ions to pass through and enter the closed space 103.

[0052] In some embodiments, the thickness of the ion screening member 101 (i.e., the distance between the surface of the ion screening member 101 opposite to the grid structure 301 and the surface away from the grid structure 301) is greater than or equal to 1mm and less than or equal to 4mm.

[0053] In some embodiments, as Figure 6 shown, a plurality of screening holes 101a surround the axis of the ion screening member 101 for multiple turns, that is, a plurality of screening holes 101a are distributed on a plurality of circumferences centered on the axis of the ion screening member 101 and with different radii, and the plurality of screening holes 101a distributed on each circumference are evenly distributed on that circumference. This helps to increase the number of ions passing through the screening holes 101a and entering the closed space 103.

[0054] In some embodiments, the percentage of the sum of the radial cross-sectional areas of all the screening holes 101a in the total surface area of the ion screening member 101 is greater than or equal to 60% and less than or equal to 90%. This helps to increase the number of ions passing through the screening holes 101a and entering the enclosed space 103. Specifically, the total surface area of the surface of the ion screening member 101 facing the grid structure or the ion collection member 102 is the total surface area of the ion screening member 101 as described above. The surface of the ion screening member 101 facing the grid structure or the ion collection member 102 includes the hole area where all the screening holes 101a are located and the non-hole area other than the hole area. Among them, the area of the hole area is the sum of the radial cross-sectional areas of all the screening holes 101a.

[0055] In some embodiments, each screening hole 101a is, for example, a straight through hole, and the radial cross-sectional shape includes a circle. The diameter of the straight through hole is greater than or equal to 2 mm and less than or equal to 4 mm. This helps to increase the number of ions passing through the screening holes 101a and entering the enclosed space 103.

[0056] In some embodiments, the surface of the ion collection member 102 exposed to the enclosed space 103 is an arc-shaped concave surface 102a, which is recessed in a direction away from the ion screening member 101. The arc-shaped concave surface 102a can make most of the electric field lines in the enclosed space 103 perpendicular to the tangent of the arc-shaped concave surface 102a, as Figure 5 shown by the direction of the electric field lines near the ion collection member 102 in the figure. Thus, most of the electric field lines are not parallel to the axial direction of each screening hole 101a. In this way, when ions pass through the screening holes 101a and enter the enclosed space 103, most of the ions are directly absorbed by the ion collection member 102, while a small number of particles or ions secondary sputtered by the above arc-shaped concave surface 102a of the ion collection member 102 will hardly flow back to the surface of the grid structure 301 through the screening holes 101a under the action of the above electric field lines that are not parallel to the axial direction of the screening holes 101a. Therefore, by using the arc-shaped concave surface 102a, the number of particles or ions deposited on the surface of the grid structure 301 can be further reduced, and thus the damage to the grid structure 301 can be reduced more effectively. On this basis, the setting of the above arc-shaped concave surface 102a can also increase the surface area of the ion collection member 102 exposed to the enclosed space 103, so that more ions can be absorbed. The above arc-shaped concave surface 102a is, for example, a part of a spherical concave surface. However, the embodiments of the present invention are not limited thereto. In practical applications, the arc-shaped concave surface 102a can be of any shape as long as the above functions can be achieved.

[0057] In a specific embodiment, the ion collector 102 is an arc-shaped plate, and the surface of the arc-shaped plate facing the ion sieve 101 is the above-mentioned arc-shaped concave surface 102a. Moreover, the open end of the arc-shaped concave portion surrounded by the arc-shaped concave surface 102a faces the ion sieve 101, and the opening area of the arc-shaped concave portion decreases, for example, in a direction away from the ion sieve 101 from the open end.

[0058] In some embodiments, the ion beam blocking device 100 further includes a first insulating member 104. The first insulating member 104 is annular and is disposed between the ion sieve 101 and the ion collector 102; the surfaces of the ion sieve 101 and the ion collector 102 facing each other and the inner peripheral surface of the first insulating member 104 enclose a closed space 103. The first insulating member 104 is used to electrically insulate the ion sieve 101 and the ion collector 102 and keep a certain distance between them in the axial direction of each screening hole 101a. This distance is, for example, greater than or equal to 2 mm and less than or equal to 4 mm.

[0059] In the embodiment where the surface of the ion collector 102 exposed to the closed space 103 is the arc-shaped concave surface 102a, the arc-shaped concave surface 102a is coplanar with the inner peripheral surface of the first insulating member 104. This can ensure that the ions passing through each screening hole 101a can smoothly move to the arc-shaped concave surface 102a and reduce the probability of ions being blocked by the first insulating member 104 and flowing back. In some embodiments, the diameter of the inner peripheral surface of the first insulating member 104 is greater than or equal to 350 mm and less than or equal to 400 mm.

[0060] In some embodiments, the ion beam blocking device 100 further includes a grounding member 105. The grounding member 105 is annular and is disposed on the side of the ion sieve 101 away from the ion collector 102 and is electrically insulated from the ion sieve 101. That is to say, the grounding member 105 is disposed between the ion sieve 101 and the grid structure 301. Since the grounding member 105 is grounded, when a positive potential and a negative potential are applied to the ion sieve 101 and the ion collector 102 respectively, the electric field lines of the electric field between the grounding member 105 and the ion sieve 101 point from the ion sieve 101 to the grounding member 105, as Figure 5The power lines located between the grounding member 105 and the ion screening member 101 generally point from the ion screening member 101 towards the grounding member 105, so that the movement of the ion beam through which the electric field can pass is decelerated (hindered), and this deceleration effect can reduce the damage caused by ions to the ion screening member 101. It should be noted that when the role of the grid structure 301 in ion extraction is large enough, it can be ensured that the ions passing between the grounding member 105 and the ion screening member 101 are only decelerated by the electric field between the grounding member 105 and the ion screening member 101, but still move towards the ion screening member 101 and do not flow back towards the grid structure 301. When the first potential is greater than or equal to 0.3 times the second potential and less than or equal to 0.9 times the second potential, the above effects can be achieved. Moreover, in order to achieve the above effects, in some embodiments, the distance between the grounding member 105 and the first grid 301a in the axial direction of the first grid 301a is greater than or equal to 1 mm and less than or equal to 10 mm. In some embodiments, the axial length of the grounding member 105 is greater than or equal to 1 mm and less than or equal to 2 mm.

[0061] In some embodiments, the inner peripheral diameter of the grounding member 105 is greater than the diameter of the grid structure. This can make the space surrounded by the grounding member 105 large enough to collect as many ion beams output by the grid structure in this space as possible. In the embodiment where the grid structure includes the first grid 301a, the second grid 301b, and the third grid 301c, the diameters of the three grids are, for example, the same. In this case, the inner peripheral diameter of the grounding member 105 is greater than the diameter of each grid.

[0062] In some embodiments, as Figure 4 shown, the inner peripheral portion 105a of the grounding member 105 protrudes towards the axis of the grounding member 105 relative to the surface edge of the ion screening member 101 exposed to the closed space 103. That is to say, the inner peripheral diameter of the inner peripheral portion 105a of the grounding member 105 is smaller than the diameter of the surface edge of the ion screening member 101 exposed to the closed space 103. In this way, the inner peripheral portion 105a of the grounding member 105 can play a blocking role to block some of the ions that collide with the edge (non-hole part) of the ion screening member 101 from splashing back out of the grounding member 105, thereby further reducing the number of particles or ions deposited on the surface of the grid structure 301, and further reducing the damage to the grid structure 301 more effectively. Further, in some embodiments, the difference between the diameter of the surface of the ion screening member 101 exposed to the closed space 103 and the inner peripheral diameter of the inner peripheral portion 105a of the grounding member 105 is greater than or equal to 30 mm and less than or equal to 80 mm. This can more effectively play the above-mentioned blocking role.

[0063] In some embodiments, the screening holes 101a are distributed in a circular area centered at the center of the surface of the ion screening member 101 exposed to the enclosed space 103, and the diameter of this circular area is, for example, smaller than the diameter of the surface of the ion screening member 101 exposed to the enclosed space 103; the inner peripheral diameter of the inner peripheral portion 105a of the grounding member 105 is equal to the diameter of the circular area. This can make the inner peripheral portion 105a of the grounding member 105 located on the periphery of the circular area where the screening holes 101a are located, thereby helping to increase the number of ions entering the enclosed space 103 through the screening holes 101a.

[0064] In some embodiments, the ion beam blocking device 100 further includes a second insulating member 106, which is annular and disposed between the grounding member 105 and the ion screening member 101. The second insulating member 106 is used to electrically insulate the grounding member 105 and the ion screening member 101, and keep a certain distance between them in the axial direction along each screening hole 101a, and this distance is, for example, greater than or equal to 2 mm and less than or equal to 4 mm.

[0065] The inner peripheral diameter of the second insulating member 106 is, for example, larger than the inner peripheral diameter of the inner peripheral portion 105a of the grounding member 105. Specifically, the inner peripheral diameter of the second insulating member 106 can be equal to the diameter of the above-mentioned circular area. This helps to increase the number of ions entering the enclosed space 103 through the screening holes 101a. Further, in embodiments where the ion beam blocking device 100 further includes a first insulating member 104, the inner peripheral diameters of the second insulating member 106 and the first insulating member 104 can be the same.

[0066] In some embodiments, for the convenience of processing, the thicknesses of the above-mentioned ion screening member 101, first insulating member 104, second insulating member 106, and ion collection member 102 can be the same.

[0067] In some embodiments, please refer to Figure 6 and Figure 7 , the ion beam blocking device 100 further includes a connecting member 107, which is fixedly connected to the ion screening member 101 and the ion collection member 102 and is electrically insulated, so as to realize the fixation of the two. Specifically, an insulating layer 107b can be provided between the connecting member 107 and the ion screening member 101 and the ion collection member 102 to achieve electrical insulation. Further, in embodiments where the ion beam blocking device 100 includes a grounding member 105, a second insulating member 106, an ion screening member 101, a first insulating member 104, and an ion collection member 102 that are butt-jointed in sequence along the ion movement direction, the above-mentioned connecting member 107 fixedly connects these components and is electrically insulated through the insulating layer 107b. The specific connection method is, for example: the connecting member 107 includes a fixing plate 107a, and at least one first fixing hole 107a1 is provided on the fixing plate 107a corresponding to each of these components; correspondingly, asFigure 4 As shown, at least one second fixing hole 109 is provided on each of these components, and the second fixing holes 109 are arranged in one-to-one correspondence with the first fixing holes 107a1. The ion beam blocking device 100 further includes a plurality of fixing screws (not shown in the figure), and each fixing screw passes through the corresponding first fixing hole 107a1 and the corresponding second fixing hole 109 one by one to fixedly connect each of these components to the fixing plate 107a, thereby realizing the fixed connection between these components. Specifically, the first fixing hole 107a1 is, for example, a light hole; the second fixing hole 109 is, for example, a threaded hole.

[0068] Furthermore, in some embodiments, a positioning groove 110 is formed on the outer peripheral surfaces of these components in common. The shape and size of the positioning groove 110 are adapted to the shape and size of the above-mentioned fixing plate 107a, and the fixing plate 107a is at least partially located in the positioning groove 110 to define the position of the fixing plate 107a. The shapes of the positioning groove 110 and the fixing plate 107a are, for example, both rectangular.

[0069] In some embodiments, on the basis of including the fixing plate 107a, the above-mentioned connecting member 107 further includes a connecting body. The connecting body is fixedly connected to these components through the fixing plate 107a, and an introducing channel is provided in the connecting member 107 (including the connecting body and the fixing plate 107a) for introducing the cables for applying positive potential and negative potential into the ion screening member 101 and the ion collection member 102 respectively, so as to apply positive potential and negative potential to the ion screening member 101 and the ion collection member 102 respectively. The cable is used to be electrically connected to at least one DC power supply. In a specific embodiment, as Figure 7 shown, the connecting body includes an L-shaped plate 107c and a columnar connecting shaft 107d. One end of the L-shaped plate 107c is integrally formed or fixedly connected to the fixing plate 107a, and the columnar connecting shaft 107d is integrally formed or fixedly connected to the position of the L-shaped plate 107c away from the fixing plate 107a. Both the L-shaped plate 107c and the columnar connecting shaft 107d are hollow. A connecting hole 107a2 penetrating through it is provided in the fixing plate 107a, and the connecting hole 107a2 is communicated with the hollow space 107c1 of the L-shaped plate 107c and the hollow space 107d1 of the columnar connecting shaft 107d to form the above-mentioned introducing channel. After the cable (not shown in the figure) passes through the hollow space 107d1 of the columnar connecting shaft 107d, it then passes through the hollow space 107c1 of the L-shaped plate 107c and the connecting hole 107a2 in the fixing plate 107a in sequence and is electrically connected to the grounding member 105, the ion screening member 101, and the ion collection member 102. It is easy to understand that there are multiple cables, which are used to ground the grounding member 105, apply positive potential to the ion screening member 101, and apply negative potential to the ion collection member 102 respectively. On this basis, as Figure 1As shown, the columnar connecting shaft 107d is used to pass through the chamber wall of the process chamber 201, so that the cables outside the process chamber 201 can be introduced into the process chamber 201 through the columnar connecting shaft 107d. Specifically, the columnar connecting shaft 107d can be connected to the driving device 205 through the flange 204. The flange 204 is rotatably passed through the chamber wall of the process chamber 201, and the driving device 205 is used to drive the columnar connecting shaft 107d to rotate around its axis through the flange 204, so as to drive the components including the connecting member 107, and the connecting member 107 can rotate the components such as the ion screening member 101 and the ion collection member 102 to the blocking position or move away from the blocking position.

[0070] In some embodiments, as Figure 1 、 Figure 6 and Figure 8 shown, the ion beam blocking device 100 further includes a protective housing 108. The protective housing 108 is used to be arranged on the ion output side of the grid structure 301, and the side of the protective housing 108 facing the grid structure 301 is open to ensure that the ions output from the grid structure 301 can flow into the protective housing 108. The ion screening member 101 and the ion collection member 102 are arranged inside the protective housing 108; the protective housing 108 is used to prevent the components inside it (including but not limited to the ion screening member 101 and the ion collection member 102) from contacting the chamber wall of the process chamber 201 during the process of leaving the blocking position. The above-mentioned connecting member 107 passes through the protective housing 108. Specifically, a plurality of third fixing holes 108a can be arranged at the position of the corresponding fixing plate 107a of the protective housing 108. Each third fixing hole 108a is arranged corresponding to each first fixing hole 107a1 one by one, and each fixing screw passes through each third fixing hole 108a, the corresponding first fixing hole 107a1 and the corresponding second fixing hole 109 one by one to fixedly connect each of these components, the fixing plate 107a and the protective housing 108.

[0071] In summary, the ion beam blocking device 100 provided by the embodiments of the present invention is used, when the ion beam is unstable and the ion screening member 101 and the ion collection member 102 are respectively applied with a positive potential and a negative potential, to guide ions to pass through the screening holes 101a of the ion screening member 101 into the enclosed space 103 formed between the ion screening member 101 and the ion collection member 102 by using the electric field formed in the enclosed space 103, and move towards the ion collection member 102, and finally be absorbed by the ion collection member 102. The direction of the electric field lines of the above electric field points from the ion screening member 101 to the ion collection member 102, and can accelerate the ions, so that most of the ions entering the enclosed space 103 can be directly absorbed by the negatively charged ion collection member 102. For a small number of particles or ions after secondary sputtering, it is very difficult to flow back to the surface of the grid structure 301 through the screening holes 101a under the hindering effect of the electric field in the enclosed space 103. Thus, the number of particles or ions deposited on the surface of the grid structure 301 can be effectively reduced, and further, the service life of the grid structure 301 can be improved, the problems of efficiency and cost caused by replacing the grid structure 301 can be effectively solved, and the service life and process performance of the semiconductor process equipment 200 can be improved.

[0072] As another technical solution, the embodiments of the present invention further provide a semiconductor process equipment 200, which is, for example, an ion beam etching (IBE) equipment. This equipment has been described in detail in the above embodiments and will not be elaborated here.

[0073] The semiconductor process equipment 200 provided by the embodiments of the present invention can effectively reduce the number of particles or ions deposited on the surface of the grid structure 301 by adopting the above ion beam blocking device 100 provided by the embodiments of the present invention. Further, the service life of the grid structure 301 can be improved, the problems of efficiency and cost caused by replacing the grid structure 301 can be effectively solved, and the service life and process performance of the semiconductor process equipment 200 can be improved.

[0074] It can be understood that the above embodiments are merely exemplary embodiments adopted to illustrate the principle of the present invention. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. For those of ordinary skill in the art, various modifications and improvements can be made without departing from the spirit and essence of the present invention, and these modifications and improvements are also regarded as the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. An ion beam blocking device, applied to semiconductor process equipment, characterized in that: The invention comprises an ion screening element and an ion collecting element which are sequentially arranged along the ion movement direction and are electrically insulated from each other; a closed space is formed between the ion screening element and the ion collecting element, the ion screening element has a plurality of screening holes for ions to pass through, and the screening holes are connected to the closed space; When positive potential and negative potential are applied to the ion screening element and the ion collecting element respectively, the electric field formed in the closed space can guide ions to pass through the screening hole into the closed space and move toward the ion collecting element.

2. The ion beam blocking device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The potential applied to the ion screening element is a first potential, and the positive potential applied to the first grid in the grid structure of the semiconductor process equipment is a second potential; The first potential is lower than the second potential.

3. The ion beam blocking device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The first potential is greater than or equal to 0.3 times the second potential and less than or equal to 0.9 times the second potential.

4. The ion beam blocking device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The absolute value of the potential applied to the ion screening element is a first potential, and the absolute value of the negative potential applied to the ion collecting element is a third potential; the third potential is greater than or equal to 0.3 times the first potential and less than or equal to 1 times the first potential.

5. The ion beam blocking device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The percentage of the sum of the radial cross-sectional areas of all the screening holes to the total surface area of ​​the ion screening element is greater than or equal to 60% and less than or equal to 90%.

6. The ion beam blocking device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The surface of the ion collecting element exposed to the closed space is an arc-shaped concave surface, and the arc-shaped concave surface is recessed in a direction away from the ion screening element.

7. The ion beam blocking device according to claim 6, characterized in that: It also includes a first insulating member, which is annular and disposed between the ion screening member and the ion collecting member; The closed space is formed by surfaces of the ion screening element and the ion collecting element facing each other and an inner peripheral surface of the first insulating element.

8. The ion beam blocking device according to claim 7, characterized in that: The arc-shaped concave surface is coplanar with the inner circumferential surface of the first insulating member.

9. The ion beam blocking device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The invention also comprises a grounding member, which is in a ring shape and is arranged on a side of the ion screening member away from the ion collecting member and is electrically insulated from the ion screening member.

10. The ion beam blocking device according to claim 9, characterized in that: An inner peripheral portion of the grounding member protrudes toward an axis of the grounding member relative to an edge of a surface of the ion screening member exposed to the closed space.

11. The ion beam blocking device according to claim 10, characterized in that: The screening holes are distributed in a circular area with the center of the surface of the ion screening element exposed to the closed space as the center of the circle; The inner diameter of the inner peripheral portion of the grounding member is equal to the diameter of the circular area.

12. The ion beam blocking device according to claim 9, characterized in that: The inner diameter of the grounding member is greater than the diameter of the grid structure of the semiconductor process equipment.

13. The ion beam blocking device according to claim 9, characterized in that: The invention also comprises a second insulating member, which is ring-shaped and arranged between the grounding member and the ion screening member.

14. The ion beam blocking device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: It also includes a connecting member, which is fixedly connected to the ion screening member and the ion collecting member and is electrically insulated; The connecting member is provided with an introduction channel for introducing cables for applying the positive potential and the negative potential into the ion screening member and the ion collecting member respectively.

15. The ion beam blocking device according to claim 14, characterized in that: Also included is a protective shell, the protective shell is used to be arranged on the ion output side of the grid structure of the semiconductor process equipment, and the side of the protective shell facing the grid structure is open; The ion screening component and the ion collecting component are arranged inside the protective shell; and the connecting component is arranged to penetrate the protective shell.

16. A semiconductor process equipment, characterized in that: include: a process chamber having an opening; A carrier, disposed in the process chamber and having a carrying surface opposite to the opening and used for carrying a wafer; An ion source is disposed outside the process chamber and includes a plasma generating device and a grid structure for extracting ions in the plasma, wherein a side of the grid structure for outputting ions is opposite to the opening; The ion beam blocking device as described in any one of claims 1 to 15 can be movably arranged in the process chamber, and can be located in a blocking position between the opening and the carrying surface, or moved away from the blocking position.

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