Detection circuit of bearing boat, fault detection method and semiconductor process equipment

Abstract

The invention discloses a detection circuit of a bearing boat, a fault detection method and semiconductor process equipment, the detection circuit of the bearing boat is used for detecting on-off between bearing boat pages in a semiconductor process chamber, and the semiconductor process chamber can accommodate at least one bearing boat. Two poles of each bearing boat are provided with a group of radio frequency output ports; the detection circuit comprises a signal generator and a signal detector which are respectively connected between each group of radio frequency output ports, and the signal generator, the bearing boat and the signal detector corresponding to each group of radio frequency output ports respectively form an electric loop; the signal generator is used for providing an electric signal; the signal detector is used for detecting the on-off state of an electric loop where the corresponding bearing boat is located, and the on-off state of the electric loop is used for representing the on-off state between boat pages of the corresponding bearing boat. According to the invention, the productivity of the corresponding semiconductor process equipment can be improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of semiconductor technology, and in particular to a detection circuit for a carrier boat, a fault detection method and semiconductor process equipment. Background Art

[0002] Tubular PECVD (plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition) semiconductor equipment is used to prepare the passivation anti-reflection layer of solar cells. It is an important equipment in the battery manufacturing process. Its principle is to use high-frequency power to excite gas glow discharge to form plasma. Under the action of electromagnetic field, it promotes the decomposition, combination, excitation and ionization of process gas molecules, accelerates the generation of reactive groups, and reduces the film deposition temperature. The chemical deposition reaction that originally had to be carried out under high temperature conditions can be carried out at a lower temperature (400°C), thereby effectively avoiding the diffusion of doped impurities in the substrate under high temperature conditions and reducing the internal stress of the film. Coating is a key link in the production of photovoltaic cells. The performance of tubular PECVD equipment directly affects the efficiency and production capacity of the cell.

[0003] Tubular PECVD equipment uses RF power discharge to ionize process gas to achieve coating function. In the actual production process, the process gas is ionized into plasma under high frequency and deposited on silicon wafers. However, the silicon wafers are prone to fragmentation due to temperature changes in the furnace tube and the high-frequency current. Fragments overlap the positive and negative poles of the graphite boat and other carrier boats used to carry wafers, causing the carrier boat to fail, generating RF alarms, stopping the process, and requiring rework, cleaning, and re-coating of the silicon wafers. Traditional solutions often take a long time to detect the above faults, with low detection efficiency, affecting production line capacity. Summary of the invention

[0004] In view of this, the present application provides a carrier boat detection circuit, a fault detection method and a semiconductor process equipment to solve the problem that the traditional carrier boat detection method affects the production line capacity.

[0005] The present application provides a detection circuit of a carrier boat, which is used to detect the continuity between the pages of a carrier boat in a semiconductor process chamber, wherein the semiconductor process chamber can accommodate at least one carrier boat, and each of the two poles of the carrier boat is provided with a group of radio frequency output ports; the detection circuit comprises a signal generator and a signal detector respectively connected between each group of the radio frequency output ports, and the signal generator, the carrier boat and the signal detector corresponding to each group of the radio frequency output ports respectively form an electrical circuit;

[0006] The signal generator is used to provide an electrical signal;

[0007] The signal detector is used to detect the continuity of the electrical circuit where the corresponding carrier boat is located, and the continuity of the electrical circuit is used to represent the continuity between the boat pages of the corresponding carrier boat.

[0008] Optionally, the detection circuit also includes a signal processor; the signal processor is respectively connected to each of the signal detectors; the signal detector is also used to detect the loop parameters of the electrical circuit when the corresponding electrical circuit is turned on, and send the loop parameters to the signal processor; the signal processor is used to determine the fault position of the carrier boat according to the loop parameters.

[0009] Optionally, the signal processor is further used to pre-store a fault location relationship for characterizing the correspondence between the fault position of each of the carrier boats and the loop parameters, and when receiving the loop parameters sent by the signal detector, determine the fault position of the carrier boat according to the fault location relationship.

[0010] Optionally, the signal processor is also connected to each of the signal generators; the signal processor is also used to determine whether the electrical circuit is a passage according to the electrical signal and the circuit parameters.

[0011] Optionally, the signal detector comprises a relay; the relay is used to close when the electrical circuit is turned on, so as to input the electrical signal passing through the electrical circuit into the signal processor.

[0012] Optionally, the loop parameter includes current; and the signal detector includes a current transformer.

[0013] Optionally, the loop parameter includes voltage; the signal detector includes a resistor and a voltage detector; the resistor is connected between a corresponding group of the RF output ports; the voltage detector is connected in parallel across the resistor to detect the voltage across the resistor.

[0014] Optionally, the signal generator comprises a power supply.

[0015] The present application also provides a method for detecting a fault of a carrier boat, comprising:

[0016] After the carrier boat is sent into the semiconductor process chamber, the detection circuit of any of the above carrier boats is used to detect whether the electrical circuits corresponding to each carrier boat in the semiconductor process chamber are conductive;

[0017] If at least one of the electrical circuits is connected, it is determined that the carrier boat is abnormal.

[0018] Optionally, the above-mentioned method for detecting a fault of the carrier boat further includes: acquiring loop parameters generated by the conductive electrical circuit; and determining the corresponding fault position of the carrier boat according to the loop parameters.

[0019] The present application also provides a semiconductor process equipment, including a semiconductor process chamber, at least one carrier boat that can be moved into the semiconductor process chamber, a group of RF output ports corresponding to each of the carrier boats, and a detection circuit for any of the above carrier boats.

[0020] The detection circuit, fault detection method and semiconductor process equipment of the above-mentioned carrier boat of the present application are provided with a signal generator and a signal detector at each group of RF output ports, so that the carrier boat, signal generator and signal detector corresponding to each group of RF output ports respectively form an electrical circuit. In this way, when the signal generator provides an electrical signal to the electrical circuit, the signal detector can determine the continuity between the corresponding pages of the carrier boat by detecting the continuity of the corresponding electrical circuit, thereby detecting whether there is a short circuit fault caused by flipping or fragmentation between the two stages of the carrier boat. The detection circuit can detect the fault of the carrier boat at an early time of the corresponding process such as after the carrier boat is placed in the chamber, and can identify the fault before the process gas is ionized, thereby avoiding subsequent invalid processes and / or rework and other problems, which helps to improve the production capacity of the corresponding semiconductor process equipment.

[0021] Furthermore, the present application can detect the corresponding fault position of the carrier boat through a signal processor, so as to locate the fault in time according to the fault position when handling the fault subsequently, thereby improving the efficiency of fault handling; the above-mentioned signal processor can also monitor the process of the signal generator providing an electrical signal, so as to improve the flexibility and reliability of the corresponding fault detection process. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application, the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present application. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative work.

[0023] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the detection circuit structure of a carrier boat according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0024] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the detection circuit structure of a carrier boat according to another embodiment of the present application;

[0025] Figure 3a and Figure 3b is a schematic diagram of the detection circuit structure of a carrier boat according to another embodiment of the present application;

[0026] Figure 4a and Figure 4b is a schematic diagram of the detection circuit structure of a carrier boat according to another embodiment of the present application;

[0027] Figure 5is a schematic diagram of the detection circuit structure of a carrier boat according to another embodiment of the present application;

[0028] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the detection circuit structure of a carrier boat according to another embodiment of the present application;

[0029] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of the detection circuit structure of a carrier boat according to another embodiment of the present application;

[0030] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a carrying boat according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0031] Fig. 9 It is a schematic flow chart of a method for detecting a fault of a carrying boat according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0032] Fig.10 This is a schematic diagram of the PECVD coating process flow of an embodiment of the present application;

[0033] Fig.11 It is a schematic diagram of the PECVD coating process flow of another embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0034] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application are clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present application. In the absence of conflict, the following embodiments and their technical features can be combined with each other.

[0035] In a first aspect, the present application provides a detection circuit for a carrier boat, which is used to detect the continuity between boat pages of a carrier boat in a semiconductor process chamber. The carrier boat can be moved in or out of the semiconductor process chamber, and is used to carry wafers in the semiconductor process chamber so that the wafers enter the corresponding semiconductor process chamber for processing. The semiconductor process chamber may be a deposition chamber of a tubular PECVD, wherein in semiconductor process equipment such as PECVD, the carrier boat may include a graphite boat, and in other semiconductor process equipment, the carrier boat may also include a quartz boat. The semiconductor process chamber can accommodate at least one carrier boat, and each carrier boat has a group of RF output ports at both poles, such as Figure 1 The two poles of the carrier boat are provided with a group of RF output ports, namely, RF output port 1 and RF output port 2. The detection circuit comprises a signal generator and a signal detector respectively connected between each group of RF output ports, and the signal generator, carrier boat and signal detector corresponding to each group of RF output ports respectively form an electrical loop.

[0036] The above-mentioned signal generator is used to provide an electrical signal; for example, the signal generator may use a power supply device such as a current source and / or a voltage source to provide the electrical signal, or may use a signal generating device for generating a required signal.

[0037] The above-mentioned signal detector is used to detect the continuity of the electrical circuit where the corresponding carrier boat is located, and the continuity of the above-mentioned electrical circuit is used to characterize the continuity between the boat pages of the corresponding carrier boat; for example, if the signal detector detects an electrical signal, it indicates that the electrical circuit where the corresponding carrier boat is located is connected, and there is conduction (such as a short circuit) between the boat pages of the carrier boat; if the signal detector does not detect the electrical signal, it indicates that the electrical circuit where the corresponding carrier boat is located is disconnected, and the boat pages of the carrier boat are disconnected from each other.

[0038] Specifically, Figure 1 The semiconductor process chamber shown corresponds to a carrier boat (i.e., a single-boat process chamber), and the carrier boat is a graphite boat, for example, the detection circuit includes a signal generator 110 and a signal detector 120, and an electrical circuit can be formed between the signal generator 110, the signal detector 120 and the corresponding graphite boat. Before radio frequency discharge, the two poles of the graphite boat cannot form an electric field. If the boat pages of the graphite boat are disconnected from each other, the electrical circuit is broken, and the signal detector 120 cannot detect the electrical signal when the signal generator 110 provides the electrical signal; if the fragments generated in the graphite boat overlap the two poles, so that there is a short circuit between the boat pages of the graphite boat, etc., the electrical circuit is turned on, and the signal detector 120 can detect the electrical signal when the signal generator 110 provides the electrical signal. Optionally, if the signal generator 110 provides the electrical signal, it is marked as Y, the signal detector 120 receives the electrical signal, it is marked as Y, and the signal detector 120 does not receive the electrical signal, it is marked as N, and the judgment of the corresponding electrical circuit can be shown in Table 1.

[0039] Table 1 Graphite boat status represented by the on-off of the electrical circuit of a single boat device

[0040] Signal Generator Signal Detector Electric circuit on and off Graphite boat two-stage Y Y Detection loop is a passage Short Circuit Y N Detection circuit is open normal

[0041] Specifically, for semiconductor process equipment in which a semiconductor process chamber corresponds to two carrying boats (double-boat process chamber), such as PECVD double-boat equipment, there are two boats in front and back in one furnace tube, the carrying boat is a graphite boat, and two groups of RF output ports of a dual-channel RF power supply are respectively connected to the front and back two graphite boats to form two electrical circuits. This type of process chamber may include a first graphite boat (such as the front graphite boat) and a second graphite boat (such as the rear graphite boat), refer to Figure 2 As shown, the first graphite boat corresponds to the first group of RF output ports (such as Figure 2 The second graphite boat corresponds to the second group of RF output ports (such as Figure 2The RF output interface 2-1 and the RF output interface 2-2 are shown. A first signal generator 110a and a first signal detector 110b are provided between the first group of RF output ports, so that the first graphite boat, the first signal generator 110a and the first signal detector 110b form an electrical circuit (referred to as circuit 1), and the on-off of the electrical circuit can indicate whether the first graphite boat has a short circuit or other fault. A second signal generator 110b and a second signal detector 120b are provided between the second group of RF output ports, so that the second graphite boat, the second signal generator 110b and the second signal detector 120b form an electrical circuit (referred to as circuit 2), and the on-off of the electrical circuit can indicate whether the second graphite boat has a short circuit or other fault. The signal generator provides an electrical signal marked as Y, the signal detector receives an electrical signal marked as Y, and the signal detector does not receive an electrical signal marked as N. The on-off of the corresponding electrical circuit can be determined by referring to Table 2.

[0042] Table 2 The graphite boat status represented by the on-off of the electrical circuit of the double boat equipment

[0043]

[0044] Furthermore, during the deposition process, if either loop 1 or loop 2 is in the on state, it indicates that there is a two-stage short circuit in the graphite boat and the process needs to be suspended; conversely, if both loop 1 and loop 2 are in the off state, the deposition process steps can be performed normally.

[0045] The detection circuit of the above-mentioned carrier boat is provided with a signal generator and a signal detector at each group of RF output ports, so that the carrier boat, signal generator and signal detector corresponding to each group of RF output ports respectively form an electrical circuit. In this way, when the signal generator provides an electrical signal to the electrical circuit, the signal detector can determine the continuity between the corresponding pages of the carrier boat by detecting the continuity of the corresponding electrical circuit, thereby detecting whether there is a short circuit or other fault between the pages of the carrier boat. The detection circuit can detect the fault of the carrier boat at an earlier time of the corresponding process such as when the carrier boat is placed in the chamber, and can identify the fault before the process gas is ionized, thereby avoiding subsequent invalid processes and / or rework and other problems, which helps to improve the production capacity of the corresponding semiconductor process equipment.

[0046] In one embodiment, reference Figure 3a and Figure 3b As shown, the detection circuit further includes a signal processor 130; the signal processor 130 is respectively connected to each of the signal detectors, such as Figure 3a The signal processor 130 is connected to the signal detector 120. Figure 3b The signal processor 130 is shown connected to the first signal detector 120a and the second signal detector 120b respectively.

[0047] The above-mentioned signal detector is also used to detect the loop parameters of the above-mentioned electrical circuit when the corresponding above-mentioned electrical circuit is turned on, and send the above-mentioned loop parameters to the above-mentioned signal processor 130; the above-mentioned signal processor 130 is used to determine the fault position of the corresponding carrier boat according to the above-mentioned loop parameters, so that when the fault is subsequently processed, the fault can be located in time according to the fault position, thereby improving the fault processing efficiency.

[0048] Optionally, the signal processor 130 may include a device having a data analysis function, such as a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) or an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array).

[0049] In one example, the signal processor is further used to pre-store a fault location relationship for characterizing the corresponding relationship between the fault position of each carrier boat and the loop parameter, and when receiving the loop parameter sent by the signal detector, the fault position of the carrier boat is determined according to the corresponding fault location relationship to improve the efficiency of fault location determination. Optionally, the loop parameter may include a current parameter or a voltage parameter or other parameter used to describe an electrical signal. The fault location relationship may include a corresponding relationship such as a current-position relationship or a voltage-position relationship of the corresponding carrier boat.

[0050] In one example, reference Figure 4a and Figure 4b As shown, the signal processor 130 is also connected to various signal generators; Figure 4a The signal processor 130 is connected to the signal generator 110. Figure 4b The signal processor 130 is shown connected to the first signal generator 110a and the second signal generator 110b respectively.

[0051] Optionally, the signal processor 130 is also used to determine whether the above-mentioned electrical circuit is connected based on the above-mentioned circuit parameters; for example, the signal processor 130 can determine that the corresponding electrical circuit is connected when receiving the circuit parameters of an electrical circuit, and determine that the corresponding electrical circuit is open when not receiving the circuit parameters of the electrical circuit.

[0052] Optionally, the signal processor 130 can also be used to determine whether the electrical circuit is a passage based on the electrical signal and the circuit parameters; specifically, the signal processor 130 can determine that the corresponding electrical circuit is a passage when the characteristics of the electrical signal represented by the circuit parameters are consistent with the characteristics of the electrical signal provided by the signal generator 110, so as to avoid interference from other signals and improve the reliability of the obtained determination result. Optionally, the above-mentioned electrical signal characteristics may include characteristics such as the type and / or flag of the corresponding signal. The signal processor 130 can pre-store the characteristics of the electrical signal provided by the signal generator 110, or detect the characteristics of the electrical signal provided by the signal generator 110 in real time, so that when receiving the above-mentioned circuit parameters, it can identify the characteristics of the electrical signal represented by the circuit parameters and obtain the characteristics of the electrical signal provided by the signal generator 110 in a timely manner.

[0053] This example can output corresponding prompt information when the electrical circuit is open or disconnected, so as to more clearly indicate whether the carrier boat is faulty.

[0054] Optionally, the signal processor 130 is also used to monitor the process of the signal generator providing electrical signals; for example, the signal processor 130 can turn on each signal generator at the time of fault detection (such as after the carrier boat is sent into the process chamber) to enable each signal generator to provide electrical signals, so as to improve the flexibility of the corresponding detection circuit; for example, the signal processor 130 can monitor whether the corresponding signal generator is stably providing electrical signals during the detection process, and output relevant prompt information when the signal generator fails to provide electrical signals stably, so as to improve the reliability of the corresponding detection process.

[0055] In one embodiment, reference Figures 5 to 7 As shown, the signal generator 110 includes a power supply 111 to provide an electrical signal with a relatively simple structure, thereby simplifying the corresponding electrical circuit.

[0056] In one example, the signal detector 120 includes a relay K1; the relay K1 is used to close when the electrical circuit is turned on to input the electrical signal passing through the electrical circuit into the signal processor 130, so that the signal processor 130 can receive the corresponding electrical signal. Figure 5 As shown, the signal processor 130 adopts PLC. If the signal generator includes a power supply 111, the coil of the relay K1 can be connected between the RF output port 2 and the negative pole of the power supply 111, and the normally open contact of the relay K1 is connected to 0V and PLC (NPN type PLC module). The PLC receives a signal to prove that the normally open contact of the relay K1 is closed, the relay coil is energized, the detection circuit is open, and the two-stage load boat is short-circuited; otherwise, the two-stage load boat is open.

[0057] In one example, the loop parameters include current; Figure 6As shown, the signal detector 120 includes a current transformer 121. Optionally, the signal processor 130 includes an analog PLC 131, and the current transformer 121 can be used to detect the current of the corresponding electric circuit and send the current to the analog PLC 131, so that the analog PLC 131 can identify the load boat fault and the fault location according to the current.

[0058] In one example, the above loop parameters include voltage; Figure 7 As shown, the signal detector includes a resistor 122 and a voltage detector 123; the resistor 122 is connected between a corresponding group of the RF output ports; the voltage detector 123 is connected in parallel across the resistor 122 to detect the voltage across the resistor 122, and sends the detected voltage to the signal processor 130, so that the signal processor 130 identifies the corresponding carrier boat fault and fault location based on the voltage.

[0059] Optionally, if the signal generator 110 includes a power supply 111 , the resistor 122 and the power supply 111 are connected in series between a corresponding group of the RF output ports.

[0060] The detection circuit of the above carrier boat is provided with a signal generator and a signal detector at each group of RF output ports, so that the carrier boat, signal generator and signal detector corresponding to each group of RF output ports form an electrical circuit respectively, so that when the signal generator provides an electrical signal to the electrical circuit, the signal detector can determine the on-off between the corresponding carrier boat pages by detecting the on-off of the corresponding electrical circuit, thereby detecting whether there is a short circuit fault caused by flipping or debris between the two levels of the carrier boat. The detection circuit can detect the fault of the carrier boat at an early time of the corresponding process such as after the carrier boat is placed in the chamber, and can identify the fault before the process gas is ionized, avoiding the subsequent invalid process and / or rework problems, which is helpful to improve the production capacity of the corresponding semiconductor process equipment. The above detection circuit can also detect the fault position of the corresponding carrier boat through the signal processor 130, so that when the fault is subsequently processed, the fault can be located in time according to the fault position, thereby improving the fault processing efficiency; the above signal processor 130 can also monitor the process of the signal generator providing the electrical signal, so as to improve the flexibility and reliability of the corresponding fault detection process.

[0061] In the PECVD coating process, under the action of the electric field excited by the RF source, the reaction gas decomposes into electrons, ions and active groups. These gases undergo a series of chemical reactions and plasma reactions, and eventually form a solid film on the sample surface. Figure 8As shown, during the RF discharge process, the silicon wafer is fixedly attached to the boat page 2 of the carrier boat. After the RF is fed in, a stable electric field will be generated between the boat pages, thereby completing the process. Before the RF power is fed in, the boat pages are disconnected. During the production process of the production line, due to reasons such as automatic insertion and shaking of the carrier boat, the silicon wafer will fall off the boat page and fall between the two boat pages, resulting in conduction between the boat pages of the carrier boat. After the conduction between the boat pages of the carrier boat, a short circuit will occur between the positive and negative poles of the RF power supply, and stable RF discharge cannot be performed. During this process, parameters such as RF current and power will fluctuate. When the fluctuation reaches the alarm condition, an alarm signal will be generated, and the discharge will be terminated, causing the process to fail. The carrier boat needs to be withdrawn from the chamber for inspection, and the process will be run again after the inspection is completed. For example, in the traditional PECVD coating process, the process sequence is to put the carrier boat into the chamber, heat up, vacuumize, RF discharge, vacuumize, back pressure, and take the carrier boat out of the chamber. The total process time is about 40 minutes. The heating process step and the vacuum process step take about 20 minutes, which is close to half of the process time. The above-mentioned traditional RF alarm mechanism determines whether there is a short circuit between the pages of the carrier boat after the process runs to the RF discharge step. When the silicon wafer causes a short circuit between the boat pages, the RF discharge will continue to fluctuate. If the fluctuation lasts for 10 seconds, an alarm will be triggered, and the process will jump to the next step of vacuuming, then back pressure, and then the carrier boat will be taken out of the chamber. After the inspection and processing are completed, the process will be run again. The entire process except the deposition step needs to be run once, which takes 30 minutes, equivalent to 3 / 4 of the time of a normal process. The RF alarm mechanism can only determine whether there is a short circuit between the pages of the carrier boat after the process runs to the RF discharge step. When the silicon wafer causes a short circuit between the boat pages, the RF discharge will continue to fluctuate, and an alarm will be triggered if the fluctuation lasts for 10 seconds. The process will jump to the next step of vacuuming, then back-pressurizing, and then taking the carrier boat out of the chamber. After inspection and processing, the process will be run again. The entire process except the deposition step needs to be run once, which takes about 30 minutes, equivalent to 3 / 4 of the time of a normal process. When a short circuit occurs between the boat pages, 3 / 4 of the normal process time will be wasted to detect the corresponding short circuit fault, which is easy to affect the production line capacity.

[0062] Based on the above problems, the second aspect of the present application also provides a method for detecting a fault of a carrying boat, referring to Fig. 9 As shown, the above-mentioned method for detecting faults of the carrier boat includes steps S210 and S220.

[0063] S210, after the carrier boat is sent into the semiconductor process chamber, the detection circuit of the carrier boat of any of the above embodiments is used to detect whether the electrical circuits corresponding to each carrier boat in the process chamber are conductive;

[0064] S220: If at least one electrical circuit is connected, it is determined that the carrier boat is abnormal.

[0065] The above-mentioned carrier boat fault detection method can add a detection step after the carrier boat is sent into the semiconductor process chamber. If it is detected that the electrical circuits corresponding to the various carrier boats are open, the process steps such as heating will continue to be executed. If at least one electrical circuit is detected to be conductive, it is determined that the carrier boat in the process chamber has an abnormality, and the process steps such as heating and vacuuming will not be continued. Instead, the carrier boat is taken out of the process chamber for abnormal processing. The abnormal situation can be identified in advance and resolved before the gas is ionized. After comparative analysis, the present application can save approximately 30 minutes of process time, which helps to improve detection efficiency and production line capacity.

[0066] In one embodiment, the above-mentioned carrier boat fault detection method further includes: after the carrier boat is abnormal, taking the carrier boat out of the semiconductor process chamber to handle the abnormal condition (such as short circuit, etc.) of the carrier boat. In this embodiment, the corresponding PECVD coating process can refer to Fig.10 As shown, after the carrier boat is sent into the semiconductor process chamber (entering the boat), the detection circuit determines whether the corresponding electrical circuit is open. If so, it indicates that the corresponding carrier boat is abnormal, and the corresponding process steps need to be paused to take the carrier boat out of the semiconductor process chamber (out of the boat); if not, it indicates that the corresponding carrier boat is normal, and process steps such as heating, vacuuming and video discharge can continue to be performed until the silicon wafers carried by the carrier boat are coated, and then the carrier boat is taken out of the semiconductor process chamber.

[0067] In one embodiment, the above-mentioned carrier boat fault detection method also includes: obtaining loop parameters generated by the conductive electrical circuit; determining the corresponding carrier boat fault position according to the loop parameters, so as to quickly locate the corresponding carrier boat fault according to the fault position, reduce the workload of fault detection, improve the detection efficiency, and thus save process time.

[0068] For the load-bearing boat, due to different fault locations and different resistances at the two levels of the load-bearing boat, short circuits occur at different locations of the load-bearing boat, and loop parameters such as the current in the corresponding electrical circuit will be different. At this time, the corresponding relationship between the fault location and the loop parameters of the load-bearing boat can be obtained through multiple tests, etc., so that the loop parameters obtained in real time can be substituted into the above corresponding relationship to determine the fault location.

[0069] Based on the above ideas, in one example, determining the fault position of the corresponding carrier boat according to the loop parameters includes: obtaining a fault location relationship for characterizing the corresponding relationship between the fault position of each carrier boat and the loop parameters; when obtaining the loop parameters generated by the conductive electrical circuit, determining the fault position of the carrier boat according to the above fault location relationship. Optionally, the loop parameters may include parameters such as current parameters or voltage parameters for describing electrical signals. The fault location relationship may include a corresponding relationship such as a current-position relationship or a voltage-position relationship of the corresponding carrier boat.

[0070] Optionally, if the carrier boat is a graphite boat, the loop parameters include current, the signal detector includes a current transformer, and the signal processor includes a PLC. The corresponding PECVD coating process can refer to Fig.11 As shown, after the graphite boat is sent into the process chamber (entering the boat), the detection circuit determines whether the corresponding electrical circuit is open. If the corresponding electrical circuit is open, it indicates that the corresponding graphite boat is abnormal, and the corresponding process steps need to be suspended. The current transformer is used to detect the current of the corresponding electrical circuit, and the PLC reads the current. The current is compared with the pre-stored current-position relationship and other fault location relationships to obtain the fault location in the boat, and then the boat exit action is executed to quickly handle the fault according to the fault location. If the corresponding electrical circuit is not open, it indicates that the corresponding graphite boat is normal, and the process steps such as heating, vacuuming and video discharge can be continued until the silicon wafer carried by the graphite boat is coated, and the graphite boat is taken out of the process chamber.

[0071] Specifically, if the loop parameters include current, in the actual detection process, the loop current of each slot of the graphite boat when it is short-circuited can be tested and recorded. The current when each slot is short-circuited is a range, and the currents of the first slot to the Nth slot are marked as 1 to N, respectively (1, ..., N are corresponding current ranges). When entering the boat and judging that the detection loop is open, the current transformer will measure the current, and the signal processor can compare the range of the detected current. If the test current is in the current range of the first slot, the signal processor can output 1 to indicate that the first slot of the graphite boat is abnormal. If it is in the current range of the Nth slot, the signal processor can output N to indicate that the Nth slot of the graphite boat is abnormal, thereby locating the fault location.

[0072] The above carrier boat fault detection method uses the carrier boat detection circuit of any of the above embodiments to detect whether the electrical circuits corresponding to each carrier boat in the process chamber are conductive, and has all the beneficial effects of the carrier boat detection circuit of any of the above embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0073] The third aspect of the present application also provides a semiconductor process equipment, including a semiconductor process chamber, at least one carrier boat that can be moved into the semiconductor process chamber, a group of RF output ports corresponding to each carrier boat, and a detection circuit for the carrier boat of any of the above embodiments; one of the above detection circuits can be arranged between each group of RF output ports to identify a carrier boat failure after the carrier boat is placed into the semiconductor process chamber, thereby avoiding problems such as invalid processes and / or rework, and improving the production capacity of the semiconductor process equipment.

[0074] The process chamber includes the detection circuit of the carrier boat of any of the above embodiments, and has all the beneficial effects of the detection circuit of the carrier boat of any of the above embodiments, which will not be described in detail herein.

[0075] The above is a detailed introduction to a detection circuit, a fault detection method and a semiconductor process equipment for a carrier boat provided by the present application. This article uses specific examples to illustrate the principle and implementation of the present application. It should be noted that in the present application, the description of each embodiment has its own emphasis. For parts that are not described or recorded in detail in a certain embodiment, please refer to the relevant description of other embodiments.

[0076] Although the present application has been shown and described with respect to one or more implementations, equivalent variations and modifications will occur to those skilled in the art based on reading and understanding of this specification and the accompanying drawings. The present application includes all such modifications and variations and is limited only by the scope of the appended claims. In particular, with respect to the various functions performed by the above-mentioned components, the terms used to describe such components are intended to correspond to any component (unless otherwise indicated) that performs the specified function of the component (e.g., it is functionally equivalent), even if it is not structurally equivalent to the disclosed structure that performs the functions in the exemplary implementation of this specification shown herein.

[0077] That is, the above description is only an embodiment of the present application, and does not limit the patent scope of the present application. Any equivalent structure or equivalent process transformation made using the contents of the description and drawings of the present application, such as the mutual combination of technical features between the embodiments, or direct or indirect application in other related technical fields, are also included in the patent protection scope of the present application.

[0078] In addition, although the terms first, second, etc. may be used to describe various information in this article, this information should not be limited to these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish information of the same type from each other. The terms "first" and "second" should not be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, the features defined as "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more features. In the description of this application, the meaning of "multiple" is two or more, unless otherwise clearly and specifically defined.

[0079] In this application, the word "exemplary" is used to mean "used as an example, illustration or description". Any embodiment described as "exemplary" in this application is not necessarily to be construed as being more preferred or more advantageous than other embodiments. In order to enable any technician in the field to implement and use the present application, the present application provides the above description. In the above description, various details are listed for the purpose of explanation. It should be understood that a person of ordinary skill in the art can recognize that the present application can be implemented without using these specific details. In other embodiments, well-known structures and processes will not be elaborated in detail to avoid unnecessary details that make the description of the present application obscure. Therefore, the present application is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown, but is consistent with the widest range of principles and features disclosed in the present application.

Claims

1. A detection circuit for a carrier boat, characterized in that: Used to detect the continuity between the pages of the carrier boat in the semiconductor process chamber, the semiconductor process chamber can accommodate at least one carrier boat, and each of the carrier boats is provided with a group of radio frequency output ports at two poles; the detection circuit includes a signal generator and a signal detector respectively connected between each group of the radio frequency output ports, and the signal generator, the carrier boat and the signal detector corresponding to each group of the radio frequency output ports respectively form an electrical loop; The signal generator is used to provide an electrical signal; The signal detector is used to detect the continuity of the electrical circuit where the corresponding carrier boat is located, and the continuity of the electrical circuit is used to represent the continuity between the boat pages of the corresponding carrier boat.

2. The detection circuit of the carrier boat according to claim 1, characterized in that: The detection circuit also includes a signal processor; the signal processor is respectively connected to each of the signal detectors; The signal detector is also used to detect the loop parameters of the electrical circuit when the corresponding electrical circuit is turned on, and send the loop parameters to the signal processor; The signal processor is used to determine the fault position of the carrier boat according to the loop parameters.

3. The detection circuit of the carrier boat according to claim 2, characterized in that: The signal processor is also used to pre-store a fault location relationship for characterizing the corresponding relationship between the fault position of each of the carrier boats and the loop parameters, and when receiving the loop parameters sent by the signal detector, determine the fault position of the carrier boat according to the fault location relationship.

4. The detection circuit of the carrier boat according to claim 2, characterized in that: The signal processor is also connected to each of the signal generators; The signal processor is further configured to determine whether the electrical circuit is a connection according to the electrical signal and the circuit parameter.

5. The detection circuit of the carrier boat according to claim 2, characterized in that: The signal detector includes a relay; The relay is used to close when the electrical circuit is turned on, so as to input the electrical signal passing through the electrical circuit into the signal processor.

6. The detection circuit of the carrier boat according to claim 2, characterized in that: The loop parameter includes current; and the signal detector includes a current transformer.

7. The detection circuit of the carrier boat according to claim 2, characterized in that: The loop parameters include voltage; the signal detector includes a resistor and a voltage detector; The resistor is connected between a corresponding group of the RF output ports; the voltage detector is connected in parallel at both ends of the resistor to detect the voltage at both ends of the resistor.

8. The detection circuit of the carrier boat according to any one of claims 5 to 7, characterized in that: The signal generator includes a power supply.

9. A method for detecting a fault of a carrying boat, characterized in that: include: After the carrier boat is sent into the semiconductor process chamber, the detection circuit of the carrier boat according to any one of claims 1 to 8 is used to detect whether the electrical circuits corresponding to each carrier boat in the semiconductor process chamber are conductive; If at least one of the electrical circuits is connected, it is determined that the carrier boat is abnormal.

10. The method for detecting a fault of a carrier boat according to claim 9, characterized in that: Also includes: Acquiring loop parameters generated by the conducting electrical loop; The corresponding fault position of the carrying boat is determined according to the loop parameters.

11. A semiconductor process equipment, characterized in that: It comprises a semiconductor process chamber, at least one carrier boat that can be moved into the semiconductor process chamber, a group of radio frequency output ports corresponding to each of the carrier boats, and a detection circuit for the carrier boat as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8.

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