Semiconductor processing device with wafer lifting and rotating mechanism and lifting and rotating method

Abstract

The invention discloses a semiconductor processing device with a wafer lifting and rotating mechanism and a wafer lifting and rotating method. The semiconductor processing device comprises a wafer lifting and rotating mechanism for driving a wafer to lift and rotate. The wafer lifting rotation mechanism comprises a rotation assembly, a lifting assembly and a leveling mechanism. The lifting assembly is provided with a lifting mechanism, a first connecting piece connected with the lifting mechanism, and a distance measuring device for measuring the distance to the first connecting piece; the autorotation assembly is provided with a rotating mechanism and a rotating angle measuring device for measuring the rotating angle of the rotating mechanism, and the rotating mechanism and the first connecting piece are connected and leveled through the leveling device.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to semiconductor equipment, in particular to wafer lifting and rotating equipment. Background Art

[0002] With the development of semiconductor technology, the uniformity of the thin film deposited on the wafer is an important factor affecting the performance of semiconductor devices. The uniformity of the thin film is affected by the direction and distribution of the airflow in the reaction chamber, the pressure and temperature distribution, the intensity and distribution of the plasma field in the reaction chamber, etc., which will cause the thin film deposited on the surface of the wafer to have uneven thickness, uneven composition, and uneven physical properties. In addition to improving the uniformity of the heater temperature field, reaction gas and plasma distribution, the rotation of the wafer in the reaction chamber is also an important means to improve the performance.

[0003] In the prior art, the wafer rotation device is generally set in the reaction chamber, and the rotating device is open-loop controlled without feedback. The feedback of the lifting device is also limited to whether it is in place, and the position deviation cannot be fed back. For example, when the moving connection parts are loose, the rotation angle of the motor and the displacement or rotation angle of the load will deviate. The above application cannot identify these deviations and cause inaccurate wafer position. In addition, the wafer on the rotating mechanism will also produce position deviation due to the centrifugal force generated by the rotation, affecting the wafer quality. Summary of the invention

[0004] In order to overcome the defects in the prior art, the present invention provides a semiconductor processing device having a wafer lifting and rotating mechanism and a wafer lifting and rotating method.

[0005] The wafer lifting and rotating mechanism drives the wafer to lift and rotate, and the wafer lifting and rotating mechanism comprises: a rotating component, a lifting component and a leveling mechanism.

[0006] The lifting assembly comprises a lifting mechanism, a first connecting member connected to the lifting mechanism, and a distance measuring device for measuring the distance to the first connecting member.

[0007] The self-rotating assembly comprises a rotating mechanism and a rotating angle measuring device for measuring the rotating angle of the rotating mechanism. The rotating mechanism is connected and leveled with the first connecting member through the leveling device.

[0008] In one embodiment, the semiconductor processing apparatus further comprises:

[0009] A processing chamber, wherein the wafer lifting and rotating mechanism is arranged below the outer side of the processing chamber;

[0010] The blowing mechanism is located at the top of the processing chamber and is concentric with the rotation assembly. When the wafer lifting and rotating mechanism lifts the wafer to a desired height, the blowing mechanism blows inert gas toward the surface of the wafer while the wafer lifting and rotating mechanism rotates the wafer.

[0011] In one embodiment, the semiconductor processing apparatus further comprises:

[0012] Wafer supports are fixed on both sides of the processing chamber and are used to receive the wafer.

[0013] In one embodiment, the lifting assembly further comprises:

[0014] A first driving mechanism, used for providing power;

[0015] A first coupling connected between the first driving mechanism and the lifting mechanism;

[0016] The first fixing member is used to fix the first driving mechanism. One end of the first fixing member is fixed to the outer bottom of the processing chamber, and the other end is fixedly connected to the first driving mechanism.

[0017] In one embodiment, the first connecting member has a horizontal portion and a vertical portion; the vertical portion is installed on one side of the lifting mechanism so that the first connecting member rises and falls with the lifting mechanism; the horizontal portion is used to connect with the rotation component.

[0018] In one embodiment, the horizontal part has two through holes; the distance between the two through holes accommodates the main body width of the self-rotating component; the leveling device passes through the two through holes of the horizontal part of the first connecting member, fixes the horizontal part of the first connecting member to the self-rotating component, and performs leveling.

[0019] In one embodiment, the distance measuring device comprises a laser distance measuring sensor, and the laser emitted by the laser distance measuring sensor is aimed at the bottom of the vertical part.

[0020] In one embodiment, the self-rotating assembly further comprises:

[0021] A second driving mechanism, used for providing power;

[0022] A second coupling connected between the second driving mechanism and the rotating mechanism;

[0023] A second fixing member, which fixes and connects the second driving mechanism and the rotating mechanism together, wherein the second fixing member has a space inside, and the space accommodates the second coupling and the rotation angle measuring device;

[0024] A bellows connected between the outer bottom of the processing chamber and the rotating mechanism;

[0025] a support plate, located inside the processing chamber and connected to the rotating shaft of the rotating mechanism;

[0026] Wherein, the rotation angle measuring device includes an encoder, which is located in the space of the second fixing member and installed on the lower end of the rotating shaft of the rotating mechanism, and one side of the encoder is connected to the side wall of the second fixing member.

[0027] In one embodiment, the rotating mechanism includes a magnetic fluid seal, which is used to drive the support plate to rotate and perform rotational sealing; the rotating mechanism also has a second connecting member, which has two through holes, and the positions of the two through holes of the horizontal part of the first connecting member correspond to the positions of the two through holes of the first connecting member. The leveling device passes through the two through holes of the second connecting member and the two through holes of the first connecting member to fix the first connecting member of the lifting assembly with the rotation assembly.

[0028] In one embodiment, when the second driving mechanism rotates, the second coupling drives the rotating shaft of the magnetic fluid seal to rotate. At this time, the support plate fixed on the rotating shaft of the magnetic fluid seal drives the wafer to complete the wafer rotation requirement through its support point in contact with the wafer; the encoder fixed on the magnetic fluid seal also rotates with the rotating shaft of the magnetic fluid seal to measure the actual rotation angle of the rotating shaft.

[0029] The present invention also provides a method for performing wafer lifting and self-rotation using the semiconductor processing device as described above, the method comprising, but not limited to, the following steps:

[0030] a. The lifting assembly rises and lifts the wafer from the wafer holder to a set height H;

[0031] b. The distance measuring device detects the actual lifting height L of the lifting assembly S =L C -L0, where L0 is the distance between the lifting assembly and the first connecting member measured by the distance measuring device when the lifting assembly is in the lowest position; C The distance measuring device measures the distance between the lifting assembly and the first connecting member during the lifting process;

[0032] c. Determine H-Tol≤L S ≤H+Tol, where Tol is the allowable lifting error; if so, execute step d; if not, alarm and call for manual processing.

[0033] d. The blowing mechanism starts to blow inert gas toward the wafer surface at a fixed pressure;

[0034] e. The rotation assembly rotates and drives the wafer to rotate at a set angle δ;

[0035] f. The rotation angle measuring device detects the actual rotation angle δ1 of the rotation axis of the rotating mechanism;

[0036] g. Determine whether δ-Tol'≤δ1≤δ+Tol' is established, where Tol' is the allowable rotation error; if established, execute step h; if not established, the blowing mechanism stops blowing, alarms and calls manual processing;

[0037] h. The blowing mechanism stops blowing;

[0038] i. The lifting assembly descends to a set height H and places the wafer on the wafer holder;

[0039] j. The distance measuring device detects the descending height L of the lifting assembly S =L C -L0;

[0040] k. Determine H-Tol≤L S ≤H+Tol is established. If so, the wafer rotation is completed, and the robot takes the wafer out of the processing chamber and sends it to the next station; if not, an alarm is issued and manual processing is called.

[0041] The present invention adds a measuring device for detecting displacement and rotation angle to the lifting and rotating mechanism, and can add an accurate feedback confirmation mechanism and closed-loop stroke measurement on the basis of the driving mechanism making motion judgments according to demand and its own accuracy, thereby improving the safety and accuracy of the mechanism operation and eliminating the occurrence of inaccurate movement caused by problems such as loosening of the rotating connection mechanism.

[0042] In addition, the present invention adds a blowing mechanism concentric with the wafer at the top of the chamber where the wafer rotates. In the vacuum chamber, the pressure difference between the upper and lower surfaces of the wafer is increased, so that the wafer is subjected to a certain additional pressure while bearing its own gravity. Compared with the device without the blowing mechanism under the same conditions, the friction between the wafer and the supporting mechanism is increased, which prevents the wafer from shifting in position due to centrifugal force and other reasons during rotation, thereby ensuring the accuracy of the wafer position. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0043] The above invention content and the following specific embodiments of the present invention will be better understood when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the accompanying drawings are only examples of the claimed invention. In the accompanying drawings, the same reference numerals represent the same or similar elements.

[0044] Figure 1 A schematic diagram showing the internal state of a semiconductor processing device without lifting and rotating according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0045] Figure 2 A schematic diagram showing the internal state of a semiconductor processing device during a rotation process according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0046] Figure 3 A lifting assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown;

[0047] Figure 4 A self-rotation assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0048] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of a support plate according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0049] Figure 6 A flow chart of an application method of a wafer lifting and rotating mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0050] The detailed features and advantages of the present invention are described in detail in the specific embodiments below, and the content is sufficient to enable any person skilled in the art to understand the technical content of the present invention and implement it accordingly, and according to the description, claims and drawings disclosed in this specification, those skilled in the art can easily understand the relevant purposes and advantages of the present invention. 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 embodiment. On the contrary, the purpose of introducing the invention in conjunction with the embodiment 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, many specific details will be included in the following description. 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.

[0051] 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.

[0052] 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.

[0053] It is understood that although the terms "first", "second", "third", etc. may be used herein to describe various components, channels, components, regions, layers and / or parts, these components, channels, components, regions, layers and / or parts should not be limited by these terms, and these terms are only used to distinguish different components, channels, components, regions, layers and / or parts. In addition, the terms "first", "second", "third" are used for descriptive purposes only and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0054] As shown in this application and claims, unless the context clearly indicates an exception, the words "a", "an", "an" and / or "the" do not refer to the singular and may also include the plural. Generally speaking, the terms "include" and "comprise" only indicate the inclusion of the steps and elements that have been clearly identified, and these steps and elements do not constitute an exclusive list. The method or device may also include other steps or elements.

[0055] In some embodiments, numbers describing the number of components and attributes are used. It should be understood that such numbers used in the description of the embodiments are modified by the modifiers "about", "approximately" or "substantially" in some examples. Unless otherwise specified, "about", "approximately" or "substantially" indicate that the numbers are allowed to vary by ±20%. Accordingly, in some embodiments, the numerical parameters used in the specification and claims are approximate values, which may change according to the required features of individual embodiments. In some embodiments, the numerical parameters should take into account the specified significant digits and adopt the general method of retaining digits. Although the numerical domains and parameters used to confirm the breadth of their range in some embodiments of the present application are approximate values, in specific embodiments, the setting of such numerical values ​​is as accurate as possible within the feasible range.

[0056] At the same time, the present application uses specific words to describe the embodiments of the present application. For example, "one embodiment", "an embodiment", and / or "some embodiments" refer to a certain feature, structure or characteristic related to at least one embodiment of the present application. Therefore, it should be emphasized and noted that "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" or "an alternative embodiment" mentioned twice or more in different positions in this specification does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. In addition, some features, structures or characteristics in one or more embodiments of the present application can be appropriately combined.

[0057] In the prior art, the wafer rotation device is generally set in the reaction chamber, and the rotating device is open-loop controlled without feedback. The feedback of the lifting device is also limited to whether it is in place, and the position deviation cannot be fed back. For example, when the moving connection parts are loose, the rotation angle of the motor and the displacement or rotation angle of the load will deviate. The above application cannot identify these deviations and cause inaccurate wafer position. In addition, the wafer on the rotating mechanism will also produce position deviation due to the centrifugal force generated by the rotation, affecting the wafer quality.

[0058] The present invention can accurately identify the load position by adding a displacement detection device and a rotation angle detection device, and can effectively reduce the occurrence of wafer deviation by adding an air blowing device.

[0059] Figure 1 A schematic diagram showing the internal state of a semiconductor processing equipment without lifting and rotating according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. Figure 2 A schematic diagram showing the internal state of a semiconductor processing device during a rotation process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0060] Combination Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, the semiconductor processing equipment includes, but is not limited to, a wafer lifting and rotating mechanism 101 , an air blowing mechanism 102 , a wafer support 103 , and a processing chamber 104 .

[0061] The wafer lifting and rotating mechanism 101 is installed at the lower outer side of the processing chamber 104 to drive the wafer to be lifted and rotated.

[0062] The wafer lifting and rotating mechanism 101 includes a rotating assembly 107 , a lifting assembly 106 and a leveling mechanism 105 , wherein the lifting assembly 106 and the rotating assembly 107 are connected and leveled via a leveling device 105 .

[0063] The blowing mechanism 102 is located at the top of the processing chamber 104, concentric with the rotation assembly 107, and the clean gas can be evenly blown to the center of the wafer located on the rotation assembly 107. After the wafer lifting and rotation mechanism 101 lifts the wafer to the desired height, the blowing mechanism 102 blows inert gas to the surface of the wafer. The purpose of adding the blowing mechanism is to increase the pressure difference between the upper and lower surfaces of the wafer, so that the wafer is subjected to a certain amount of additional pressure while bearing its own gravity. Compared with the device without the blowing mechanism under the same conditions, the friction between the wafer and the supporting mechanism is increased, which prevents the wafer from being offset due to centrifugal force and other reasons during the rotation process, thereby ensuring the accuracy of the wafer position.

[0064] The wafer supports 103 are fixed on both sides of the processing chamber 104 for receiving wafers.

[0065] During operation, the vacuum robot transfers the wafer into the processing chamber 104 and places it on the wafer holder 103. Then the lifting assembly 106 rises and lifts the wafer from the wafer holder 103. At this time, the blowing mechanism 102 blows clean inert gas into the chamber, and then the rotation assembly 107 starts to rotate at the required angle δ (0<δ≤360). After the rotation is completed, the blowing mechanism 102 stops blowing, and the lifting assembly 106 descends to place the wafer on the wafer holder 103. Then the robot takes out the wafer and transfers it to the next station.

[0066] Figure 3 FIG. 2 shows a lifting assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 3 As shown, the lifting assembly includes a first driving mechanism 301 , a first coupling 302 , a lifting mechanism 303 , a first fixing member 304 , a first connecting member 305 and a distance measuring device 307 .

[0067] The first driving mechanism 301 is used to provide power.

[0068] In one embodiment, the first driving mechanism 301 may include only a motor, such as a servo motor, or may include a motor and a reducer assembly.

[0069] The first coupling 302 is connected between the first driving mechanism 301 and the lifting mechanism 303 , and is used to transmit the power generated by the first driving mechanism 301 to the lifting mechanism 303 .

[0070] The lifting mechanism 303 includes a ball screw assembly for performing lifting motion.

[0071] The first fixing member 304 is used to fix the first driving mechanism 301 . One end of the first fixing member 304 is fixed to the outer bottom of the processing chamber 104 , and the other end is fixedly connected to the first driving mechanism 301 .

[0072] The first connecting member 305 has a horizontal part and a vertical part. The vertical part is installed on one side of the lifting mechanism 303, so that the first connecting member 305 rises and falls with the lifting and falling of the lifting mechanism 303. The horizontal part is used to connect with the self-rotating component to further drive the self-rotating component to rise and fall. There are two through holes on the horizontal part. The distance between the two through holes can accommodate the main body width of the assembly rotation component.

[0073] Combined with reference Figure 1 and Figure 2 The leveling device 105 passes through the two through holes of the horizontal portion of the first connecting member 305, fixes the horizontal portion of the first connecting member 305 to the rotation assembly, and performs leveling.

[0074] The distance measuring device 307 is installed on one side of the first driving mechanism 301 to measure the distance between the distance measuring device 307 and the first connecting member 305 .

[0075] In one embodiment, the distance measuring device 307 includes a laser distance measuring sensor. The laser 307 emitted by the laser distance measuring sensor is aimed at the bottom of the vertical portion of the first connecting member 305 to measure the distance between the distance measuring device 307 and the first connecting member 305 .

[0076] When the lifting assembly is at the lowest position, the distance measuring device measures the distance between it and the first connecting member, assuming it is L0. When the first driving mechanism rotates, the lifting mechanism can be driven up / down through the first coupling. At this time, the distance measuring device can display the distance change of the lifting mechanism in real time. Assume that the distance between the distance measuring device and the first connecting member is L C , then the distance the lifting assembly moves is L S =L C -L0.

[0077] By comparing Ls with the expected rising or falling height H in real time, it is determined whether the rising or falling position of the lifting component meets the requirements.

[0078] In one embodiment, let the lifting allowable error be Tol, then H-Tol≤L S ≤H+Tol, it is considered that the lifting height of the lifting component meets the requirements; if not, an alarm will be issued and manual processing will be called.

[0079] Figure 4 FIG. 2 shows a self-rotating assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 4 As shown, the self-rotation assembly includes a second driving mechanism 401 , a second coupling 402 , a rotating mechanism 403 , a second fixing member 404 , a bellows 405 , a supporting plate 406 and a rotation angle measuring device 407 .

[0080] The second driving mechanism 401 is used to provide power.

[0081] In one embodiment, the second driving mechanism 401 may include only a motor, such as a servo motor, or may include a motor and a reducer assembly.

[0082] The second coupling 402 is connected between the second driving mechanism 401 and the rotating mechanism 403 , and is used to transmit the power generated by the second driving mechanism 401 to the rotating mechanism 403 .

[0083] The rotating mechanism 403 includes a magnetic fluid seal, which is used to drive the support plate 406 to rotate and perform a rotary seal. The rotating mechanism 403 also has a second connecting member 408, which has two through holes, and the positions of the two through holes in the horizontal part of the first connecting member 305 correspond to each other. Figure 1 and Figure 2The leveling device 105 shown passes through the two through holes of the second connecting member 408 and the two through holes of the first connecting member 305 to fix and level the lifting assembly and the rotating assembly so that the lifting assembly can drive the rotating mechanism to perform lifting and lowering movements.

[0084] The second fixing member 404 fixes and connects the second driving mechanism 401 and the rotating mechanism 403. The second fixing member 404 has a space inside, and the space accommodates the second coupling 402 and the rotation angle measuring device 407.

[0085] The bellows 405 is connected between the outer bottom of the processing chamber and the rotating mechanism 403 .

[0086] The support disk 406 is located inside the processing chamber and is connected to the rotating shaft of the rotating mechanism 403 . The rotating mechanism 403 drives the support disk 406 to rotate.

[0087] The rotation angle measuring device 407 is located inside the second fixing member 1404 and mounted on the lower end of the rotating shaft of the rotating mechanism 403 to measure the rotation angle δ1 of the rotating mechanism 403. Meanwhile, one side of the rotation angle measuring device 407 is connected to the inner side wall of the second fixing member 404.

[0088] When the second driving mechanism 401 rotates, the rotation axis of the magnetic fluid seal is driven to rotate by a set angle δ through the second coupling 402. At this time, the support plate 406 fixed on the rotation axis of the magnetic fluid seal can drive the wafer to complete the wafer rotation requirement through its supporting point in contact with the wafer. At the same time, the rotation angle measuring device 407 fixed on the magnetic fluid seal that can measure the rotation angle also rotates with the rotation axis of the magnetic fluid seal, and the actual rotation angle δ1 of the rotation axis can be measured.

[0089] By comparing the actual rotation angle δ1 with the set rotation angle δ in real time, it is determined whether the rotation angle of the rotation component meets the requirements.

[0090] In one embodiment, assuming that the allowable rotation error is Tol', when δ-Tol'≤δ1≤δ+Tol' is satisfied, it is considered that the rotation angle of the rotation component meets the requirement; if not, an alarm is issued and manual processing is called.

[0091] In one embodiment, the support plate 406 may be a 5-point support plate (eg Figure 5 It can also be a support plate with 3 or other number of support points.

[0092] In one embodiment, the rotation angle measuring device 407 includes an encoder, which is fixed on the magnetic fluid seal and rotates along with the rotating shaft of the magnetic fluid seal, and can measure the rotation angle δ1 of the rotating shaft.

[0093] It should be pointed out that the encoder used for rotation angle measurement may have other installation methods or detection principles according to its measurement principle. For example, a contact sensor may be used to detect the rotation position by a variable resistor whose resistance changes in proportion to the rotation angle; another example may be an optical code disk, which opens a slit in the radial direction of a rotating disk called a code disk installed on the rotating shaft, and uses a light sensor to detect whether the light passes through the slit. When passing through the slit, the light pulse signal changes, and the rotation angle of the rotating shaft can be known by counting the number of pulses; another example may be a magnetic induction form, in which a magnetic sensor reads the change in the magnetic field distribution generated by the permanent magnet installed on the rotating shaft. When the shaft rotates, the magnetic field distribution of the permanent magnet will also change, so the magnetic sensor can detect the rotation angle of the shaft.

[0094] Figure 6 A flow chart of an application method of a wafer lifting and rotating mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0095] The method includes, but is not limited to, the following steps:

[0096] Step 601: The vacuum robot removes the wafer and prepares to send it to the processing chamber for rotation.

[0097] Step 602: The wafer lifting and rotating mechanism performs a self-check to determine whether the wafer transfer conditions are met, such as whether the lifting and rotating mechanism is in the Home position. If so, execute step 603; if not, execute step 617.

[0098] Step 603: The vacuum robot places the wafer on a vacuum support in the processing chamber.

[0099] Step 604: The lifting assembly rises to lift the wafer from the wafer holder to a set height H.

[0100] Step 605: The distance measuring device detects the actual lifting height L of the moving part of the lifting assembly S =L C -L0. Wherein L0 is the distance between the lifting assembly and the first connecting member measured by the distance measuring device when the lifting assembly is at the lowest position; L C The distance measuring device measures the distance between the lifting assembly and the first connecting member during the lifting process.

[0101] Step 606: Determine whether H-Tol≤L S ≤H+Tol, where Tol is the allowable lifting error; if yes, execute step 607; if not, execute step 617.

[0102] Step 607: The blowing mechanism starts to blow clean inert gas toward the wafer surface at a fixed pressure.

[0103] Step 608: The rotation component rotates and drives the wafer to rotate at a set angle δ.

[0104] Step 609: The rotation angle measuring device detects the actual rotation angle δ1 of the load rotation axis.

[0105] Step 610: Determine whether δ-Tol'≤δ1≤δ+Tol' holds, where Tol' is the rotational allowable error; if so, execute step 611; if not, execute step 613.

[0106] Step 611: The blowing mechanism stops blowing.

[0107] Step 612: The lifting assembly descends to a set height H and places the wafer on the wafer holder.

[0108] Step 613: The blowing mechanism stops blowing, the device alarms, and a call is made for manual processing.

[0109] Step 614: The distance measuring device detects the descending height L of the moving part of the lifting assembly S =L C -L0.

[0110] Step 615: Determine whether H-Tol≤L S ≤H+Tol, where Tol is the allowable lifting error; if yes, execute step 616; if not, execute step 617.

[0111] Step 616: After the wafer rotation is completed, the robot takes the wafer out of the processing chamber and sends it to the next station.

[0112] Step 617: The device alarms and calls for manual processing.

[0113] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative components, modules, blocks, units, circuits, systems, and steps described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented by hardware, software (including firmware, resident software, microcode, etc.), or a combination of the two. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, modules, blocks, units, circuits, systems, and steps are described above in general terms in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system. The technician may implement the described functionality in different ways for each specific application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as resulting in a departure from the scope of the present invention.

[0114] Flowcharts are used in the present application to illustrate the operations or steps performed by the system according to the embodiments of the present application. It should be understood that the preceding or following operations or steps are not necessarily performed accurately in order. On the contrary, various operations or steps may be processed in reverse order or simultaneously. At the same time, other operations or steps may be added to these processes, or one or more operations or steps may be removed from these processes.

[0115] Unless explicitly stated in the claims, the order of the processing elements and sequences, the use of alphanumeric characters, or the use of other names described in the present application are not intended to limit the order of the processes and methods of the present application.

[0116] Furthermore, aspects of the present application may take the form of a computer product embodied in one or more computer-readable media including computer-readable program code.

[0117] A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal containing computer program code, such as in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. The propagated signal may have a variety of forms, including electromagnetic, optical, etc., or a suitable combination. A computer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium other than a computer readable storage medium, which may be connected to an instruction execution system, device or apparatus to communicate, propagate or transmit a program for use. The program code on the computer readable signal medium may be propagated through any suitable medium, including radio, cable, fiber optic cable, RF, or similar media, or any combination of the above media.

[0118] The computer program coding required for the operation of each part of the application can be written in any one or more programming languages, including object-oriented programming languages ​​such as Java, Scala, Smalltalk, Eiffel, JADE, Emerald, C++, C#, VB.NET, Python, etc., conventional procedural programming languages ​​such as C language, Visual Basic, Fortran 2003, Perl, COBOL 2002, PHP, ABAP, dynamic programming languages ​​such as Python, Ruby and Groovy, or other programming languages, etc. The program coding can be run completely on the user's computer, or run on the user's computer as an independent software package, or run partly on the user's computer and partly on the remote computer, or run completely on the remote computer or server. In the latter case, the remote computer can be connected to the user's computer through any network form, such as a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or connected to an external computer (e.g., via the Internet), or in a cloud computing environment, or used as a service such as software as a service (SaaS).

[0119] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that information, signals, and data may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips cited throughout the above description may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, optical fields or optical particles, or any combination thereof.

[0120] The steps of the method or algorithm described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein may be directly embodied in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. The software module may reside in a RAM memory, a flash memory, a ROM memory, an EPROM memory, an EEPROM memory, a register, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to a processor so that the processor can read and write information from / to the storage medium. In an alternative, a storage medium may be integrated into a processor. In an alternative, a processor and a storage medium may reside in a user terminal as discrete components.

[0121] In one or more exemplary embodiments, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented as a computer program product in software, each function may be stored on or transmitted by a computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or codes. Computer-readable media include both computer storage media and communication media, including any medium that facilitates the transfer of a computer program from one place to another. Storage media may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. As an example and not limitation, such a computer-readable medium may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, disk storage or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store the desired program code in the form of an instruction or data structure and can be accessed by a computer. Any connection is also properly referred to as a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, a server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, a fiber optic cable, a twisted pair, a digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwaves, the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwaves are included in the definition of the medium. Disk and disc as used herein include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray disc, wherein disk often reproduces data magnetically, while disc reproduces data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0122] The terms and expressions used above are for descriptive purposes only, and the present invention should not be limited to these terms and expressions. The use of these terms and expressions does not mean to exclude any equivalent features of the illustrations and descriptions (or parts thereof), and it should be recognized that various modifications that may exist should also be included in the scope of the claims. Other modifications, changes and substitutions may also exist. Accordingly, the claims should be deemed to cover all such equivalents.

[0123] Similarly, it should be noted that in order to simplify the description of the disclosure of this application and thus facilitate the understanding of one or more embodiments of the invention, in the foregoing description of the embodiments of this application, multiple features are sometimes combined into one embodiment, drawing or description thereof. However, this disclosure method does not mean that the features required by the object of this application are more than the features mentioned in the claims.

[0124] Similarly, it should be pointed out that although the present invention has been described with reference to the current specific embodiments, ordinary technicians in this technical field should realize that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the present invention, and various equivalent changes or substitutions may be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. Therefore, as long as the changes and modifications to the above embodiments are within the scope of the essential spirit of the present invention, they will fall within the scope of the claims of this application.

Claims

1. A semiconductor processing device, characterized in that: include: The wafer lifting and rotating mechanism drives the wafer to lift and rotate, and the wafer lifting and rotating mechanism includes: Rotation assembly, lifting assembly and leveling mechanism; The lifting assembly comprises a lifting mechanism, a first connecting member connected to the lifting mechanism, and a distance measuring device for measuring the distance to the first connecting member; The self-rotating assembly comprises a rotating mechanism and a rotating angle measuring device for measuring the rotating angle of the rotating mechanism. The rotating mechanism is connected and leveled with the first connecting member through the leveling device.

2. The semiconductor processing device according to claim 1, wherein: Also includes: A processing chamber, wherein the wafer lifting and rotating mechanism is arranged below the outer side of the processing chamber; A blowing mechanism is located at the top of the processing chamber and is concentric with the rotation assembly. When the wafer lifting and rotating mechanism lifts the wafer to a desired height, the blowing mechanism blows an inert gas toward the surface of the wafer while the wafer lifting and rotating mechanism rotates the wafer. Wafer supports are fixed on both sides of the processing chamber and are used to receive the wafer.

3. The semiconductor processing device according to claim 2, wherein: The lifting assembly also includes: A first driving mechanism, used for providing power; A first coupling connected between the first driving mechanism and the lifting mechanism; The first fixing member is used to fix the first driving mechanism. One end of the first fixing member is fixed to the outer bottom of the processing chamber, and the other end is fixedly connected to the first driving mechanism.

4. The semiconductor processing device according to claim 3, wherein: The first connecting member has a horizontal part and a vertical part; the vertical part is installed on one side of the lifting mechanism, so that the first connecting member rises and falls with the lifting and falling of the lifting mechanism; the horizontal part is used to connect with the rotation component.

5. The semiconductor processing device according to claim 4, wherein: The horizontal part is provided with two through holes; the distance between the two through holes accommodates the main body width of the self-rotating component; the leveling device passes through the two through holes of the horizontal part of the first connecting member, fixes the horizontal part of the first connecting member to the self-rotating component, and performs leveling.

6. The semiconductor processing device according to claim 4, wherein: The distance measuring device includes a laser distance measuring sensor, and the laser emitted by the laser distance measuring sensor is aimed at the bottom of the vertical part.

7. The semiconductor processing device according to claim 1, wherein: The self-rotating assembly also includes: A second driving mechanism, used for providing power; A second coupling connected between the second driving mechanism and the rotating mechanism; A second fixing member, which fixes and connects the second driving mechanism and the rotating mechanism together, wherein the second fixing member has a space inside, and the space accommodates the second coupling and the rotation angle measuring device; A bellows connected between the outer bottom of the processing chamber and the rotating mechanism; a support plate, located inside the processing chamber and connected to the rotating shaft of the rotating mechanism; Wherein, the rotation angle measuring device includes an encoder, which is located in the space of the second fixing member and installed on the lower end of the rotating shaft of the rotating mechanism, and one side of the encoder is connected to the inner side wall of the second fixing member.

8. The semiconductor processing device according to claim 7, wherein: The rotating mechanism includes a magnetic fluid seal, which is used to drive the support plate to rotate and perform rotational sealing; the rotating mechanism also has a second connecting member, which has two through holes, and the positions of the second connecting member correspond to the positions of the two through holes of the horizontal part of the first connecting member. The leveling device passes through the two through holes of the second connecting member and the two through holes of the first connecting member to fix the first connecting member of the lifting assembly with the rotation assembly.

9. The semiconductor processing device according to claim 8, wherein: When the second driving mechanism rotates, the second coupling drives the rotating shaft of the magnetic fluid seal to rotate. At this time, the support plate fixed on the rotating shaft of the magnetic fluid seal drives the wafer to complete the wafer rotation requirement through its supporting point in contact with the wafer; the encoder fixed on the magnetic fluid seal also rotates with the rotating shaft of the magnetic fluid seal to measure the actual rotation angle of the rotating shaft.

10. A method for performing wafer lifting and rotation using the semiconductor processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that: The method comprises: a. The lifting assembly rises and lifts the wafer from the wafer holder to a set height H; b. The distance measuring device detects the actual lifting height L of the lifting assembly S =L C -L0, where L0 is the distance between the lifting assembly and the first connecting member measured by the distance measuring device when the lifting assembly is in the lowest position; C The distance measuring device measures the distance between the lifting assembly and the first connecting member during the lifting process; c. Determine H-Tol≤L S ≤H+Tol, where Tol is the allowable lifting error; if so, execute step d; if not, alarm and call for manual processing. d. The blowing mechanism starts to blow inert gas toward the wafer surface at a fixed pressure; e. The rotation assembly rotates and drives the wafer to rotate at a set angle δ; f. The rotation angle measuring device detects the actual rotation angle δ1 of the rotation axis of the rotating mechanism; g. Determine whether δ-Tol'≤δ1≤δ+Tol' is established, where Tol' is the allowable rotation error; if established, execute step h; if not established, the blowing mechanism stops blowing, alarms and calls manual processing; h. The blowing mechanism stops blowing; i. The lifting assembly descends to a height H and places the wafer on the wafer holder; j. The distance measuring device detects the descending height L of the lifting assembly S =L C -L0; k. Determine H-Tol≤L S ≤H+Tol is established. If so, the wafer rotation is completed, and the robot takes the wafer out of the processing chamber and sends it to the next station; if not, an alarm is issued and manual processing is called.

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