Cooling device and semiconductor processing apparatus

Abstract

The application discloses a cooling device and a semiconductor processing device. The cooling device comprises at least one cooling structure; the cooling structure comprises a graphite box and a tray for bearing the graphite box; the graphite box comprises a lower box body provided with at least three first through holes and an upper box body covering the lower box body and forming a containing space for containing a wafer with the lower box body; when the wafer is placed in the containing space, the first through holes avoid the wafer; the tray comprises a support plate and first ejector pins corresponding to the first through holes and arranged on the top surface of the support plate, which are used for penetrating through the corresponding first through holes and lifting the upper box body when the graphite box is placed on the support plate, so that the upper box body is separated from the lower box body. The cooling device of the embodiment can open the graphite box simultaneously when cooling the wafer, can improve the cooling speed of the wafer, and does not need a separate action of opening the graphite box, and is simple to operate.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, in particular to a cooling device and a semiconductor processing equipment. BACKGROUND

[0002] Rapid thermal anneal (RTA) is to heat wafer to about 1000℃ quickly to eliminate some defects inside wafer and improve product performance.

[0003] An existing cooling structure is shown in Figure 1 The RTA process is to place wafer in graphite box 10a to anneal, after annealing, when graphite box 10a is cooled to about 400℃, mechanical hand holds out graphite box 10a, and then graphite box 10a is placed in cooling cavity 20a to further cool, after cooling to room temperature, mechanical hand takes out graphite box 10a, and finally wafer is taken out from graphite box 10a.

[0004] Because graphite box 10a is not opened when it is cooled in cooling cavity 20a, wafer is in narrow space of graphite box 10a, and the whole cooling time is long, which affects production efficiency of the whole process. SUMMARY

[0005] In view of the above technical problems, the present application provides a cooling device and a semiconductor processing equipment, which can improve the problem of slow cooling speed caused by unopened graphite box when wafer is cooled by the existing cooling structure.

[0006] To solve the above technical problems, in a first aspect, the present application provides a cooling device, comprising at least one cooling structure; the cooling structure comprises a graphite box and a tray for carrying the graphite box.

[0007] The graphite box comprises:

[0008] A lower box body provided with at least three first through holes;

[0009] An upper box body covering the lower box body and forming a containing space for containing wafer between the lower box body and the upper box body; when wafer is placed in the containing space, the first through holes avoid the wafer;

[0010] The tray comprises:

[0011] A support plate for supporting the graphite box

[0012] A first ejector pin corresponding to the first through hole, the first ejector pin is arranged on the side of the support plate facing the graphite box, and is used to penetrate the corresponding first through hole and lift the upper box body when the graphite box is placed on the support plate, so that the upper box body and the lower box body are separated.

[0013] Optionally, the center of the wafer is located in a pattern formed by the at least three first through holes connected in sequence.

[0014] Optionally, the lower box body is further provided with at least three second through holes, and the second through holes are opposite to the wafer when the wafer is placed in the accommodation space.

[0015] The tray further comprises:

[0016] A second ejector pin corresponding to the second through hole, the second ejector pin is arranged on the side of the support plate facing the graphite box, and the height of the second ejector pin is less than the height of the first ejector pin, and the second ejector pin is used to penetrate the corresponding second through hole and lift the wafer in the graphite box when the graphite box is placed on the support plate, so that the wafer is suspended between the upper box body and the lower box body.

[0017] Optionally, the center of the wafer is located in a pattern formed by the at least three second through holes connected in sequence.

[0018] Optionally, the first ejector pin comprises a first support part connected with the support plate, and a second support part arranged on the side of the first support part away from the support plate.

[0019] In a first direction along the arrangement direction of the first support part and the second support part, in a direction perpendicular to the first direction, the size of the first support part is greater than the size of the first through hole, and the size of the second support part is less than the size of the first through hole; the size of the first support part in the first direction is less than the length of the second ejector pin.

[0020] Optionally, the tray further comprises a side wall plate arranged on the side of the support plate facing the graphite box, the side wall plate encloses an annular shape with an opening, the opening is used for the wafer and the graphite box to enter and exit, and the height of the side wall plate satisfies that the height of the upper box body is less than the height of the side wall plate when the upper box body is lifted.

[0021] The cooling device comprises at least two cooling structures arranged in a vertical direction, and the support plate of the upper cooling structure is supported on the side wall plate of the lower cooling structure.

[0022] Optionally, the top surface of the side wall of the cooling structure is further provided with at least one set of longitudinally extending first connecting holes and second connecting holes, wherein the first connecting holes are through holes and the second connecting holes are threaded holes.

[0023] In any two adjacent cooling structures, the cooling structure located above is a first cooling structure and the cooling structure located below is a second cooling structure; wherein the first connecting holes of the first cooling structure are directly opposite the second connecting holes of the second cooling structure, and the first cooling structure is connected to the second connecting holes of the second cooling structure below by connecting screws passing through the first connecting holes.

[0024] Optionally, the side wall is provided with a cooling medium input hole and a cooling medium output hole.

[0025] The cooling structure is further provided with a cooling pipe, which avoids the first needle, the second needle and the graphite box, and the two ends of the cooling pipe are connected to the cooling medium input hole and the cooling medium output hole, respectively.

[0026] Optionally, the support plate comprises:

[0027] a bottom plate connected to the side wall, the top surface of the bottom plate being provided with a cooling groove, and the two ends of the cooling groove being in communication with the cooling medium input hole and the cooling medium output hole, respectively;

[0028] a top plate arranged on the top surface of the bottom plate and covering the cooling groove to form the cooling pipe;

[0029] the first needle and the second needle are arranged on the top surface of the top plate.

[0030] Optionally, the bottom plate is provided with a notch near the side of the opening.

[0031] Optionally, the cooling device further comprises a plurality of connecting pipes.

[0032] In any two adjacent cooling structures, the cooling medium input hole of the cooling structure located above is connected to the cooling medium output hole of the cooling structure located below by one connecting pipe, or the cooling medium output hole of the cooling structure located above is connected to the cooling medium input hole of the cooling structure located below by one connecting pipe.

[0033] Optionally, the side wall is U-shaped, and the opening of the U-shape constitutes the opening.

[0034] The cooling structure is further provided with an air cooling channel for introducing cooling gas into the cooling structure from the outside.

[0035] Optionally, the air cooling channel comprises:

[0036] A first air hole penetrating through the side wall and the support plate from top to bottom, the first air holes of each cooling structure are in communication with each other;

[0037] At least one second air hole penetrating through the inner wall of the side wall to communicate with the first air hole.

[0038] In a second aspect, the embodiments of the present application provide a semiconductor processing equipment, comprising a process chamber and a transfer chamber connected with each other, and the transfer chamber is provided with the cooling device as described in the above embodiments.

[0039] When the cooling device of the present application cools the wafer, the graphite box is placed on the tray together with the wafer, all the first pins pass through the corresponding first through holes, and the upper box body of the graphite box is lifted to open the graphite box by avoiding the wafer. Since the first pins and the first through holes are correspondingly provided in at least three groups, at least three points of support are formed on the upper box body. In this embodiment, the graphite box can be opened at the same time when it is placed on the tray, which not only can improve the cooling speed of the wafer, thereby improving the production efficiency of the whole process, but also does not need additional action to open the graphite box, and the operation is simple. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0040] The drawings incorporated into the specification and constituting a part of the specification, show embodiments consistent with the present application, and together with the specification, serve to explain the principles of the present application. In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the drawings needed to be used in the embodiment description will be briefly introduced below, and obviously, other drawings can also be obtained by those skilled in the art without creative labor.

[0041] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a cooling structure of the prior art;

[0042] Figure 2 is a structural schematic diagram of a cooling device provided by the embodiments of the present application;

[0043] Figure 3 is a side view structural schematic diagram of a cooling structure provided by the embodiments of the present application;

[0044] Figure 4 is a three-dimensional structural schematic diagram of a tray provided by the embodiments of the present application;

[0045] Figure 5 is a sectional view structural schematic diagram of a graphite box provided by the embodiments of the present application;

[0046] Figure 6is a structural schematic diagram of a first thimble provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0047] Figure 7 is a structural schematic diagram of a plurality of cooling structures stacked along Figure 4 is a cross-sectional structural schematic diagram along line A-A in

[0048] Figure 8 is a structural schematic diagram of a cooling pipe formed on a tray provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0049] Figure 9 is a structural schematic diagram of a semiconductor processing device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0050] Figure 10 is a front view of a mechanical hand taking a graphite box provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0051] Figure 11 is a back view of a mechanical hand taking a graphite box provided by an embodiment of the present application.

[0052] The implementation, functional features and advantages of the present application will be further described with reference to the embodiments and the accompanying drawings. The above-described drawings have shown the specific embodiments of the present application, and the following detailed description will be more detailed. These drawings and the following description are not intended to limit the scope of the present application by any means, but to illustrate the concept of the present application to those skilled in the art by referring to specific embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0053] The exemplary embodiments will be described in detail herein with reference to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers in different drawings denote the same or similar elements unless otherwise denoted in the descriptions. The embodiments described in the following exemplary embodiments do not represent all the embodiments consistent with the present application. Rather, they are merely examples of apparatuses and methods consistent with some aspects of the present application as detailed in the appended claims.

[0054] It should be noted that, in the present document, the terms "comprises", "comprising", or any other variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but can also include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitation, an element preceded by "comprises a" does not, without more constraints, foreclose the existence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises the element. In different embodiments of the present application, components, features, elements, or steps with same names can have the same meaning or different meanings, which should be determined according to the explanation of the component, feature, element, or step in the specific embodiment or further combined with the context in the specific embodiment.

[0055] It should be further understood that the terms "comprise", "comprising", indicate the presence of a stated feature, step, operation, element, component, item, group, and / or a combination, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, items, groups, and / or combinations. The terms "or", "and / or", "including at least one of", and the like as used herein, can be construed in the inclusive sense, or mean any one or any combination. For example, "including at least one of: A, B, or C" means "at least one of: A; B; C; A and B; A and C; B and C; A, B, and C". As another example, "A, B, or C" or "A, B, and / or C" means "at least one of: A; B; C; A and B; A and C; B and C; A, B, and C". The exception to this definition will occur when a combination of elements, functions, steps or acts are in some way inherently mutually exclusive.

[0056] It should be understood that although the terms first, second, third, etc. can be used herein to describe various information, these information should not be limited to these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one type of information from another type of information. For example, without departing from the scope herein, the first information can also be referred to as the second information, and similarly, the second information can also be referred to as the first information. Depending on the context, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" used herein are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

[0057] It should be understood that the terms "top", "bottom", "upper", "lower", "vertical", "horizontal", and the like indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, only for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device referred to must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation on the present application.

[0058] For the convenience of description, in the following embodiments, the orthogonal space formed by the horizontal plane and the vertical direction is taken as an example for description, and the precondition should not be understood as a limitation to the present application.

[0059] Please refer to Figures 2-5 , Figure 2 is a structural schematic diagram of a cooling device provided by an embodiment of the present application, Figure 3 is a side structural schematic diagram of a cooling structure provided by an embodiment of the present application, Figure 4 is a three-dimensional structural schematic diagram of a tray provided by an embodiment of the present application, Figure 5 is a sectional structural schematic diagram of a graphite box provided by an embodiment of the present application.

[0060] The cooling device comprises at least one cooling structure 100, that is, the cooling structure 100 can be provided only one or multiple, Figure 2 six cooling structures 100 are taken as an example for illustration in the embodiment, and the specific number can be selected according to the requirement. The cooling structure 100 comprises a graphite box 10 and a tray 20 for bearing the graphite box 10.

[0061] The graphite box 10 comprises a lower box body 11 and an upper box body 12. The lower box body 11 is provided with at least three first through holes 111. The upper box body 12 is covered on the lower box body 11 and forms a containing space for containing a wafer 101 between the upper box body 12 and the lower box body 11. For example, the containing space can be formed by the upper box body 12 being concave upward to avoid the wafer 101, or the lower box body 11 being concave downward, and the wafer 101 can be simultaneously limited, as shown in Figure 5 The upper box body 12 and the lower box body 11 can also form a concave-convex matching structure at the edge to facilitate positioning when being covered. When the wafer 101 is placed in the containing space, the first through hole 111 avoids the wafer 101, for example, the first through hole 111 can be arranged around the outside of the containing space.

[0062] The tray 20 comprises a support plate 23 and a first thimble 21 corresponding to the first through hole 111 one by one. The support plate 23 is used for supporting the graphite box 10, and the first thimble 21 is arranged on the side of the support plate 23 facing the graphite box 10, for example, on the top surface of the support plate 23 in the drawing, and is used for penetrating through the corresponding first through hole 111 and lifting the upper box body 12 when the graphite box 10 is placed on the support plate 23, so as to separate the upper box body 12 and the lower box body 11.

[0063] The working principle of the cooling device of the embodiment is as follows: when cooling is needed, the graphite box 10 is placed on the tray 20 together with the wafer 101, all the first pins 21 pass through the corresponding first through holes 111, and the upper box body 12 of the graphite box 10 is lifted to open the graphite box 10 by avoiding the wafer 101. When the graphite box 10 is placed on the tray 20 for cooling, the graphite box 10 can be opened at the same time in the embodiment, which not only can improve the cooling speed of the wafer 101, thereby improving the production efficiency of the whole process, but also does not need additional operation of opening the graphite box 10, and the operation is simple.

[0064] In addition, when the lower box body 11 is lifted from the bottom, the lower box body 11, the wafer 101 and the upper box body 12 can be automatically closed, and then the whole is put into the process chamber for annealing. That is, the cooling device of the embodiment can realize automatic closing operation when the wafer box is taken out.

[0065] For example, the center of the wafer 101 is located in the pattern formed by the first through holes 111 connected in sequence. Since the first pins 21 are arranged in at least three groups corresponding to the first through holes 111, at least three points of support are formed for the upper box body 12, and the center of the wafer 101 is located in the pattern formed by the first through holes 111 connected in sequence, so that all the support points can be avoided from being deviated to one side and unable to form stable support for the upper box body 12.

[0066] In order to further improve the cooling speed of the wafer 101, in an embodiment, please continue to refer to Figure 3 and Figure 4 The lower box body 11 is further provided with at least three second through holes 112, and the second through holes 112 are opposite to the wafer 101 when the wafer 101 is placed in the accommodation space. The tray 20 further includes second pins 22 corresponding to the second through holes 112 one by one, and the second pins 22 are arranged on the side of the support plate 23 facing the graphite box 10, for example, on the top surface of the support plate 23 in the figure, and the height of the second pins 22 is less than the height of the first pins 21. The second pins 22 are used to pass through the corresponding second through holes 112 and lift the wafer 101 in the graphite box 10 when the graphite box 10 is placed on the support plate 23, so that the wafer 101 is suspended between the upper box body 12 and the lower box body 11.

[0067] As described in the above embodiment, after the first ejector pin 21 lifts up the upper box 12 to open the graphite box 10, the wafer 101 can be cooled faster, but the wafer 101 is still in contact with the lower box 11, so the lower surface is cooled slowly. In this embodiment, the wafer 101 is lifted up by the second ejector pin 22 passing through the second through hole 112, so that the wafer 101 is separated from the lower box 11. This embodiment can further separate the wafer 101 from the lower box 11, so that the wafer 101 is suspended between the upper box 12 and the lower box 11, to further improve the cooling speed of the wafer 101, and also improve the cooling speed of the graphite box 10.

[0068] Further, the center of the wafer 101 can be located in the pattern formed by the second through hole 112 connected in sequence. Since the second ejector pin 22 is provided in at least three groups corresponding to the second through hole 112, at least three points of the wafer 101 are supported, and the center of the wafer 101 is located in the pattern formed by the second through hole 112 connected in sequence, so that all the support points cannot be deviated to one side, and the wafer 101 cannot be stably supported.

[0069] In order to further improve the cooling speed of the graphite box 10, in one embodiment, please refer to Figure 3 , Figure 4 and Figure 6 , Figure 6 is a structural diagram of a first ejector pin provided by an embodiment of the present application. The first ejector pin 21 can include a first support part 211 connected with a support plate 23, and a second support part 212 provided on the side of the first support part 211 away from the support plate 23. The extension direction of the first support part 211 and the second support part 212 is the first direction (i.e. the Z direction in the figure), and in the direction perpendicular to the first direction, for example, the X direction in the figure, the size of the first support part 211 is greater than the size of the first through hole 111, and the size of the second support part 212 is smaller than the size of the first through hole 111, that is, a step for supporting the wafer is formed at the connection between the first support part 211 and the second support part 212; the size of the first support part 211 in the first direction Z is smaller than the length of the second ejector pin 22, so that the second ejector pin 22 can lift the wafer from the lower box 11.

[0070] It should be noted that the first and second needles 21 and 22 are not limited to be cylindrical, and the first and second through holes 111 and 112 are not limited to be circular, as long as they are matched with the first and second needles 21 and 22 respectively. Taking the first and second needles 21 and 22 as cylindrical and the first and second through holes 111 and 112 as circular holes as an example, the diameter of the first support part 211 is greater than that of the first through hole 111, and the diameter of the second support part 212 is smaller than that of the first through hole 111, that is, a step is formed between the first support part 211 and the second support part 212, and the two can be a stepped shaft structure, and the length of the first support part 211 is smaller than that of the second needle 22.

[0071] It should be noted that the needle top of the first and second needles 21 and 22 can be a conical structure, which is convenient for guiding and positioning when passing through the corresponding through hole. In addition, the second needle 22 can be cylindrical or can be set as a stepped shaft similar to the first needle 21, for example, please refer to Figure 3 The second needle 22 can include a third support part 221 connected with the support plate 23 and a fourth support part 222 arranged on the side of the third support part 221 away from the support plate 23. The size of the third support part 221 in the Z direction is smaller than that of the first support part 211, or the length of the third support part 221 is greater than that of the first support part 211 but the size in the X direction is smaller than that of the second through hole 112, so that the lower box body 11 can be lifted by the first support part 211.

[0072] As described in the above embodiment, after the second needle 22 lifts the wafer 101, the cooling speed of the wafer 101 and the graphite box 10 can be improved, but since the lower box body 11 is supported on the support plate 23 of the tray 20, the lower surface cools slowly, which affects the overall cooling speed of the graphite box 10. In this embodiment, the second support part 212 of the first needle 21 can pass through the first through hole 111, and the first support part 211 cannot pass through the first through hole 111. When the wafer box 10 with the wafer 101 is placed on the tray 20 for cooling, the second support part 212 can pass through the first through hole 111 to lift the upper box body 12, and the step formed between the first support part 211 and the second support part 212 can lift the lower box body 11, so that the lower box body 11 is separated from the support plate 23 of the tray 20, and the cooling speed of the lower surface of the lower box body 11 can be improved. In addition, since the length of the first support part 211 is smaller than that of the second needle 22, the second needle 22 can separate the wafer 101 from the lower box body 11 when the lower box body 11 is lifted.

[0073] And since the wafer 101 is in a suspended state, after the cooling is completed, the wafer 101 can be directly transmitted by the mechanical hand without the need to first take out the graphite box 10 as a whole, then open the graphite box 10 and then transmit the wafer 101. The cooling device of the embodiment can automatically separate the wafer 101 and the graphite box 10 during cooling, and can be realized without manual or complex mechanical structure, and can improve the transmission efficiency of the wafer 101.

[0074] In one embodiment, please continue to refer to Figures 2-4 , the application provides a cooling device including at least two cooling structures 100. All cooling structures 100 are arranged in a vertical direction. Specifically, the tray 20 can further include a side wall plate 24 arranged on the side of the support plate 23 facing the graphite box 10, so that Figure 4 For example, the side wall plate 24 is located on the top surface of the support plate 23, and the side wall plate 24 forms a ring shape with an opening 241, and the opening 241 is used for the wafer and the graphite box 10 to enter and exit. For example, the ring shape formed by the side wall plate 24 can be rectangular, circular or other shapes. The height of the side wall plate 24 satisfies: when the upper box body 12 is lifted up, the height of the upper box body 12 is less than the height of the side wall plate 24. The support plate 23 of the cooling structure 100 located above is supported on the side wall plate 24 of the cooling structure 100 located below.

[0075] The traditional cooling cavity can only place one graphite box for cooling as shown in Figure 1 . The embodiment forms the basic frame of the cooling cavity by stacking the trays 20, and the cooling cavity can include multiple cooling structures to cool multiple graphite boxes at the same time, which not only saves space and improves production efficiency, but also saves space and improves production efficiency.

[0076] It should be noted that when the multiple cooling structures 100 are stacked, they can be bonded by an adhesive, but this connection method has low reliability and is not convenient to maintain. As an example, please refer to Figure 4 and Figure 7 , Figure 7 is a cross-sectional structure diagram of the multiple cooling structures along the A-A line in Figure 4 . The top surface of the side wall plate 24 in the cooling structure 100 is further provided with at least one set of first connecting holes and second connecting holes extending in the longitudinal direction, wherein the first connecting hole is a through hole, and the second connecting hole is a threaded hole. In any two adjacent cooling structures 100, the cooling structure located above is the first cooling structure, and the cooling structure located below is the second cooling structure. The first connecting hole 244 of the first cooling structure is opposite to the second connecting hole 245 of the second cooling structure, the connecting screw 50 passes through the first connecting hole 244 and is connected with the second connecting hole 245 of the second cooling structure below, so as to realize the connection of the first cooling structure and the second cooling structure.

[0077] Taking the stack of three cooling structures 100 as an example, please refer to Figure 7 In the upper, middle and lower three layers of cooling structures 100, among which, for the upper layer of cooling structure and the middle layer of cooling structure, the upper layer of cooling structure is the first cooling structure, and the middle layer of cooling structure is the second cooling structure; for the middle layer of cooling structure and the lower layer of cooling structure, the middle layer of cooling structure is the first cooling structure, and the lower cooling structure is the second cooling structure. The top surface of the side wall 24 in each cooling structure 100 is provided with a first connecting hole 244 and a second connecting hole 245 extending in the longitudinal direction, wherein the first connecting hole 244 is a through hole, and the second connecting hole 245 is a threaded hole. The second connecting hole 245 of the second cooling structure is opposite to the first connecting hole 244 of the first cooling structure 100, and the first connecting hole 244 of the second cooling structure 100 is opposite to the second connecting hole 245 of the first cooling structure 100. That is, in any two adjacent layers of cooling structures 100, the first connecting hole 244 in the first cooling structure and the first connecting hole 244 in the second cooling structure are staggered in the vertical direction, and the second connecting hole 245 of the first cooling structure and the second connecting hole 245 of the second cooling structure are staggered in the vertical direction.

[0078] It should be noted that the first connecting hole 244 can be a straight hole, and the second connecting hole can be a threaded hole or a threaded blind hole, which is not particularly limited in the present application.

[0079] In order to further improve the cooling speed, the cooling device of the embodiment of the present application can further include a cooling system. In one embodiment, please continue to refer to Figure 2 and Figure 4 The side wall 24 of the tray 20 can also be provided with a cooling medium input hole 242 and a cooling medium output hole 243, and the cooling structure 100 is also provided with a cooling pipeline which avoids the first needle 21, the second needle 22 and the graphite box 10. The two ends of the cooling pipeline are connected with the cooling medium input hole 242 and the cooling medium output hole 243 respectively, such as a pipeline which is beneficial to heat dissipation, such as a metal pipe. The cooling medium (such as cooling liquid or gas) can be input from the cooling medium input hole 242, and then the cooling medium is recovered from the cooling medium output hole 243, so as to perform circulating cooling on the cooling device.

[0080] It should be noted that the separate pipeline mode will occupy a certain space, and the present application provides a preferred arrangement mode of the cooling pipeline, please refer to Figure 4 and Figure 8 , Figure 8is a schematic diagram of a structure of forming a cooling channel on a tray. The support plate 23 of the tray 20 can include a bottom plate 231 and a top plate 232. The bottom plate 231 is connected with the side wall 24, and the top surface of the bottom plate 231 is provided with a cooling groove 2311, and the two ends of the cooling groove 2311 are respectively communicated with the cooling medium input hole 242 and the cooling medium output hole 243. The top plate 232 is arranged on the top surface of the bottom plate 231 and covers the cooling groove 2311 to form a cooling channel. The first ejector pin 21 and the second ejector pin 22 are arranged on the top surface of the top plate 232.

[0081] In this embodiment, the cooling channel is formed between the bottom plate 231 and the top plate 232, without occupying too much space volume, and the specific shape of the cooling channel can be arbitrarily set, and will not interfere with the first ejector pin 21 and the second ejector pin 22. In addition, a notch 2312 can be arranged on one side of the bottom plate 231 close to the opening 241 to form an edge clearance of the top plate 232, which facilitates the taking of the top plate 232 during assembly and disassembly.

[0082] As an example, please refer to Figure 2 The cooling device can include a plurality of connecting pipes 30, and all the cooling channels of the cooling structure 100 are connected in series through the connecting pipes 30. For example, in any two adjacent cooling structures 100, the cooling medium input hole 242 of the upper cooling structure 100 and the cooling medium output hole 243 of the lower cooling structure 100 can be connected by a connecting pipe 30, and the cooling medium flows into the cooling medium input hole 242 of the lowermost cooling structure 100 and finally flows out of the cooling medium output hole 243 of the uppermost cooling structure 100. Of course, the cooling medium output hole 243 of the upper cooling structure 100 and the cooling medium input hole 242 of the lower cooling structure 100 can also be connected by a connecting pipe 30, and the cooling medium flows from the upper cooling structure 100 and flows from the lower cooling structure 100.

[0083] In order to further improve the cooling efficiency, an air cooling system can also be provided. In one embodiment, please refer to Figure 2 、 Figure 4 and Figure 8 The side wall 24 can be U-shaped, and the opening of the U-shaped structure constitutes the opening 241. The cooling structure 100 is also provided with an air cooling channel 40 for introducing cooling gas into the cooling structure 100 from the outside. The specific form of the air cooling channel 40 is not particularly limited in this embodiment, for example, the air cooling channel 40 can be formed by one or more holes of the side wall 24, and the external gas source can blow gas into the cooling structure 100 through the hole.

[0084] As an example of the air cooling channel 40, please refer to Figure 2 、 Figure 4 and Figure 8The air cooling channel 40 can include a first air hole 41 and at least one second air hole 42. The first air hole 41 penetrates the side wall 24 and the support plate 23 from top to bottom, and the first air holes 41 of each cooling structure 100 are in communication with each other. The second air hole 42 penetrates the inner wall of the side wall 24 to communicate with the first air hole 41. The second air hole 42 can be oval, and a larger air outlet area can improve the uniformity and stability of the airflow. The second air hole 42 can also be provided in multiple, such as multiple circular holes in a radial arrangement in communication with the first air hole 41.

[0085] In application, the bottom surface of the first air hole 41 of the lowermost cooling structure 100 can be sealed, and the cooling gas can be introduced from the first air hole 41 of the uppermost cooling structure 100. The gas can enter the first air hole 41 of each layer of cooling structure 100 in turn, and flow into the corresponding cooling structure 100 from the second air hole 42, which can further improve the cooling speed of the graphite box 10 and the wafer 101.

[0086] The application further provides a semiconductor processing equipment, please refer to Figure 9 The semiconductor processing equipment can include a process chamber 500 and a transfer chamber 600 connected to each other, and the transfer chamber 600 is provided with the cooling device 700 as described in the above embodiments. The semiconductor processing equipment can be an annealing equipment.

[0087] In application, please refer to Figure 10 and Figure 11 , Figure 10 is a front view of a mechanical hand taking a graphite box provided by the application, Figure 11 is a back view of a mechanical hand taking a graphite box provided by the application. The wafer can be transferred together with the graphite box 10 from the wafer box temporary storage station 900 to the process chamber 500 by the mechanical hand 800 for annealing. After annealing, the wafer is transferred together with the graphite box 10 from the process chamber 500 to the cooling device 700 by the mechanical hand 800 for cooling.

[0088] The conventional annealing equipment can only cool one wafer at a time in the cooling chamber 20a. The present embodiment can cool multiple wafers at the same time, and the graphite box 10 is in an open state during cooling, so the cooling efficiency is higher and the production capacity is larger.

[0089] For the cooling working principle and process of the semiconductor processing equipment of the present embodiment, please refer to the foregoing description of the cooling device of the application, which will not be repeated here.

[0090] The cooling device and the semiconductor processing equipment provided by the present application are described in detail above, and the principles and implementation manners of the present application are described by using specific examples. It should be noted that the descriptions of various embodiments in the present application are each focused on, and the parts not described or recorded in a certain embodiment can be referred to the related descriptions of other embodiments.

[0091] The above are only preferred embodiments of the present application, and do not limit the patent scope of the present application, and each technical feature of the technical solutions of the present application can be combined arbitrarily. In order to make the description simple, each technical feature in the above embodiments is not described all possible combinations, and any equivalent structure or equivalent flow conversion made by using the content of the present application specification and drawings, or directly or indirectly applied in other related technical fields, as long as the combination of these technical features does not exist contradiction, are also included in the patent protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A cooling device, characterized in that, It includes at least one cooling structure; the cooling structure includes a graphite box and a tray for supporting the graphite box; The graphite box includes: The lower box body is provided with at least three first through holes; The upper housing covers the lower housing and forms an accommodating space for accommodating the wafer between the upper housing and the lower housing; when the wafer is placed in the accommodating space, the first through hole avoids the wafer; The tray includes: Support plate for supporting the graphite box A first ejector pin, corresponding to the first through hole, is disposed on the side of the support plate facing the graphite box. The first ejector pin is used to pass through the corresponding first through hole and lift the upper box body when the graphite box is placed on the support plate, so as to separate the upper box body and the lower box body.

2. The cooling device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The center of the wafer is located within the pattern formed by the sequential connection of the at least three first vias.

3. The cooling device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The lower housing is also provided with at least three second through holes, and when the wafer is placed in the accommodating space, the second through holes face the wafer. The tray also includes: A second ejector pin, corresponding to the second through hole, is disposed on the side of the support plate facing the graphite box, and the height of the second ejector pin is less than the height of the first ejector pin. The second ejector pin is used to pass through the corresponding second through hole and lift the wafer inside the graphite box when the graphite box is placed on the support plate, so that the wafer is suspended between the upper box body and the lower box body.

4. The cooling device according to claim 3, characterized in that, The center of the wafer is located within the pattern formed by the sequential connection of the at least three second vias.

5. The cooling device according to claim 3, characterized in that, The first ejector pin includes: a first support portion connected to the support plate, and a second support portion disposed on the side of the first support portion away from the support plate; With the extension directions of the first support portion and the second support portion as the first direction, in a direction perpendicular to the first direction, the size of the first support portion is larger than the size of the first through hole, and the size of the second support portion is smaller than the size of the first through hole; the size of the first support portion in the first direction is smaller than the length of the second ejector pin.

6. The cooling device according to claim 3, characterized in that, The tray also includes a side panel disposed on the side of the support plate facing the graphite box. The side panel forms an annular shape with an opening for the wafer and the graphite box to enter and exit. The height of the side panel satisfies the following condition: when the upper box is lifted, the height of the upper box is less than the height of the side panel. The cooling device includes at least two cooling structures stacked vertically, with the support plate of the upper cooling structure supported on the side panel of the lower cooling structure.

7. The cooling device according to claim 6, characterized in that, The top surface of the side panel in the cooling structure is also provided with at least one set of first connecting holes and second connecting holes extending longitudinally, wherein the first connecting hole is a through hole and the second connecting hole is a threaded hole. In any two adjacent cooling structures, the cooling structure located above is designated as the first cooling structure, and the cooling structure located below is designated as the second cooling structure; wherein, the first connecting hole of the first cooling structure is directly opposite the second connecting hole of the second cooling structure, and the first cooling structure is connected to the second connecting hole of the second cooling structure below by a connecting screw passing through the first connecting hole.

8. The cooling device according to claim 6, characterized in that, The side panel is provided with a cooling medium inlet and a cooling medium outlet. The cooling structure is also provided with a cooling pipe, which avoids the first ejector pin, the second ejector pin and the graphite box. The two ends of the cooling pipe are respectively connected to the cooling medium inlet and the cooling medium outlet.

9. The cooling device according to claim 8, characterized in that, The support plate includes: A base plate is connected to the side panel. The top surface of the base plate is provided with a cooling groove, and the two ends of the cooling groove are respectively connected to the cooling medium inlet and the cooling medium outlet. A top plate is disposed on the top surface of the bottom plate and covers the cooling tank to form the cooling pipe; The first ejector pin and the second ejector pin are disposed on the top surface of the top plate.

10. The cooling device according to claim 9, characterized in that, The base plate has a notch on the side near the opening.

11. The cooling device according to claim 8, characterized in that, The cooling device also includes: multiple connecting pipes; In any two adjacent cooling structures: the cooling medium inlet of the upper cooling structure and the cooling medium outlet of the lower cooling structure are connected by a connecting pipe; or, the cooling medium outlet of the upper cooling structure and the cooling medium inlet of the lower cooling structure are connected by a connecting pipe.

12. The cooling device according to any one of claims 6-11, characterized in that, The side panel is U-shaped, and the opening of the U-shape constitutes the opening; The cooling structure is also provided with an air-cooling channel for introducing cooling gas from the outside into the cooling structure.

13. The cooling device according to claim 12, characterized in that, The air-cooling aisle includes: The first air hole extends from top to bottom through the side panel and the support plate, and the first air holes of each cooling structure are aligned and connected to each other. At least one second vent extends through the inner wall of the side panel and communicates with the first vent.

14. A semiconductor processing apparatus, characterized in that, It includes an interconnected process chamber and a transfer chamber, wherein the transfer chamber is provided with a cooling device as described in any one of claims 1-13.

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