Rapid cooling system and method for hot plate

Abstract

The invention discloses a hot plate rapid cooling system and method.The system comprises a shell, an air supply device and a liquid supply device, a hot plate module and a TCP module are both arranged in the shell, and the air supply device communicates with the shell; a circulating water path is distributed in a transmission hand of the TCP module, the circulating water path is connected with a liquid supply device, and the liquid supply device conveys cooling liquid into the circulating water path. According to the rapid cooling system for the hot plate, on the basis of an existing scheme, only the hot plate is arranged in the shell, the air supply device and the liquid supply device are additionally arranged, and the system is slightly modified. According to the scheme, the hot plate and the wafer are cooled for three times, the cooling amplitude of each time is controlled within the bearing range of the hot core of the hot plate and the wafer, it is guaranteed that the temperature difference of each time of cooling is large, heat of the hot plate and the wafer can be rapidly taken away, and the hot plate and the wafer are rapidly and safely cooled to the target temperature.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the field of hot plate cooling, and more particularly to a hot plate rapid cooling system and method. Background Art

[0002] In the semiconductor process, the wafer needs to be baked at a certain temperature so that the chemical substances on the surface of the wafer can reach the target effect. The temperature of the hot plate after the previous wafer is baked is relatively high. If the wafer is directly placed in the hot plate for baking, the wafer may warp due to direct contact with the high temperature. Therefore, a cooling system is needed to quickly cool the hot plate so that the temperature of the hot plate meets the requirements when the wafer is placed in the hot plate.

[0003] The temperature of the wafer is high after baking. If the robot arm directly takes it, the temperature of the robot arm will rise, causing the local temperature of the wafer to rise when taking out a wafer, which will have an adverse effect on the wafer process. Therefore, the wafer needs to be cooled before the robot arm takes it and passes it to the next process.

[0004] In the prior art, the hot plate is cooled by natural cooling, which is placed in a natural environment and naturally cooled, resulting in a long cooling time, thereby causing low wafer processing efficiency.

[0005] In the prior art, the wafer is cooled by being close to the TCP module (transition cooling plate module), but after the wafer temperature drops to a certain temperature, the temperature difference between the wafer temperature and the TCP module temperature is small. When the wafer is further cooled, the cooling efficiency is low and the cooling time is long, resulting in low wafer processing efficiency. Summary of the invention

[0006] The object of the present invention is to provide a hot plate rapid cooling system to solve the technical problems existing in the above-mentioned background technology.

[0007] The technical solution of the present invention provides a hot plate rapid cooling system, comprising a shell, an air supply device and a liquid supply device, the hot plate module and the TCP module are both arranged in the shell, and the air supply device is connected to the shell; a circulating water circuit is evenly distributed in the conveying hand of the TCP module, the circulating water circuit is connected to the liquid supply device, and the liquid supply device transports cooling liquid into the circulating water circuit.

[0008] In a preferred embodiment, the circulating water channel is evenly distributed in the conveying arm and covers the entire conveying arm.

[0009] In a preferred embodiment, the liquid supply device is provided in two groups, and supplies liquids of different temperatures respectively.

[0010] A method for rapid cooling of a hot plate comprises the following steps:

[0011] S1: After the wafer is heated, the hot plate cover is lifted, and the gas supply device supplies low-humidity gas into the shell to replace the gas in the hot plate, and the temperature at the hot core changes from temperature 1 to temperature 2;

[0012] S2: introducing a first coolant into the circulating water path of the transfer arm, the transfer arm moves to the top of the hot core, obtains the wafer, and cools the wafer and the hot core at the same time, so that the temperature of the wafer and the hot core becomes temperature three;

[0013] S3: After the transfer arm moves to the wafer handover position, the liquid in the transfer arm is converted from the first coolant to the second coolant;

[0014] S4: After the wafer is obtained by the external robot, the transfer arm moves over the hot core and cools the hot core to room temperature.

[0015] In a preferred embodiment, the relative humidity of the gas supplied by the supply device in S1 is 0-20%.

[0016] In a preferred embodiment, the values ​​of temperature one, temperature two and temperature three decrease in sequence, and temperature three is higher than room temperature.

[0017] In a preferred embodiment, the first coolant is a room temperature liquid, and the temperature of the second coolant is lower than that of the first coolant.

[0018] In a preferred embodiment, the first coolant and the second coolant are the same liquid.

[0019] The beneficial effects of the technical solution of the present invention are:

[0020] The hot plate rapid cooling system of this solution, based on the existing solution, only sets the hot plate in the shell, and additionally sets the gas supply device and liquid supply device, with little modification to the system. This solution performs three cooling treatments on the hot plate and wafer, and the amplitude of each cooling is controlled within the tolerance range of the hot plate core and wafer, and ensures that the temperature difference of each cooling is large, which can quickly take away the heat of the hot plate and wafer, so that the hot plate and wafer can be quickly and safely reduced to the target temperature. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the hot plate cover being opened according to the present invention.

[0022] Figure 2 Obtaining a schematic diagram of a wafer for the transfer hand of the present invention,

[0023] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the transfer arm of the present invention transporting wafers to the external robot pick-up position.

[0024] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the present invention where the transfer hand returns to the hot core position of the hot plate to cool the hot core.

[0025] Explanation of reference numerals: 1 housing, 2 hot plate module, 21 hot plate cover, 22 hot core, 23 pin needle system one, 3 TCP module, 31 transfer hand, 32 pin needle system two, 4 gas supply device, 5 liquid supply device, 6 wafer. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] The present invention is further described in detail below. The embodiments of the present invention are provided for the purpose of illustration and description, and are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the present invention to the disclosed forms. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. The embodiments are selected and described to better illustrate the principles and practical applications of the present invention, and to enable those of ordinary skill in the art to understand the present invention and design various embodiments with various modifications suitable for specific uses.

[0027] like Figure 1 As shown, the hot plate mainly includes a hot plate module 2 and a TCP module 3, which are respectively used for baking and transferring wafer 6, wherein the hot plate module 2 includes a hot plate cover 21, a hot core 22, and a pin needle system 1 23, and the TCP module 3 includes a transfer arm 31 and a pin needle system 2 32. During baking, the TCP module 3 places the wafer 6 on the hot core, and then covers the hot plate cover 21, and then performs baking. The hot plate rapid cooling system of this scheme is used to quickly cool down the hot core 22 and the wafer 6 after the wafer 6 is baked, so as to ensure the processing effect of the wafer 6 and improve the baking efficiency.

[0028] like Figure 1-4 As shown, the technical solution of the present invention provides a hot plate rapid cooling system, including a housing 1, an air supply device 4 and a liquid supply device 5. The hot plate module 2 and the TCP module 3 are both arranged in the housing 1, and the air supply device 4 is connected to the housing 1. A circulating waterway is evenly distributed in the conveying hand 31 of the TCP module 3, and the circulating waterway is connected to the liquid supply device 5. The liquid supply device 5 transports cooling liquid into the circulating waterway. There is no specific shape requirement for the circulating waterway, and uniform cooling can be achieved.

[0029] The cooling work is completed in the shell 1. The shell 1 is set to provide the required closed environment for the cooling work. The air supply device 4 introduces low-humidity gas into the shell 1 after the wafer 6 is baked to achieve preliminary cooling. The circulating water circuit on the conveyor hand 31 can cool the wafer 6 and the hot core 22. The liquid supply device 5 is set to two groups, and supplies liquids of different temperatures respectively. The circulating water circuits are evenly distributed in the conveyor hand 31 and cover the conveyor hand 31, which can achieve uniform cooling.

[0030] Based on the above cooling system, this solution provides a method for rapid cooling of a hot plate, comprising the following steps:

[0031] S1: Figure 1 As shown, after the heating of the wafer 6 is completed, the hot plate cover 21 is lifted, and the air is continuously pumped out of the shell 1. At the same time, the air supply device 4 supplies a relatively low humidity gas with a relative humidity of 0-20% into the shell 1. The gas is a normal temperature gas. While supplying gas into the shell 1, the air pumping device pumps high temperature gas out of the shell 1 to achieve gas replacement until the temperature at the hot core 22 changes from temperature 1 to temperature 2. The above operation can suck out the high temperature airflow in the hot plate module 2, and the gas flows near the hot core and the wafer 6, initially absorbing the heat of the hot core and the wafer 6, so that the hot core 22 and the wafer 6 are reduced from the extremely high temperature 1 to the higher temperature 2 (the specific temperature is set according to the use requirements), and it can avoid the hot core 22 from rapidly reducing the temperature from a high temperature, resulting in a large temperature change and cracking; and avoid the wafer 6 from rapidly reducing the temperature from a high temperature, resulting in the warping of the wafer 6.

[0032] After the initial cooling is achieved through the above-mentioned gas replacement, liquid cooling is then carried out, specifically:

[0033] S2: Figure 2 As shown, the first coolant is introduced into the circulating water circuit of the transfer hand 31, and the transfer hand 31 moves to the top of the hot core to obtain the wafer 6, and cools the wafer 6 and the hot core 22 at the same time, so that the temperature of the wafer and the hot core changes to temperature 3. The first coolant is a room temperature liquid. When the transfer hand 31 obtains the wafer 6, the temperature difference between the surface temperature of the transfer hand 31 and the wafer 6 and the hot core 22 is large, and the heat emitted by the wafer 6 and the hot core can be quickly absorbed, so that the wafer 6 and the hot core 22 change from a higher temperature 2 to a medium temperature 3, and the temperature 3 is still higher than the room temperature.

[0034] S3: Figure 3 As shown, the transfer hand 31 then moves to the wafer 6 handover position, and the second coolant having a lower temperature than the first coolant is introduced through the liquid supply device 5, so that the liquid in the transfer hand 31 is converted from the first coolant to the second coolant. The first coolant and the second coolant are the same liquid, which can prevent the first coolant and the second coolant from becoming impurities in each other, such as by introducing pure water.

[0035] When the normal temperature water is used to cool the wafer 6, the temperature of the wafer 6 gradually decreases, and the temperature difference between the transfer hand 31 and the wafer 6 gradually decreases. The wafer 6 and the transfer hand 31 exchange heat by thermal convection, and the temperature difference is small, which results in a long time for the wafer 6 to decrease from medium temperature to room temperature, which is not conducive to improving the transfer efficiency of the wafer 6. Therefore, by switching to a liquid with a lower temperature, making the temperature of the transfer hand 31 lower than room temperature, and increasing the temperature difference between the transfer hand 31 and the wafer 6, the wafer 6 can reach the target temperature faster. In addition, since the gas supply device in S1 supplies gas with low humidity into the shell 1, the overall humidity of the gas in the shell 1 is reduced, which can prevent the surface of the transfer hand 31 from condensing to form water droplets when the temperature continues to decrease, which has an adverse effect on the wafer 6.

[0036] S4: Figure 4 As shown, after the S3 cooling step, the wafer 6 is obtained by an external robot, and then the transfer arm 31 moves to the top of the hot core 22 to cool the hot core 22 to room temperature. The cooling process is the same as the S3 step.

[0037] At the same time, as another embodiment of this scheme, after step S2, this scheme may not move the transfer hand 31 to the wafer 6 handover position. After detecting that the temperature of the hot core reaches temperature three, directly switch to the second coolant with a lower temperature, and cool the wafer 6 and the hot plate at the same time. This saves the movement process of the transfer hand 31 and the cooling speed is faster. Whether to transfer the wafer 6 before cooling can be selected according to the actual cooling needs.

[0038] The hot plate rapid cooling system of this scheme, on the basis of the existing scheme, only sets the hot plate in the housing 1, and additionally sets the gas supply device 4 and the liquid supply device 5, with little modification to the system. This scheme performs three cooling treatments on the hot plate and the wafer 6, and the amplitude of each cooling is controlled within the tolerance range of the hot plate core and the wafer 6, and ensures that the temperature difference of each cooling is large, which can quickly take away the heat of the hot plate and the wafer 6, so that the hot plate and the wafer 6 can be quickly and safely reduced to the target temperature.

[0039] Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field and related fields without creative work should fall within the scope of protection of the present invention. The structures, devices and operating methods not specifically described and explained in the present invention are implemented according to the conventional means in the field unless otherwise specified and limited.

Claims

1. A hot plate rapid cooling system, characterized in that: It includes a shell, an air supply device and a liquid supply device. The hot plate module and the TCP module are both arranged in the shell, and the air supply device is connected to the shell. A circulating water circuit is distributed in the transmission hand of the TCP module, and the circulating water circuit is connected to the liquid supply device. The liquid supply device transports coolant into the circulating water circuit.

2. A hot plate rapid cooling system, characterized in that: The circulating water channels are evenly distributed in the conveying arm and cover the entire conveying arm.

3. A hot plate rapid cooling system, characterized in that: The liquid supply device is arranged in two groups, and supplies liquids of different temperatures respectively.

4. A hot plate rapid cooling method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The steps include: S1: After the wafer is heated, the hot plate cover is lifted, and the gas supply device supplies low-humidity gas into the shell to replace the gas in the hot plate, and the temperature at the hot core changes from temperature 1 to temperature 2; S2: introducing a first coolant into the circulating water path of the transfer arm, moving the transfer arm to the top of the hot core, obtaining the wafer, and cooling the wafer and the hot core to make the temperature of the wafer and the hot core reach temperature three; S3: After the transfer arm moves to the wafer handover position, the liquid in the transfer arm is converted from the first coolant to the second coolant; S4: After the wafer is obtained by the external robot, the transfer arm moves over the hot core and cools the hot core to room temperature.

5. A method for rapid cooling of a hot plate according to claim 4, characterized in that: The relative humidity of the gas supplied by the supply device in S1 is 0-20%.

6. A method for rapid cooling of a hot plate according to claim 4, characterized in that: The values ​​of temperature one, temperature two and temperature three decrease in sequence.

7. A method for rapid cooling of a hot plate according to claim 6, characterized in that: The temperature three is higher than room temperature.

8. A method for rapid cooling of a hot plate according to claim 4, characterized in that: The first coolant is a liquid at room temperature, and the temperature of the second coolant is lower than that of the first coolant.

9. A method for rapid cooling of a hot plate according to claim 4, characterized in that: The first coolant and the second coolant are the same liquid.

10. A method for rapid cooling of a hot plate according to claim 9, characterized in that: The first coolant and the second coolant are both pure water.

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