Air bath purification device and semiconductor equipment

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of semiconductors, in particular to a gas bath purification device and semiconductor equipment, the gas bath purification device comprises an objective lens supporting plate, an objective lens chuck, a gas bath purification assembly and a shunt block, the objective lens chuck is installed at the top of the objective lens supporting plate through a chuck flange, and the gas bath purification assembly is arranged at the top of the objective lens chuck; the shunting block is fixed on the objective lens supporting plate through a fixing bracket; the air bath purification assembly comprises a cavity, a purification cavity is formed in the cavity, and an air outlet of the purification cavity is designed in the mode that a convection air outlet and a vertical air outlet are combined. An inner cavity of the shunting block is a gas guide cavity which is communicated with the purification chamber in a sealing manner; the convection air outlet and the vertical air outlet are located on the two opposite sides of the objective lens to form convection, air flow formed between the convection air outlet and the vertical air outlet can form an air flow film which flows evenly on the surface of the objective lens, the uniformity of the air flow on the surface of the objective lens can be improved, and the stability of a flow field on the surface of the objective lens can be improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of semiconductor technology, and in particular to a gas bath purification device and a semiconductor device. Background Art

[0002] In existing semiconductor equipment, the top surface of the objective lens is usually cleaned by controlling the flow field direction through the gas bath system on the top of the whole machine. In the semiconductor manufacturing process, the objective lens is a key component of the exposure system, and its cleanliness directly affects the image quality and the accuracy of the subsequent process. In order to ensure the cleanliness of the surface of the objective lens, the prior art mostly adopts a gas bath system, which forms a specific flow field by adjusting the direction and speed of the gas jet, thereby effectively removing particulate matter and other pollutants on the top surface of the objective lens. The gas bath system is generally installed on the top of the microscope system, which can provide a uniformly distributed gas flow to ensure that all parts of the surface of the objective lens can be fully cleaned. In addition, the system can further improve the cleaning effect by adjusting the type and purity of the gas. However, this cleaning method may be affected by environmental factors in actual applications, such as the stability of gas flow, gas purity, etc., which will affect the final cleaning effect.

[0003] Disadvantages of the existing technology:

[0004] 1. Uneven airflow: The existing whole-machine flow field control method cannot evenly cover the clean airflow to the surface of the objective lens, causing harmful gases to accumulate in certain areas for a long time, which may form inorganic salts on the surface of the objective lens and damage the objective lens.

[0005] 2. Unstable flow field: The existing purification method cannot form a stable flow field on the working surface of the objective lens, which easily generates eddy currents and affects the imaging performance of the objective lens. Summary of the invention

[0006] The object of the present invention is to provide an air bath purification device, which can improve the uniformity of air flow on the surface of the objective lens and can improve the stability of the flow field on the surface of the objective lens.

[0007] Another object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor device, which can improve the uniformity of airflow on the surface of the objective lens and can improve the stability of the flow field on the surface of the objective lens.

[0008] The technical solution of the present invention is achieved in this way:

[0009] A gas bath purification device is applied to an objective lens of a semiconductor device, comprising an objective lens support plate, an objective lens chuck, an air bath purification assembly and a shunt block, wherein a support portion for placing the objective lens is provided on the top of the objective lens support plate, the objective lens chuck is mounted on the top of the objective lens support plate through a chuck flange, and the objective lens chuck is located on the top of the objective lens, and a positioning portion is provided on the objective lens chuck, the positioning portion is located on the objective lens and abuts against the objective lens, and is used to position the objective lens;

[0010] The gas bath purification assembly is arranged on the top of the objective lens chuck, and the diverter block is fixed to the objective lens support plate through a fixing bracket;

[0011] The air bath purification component comprises a cavity, a light transmission port for transmitting light to the objective lens is correspondingly opened at the center of the cavity, a purification chamber is arranged in the cavity, an air outlet of the purification chamber adopts a design form combining a convection air outlet and a vertical air outlet, the convection air outlet and the vertical air outlet are located on opposite sides of the objective lens to form convection, and the airflow formed between the convection air outlet and the vertical air outlet can form a uniformly flowing airflow film on the surface of the objective lens;

[0012] The inner cavity of the diverter block is an air guide cavity, which is sealed and connected with the purification chamber and is used for conveying clean gas to the purification chamber.

[0013] Furthermore, the input port of the air guide cavity is provided with a clean air guide pipe, and the output port of the air guide cavity is sealed and connected with the input port of the purification chamber through a bellows.

[0014] Furthermore, the air guide cavity is divided into a first air guide cavity and a second air guide cavity, the clean air guide tube is respectively arranged at the input port end of the first air guide cavity and the input port end of the second air guide cavity, the output port of the first air guide cavity is communicated with the output port of the second air guide cavity and is connected with the input port of the purification chamber through the bellows.

[0015] Furthermore, the bellows is a nickel bellows, both ends of the nickel bellows are respectively provided with sealing rings, and the wall thickness of the nickel bellows does not exceed 0.1 mm.

[0016] Furthermore, the convection air outlet and the vertical air outlet are respectively provided with filter screens.

[0017] Furthermore, the filter screen adopts an ultra-high pressure resistance metal filter screen, and the convection air outlet and the vertical air outlet are respectively bonded to the ultra-high pressure resistance metal filter screen to form a high air pressure in the purification chamber.

[0018] Furthermore, the vertical air outlet is also provided with a high efficiency filter.

[0019] Furthermore, the convection air outlet is tilted downward and has an angle of 45° with the horizontal plane, and the vertical air outlet is vertically downward. The two airflows of the convection air outlet and the vertical air outlet are combined through co-feeding to generate a convection sweeping airflow, and can form an airflow film on the surface of the objective lens.

[0020] Furthermore, the gap between the end of the convection air outlet and the surface of the objective lens is 1 to 2 mm, and the gap between the end of the vertical air outlet and the surface of the objective lens is 1 to 2 mm.

[0021] A semiconductor device comprises the gas bath purification device.

[0022] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0023] The present application provides an air bath purification device, which adopts a purge airflow to directly act on the top lens of the objective lens in the purification form, and the air outlets on both sides of the purification chamber at the top of the objective lens form convection, that is, air is discharged from the convection air outlet and the vertical air outlet at the same time to purge and form convection, which fully isolates the contact with external harmful gases. The airflow formed by the convection air outlet and the vertical air outlet can evenly form a flowing airflow film on the surface of the objective lens, thereby preventing the objective lens from being contaminated by external harmful gases. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings required for use in the embodiments are briefly introduced below. It should be understood that the following drawings only show certain embodiments of the present invention and therefore should not be regarded as limiting the scope. For ordinary technicians in this field, other related drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative work.

[0025] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the gas bath purification device of Example 1 of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 2 It is a cross-sectional view of the gas bath purification device of Example 1 of the present invention.

[0027] In the figure:

[0028] 1-objective lens support plate; 2-clean air guide tube; 3-locking joint;

[0029] 4-shunt block; 5-nickel bellows; 6-objective lens chuck;

[0030] 7-objective lens; 8-chuck flange; 9-gas bath purification assembly;

[0031] 10-anti-drop screw; 11-fixing bracket; 12-filter;

[0032] 13-High efficiency filter; 14-Vertical air outlet. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0033] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention clearer, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Generally, the components of the embodiments of the present invention described and shown in the drawings here can be arranged and designed in various different configurations.

[0034] Therefore, the following detailed description of the embodiments of the present invention provided in the accompanying drawings is not intended to limit the scope of the invention claimed for protection, but merely represents selected embodiments of the present invention. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0035] It should be noted that similar reference numerals and letters denote similar items in the following drawings, and therefore, once an item is defined in one drawing, further definition and explanation thereof is not required in subsequent drawings.

[0036] In the description of the present invention, it should be noted that the terms "center", "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "inside", "outside", etc. indicate positions or positional relationships based on the positions or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, or the positions or positional relationships in which the product of the invention is usually placed when in use. They are only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific position, be constructed and operated in a specific position, and therefore cannot be understood as limiting the present invention. In addition, the terms "first", "second", "third", etc. are only used to distinguish the description, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0037] In addition, the terms "horizontal", "vertical", "overhanging" and the like do not mean that the components are required to be absolutely horizontal or overhanging, but can be slightly tilted. For example, "horizontal" only means that its direction is more horizontal than "vertical", and does not mean that the structure must be completely horizontal, but can be slightly tilted.

[0038] In the description of the present invention, it is also necessary to explain that, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "set", "install", "connect", and "connect" should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can be a direct connection, or it can be indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, or it can be the internal communication of two elements. For ordinary technicians in this field, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood according to specific circumstances.

[0039] Some embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In the absence of conflict, the following embodiments and features in the embodiments can be combined with each other.

[0040] Example 1

[0041] In semiconductor equipment, especially exposure equipment used in photolithography, the objective lens is a very critical component. The main function of the objective lens is to accurately project the circuit pattern onto the silicon wafer during the exposure process. This process requires extremely high precision and resolution, so the design and manufacture of the objective lens must meet very high standards. The objective lens is usually an optical system composed of multiple lenses, which can be made of glass or other transparent materials. Their function is to collect light from the light source and focus it on the target area on the silicon wafer. In order to obtain the required high resolution, the objective lens needs to have a large numerical aperture (NA), which can be achieved by using a medium with a high refractive index (such as immersion fluid) or a specially designed lens group. In addition, in modern high-end photolithography machines, some advanced optical technologies, such as double exposure and multi-layer exposure, are also used to further improve resolution and manufacturing accuracy. The design of the objective lens also takes into account compensation for various factors that may affect imaging quality, such as temperature changes and mechanical vibrations.

[0042] In short, the objective lens in semiconductor equipment is a complex and precise optical system designed to achieve extremely high-precision pattern transfer during the lithography process.

[0043] However, when the objective lens is working for a long time, harmful gases generated in the whole machine can gather on the surface of the objective lens. Long-term strong light exposure can form inorganic salts on the surface of the objective lens and damage the lens. The existing technology uses a purge airflow, but the imaging quality is not good enough due to unevenness.

[0044] For this purpose, refer to Figure 1-Figure 2The present embodiment provides an air bath purification device, which is applied to an objective lens 7 of a semiconductor device, and includes an objective lens support plate 1, an objective lens chuck 6, an air bath purification component 9, and a shunt block 4. A support portion for placing the objective lens 7 is provided on the top of the objective lens support plate 1, the objective lens chuck 6 is mounted on the top of the objective lens support plate 1 through a chuck flange 8, and the objective lens chuck 6 is located on the top of the objective lens 7. A positioning portion is provided on the objective lens chuck 6, and the positioning portion is located above the objective lens 7 and abuts against the objective lens 7, and is used to position the objective lens 7; that is, the objective lens 7 is correspondingly placed on the supporting portion of the objective lens support plate 1 and then the objective lens chuck 6 is installed, and the positioning of the objective lens 7 is achieved through the joint action of the positioning portion of the objective lens chuck 6, so that the objective lens 7 will not be offset after installation. The air bath purification component 9 is arranged on the top of the objective lens chuck 6, and the shunt block 4 is fixed to the objective lens support plate 1 through a fixing bracket 11;

[0045] The air bath purification assembly 9 includes a cavity, a light transmission port for the objective lens 7 to transmit light is correspondingly opened at the center of the cavity, a purification chamber is arranged in the cavity, and the air outlet end of the purification chamber has a convection air outlet and a vertical air outlet 14, that is, the air outlet of the purification chamber adopts a design form of combining the convection air outlet and the vertical air outlet 14, the convection air outlet and the vertical air outlet 14 are located on opposite sides of the objective lens 7 to form convection, and the airflow formed between the convection air outlet and the vertical air outlet 14 can form a uniformly flowing airflow film on the surface of the objective lens 7;

[0046] The inner cavity of the diverter block 4 is an air guide cavity, which is sealed and connected to the purification chamber and is used to transport clean gas to the purification chamber.

[0047] Specifically, the gas bath purification assembly 9 is fastened to the objective lens chuck 6 and positioned by the positioning slot and the anti-slip screw 10. The diverter block 4 is fixed to the objective lens support plate 1 by the fixing bracket 11. The bellows is connected between the diverter block 4 and the gas bath purification assembly 9. The input port of the gas guide cavity is provided with a clean gas guide pipe 2, and the output port of the gas guide cavity is connected to the input port of the purification chamber through a bellows seal. Sealing rings are respectively provided at both ends of the bellows to achieve the sealing of the connection. The clean gas guide pipe 2 is used to transport clean gas to ensure the purity of the gas flow.

[0048] In this embodiment, the air guide cavity is divided into a first air guide cavity and a second air guide cavity, and the clean air guide tube 2 is respectively arranged at the input port end of the first air guide cavity and the input port end of the second air guide cavity, and the first air guide cavity is communicated with the output port of the second air guide cavity and is communicated with the input port of the purification chamber through the corrugated tube. The two clean air guide tubes 2 are respectively connected to the air supply device to form two air supply air flows and simultaneously supply air to the purification chamber, and then discharge through the convection air outlet and the vertical air outlet 14 to form convection, so that a uniformly flowing air flow film can be formed on the surface of the objective lens 7 to protect the surface of the objective lens 7 and prevent the surface of the objective lens 7 from being contaminated by harmful gases from the outside.

[0049] In the present embodiment, the bellows is a metal bellows, and preferably a nickel bellows 5, both ends of the nickel bellows 5 are respectively provided with sealing rings, and both ends of the nickel bellows 5 are designed with quick-plug soft connection forms to communicate with the air guide cavity and the purification chamber respectively and are locked by the locking joint 3, and the wall thickness of the nickel bellows 5 does not exceed 0.1mm. Preferably, the wall thickness of the nickel bellows 5 is designed to be 0.03mm. The nickel bellows 5 has a relatively low rigidity and a relatively thin wall thickness, which can effectively reduce the vibration effect of the airflow in the tube on the objective lens 7.

[0050] In this embodiment, the convection air outlet and the vertical air outlet 14 are respectively provided with a filter screen 12, and the filter screen 12 adopts an ultra-high pressure resistance metal filter screen, and the convection air outlet and the vertical air outlet 14 are respectively bonded to the ultra-high pressure resistance metal filter screen to form a high air pressure in the purification chamber. Since the convection air outlet and the vertical air outlet 14 are bonded to the ultra-high pressure resistance metal filter screen, a high air pressure is formed in the purification chamber, and the air flow on the surface of the metal filter screen is evenly distributed. The air flow formed by the convection air outlet and the vertical air outlet 14 can evenly form a flowing air flow film on the surface of the objective lens 7, thereby preventing the surface of the objective lens 7 from being polluted by harmful gases from the outside.

[0051] This embodiment provides a preferred implementation: the convection outlet is tilted downward and has an angle of 45° with the horizontal plane, the vertical outlet 14 is vertically downward, and the two airflows of the convection outlet and the vertical outlet 14 are combined in the form of co-feeding to generate an airflow in the form of convection sweeping, and can form an airflow film on the surface of the objective lens 7. The convection outlet sweeping tilt angle of the air bath purification component 9 is 45° with the horizontal angle, and the convection form is combined with the vertical airflow to flow along the mirror surface of the objective lens 7, and the effect of generating a flowing air film on the mirror surface of the objective lens 7 is the best.

[0052] Preferably, the gap between the end of the convection air outlet and the surface of the objective lens 7 is 1-2 mm, and the gap between the end of the vertical air outlet 14 and the surface of the objective lens 7 is 1-2 mm. On the basis of bonding the ultra-high pressure resistance metal filter screen to the convection air outlet and the vertical air outlet 14, and designing a high-efficiency filter 13 at the convection air outlet, it can ensure that the entire spherical surface of the objective lens 7 is evenly covered by the airflow, and improve the cleanliness of the airflow.

[0053] Example 2

[0054] The present embodiment provides an air bath purification device, which is different from the technical solution of embodiment 1 in that: in the present embodiment, a first air guide cavity and a second air guide cavity are provided in the diverter block 4, and the first air guide cavity is not connected to the output port end of the second air guide cavity; and the purification chamber has a first chamber and a second chamber which are separately arranged, the inlet end of the first chamber is sealed and connected to the output port end of the first air guide cavity through a nickel bellows 5, and the outlet end of the first chamber is a convection outlet; the inlet end of the second chamber is sealed and connected to the output port end of the second air guide cavity through another nickel bellows 5, and the outlet end of the second chamber is a vertical outlet 14; the nickel bellows 5 still adopts a wall thickness of 0.03 mm. Sealing rings are respectively provided at both ends of each nickel bellows 5. Clean air guide pipes 2 are respectively provided at the input ports of the first air guide cavity and the second air guide cavity, and they are respectively the first clean air guide pipe 2 and the second clean air guide pipe 2, wherein the other end of the first clean air guide pipe 2 is connected to the air supply device, and the other end of the second clean air guide pipe 2 is connected to the air supply device or the negative pressure device.

[0055] When the other end of the second clean air duct 2 is connected to the air supply device, two air passages are formed in the entire air bath purification device, and the two air passages respectively sweep the surface of the objective lens 7 from the convection air outlet and the vertical air outlet 14 .

[0056] When the other end of the second clean air duct 2 is connected to the negative pressure device, the air bath purification device can be applicable when the spherical curvature of the objective lens 7 is large. The airflow of the first clean air duct 2 is a positive pressure airflow, and the airflow of the second clean air duct 2 is a negative pressure airflow. The two airflow co-advancing structure is designed as a positive pressure airflow and a negative pressure airflow, which can form a uniform flow airflow to protect the spherical surface of the objective lens 7.

[0057] Example 3

[0058] A semiconductor device includes the gas bath purification device. Through the arrangement of the gas bath purification device on the top of the objective lens 7, two air flows advance together to form convection, and directly act on the surface of the objective lens 7 to form an air flow film that protects the surface of the objective lens 7, and fully isolates external harmful gases from contacting the surface of the objective lens 7. The low-rigidity nickel bellows 5 design between the gas bath purification component 9 and the diverter block 4 effectively reduces the vibration effect of the air flow on the objective lens 7, ensuring that the air flow evenly covers the surface of the objective lens 7.

[0059] The beneficial effects of the technical solution of the present invention are:

[0060] 1. Uniform airflow: Through the structure of two airflows advancing together and the design of low-rigidity nickel bellows 5 between the purification module and the diversion block 4, the vibration effect of the airflow on the objective lens 7 is effectively reduced, ensuring that the airflow evenly covers the surface of the objective lens 7.

[0061] 2. Direct action: The airflow directly acts on the top lens of the objective lens 7, and the air flows out from both sides of the top chamber to form convection, which fully isolates the contact with external harmful gases.

[0062] 3. High-efficiency purification: The gap between the spherical surface of the objective lens 7 and the device is 1-2mm, and the convection outlet and the vertical outlet 14 are designed with ultra-high pressure resistance metal filter and high-efficiency filter 13 to ensure that the entire spherical surface of the objective lens 7 is evenly covered by the airflow, thereby improving the cleanliness of the airflow.

[0063] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, rather than to limit it. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions described in the aforementioned embodiments, or replace some or all of the technical features therein with equivalents. However, these modifications or replacements do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

[0064] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention. For those skilled in the art, the present invention may have various modifications and variations. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present invention shall be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A gas bath purification device, applied to an objective lens (7) of a semiconductor device, characterized in that: The objective lens chuck (6) comprises an objective lens support plate (1), an objective lens chuck (6), an air bath purification component (9) and a shunt block (4); the top of the objective lens support plate (1) is provided with a support portion for placing an objective lens (7); the objective lens chuck (6) is mounted on the top of the objective lens support plate (1) via a chuck flange (8), and the objective lens chuck (6) is located on the top of the objective lens (7); a positioning portion is provided on the objective lens chuck (6), and the positioning portion is located on the objective lens (7) and abuts against the objective lens (7) and is used to position the objective lens (7); The gas bath purification component (9) is arranged on the top of the objective lens chuck (6), and the diverter block (4) is fixed on the objective lens support plate (1) via a fixing bracket (11); The air bath purification component (9) comprises a cavity, a light transmission port for transmitting light to the objective lens (7) is correspondingly opened at the center of the cavity, a purification chamber is arranged in the cavity, an air outlet of the purification chamber adopts a design form of combining a convection air outlet and a vertical air outlet (14), the convection air outlet and the vertical air outlet (14) are located on opposite sides of the objective lens (7) to form convection, and the airflow formed between the convection air outlet and the vertical air outlet (14) can form a uniformly flowing airflow film on the surface of the objective lens (7); The inner cavity of the diverter block (4) is an air guide cavity, which is in sealed communication with the purification chamber and is used to transport clean gas to the purification chamber.

2. The gas bath purification device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The input port of the air guide cavity is provided with a clean air guide pipe (2), and the output port of the air guide cavity is sealed and connected to the input port of the purification chamber via a bellows.

3. The gas bath purification device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The air guide cavity is divided into a first air guide cavity and a second air guide cavity. The clean air guide tube (2) is respectively arranged at the input port end of the first air guide cavity and the input port end of the second air guide cavity. The output ports of the first air guide cavity and the second air guide cavity are communicated with each other and are communicated with the input port of the purification chamber through the bellows.

4. The gas bath purification device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The bellows is a nickel bellows (5), both ends of the nickel bellows (5) are respectively provided with sealing rings, and the wall thickness of the nickel bellows (5) does not exceed 0.1 mm.

5. The gas bath purification device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The convection air outlet and the vertical air outlet (14) are respectively provided with a filter screen (12).

6. The gas bath purification device according to claim 5, characterized in that: The filter screen (12) is an ultra-high pressure resistance metal filter screen, and the convection air outlet and the vertical air outlet (14) are respectively bonded to the ultra-high pressure resistance metal filter screen to form a high air pressure in the purification chamber.

7. The gas bath purification device according to claim 5, characterized in that: The vertical air outlet (14) is also provided with a high efficiency filter (13).

8. The gas bath purification device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The convection air outlet is tilted downward and has an angle of 45° with the horizontal plane. The vertical air outlet (14) is vertically downward. The two air flows of the convection air outlet and the vertical air outlet (14) are combined in a co-feeding manner to generate an air flow in the form of convection sweeping, and can form an air flow film on the surface of the objective lens (7).

9. The gas bath purification device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The gap between the end of the convection air outlet and the surface of the objective lens (7) is 1 to 2 mm, and the gap between the end of the vertical air outlet (14) and the surface of the objective lens (7) is 1 to 2 mm.

10. A semiconductor device, characterized in that: The invention comprises the gas bath purification device according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

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