Gas mixing mechanism and thin film deposition equipment

Abstract

The invention provides a gas mixing mechanism and thin film deposition equipment. The gas mixing mechanism comprises a gas distribution block which comprises a gas mixing cavity, the gas mixing cavity comprises a plurality of gas inlets and at least one gas outlet, the gas inlets are connected with corresponding gas sources respectively, and the gas outlets are connected with a process chamber; the axial magnetic suspension bearing stator is used for providing axial magnetic force for the rotor fan blades; the rotor fan blade assembly comprises at least one first magnet and at least one spiral blade extending in the axial direction, and the at least one first magnet is matched with the axial magnetic force provided by the axial magnetic suspension bearing stator, so that the rotor fan blade is suspended in the gas mixing cavity; the rotor fan blades are driven by gas provided by at least one gas inlet to rotate in the axial direction, and the gas provided by the multiple gas inlets is mixed through the spiral blades.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of semiconductor manufacturing, and in particular to a gas mixing mechanism and a thin film deposition device. Background Art

[0002] In the field of thin film deposition technology, when multiple process gases are input simultaneously, the multiple process gases need to be evenly mixed before being input into the process chamber to ensure that the mixed process gases inside the chamber can be evenly distributed.

[0003] In the existing gas mixing structure, when two or more process gases flow in, they are mainly mixed by passive diffusion of gases. However, this passive mixing method is more likely to cause uneven mixing and / or multiple process gases entering the reaction chamber before the reaction is complete, resulting in uneven distribution of the reaction gas inside the chamber, which in turn has a negative impact on the uniformity of thin film deposition. In addition, since the overall structure such as the gas pipeline and the process chamber must be sealed to prevent the process gas from leaking into the external environment, and the driving parts such as motors need to be placed in the external environment, it is difficult for the external motors and other driving parts to directly transmit power to the internal process gas channel to actively mix the multiple process gases.

[0004] In order to overcome the above-mentioned defects of the prior art, a gas mixing technology is urgently needed in the art to make the mixed gas evenly mixed or completely react before entering the shower plate and the reaction chamber, so as to improve the uniformity of thin film deposition. Summary of the invention

[0005] A brief summary of one or more aspects is given below to provide a basic understanding of these aspects. This summary is not an exhaustive overview of all conceived aspects, and is neither intended to identify the key or decisive elements of all aspects nor to define the scope of any or all aspects. Its only purpose is to give some concepts of one or more aspects in a simplified form as a prelude to a more detailed description that will be given later.

[0006] In order to overcome the above-mentioned defects in the prior art, the present invention provides a gas mixing technology for making the mixed gas evenly mixed or completely reacted before entering the shower plate and the reaction chamber, thereby improving the uniformity of thin film deposition.

[0007] Specifically, the mixing mechanism provided according to the first aspect of the present invention includes: a gas separation block, including a gas mixing chamber, wherein the gas mixing chamber includes multiple air inlets and at least one air outlet, the multiple air inlets are respectively connected to corresponding air sources, and the air outlet is connected to a process chamber; an axial magnetic bearing stator, used to provide axial magnetic force to the rotor blades; and the rotor blade assembly, including at least one first magnet and at least one spiral blade extending around the axial direction, wherein the at least one first magnet cooperates with the axial magnetic force provided by the axial magnetic bearing stator to suspend the rotor blades in the gas mixing chamber, and the rotor blades rotate around the axial direction under the impetus of the gas provided by at least one of the air inlets, and mix the gases provided by the multiple air inlets through the spiral blades.

[0008] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present invention, at least one of the air inlets is arranged on the side of the mixing chamber to provide gas to the mixing chamber along the radial direction, and the rotor blade assembly also includes a plurality of power blades, wherein the plurality of power blades are arranged around the circumference of the rotor blade assembly, and the fan surfaces of the power blades are selectively aligned with the air inlet arranged on the side of the mixing chamber, so that under the impetus of the gas provided by the air inlet, the spiral blades are driven to rotate around the axial direction to disturb the multiple gases flowing through them for mixing.

[0009] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present invention, the rotor blade assembly includes a plurality of spiral blades to alternately disturb the plurality of gases flowing therethrough for mixing.

[0010] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present invention, the axial magnetic bearing stator includes a first coil, wherein the first coil is perpendicular to the axial direction to provide the first magnet with a magnetic attraction force that overcomes the gravity of the rotor blade assembly.

[0011] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present invention, the axial magnetic bearing stator also includes a first sensor for sensing the height of the rotor blade assembly to perform negative feedback control of the current in the first coil at a constant height.

[0012] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present invention, the rotor blade assembly also includes a plurality of second magnets distributed along its circumference, and the gas mixing mechanism also includes: a radial magnetic bearing stator, including a plurality of second coils distributed along the circumference of the rotor blade assembly, wherein each of the second coils is respectively perpendicular to the rotating axis of the rotor blade assembly to its radial direction, and is used to provide magnetic attraction or magnetic repulsion to the corresponding second magnet so that the rotor blade assembly is centrally suspended in the gas mixing chamber.

[0013] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present invention, the rotor blade assembly includes multiple layers of second magnets distributed along the circumferential direction, and the radial magnetic bearing stator correspondingly includes multiple layers of second coils distributed along the circumferential direction, which are used to provide magnetic attraction or magnetic repulsion to the corresponding second magnets from multiple upper and lower positions to limit the off-axis torsion of the rotor blade assembly in the mixing chamber.

[0014] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present invention, the radial magnetic bearing stator also includes a plurality of second sensors, wherein each of the second sensors is distributed along the circumference of the rotor blade assembly and is used to sense the distance from the rotor blade assembly to itself, so as to perform constant distance negative feedback control on the current in the corresponding at least one second coil.

[0015] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present invention, the first magnet and the second magnet extend out of the upper part of the mixing chamber to magnetically couple the axial magnetic bearing stator and the radial magnetic bearing stator, and the gas mixing mechanism also includes: an air blocking ring, which is arranged at the top of the mixing chamber and is located under the first magnet and the second magnet, and is used to perform an initial sealing on the top of the mixing chamber; and a sealing cover, which is arranged outside the first magnet and the second magnet, and is used to perform a secondary sealing on the top of the mixing chamber.

[0016] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present invention, the gas outlet of the mixing chamber includes a waist-shaped tube structure, which is used to radially disturb the gas to be output to perform secondary gas mixing on it, and / or the gas separation block also includes a cleaning gas channel, wherein the cleaning gas channel is located between the outer wall of the mixing chamber and the outer wall of the gas separation block, and is used to transmit the cleaning gas provided by the cleaning gas source to the process chamber bypassing the mixing chamber.

[0017] In addition, the thin film deposition equipment provided according to the second aspect of the present invention includes: multiple gas sources for providing a variety of different gases; a process chamber for accommodating wafers to be processed and performing a thin film deposition process on them; and a gas mixing mechanism as described in any one of the first aspects of the present invention, which is arranged between the multiple gas sources and the process chamber, and is used to mix the multiple different gases provided by the multiple gas sources, and then input the obtained mixed gas into the process chamber to perform a thin film deposition process on the wafers therein. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] The above features and advantages of the present invention can be better understood after reading the detailed description of the embodiments of the present disclosure in conjunction with the following drawings. In the drawings, the components are not necessarily drawn to scale, and components with similar related properties or features may have the same or similar reference numerals.

[0019] Figure 1 A schematic structural diagram of a gas mixing mechanism provided according to some embodiments of the present invention is shown.

[0020] Figure 2 A schematic structural diagram of a rotor blade assembly provided according to some embodiments of the present invention is shown.

[0021] Figure 3 A schematic structural diagram of an axial magnetic bearing stator provided according to some embodiments of the present invention is shown.

[0022] Figure 4 A schematic structural diagram of a radial magnetic bearing stator provided according to some embodiments of the present invention is shown.

[0023] Reference numerals:

[0024] 10 gas blocks

[0025] 11 Air Inlet

[0026] 12 Air outlet

[0027] 13 Waist-Shaped Tube

[0028] 20 Axial magnetic bearing stator

[0029] 21 First magnet

[0030] 22 First coil

[0031] 23 Spiral blade

[0032] 24 Power Fan Blades

[0033] 25 Second magnet

[0034] 26 First Sensor

[0035] 27 Axial bearing rotor

[0036] 30 Radial Magnetic Bearing Stator

[0037] 31 Second coil

[0038] 32 Second sensor

[0039] 33 Radial bearing rotor

[0040] 40 Air retaining ring

[0041] 50 Sealing cover DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0042] The following specific embodiments illustrate the implementation of the present invention, and those skilled in the art can easily understand other advantages and effects of the present invention from the contents disclosed in this specification. Although the description of the present invention will be introduced in conjunction with the preferred embodiment, this does not mean that the features of this invention are limited to this implementation. On the contrary, the purpose of introducing the invention in conjunction with the implementation is to cover other options or modifications that may be extended based on the claims of the present invention. In order to provide a deep understanding of the present invention, the following description will include many specific details. The present invention can also be implemented without using these details. In addition, in order to avoid confusion or blurring the focus of the present invention, some specific details will be omitted in the description.

[0043] In the description of the present invention, it should be noted that, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "installed", "connected", and "connected" 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 components. For ordinary technicians in this field, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood according to specific circumstances.

[0044] In addition, the terms "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "top", "bottom", "horizontal" and "vertical" used in the following description should be understood as the directions shown in the paragraph and the related drawings. Such relative terms are only used for the convenience of description and do not mean that the device described therein must be manufactured or operated in a specific direction, and therefore should not be understood as limiting the present invention.

[0045] It is understood that although the terms "first", "second", "third", etc. may be used herein to describe various components, regions, layers and / or parts, these components, regions, layers and / or parts should not be limited by these terms, and these terms are only used to distinguish different components, regions, layers and / or parts. Therefore, the first component, region, layer and / or part discussed below may be referred to as a second component, region, layer and / or part without departing from some embodiments of the present invention.

[0046] In order to overcome the above-mentioned defects in the prior art, the present invention provides a gas mixing technology for making the mixed gas evenly mixed or completely reacted before entering the shower plate and the reaction chamber, thereby improving the uniformity of thin film deposition.

[0047] In some non-limiting embodiments, the gas mixing mechanism provided in the first aspect of the present invention can be configured and implemented in the thin film deposition equipment provided in the second aspect of the present invention. Specifically, the thin film deposition equipment includes: multiple gas sources for providing multiple different gases; a process chamber for accommodating wafers to be processed and performing a thin film deposition process on them; and a gas mixing mechanism as described in any one of the first aspects of the present invention, which is arranged between the multiple gas sources and the process chamber, and is used to mix the multiple different gases provided by the multiple gas sources, and then input the obtained mixed gas into the process chamber to perform a thin film deposition process on the wafers therein.

[0048] Please refer to Figure 1 , Figure 1 A schematic structural diagram of a gas mixing mechanism provided according to some embodiments of the present invention is shown.

[0049] like Figure 1 As shown, the gas mixing mechanism includes a gas distributor block 10, an axial magnetic bearing stator 20 and a rotor blade assembly.

[0050] The gas separation block 10 includes a gas mixing chamber. Here, the gas separation block 10 can be an aluminum block. The gas mixing chamber includes multiple air inlets 11 and at least one air outlet 12, and the multiple air inlets 11 are respectively connected to corresponding air sources, and the air outlet 12 is connected to the process chamber. The axial magnetic bearing stator 20 is used to provide axial magnetic force to the rotor blades. The rotor blade assembly includes at least one first magnet 21 and at least one spiral blade 23 extending axially, wherein at least one first magnet 21 cooperates with the axial magnetic force provided by the axial magnetic bearing stator 20 to suspend the rotor blades in the gas mixing chamber, and the rotor blades rotate axially under the impetus of the gas provided by at least one air inlet 11, and the gases provided by the multiple air inlets 11 are mixed through the spiral blades 23.

[0051] Here, the reaction gas not only serves as a reactant in the input chamber, but also serves as a power source for the rotation of the spiral blade 23. When there is gas input, the power blade 24 rotates accordingly, and when there is no gas input, the power blade 24 automatically stops rotating. This method of actively mixing by driving the spiral blade 23 to rotate through the power blade 24 can ensure that the mixed gas is completely and evenly mixed before entering the spray plate and the reaction chamber.

[0052] Optionally, the gases from the multiple air inlets 11 can be directly blown onto the spiral blades 23 to generate thrust, thereby driving the rotor power blades 24 to rotate around the axis to cooperate with mixing the reactants therein.

[0053] Please refer to Figure 2 , Figure 2 A schematic structural diagram of a rotor blade assembly provided according to some embodiments of the present invention is shown.

[0054] like Figure 2 As shown, at least one air inlet 11 is disposed on the side of the mixing chamber to radially provide gas to the mixing chamber. The rotor blade assembly also includes a plurality of power blades 24, wherein the plurality of power blades 24 are arranged around the axial direction of the rotor blade assembly and selectively aligned with the air inlet 11 disposed on the side of the mixing chamber, so that the spiral blades 23 are driven to rotate around the axial direction under the impetus of the gas provided by the air inlet 11 to disturb the multiple gases flowing through them for mixing.

[0055] Furthermore, the rotor blade assembly includes a plurality of spiral blades 23 to alternately disturb the various gases flowing therethrough for mixing.

[0056] Please refer to Figure 1 and Figure 3 , Figure 3 A schematic structural diagram of an axial magnetic bearing stator provided according to some embodiments of the present invention is shown.

[0057] like Figure 3 As shown, the axial magnetic bearing stator 20 includes a first coil 22, wherein the first coil 22 is perpendicular to the axis to provide a magnetic attraction force to overcome the gravity of the rotor blade assembly to the first magnet 21. Here, the axial magnetic bearing stator 20 can be fixedly installed via a stator bracket.

[0058] Furthermore, the axial magnetic bearing stator 20 also includes a first sensor 26 for sensing the height of the rotor blade assembly, so as to perform negative feedback control of the current in the first coil 22 at a constant height, and then adjust the magnetic force of the axial electromagnet in real time to ensure that the rotor blades can remain suspended. Specifically, the first sensor 26 can reduce the current to reduce the first magnetic force in response to the height increasing, so as to lower the rotor blade assembly. Correspondingly, in response to the height decreasing, the current is increased to increase the first magnetic force, so as to raise the rotor blade assembly.

[0059] Please refer to Figure 1 and Figure 4 , Figure 4 A schematic structural diagram of a radial magnetic bearing stator provided according to some embodiments of the present invention is shown.

[0060] like Figure 4As shown, the rotor blade assembly may also include a plurality of second magnets 25 distributed along its circumference, and the gas mixing mechanism also includes: a radial magnetic bearing stator 30, including a plurality of second coils 31 distributed along the circumference of the rotor blade assembly, wherein each second coil 31 is respectively perpendicular to the rotating shaft of the rotor blade assembly to its radial direction, and is used to provide magnetic attraction or magnetic repulsion to the corresponding second magnet 25, so that the rotor blade assembly is centrally suspended in the gas mixing chamber. Here, the use of the radial magnetic bearing stator 30 can avoid friction caused by contact between the rotor blade assembly and other structural parts, thereby ensuring that a small amount of gas input can also make the rotor blade assembly rotate easily, while avoiding particle problems that may be caused by friction and wear of the rotor blade assembly.

[0061] Furthermore, the first magnet 21 is embedded in the axial bearing rotor 27, and the multiple second magnets 25 are evenly distributed circumferentially and embedded in the radial bearing rotor 33. The magnets are isolated from the process gas in the cavity, and the entire rotor blade assembly in contact with the gas in the cavity is made of corrosion-resistant materials to avoid corrosion by the process gas and the introduction of impurities into the reaction chamber.

[0062] In some embodiments, the rotor blade assembly includes multiple layers of second magnets 25 distributed along the circumferential direction, and the radial magnetic bearing stator 30 correspondingly includes multiple layers of second coils 31 distributed along the circumferential direction, which are used to provide magnetic attraction or magnetic repulsion to the corresponding second magnets 25 from multiple upper and lower positions to limit the off-axis torsion of the rotor blade assembly in the mixing chamber.

[0063] In some embodiments, the radial magnetic bearing stator 30 also includes a plurality of second sensors 32, wherein each second sensor 32 is distributed along the circumference of the rotor blade assembly and is used to sense the distance from the rotor blade assembly to perform constant distance negative feedback control on the current in the corresponding at least one second coil 31.

[0064] In some embodiments, the first magnet 21 and the second magnet 25 extend out of the upper portion of the gas mixing chamber to magnetically couple the axial magnetic bearing stator 20 and the radial magnetic bearing stator 30. The gas mixing mechanism further includes a gas blocking ring 40 and a sealing cover 50.

[0065] The air blocking ring 40 can be formed by bolting two semi-annular structures, and is arranged at the top of the gas mixing chamber and below the first magnet 21 and the second magnet 25. Since there is a gap between the gas mixing chamber and the rotor blade assembly, it is difficult to achieve good sealing. The air blocking ring 40 mainly compresses the space above the power blades of the gas mixing chamber to increase the flow resistance of the gas flowing upward, so that the gas mainly flows downward, and reduces the negative impact of the air flow disturbance above on the stability of the magnetic suspension rotor, and performs the initial gap sealing on the top of the gas mixing chamber.

[0066] The sealing cover 50 is arranged outside the first magnet 21 and the second magnet 25, and is used to perform a secondary absolute seal on the top of the gas mixing chamber. The sealing cover 50 is located on the inner side of the axial magnetic bearing stator 20 and the radial magnetic bearing stator 30 to prevent the process gas from leaking into the external environment. Specifically, a groove is provided on the inner ring of the lower surface of the sealing cover 50, and a sealing ring is embedded in the groove to seal the process gas in the internal cavity of the gas separation block 10.

[0067] In addition, in some embodiments, the gas outlet 12 of the gas mixing chamber includes a waist-shaped tube 13 structure, which is used to radially disturb the gas to be output to perform secondary gas mixing. Specifically, the gas flow diameter is compressed, the collision rate of gas molecules is increased, and the gas mixing effect is improved. The gas separation block 10 also includes a cleaning gas channel, wherein the cleaning gas channel is located between the outer wall of the gas mixing chamber and the outer wall of the gas separation block 10, and is used to transmit the cleaning gas provided by the cleaning gas source to the process chamber to bypass the gas mixing chamber, that is, the gas separation block can be connected to the process gas and the cleaning gas at the same time without affecting each other.

[0068] In summary, the gas mixing mechanism and thin film deposition equipment provided by the present invention can be used to make the mixed gas evenly mixed or completely react before entering the shower plate and the reaction chamber, thereby improving the uniformity of thin film deposition.

[0069] Although the above methods are illustrated and described as a series of actions for simplicity of explanation, it should be understood and appreciated that these methods are not limited by the order of the actions, because according to one or more embodiments, some actions may occur in a different order and / or concurrently with other actions from those illustrated and described herein or not illustrated and described herein but understandable to those skilled in the art.

[0070] The previous description of the disclosure is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the disclosure. Various modifications to the disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not intended to be limited to the examples and designs described herein, but should be granted the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A gas mixing mechanism, characterized in that: include: A gas distribution block, comprising a gas mixing chamber, wherein the gas mixing chamber comprises a plurality of gas inlets and at least one gas outlet, the plurality of gas inlets are respectively connected to corresponding gas sources, and the gas outlet is connected to a process chamber; An axial magnetic bearing stator for providing axial magnetic force to the rotor blades; and The rotor blade assembly includes at least one first magnet and at least one spiral blade extending around the axial direction, wherein the at least one first magnet cooperates with the axial magnetic force provided by the axial bearing stator to suspend the rotor blade in the mixing chamber, and the rotor blade rotates around the axial direction under the impetus of the gas provided by at least one of the air inlets, and mixes the gases provided by multiple air inlets through the spiral blade.

2. The gas mixing mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that: At least one of the air inlets is disposed on a side of the gas mixing chamber to provide gas to the gas mixing chamber in the radial direction. The rotor blade assembly also includes a plurality of power blades, wherein the plurality of power blades are arranged circumferentially around the rotor blade assembly, and the fan surfaces of the power blades are selectively aligned with an air inlet arranged on the side of the mixing chamber, so that the spiral blades are driven to rotate around the axial direction under the impetus of the gas provided by the air inlet to disturb the multiple gases flowing through them for mixing.

3. The gas mixing mechanism according to claim 2, characterized in that: The rotor blade assembly includes a plurality of spiral blades to alternately disturb the plurality of gases flowing therethrough for mixing.

4. The gas mixing mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that: The axial magnetic bearing stator includes a first coil, wherein the first coil is perpendicular to the axial direction to provide the first magnet with a magnetic attraction force that overcomes the gravity of the rotor blade assembly.

5. The gas mixing mechanism according to claim 4, characterized in that: The axial magnetic bearing stator also includes a first sensor for sensing the height of the rotor blade assembly so as to perform negative feedback control of a constant height on the current in the first coil.

6. The gas mixing mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that: The rotor blade assembly further includes a plurality of second magnets distributed along its circumference, and the gas mixing mechanism further includes: The radial magnetic bearing stator comprises a plurality of second coils distributed along the circumference of the rotor blade assembly, wherein each second coil is perpendicular to the rotating axis of the rotor blade assembly to its radial direction, and is used to provide magnetic attraction or magnetic repulsion to the corresponding second magnet so that the rotor blade assembly is centrally suspended in the mixing chamber.

7. The gas mixing mechanism according to claim 6, characterized in that: The rotor blade assembly includes multiple layers of second magnets distributed along the circumferential direction, and the radial magnetic bearing stator correspondingly includes multiple layers of second coils distributed along the circumferential direction, which are used to provide magnetic attraction or magnetic repulsion to the corresponding second magnets from multiple upper and lower positions to limit the off-axis torsion of the rotor blade assembly in the mixing chamber.

8. The gas mixing mechanism according to claim 6, characterized in that: The radial magnetic bearing stator also includes multiple second sensors, wherein each of the second sensors is distributed along the circumference of the rotor blade assembly and is used to sense the distance from the rotor blade assembly to itself, so as to perform constant distance negative feedback control on the current in the corresponding at least one second coil.

9. The gas mixing mechanism according to claim 6, characterized in that: The first magnet and the second magnet extend out of the upper part of the gas mixing chamber to magnetically couple the axial magnetic suspension bearing stator and the radial magnetic suspension bearing stator. The gas mixing mechanism also includes: an air blocking ring, disposed at the top of the gas mixing chamber and located below the first magnet and the second magnet, for initially sealing the top of the gas mixing chamber; and A sealing cover is arranged outside the first magnet and the second magnet and is used for performing secondary sealing on the top of the gas mixing chamber.

10. The gas mixing mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that: The gas outlet of the mixing chamber includes a waist-shaped tube structure for radially disturbing the gas to be output to perform secondary mixing on it, and / or The gas separation block also includes a cleaning gas channel, wherein the cleaning gas channel is located between the outer wall of the gas mixing chamber and the outer wall of the gas separation block, and is used to transmit the cleaning gas provided by a cleaning gas source to the process chamber bypassing the gas mixing chamber.

11. A thin film deposition device, characterized in that: include: Multiple gas sources for providing a variety of different gases; A process chamber is used to accommodate wafers to be processed and perform a thin film deposition process on them; as well as The gas mixing mechanism as described in any one of claims 1 to 10 is arranged between the multiple gas sources and the process chamber, and is used to mix the multiple different gases provided by the multiple gas sources and then input the obtained mixed gas into the process chamber to perform a thin film deposition process on the wafers therein.

Images