Wafer support assembly, its control method, and semiconductor device

Abstract

The present application discloses a wafer support assembly, its control method and a semiconductor device, belonging to the technical field of semiconductor processing. In the wafer support assembly, the support body has a support surface for supporting a wafer, and the support body is installed on a rotating mechanism; the number of the first driving members and the clamping mechanisms is at least three, and they correspond one by one. The plurality of first driving members are installed at intervals below the support surface of the support body along the rotation direction of the rotating mechanism; each clamping jaw is rotatably installed on the support body. One of any corresponding first driving member and second driving member includes an electromagnet. Each electromagnet has a first state and a second state. When the electromagnet is in the first state, the first driving member and the second driving member repel each other, and each clamping jaw contacts the outer edge of the wafer; when the electromagnets are all in the second state, the first driving member and the second driving member attract each other. This wafer support assembly can solve the problem that the overall structure of the current chuck is relatively complex.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application belongs to the technical field of semiconductor processing, and particularly relates to a wafer support assembly, its control method, and a semiconductor device. Background Art

[0002] During the semiconductor processing, the chuck is an important auxiliary mechanism, which is used to support and fix the wafer. And during the process, the chuck can also drive the wafer to rotate, thereby improving the process uniformity of the wafer.

[0003] Currently, the chuck usually adopts the methods of vacuum adsorption and mechanical limit to achieve the purpose of fixing the wafer. For the vacuum adsorption chuck, it needs to be connected to a negative pressure mechanism, and the overall structure is relatively complex. And for the mechanical limit chuck, the jaws usually use two magnetic parts to clamp the wafer. When the wafer needs to be released, usually another movable magnet or a movable push rod is used to change the state of the jaws. The structure of this kind of chuck is also relatively complex, and the control difficulty of the movable device is relatively large. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of the embodiments of this application is to provide a wafer support assembly, its control method, and a semiconductor device to solve the problem that the overall structure of the current chuck is relatively complex.

[0005] In the first aspect, this application discloses a wafer support assembly, which includes a rotating mechanism, a supporting mechanism, and a clamping mechanism. Among them,

[0006] The supporting mechanism includes a supporting body and a first driving member. The supporting body has a supporting surface for supporting the wafer, and the supporting body is installed on the rotating mechanism, and the rotating mechanism is used to drive the supporting body to rotate;

[0007] The number of the first driving members and the clamping mechanisms is at least three. A plurality of the first driving members are installed at intervals below the supporting surface in the supporting body along the rotation direction of the rotating mechanism, and a plurality of the clamping mechanisms are arranged in one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of the first driving members;

[0008] Each of the clamping mechanisms includes a jaw and a second driving member installed on the jaw. Each of the jaws is rotatably installed on the supporting body. One of the corresponding first driving member and the second driving member includes an electromagnet. Each of the electromagnets has a first state and a second state. When the electromagnet is in the first state, the first driving member and the second driving member repel each other, and each of the jaws contacts the outer edge of the wafer; when the electromagnets are all in the second state, the first driving member and the second driving member attract each other.

[0009] Second aspect, the present application discloses a control method for controlling the above-mentioned wafer support assembly, and the control method includes:

[0010] Controlling the first driving current passed through each of the electromagnets to continuously increase to a first current value, so that each of the first driving members repels the corresponding second driving member to clamp the wafer, wherein the first current value is less than a preset value;

[0011] Controlling each of the electromagnets to pass a second driving current, or controlling each of the electromagnets to be powered off, so that each of the first driving members attracts the corresponding second driving member to release the wafer.

[0012] Third aspect, the present application discloses a semiconductor device, which includes the above-mentioned wafer support assembly.

[0013] An embodiment of the present application discloses a wafer support assembly. In its support mechanism, the support body has a support surface, and the wafer can be supported on the support surface. Moreover, the support body is installed on a rotating mechanism so that the support body can drive the wafer to rotate under the action of the rotating mechanism. At the same time, the number of the first driving members and the clamping mechanisms is at least three, and they correspond one by one and are all arranged at intervals along the rotation direction on the support body to provide a good clamping effect on the wafer.

[0014] Furthermore, in the clamping mechanism, the second driving member is installed on the jaw, the jaw is rotatably connected to the support body, and one of any corresponding first driving member and second driving member includes an electromagnet. Based on this, during the use of the wafer support assembly, by making the electromagnet in the first state, the first driving member and the second driving member can be made to repel each other, and the jaws of each clamping mechanism can all contact the outer edge of the wafer, thereby achieving the purpose of clamping and positioning the wafer. Correspondingly, when it is necessary to release the wafer, by switching the electromagnet to the second state, the first driving member and the second driving member can be made to attract each other, and then each jaw releases the wafer, which is convenient for devices such as a manipulator to grab the wafer and complete the purpose of taking the wafer.

[0015] Obviously, in the above-mentioned wafer support assembly disclosed in the embodiment of the present application, the opening and closing processes of the jaws both utilize the mutually cooperating first driving member and second driving member. The overall structure of the wafer support assembly is relatively simple, and during the opening and closing processes of the jaws, there is no need to make the first driving member and the second driving member move relative to the support body by a large range of actions. Only by changing the direction or magnitude of the current passed through the electromagnet, the control difficulty of the wafer support assembly disclosed in the embodiment of the present application is relatively small. Description of the Drawings

[0016] The accompanying drawings described herein are used to provide a further understanding of the present application and form a part of the present application. The illustrative embodiments of the present application and their descriptions are used to explain the present application and do not constitute an improper limitation of the present application. In the drawings:

[0017] Figure 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a part of the structure in the wafer support assembly disclosed in the embodiment of the present application;

[0018] Figure 2 is a sectional view of a part of the structure in the wafer support assembly disclosed in the embodiment of the present application when the electromagnet is in the first state;

[0019] Figure 3 is Figure 2 a partial enlarged view of the structure shown;

[0020] Figure 4 is Figure 3 a partial enlarged view of the structure shown;

[0021] Figure 5 is a schematic sectional view of the clamping mechanism in the wafer support assembly disclosed in the embodiment of the present application;

[0022] Figure 6 is Figure 5 a partial enlarged view of the structure shown;

[0023] Figure 7 is a sectional view of a part of the structure in the wafer support assembly disclosed in the embodiment of the present application when the electromagnet is in the second state;

[0024] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of the control method disclosed in the embodiment of the present application.

[0025] Reference numerals:

[0026] 100 - Rotating mechanism,

[0027] 200 - Support mechanism, 210 - Support body, 211 - Base, 212 - Mounting seat, 212a - First limiting surface, 213 - Support arm, 213a - Hollow channel, 214 - Support block, 220 - First driving member, 230 - Connecting wire cable, 240 - Rotating shaft,

[0028] 300 - Clamping mechanism, 310 - Claw, 311 - Clamping portion, 311a - Clamping surface, 311b - Second limiting surface, 312 - Buckling portion, 320 - Second driving member,

[0029] 410 - Conductive slip ring, 411 - Rotating portion, 412 - Sleeve, 413 - Rotating bearing, 414 - Bearing seat, 415 - First electrical connection portion, 416 - Second electrical connection portion, 420 - Mounting frame,

[0030] 500 - Detection component,

[0031] 900 - Wafer. Detailed implementation manners

[0032] The following will clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of the present application, rather than all the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative efforts belong to the scope of protection of the present application.

[0033] The terms "first", "second", etc. in the specification and claims of the present application are used to distinguish similar objects, rather than to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that such used data can be interchanged under appropriate circumstances so that the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in an order other than those illustrated or described herein, and the objects distinguished by "first", "second", etc. are usually of the same type, and the number of objects is not limited. For example, the first object can be one or multiple. In addition, "and / or" in the specification and claims means at least one of the connected objects, and the character " / " generally represents an "or" relationship between the associated objects before and after.

[0034] As Figures 1-7 shown, the embodiments of the present application disclose a wafer support assembly, which can be used to support the wafer 900. At the same time, the wafer support mechanism 200 can also drive the wafer 900 to rotate. Among them, the wafer support assembly includes a rotation mechanism 100, a support mechanism 200, and a clamping mechanism 300. The rotation mechanism 100 is used to drive the wafer 900 to rotate, the support mechanism 200 provides a supporting effect for the wafer 900, and the clamping mechanism 300 can, by means of clamping, stably support the wafer 900 on the support mechanism 200.

[0035] As Figures 2-4 shown, the support mechanism 200 includes a support body 210 and a first driving member 220. The support body 210 has a support surface for supporting the wafer, that is, the wafer can be supported on the support surface. At the same time, the support body 210 is installed on the rotation mechanism 100. The rotation mechanism 100 can specifically include devices such as a rotation motor, so that the rotation mechanism 100 can drive the support body 210 to rotate. During this process, the support body 210 can also drive the wafer to rotate.

[0036] Of course, in order to ensure that the wafer does not slip relative to the support body 210 when the rotating mechanism 100 drives the wafer to rotate, in the embodiments of the present application, the number of the first driving members 220 and the clamping mechanisms 300 is at least three, and the plurality of first driving members 220 are spaced apart along the rotation direction of the rotating mechanism 100 and mounted on the support body 210. In order to ensure that the overall clamping uniformity of the wafer by the plurality of clamping mechanisms 300 is relatively better and to maximize the reliable clamping effect that the clamping mechanism 300 can provide for the wafer, in a further embodiment of the present application, the plurality of first driving members 220 and the plurality of clamping mechanisms 300 can be evenly distributed along the rotation direction. For example, when the number of the first driving members 220 and the clamping mechanisms 300 is three, the angle between any two adjacent first driving members 220 can be 120°.

[0037] Meanwhile, in order to prevent the first driving member 220 from interfering with the normal supporting effect on the supporting surface, during the layout of the first driving member 220, each first driving member 220 can be located below the supporting surface. It should be noted that in the embodiments of the present application, the vertex of the first driving member 220 can be located in the plane where the supporting surface is located. In order to prevent the wafer from being affected by the contact with the first driving member 220 and thus affecting the cleanliness of the wafer, in the embodiments of the present application, any position on each first driving member 220 can be located below the supporting surface.

[0038] Correspondingly, during the layout of the first driving member 220 and the clamping mechanism 300, it is necessary to set the plurality of clamping mechanisms 300 in one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of first driving members 220, so as to ensure that each first driving member 220 can drive the corresponding clamping mechanism 300 to act and achieve the purpose of clamping the wafer.

[0039] Specifically, each clamping mechanism 300 includes a jaw 310 and a second driving member 320. The second driving member 320 is a device in the clamping mechanism 300 that specifically cooperates with the first driving member 220, and the second driving member 320 is mounted on the jaw 310 so that, under the drive of the first driving member 220, the jaw 310 can move relative to the support body 210. Among them, each jaw 310 is rotatably mounted on the support body 210, so that the jaw 310 can achieve the purpose of clamping and releasing the wafer by rotating relative to the support body 210 in different directions. Specifically, the jaw 310 can be connected to the support body 210 through a rotating shaft 240, so that the jaw 310 and the support body 210 form a rotational mating relationship.

[0040] In order to reduce the operation difficulty and assembly difficulty of the clamping mechanism 300, in the embodiment of the present application, one of any correspondingly arranged first driving member 220 and second driving member 320 includes an electromagnet, and by changing the current direction in the electromagnet, each electromagnet can have a first state and a second state. When the electromagnet is in the first state, the first driving member 220 and the second driving member 320 repel each other. In this case, the first driving member 220 can drive the jaw 310 to rotate relative to the support body 210, and the jaw 310 contacts the outer edge of the wafer. Correspondingly, when each electromagnet is in the first state, each jaw 310 contacts the outer edge of the wafer, so that the wafer can be clamped by a plurality of jaws 310, thereby ensuring that the wafer can be stably supported on the support surface of the support body 210.

[0041] When the electromagnet is in the second state, the first driving member 220 and the second driving member 320 attract each other, so that the jaw 310 can rotate in the opposite direction relative to the support body 210, and further the jaw 310 moves away from the outer edge of the wafer, achieving the purpose of releasing the wafer.

[0042] As described above, the first driving member 220 and the second driving member 320 have the ability to attract and repel each other. Therefore, both of them can include electromagnets. In order to reduce the assembly and control difficulty of the wafer support assembly, in another embodiment of the present application, one of the first driving member 220 and the second driving member 320 includes an electromagnet, and the other can include a permanent magnet. And according to the installation position of the second driving member 320 on the jaw 310, and the setting position of the rotating shaft 240 between the jaw 310 and the support body 210 and other actual situations, the installation position of the first driving member 220 on the support body 210 can be flexibly determined, so that when the first driving member 220 and the second driving member 320 repel or attract each other, the jaw 310 can correspondingly clamp and release the wafer.

[0043] The embodiment of the present application discloses a wafer support assembly. In the support mechanism 200 thereof, the support body 210 has a support surface, and the wafer can be supported on the support surface. And the support body 210 is installed on the rotating mechanism 100, so that under the action of the rotating mechanism 100, the support body 210 can drive the wafer to rotate. At the same time, the number of the first driving members 220 and the clamping mechanism 300 is at least three, and they are in one-to-one correspondence and are arranged on the support body 210 at intervals along the rotation direction, so as to provide a good clamping effect for the wafer.

[0044] Moreover, in the clamping mechanism 300, the second driving member 320 is installed on the jaw 310. The jaw 310 is rotatably connected to the support body 210, and one of any corresponding first driving member 220 and second driving member 320 includes an electromagnet. Based on this, during the use of the wafer support assembly, by making the electromagnet in the first state, the first driving member 220 and the second driving member 320 can be made to repel each other, and the jaws 310 of each clamping mechanism 300 can be made to contact the outer edge of the wafer, so as to achieve the purpose of clamping and positioning the wafer. Correspondingly, when it is necessary to release the wafer, by switching the electromagnet to the second state, the first driving member 220 and the second driving member 320 can be made to attract each other, and then the jaws 310 can release the wafer, which facilitates the grasping of the wafer by devices such as a manipulator to complete the purpose of wafer picking.

[0045] Obviously, in the above-mentioned wafer support assembly disclosed in the embodiment of the present application, the opening and closing processes of the jaws 310 both utilize the mutually cooperating first driving member 220 and second driving member 320. The overall structure of the wafer support assembly is relatively simple, and during the opening and closing processes of the jaws 310, it is not necessary to make the first driving member 220 and the second driving member 320 move relative to the support body 210 by a large range. Only the direction or magnitude of the current passed through the electromagnet needs to be changed, which makes the control difficulty of the wafer support assembly disclosed in the embodiment of the present application relatively small.

[0046] As described above, when it is necessary to clamp the wafer, the electromagnet can be made to be in the first state, and then the first driving member 220 and the second driving member 320 can be made to repel each other, driving the jaws 310 to rotate relative to the support body 210 to achieve the purpose of clamping the wafer. In order to prevent the clamping force applied by the jaws 310 to the wafer from being too large and causing damage to the wafer, in a specific embodiment of the present application, a first limiting surface 212a can be provided on the outer side of the support body 210, and a second limiting surface 311b can be provided on the inner side of each jaw 310. By setting the shapes of the first limiting surface 212a and the second limiting surface 311b, the relative positions between the two, and the dimensions and shapes of the jaws 310 and other parameters, it is possible to make each second limiting surface 311b be limited to the first limiting surface 212a when each electromagnet is in the first state, and then use the first limiting surface 212a to limit each jaw 310 from squeezing and damaging the wafer.

[0047] Certainly, in the embodiments of the present application, as described above, parameters such as the shape, size, and positional relationship of related devices can be designed so that when each second limiting surface 311b is limited to the first limiting surface 212a, each clamping jaw 310 also just contacts the outer edge of the wafer, ensuring that the clamping jaw 310 can provide a reliable clamping and limiting effect on the wafer while not exerting a squeezing effect on the wafer, which can ensure that the clamping jaw 310 does not damage the wafer. More specifically, both the first limiting surface 212a and the second limiting surface 311b can be planar structures to reduce the processing difficulty of the two while ensuring relatively high limiting stability between the two.

[0048] Considering the influence of factors such as processing accuracy, in actual applications, it is usually difficult to ensure that when the second limiting surface 311b is limited to the first limiting surface 212a, there is only a contact relationship between the clamping jaw 310 and the outer edge of the wafer, and there is no force interaction relationship. Furthermore, in order to ensure relatively high clamping stability of the wafer, during the processing, when each clamping jaw 310 just contacts the outer edge of the wafer, each second limiting surface 311b has not yet contacted the first limiting surface 212a, and after each clamping jaw 310 further rotates a relatively small angle in the direction closer to the wafer to generate a clamping force that meets the requirements, each second limiting surface 311b contacts the first limiting surface 212a and is mutually limited. Among them, the magnitude of the aforementioned clamping force can be flexibly determined according to the actual situation of structures such as the wafer and the clamping jaw 310, and it is ensured that under the action of the clamping force of the aforementioned magnitude, the wafer can be relatively stably fixed on the support surface while the clamping force of the clamping jaw 310 will not have an adverse impact on the structure of the wafer, and will not cause damage to the wafer due to squeezing the wafer. It should be noted that the foregoing content does not conflict with the technical solutions defined in the present application.

[0049] As described above, the installation positions of the first driving member 220 and the second driving member 320 are mutually related, and both are related to the position of the rotation shaft 240 of the clamping jaw 310. In a specific embodiment of the application, the end of the support body 210 can be passed through the clamping jaw 310. In this case, the first driving member 220 and the second driving member 320 can both be located outside the rotation shaft 240, and the second driving member 320 is located above the first driving member 220. In this case, when the first driving member 220 and the second driving member 320 repel each other, the second driving member 320 can rotate in a direction away from the first driving member 220, that is, the second driving member 320 can drive the clamping jaw 310 to perform a counterclockwise rotational movement, so that the clamping jaw 310 contacts the outer edge of the wafer to achieve the purpose of clamping the wafer.

[0050] In order to reduce the overall processing difficulty of the wafer support assembly, in another embodiment of the present application, the second driving member 320 can be located below the first driving member 220. Based on this, both the first driving member 220 and the second driving member 320 can be located inside the rotation axis of the jaw 310, so that the jaw 310 is generally located outside the first driving member 220. This facilitates the processing and assembly of the jaw 310. Moreover, in this case, there is no need to provide structures such as perforations on the jaw 310, and thus the structural strength of the jaw 310 is relatively high.

[0051] As described above, the first driving member 220 is installed on the support body 210, the second driving member 320 is installed on the jaw 310, and the jaw 310 is connected to the support body 210 through the rotating shaft 240. Based on this, in order to further reduce the assembly difficulty of the wafer support assembly, in the embodiment of the present application, each first driving member 220 can include an electromagnet, so that the first driving member 220 can utilize the structure of the support body 210 to achieve the purpose of connecting to an external power source, thereby greatly reducing the power connection difficulty of the electromagnet. Specifically, the support body 210 can be provided with a hollow channel 213a, and the power connection cable 230 of the electromagnet is arranged in the hollow channel 213a to be electrically connected to the external power source through the central area of the support body 210. More specifically, the other end of the power connection cable 230 can be electrically connected to the external power source through an annular structure to form a reliable electrical connection relationship with the external power source while ensuring that the power connection cable 230 does not interfere with the rotation of the support body 210. In this case, correspondingly, each second driving member 320 includes a permanent magnet.

[0052] In another embodiment of the present application, the support body 210 can also be connected to the rotating mechanism 100 through a conductive slip ring 410. The conductive slip ring 410 can provide an electrical connection function and does not interfere with the normal driving of the support body 210 by the rotating mechanism 100, so that the power connection reliability of each first driving member 220 can be relatively high.

[0053] Specifically, the conductive slip ring 410 includes a rotating part 411 and a sleeve 412. The sleeve 412 is sleeved outside the rotating part 411, and a rotary bearing 413 is provided between the two, so that the rotating part 411 has the ability to rotate relative to the sleeve 412. The rotary bearing 413 is installed on the bearing seat 414, and the bearing seat 414 is installed on the sleeve 412. During the assembly of the support mechanism 200, by using connecting parts such as bolts and flanges, the rotating shaft of the rotating mechanism 100 can be connected to one end of the rotating part 411, and the support body 210 is installed on the other end of the rotating part 411, so that when the rotating mechanism 100 works, the rotating mechanism 100 can drive the support body 210 to rotate through the rotating part 411.

[0054] Meanwhile, the sleeve 412 can be assembled to the housing of the rotating mechanism 100 through the mounting bracket 420, so that the entire slip ring 410 can form a reliable assembly relationship with the rotating mechanism 100. In addition, the slip ring 410 further includes a first electrical connection portion 415 and a second electrical connection portion 416. One of them is mounted on the rotating portion 411, and the other is mounted on the sleeve 412. The first electrical connection portion 415 and the second electrical connection portion 416 are capable of relative rotation, and they are always in contact with each other to maintain an electrical connection relationship. More specifically, the first electrical connection portion 415 includes a rotating ring and is mounted on the rotating portion 411, and the second electrical connection portion 416 includes a brush and is mounted on the sleeve 412, and the brush contacts the rotating ring, which enables them to maintain an electrical connection state during the relative rotation process. Of course, the connecting wire cable 230 can be connected to the rotating ring, and the brush can also be electrically connected to an external power source through a wire extending outside the sleeve 412.

[0055] In order to further improve the clamping stability of the chuck 310 on the wafer, in a specific embodiment of the present application, the technical solution can be further improved in terms of the directness and effectiveness of the interaction between the first driving member 220 and the second driving member 320, so that the position stability of the wafer clamped by the chuck 310 is relatively higher. Specifically, during the installation of the first driving member 220 and the second driving member 320, the first driving member 220 can be inclined relative to the vertical direction, and when each electromagnet is in the first state, the magnetic pole distribution directions of the first driving member 220 and the second driving member 320 are parallel to each other. More specifically, the straight lines where their magnetic pole distribution directions are located can be collinear, that is, the first driving member 220 and the second driving member 320 are arranged opposite to each other. In this case, the interaction direction between the first driving member 220 and the second driving member 320 is in a straight line direction. Therefore, under other unchanged conditions, the driving force exerted by the first driving member 220 on the chuck 310 can be relatively larger, so that the chuck 310 can be more reliably held at the position in contact with the outer edge of the wafer, improving the clamping stability of the wafer.

[0056] As described above, the chuck 310 is rotatably connected to the support body 210 through the rotating shaft 240, and under the action of the first driving member 220 and the second driving member 320, the chuck 310 can contact the outer edge of the wafer to achieve the purpose of clamping the wafer. In order to further improve the clamping stability of multiple chucks 310 on the wafer, in a specific embodiment of the present application, when each electromagnet is in the first state, the center of mass of each clamping mechanism 300 is located below the horizontal plane passing through the rotation axis of the clamping mechanism 300 and outside the vertical plane passing through the rotation axis of the clamping mechanism 300.

[0057] Intuitively, asFigure 5 As shown in the figure, the rotation axis of the clamping mechanism 300 is O, and the horizontal plane and the vertical plane passing through the rotation axis are H and V respectively. A rectangular coordinate system is established with the plane where the cross-section perpendicular to the rotation axis in the clamping mechanism 300 is located. Among them, the point where the rotation axis O is located is used as the origin, and the straight lines where H and V are located are the X and Y axes respectively. Then, in the embodiment of the present application, the centroid of the clamping mechanism 300 is located in the fourth quadrant.

[0058] In the case of adopting the above technical solution, when the rotating mechanism 100 drives the support body 210 and the clamping mechanism 300 to rotate, since the centroid of the clamping mechanism 300 is located outside and below the rotation axis, furthermore, under the action of the centrifugal force, the clamping mechanism 300 will have a tendency to move upward and outward relative to the support body 210. However, due to the connection of the rotating shaft 240, the clamping mechanism 300 cannot move outward relative to the support body 210. Therefore, the clamping mechanism 300 can only rotate upward relative to the support body 210. In this case, the stability of the clamping action exerted by the clamping jaws 310 on the wafer is relatively higher. Of course, in order to prevent the clamping force exerted by the clamping jaws 310 on the wafer from being too large due to excessive centrifugal force and having an adverse impact on the structural reliability of the wafer, in the embodiment of the present application, when the rotating mechanism 100 is working, the magnitude of the current passed through the electromagnet can be appropriately reduced to reduce the relative repulsive force between the first driving member and the second driving member, ensuring that the clamping force exerted by the clamping jaws 310 on the wafer will not be too large.

[0059] In order to further improve the position stability of the wafer when it is clamped by the clamping jaws 310, in a specific embodiment of the present application, the clamping jaws 310 can include a clamping portion 311 and a fastening portion 312. Among them, the fastening portion 312 is connected to the top end of the clamping portion 311, and the clamping portion 311 has a clamping surface 311a. When each electromagnet is in the first state, the clamping portion 311 contacts the outer edge of the wafer through the clamping surface 311a to achieve the purpose of clamping the wafer from the outside. At the same time, in the embodiment of the present application, when each electromagnet is in the first state, at least a part of the projection of the fastening portion 312 in the horizontal plane is located on the wafer, that is, the fastening portion 312 is turned inward relative to the clamping portion 311. In this case, the fastening portion 312 can cooperate with the support surface to achieve the purpose of providing a limiting effect on the wafer in the vertical direction, thereby further preventing the wafer from separating from the plurality of clamping jaws 310 during the rotation of the rotating mechanism 100 and improving the support stability of the wafer.

[0060] Of course, during the design of the jaw 310, the size of the snap-in portion 312 relative to the clamping portion 311 cannot be too large to prevent the snap-in portion 312 from still interfering with the normal placement of the wafer on the support surface when all the electromagnets are in the second state. In addition, the snap-in portion 312 and the clamping portion 311 can be formed by an integral molding method to ensure a relatively high structural consistency of the jaw 310 and relatively low processing difficulty of the jaw 310.

[0061] As described above, the support body 210 has a support surface to provide support for the wafer by using the support surface. Specifically, the support body 210 can be a disc-shaped structure. In order to reduce the weight of the support body 210 and further reduce the driving difficulty of the rotating mechanism 100, in a specific embodiment of the present application, the support body 210 includes a base 211, a mounting seat 212, and support arms 213. As described above, the number of the first driving members 220 and the clamping mechanisms 300 is at least three. Therefore, in the embodiment of the present application, the number of the support arms 213 can also be at least three, and the support arms 213, the first driving members 220, and the clamping mechanisms 300 correspond to each other one by one. Accordingly, the plurality of support arms 213 are uniformly and spaced along the rotation direction to ensure that the plurality of support arms 213 can provide a good and uniform support effect for the wafer.

[0062] Specifically, one end of each support arm 213 is fixedly connected to the base 211, and a mounting seat 212 is installed at the other end of each support arm 213. The first driving member 220 is arranged on the mounting seat 212, and the clamping mechanism 300 is rotatably connected to the mounting seat 212 through a rotating shaft 240. Specifically, the shapes and sizes of the base 211 and the mounting seat 212 can be flexibly selected according to the actual situation. For example, the base 211 can be fixedly connected to the rotating portion 411 in the conductive slip ring 410 through connecting members such as flanges and bolts. The first driving member 220 can form a stable assembly relationship with the mounting seat 212 by means of bonding, clamping, or connecting with connecting members. In another embodiment of the present application, the first driving member 220 can be embedded in the mounting seat 212 to make the assembly relationship between the first driving member 220 and the mounting seat 212 more stable. In addition, the base 211, the support arms 213, and the mounting seat 212 can be formed by an integral molding method, or the base 211 and the plurality of support arms 213 can be integrally molded first, and then the mounting seat 212 is inserted and fixed at the end of the corresponding support arm 213 to complete the assembly work of the support body 210.

[0063] Based on the above embodiments, the top surfaces of multiple mounting seats 212 can all serve as supporting surfaces. In order to minimize the contact area between the supporting body 210 and the wafer, in a specific embodiment of the present application, the supporting body 210 may further include supporting blocks 214, and by providing supporting blocks 214 on the top surfaces of each mounting seat 212, the top surfaces of multiple supporting blocks 214 all serve as supporting surfaces. Of course, in the embodiments of the present application, the sum of the areas of the top surfaces of multiple supporting blocks 214 is smaller than the area of the top surface of the mounting seat 212. Specifically, the supporting block 214 may be a cubic structure to facilitate the processing work. Of course, the specific dimensions of the supporting block 214 can be flexibly determined according to actual situations such as the size of the wafer, and this is not limited herein.

[0064] In order to further reduce the control difficulty, in the present application, the wafer support assembly may further include a detection member 500, and the detection member 500 is used to detect whether a wafer is supported on the supporting surface of the supporting body 210. Specifically, the detection member 500 may be a distance sensor, and more specifically, it may be an ultrasonic or infrared ranging sensor. When the wafer is supported on the supporting surface, the distance detected by the detection member 500 is relatively small. On the contrary, when no wafer is supported on the supporting surface, the distance detected by the detection member 500 is relatively large, or the detection member 500 cannot detect an effective distance.

[0065] Optionally, the number of the detection members 500 is one, which can achieve the purpose of detecting whether there is a wafer supported on the supporting surface. In order to further expand the detection items, in a specific embodiment of the present application, the number of the detection members 500 may be at least two. Of course, each detection member 500 is located below the supporting surface.

[0066] In this case, based on the distance detection results of each detection member 500, it can also be determined whether the wafer is placed stably on the supporting surface. And during the rotation of the rotating mechanism 100, the distance detection results of multiple detection members 500 can also be used to determine whether the wafer bounces or not. Furthermore, when the wafer bounces, by increasing the magnitude of the current passed through the electromagnet, the clamping effect of multiple clamping jaws 310 on the wafer can be further increased to ensure a stable relative fixed relationship can be formed between the wafer and the supporting surface.

[0067] Based on the wafer support assembly disclosed in any of the above embodiments, the embodiments of the present application also disclose a control method, which can be used to control any of the above wafer support assemblies, such as Figure 8 shown, the control method includes:

[0068] S1. Control the first driving current passed through each electromagnet to continuously increase to a first current value, so that each first driving member and the corresponding second driving member repel each other and clamp the wafer, where the first current value is less than a preset value.

[0069] As described above, in the wafer support assembly disclosed in the embodiments of the present application, the first driving member and the second driving member are respectively installed on the support body and the jaw, and one of the first driving member and the second driving member includes an electromagnet. Further, when it is necessary to clamp the wafer, a first driving current can be passed into the electromagnet to make the electromagnet in the first state, and then the first driving member and the second driving member repel each other to achieve the purpose of clamping the wafer.

[0070] Moreover, in order to ensure that the jaw can continuously achieve the purpose of clamping the wafer, in the present application, when it is necessary to clamp the wafer, a first driving current is continuously passed into each electromagnet. At the same time, considering that during the process of clamping the wafer, the first driving member and the second driving member repel each other and the distance between them continuously increases. Further, in order to ensure that the jaw can reliably clamp the wafer, in the embodiments of the present application, the first driving current passed into the electromagnet can be continuously increased until it is equal to the first current value. Of course, in order to prevent the clamping force of the jaw on the wafer from being relatively large due to too large a first current value and squeezing and damaging the wafer, in the embodiments of the present application, the first current value is less than a preset value, where the size of the preset value can be flexibly determined according to the actual conditions of devices such as the wafer and the jaw, and this is not limited herein.

[0071] The control method disclosed in the embodiments of the present application further includes:

[0072] S2. Control each electromagnet to pass a second driving current, or control each electromagnet to be powered off, so that each first driving member and the corresponding second driving member attract each other to release the wafer.

[0073] As above, in the case where the electromagnet is in the first state, the first driving member and the second driving member repel each other. Correspondingly, in the case where the electromagnet is in the second state, the first driving member and the second driving member attract each other, so that the jaw rotates in the reverse direction to achieve the purpose of releasing the wafer. Specifically, since one of the first driving member and the second driving member includes an electromagnet and the other includes a permanent magnet, when the magnetic poles of the first driving member and the second driving member that are close to each other are opposite, the first driving member and the second driving member can attract each other. At the same time, when the electromagnet is powered off, the iron core of the electromagnet is affected by the magnetism of the permanent magnet, which can also ensure that the first driving member and the second driving member attract each other to achieve the purpose of releasing the wafer. In addition, in addition to the magnetic force, since the jaw and the second driving member are also affected by other external forces such as their own gravity, when the other external forces of the clamping mechanism are greater than the magnetic force between the first driving member and the second driving member, the foregoing external forces can overcome the magnetic force and cause the clamping mechanism to rotate clockwise to achieve the purpose of releasing the wafer.

[0074] Therefore, generally speaking, in the embodiments of the present application, the direction of the second driving current may be the same as or opposite to the direction of the first driving current. Among them, when the direction of the second driving current is the same as the direction of the first driving current, the value of the second driving current needs to be less than the value of the first current. As for the specific magnitude of the difference between the two, it can be flexibly determined according to parameters such as the specific structure and installation position of the jaw. And, since the distance between the first driving member and the second driving member continuously decreases during the process of releasing the wafer, furthermore, in order to prevent the second driving current in the same direction as the first driving current from interfering with the process of releasing the wafer, the value of the second driving current continuously decreases, so as to ensure that when the second driving current in the same direction as the first driving current is applied, the jaw can also continuously rotate clockwise to complete the work of releasing the wafer.

[0075] Furthermore, in order to reduce the difficulty of placing the wafer on the support body driven by devices such as a manipulator, in the embodiments of the present application, when the support body does not support the wafer, each electromagnet is controlled to remain in the second state. That is, in the embodiments of the present application, if the wafer has not been placed on the support body, the electromagnet is always controlled to remain in the second state, so that the first driving member and the second driving member attract each other, making the space enclosed by the multiple jaws relatively large and reducing the difficulty of placing the wafer.

[0076] As described above, during the wafer transfer process, a device such as a manipulator can be used to grab the wafer and place the wafer on the support surface of the support body. Generally, the storage position of the wafer and the movement path of the manipulator can be preset in advance, so that it is expected that the wafer placed on the support surface by the manipulator can be in an alignment state. Among them, the alignment state means that the center of the wafer corresponds to the center of the support surface, or in other words, the center of the wafer is directly above the center of the support surface. In this case, it is considered that the center of the wafer matches the center of the support surface.

[0077] However, due to factors such as control accuracy or error, it may still cause the situation that the center of the wafer placed on the support surface by the manipulator fails to align with the center of the support surface. Based on this, in order to improve the clamping stability of the wafer, in the embodiments of the present application, the rotation speed of the multiple clamping mechanisms relative to the support body can be controlled by controlling the magnitude of the current applied to the multiple electromagnets, and then the position of the center of the wafer can be changed. Specifically, the clamping mechanism with a relatively smaller distance from the outer edge of the wafer can be made to rotate relatively faster, ensuring that while overcoming the friction between the wafer and the support surface, this clamping mechanism can also rotate the same angle relative to the support body as other clamping mechanisms within the same time, achieving the purpose of driving the wafer to move a corresponding distance and completing the alignment with the center of the support surface.

[0078] Based on the above situation, the control method disclosed in the embodiments of the present application may further include:

[0079] Control the magnitudes of the first driving currents applied to each electromagnet to be equal, so as to keep the center of the wafer matched with the center of the supporting surface;

[0080] Control the magnitudes of the first driving currents applied to each electromagnet to be different, so as to move the wafer relative to the supporting surface and match the center of the wafer with the center of the supporting surface.

[0081] As described above, when the center of the wafer is aligned with the center of the supporting surface, it indicates that the initial position of the wafer is normal. At this time, it is not necessary to use the clamping mechanism to change the position of the wafer. Furthermore, the magnitudes of the first driving currents applied to each electromagnet can be made equal, so as to control the rotation speeds of the multiple clamping mechanisms relative to the supporting body to be the same, enabling the multiple clamping mechanisms to contact the outer edge of the wafer simultaneously or substantially simultaneously, completing the clamping work of the wafer, and during this process, keeping the center of the wafer always in a state of mutual matching with the center of the supporting surface.

[0082] Conversely, taking the case where the initial position of the wafer is abnormal, the whole wafer is deflected to the right, and there is a clamping mechanism on the right side of the wafer as an example. The distance between this clamping mechanism and the wafer is the smallest, and it is necessary to move the wafer a preset distance to the left to ensure that the wafer can be in a state of alignment with the supporting surface. In this case, the magnitudes of the first driving currents applied to each electromagnet can be made different. Specifically, compared with other clamping mechanisms, the current applied to the clamping mechanism located on the right side of the wafer can be made relatively larger, so that the rotation speed of this clamping mechanism is relatively faster. After this clamping mechanism contacts the wafer prior to other clamping mechanisms, it can drive the wafer to move to the left. During this process, affected by the frictional force between the wafer and the supporting surface, the rotation speed of this clamping mechanism decreases. Since the rotation speed of this clamping mechanism is relatively large before contacting the wafer, this clamping mechanism can also rotate the same angle in the same time as other clamping mechanisms or substantially the same, achieving the purpose of aligning the center of the wafer with the center of the supporting surface.

[0083] Furthermore, since multiple jaws are all located outside the outer edge of the wafer, and the supporting body for supporting the wafer is installed on the rotating mechanism, further, when the rotating mechanism works, the clamping mechanism will be affected by the centrifugal force, thereby having an adverse effect on the clamping effect of the wafer. For example, the wafer may be affected by factors such as vibration and centrifugal force, resulting in relative jumping or unstable clamping with respect to the supporting surface, which will have an adverse effect on the process uniformity of the wafer.

[0084] Therefore, in a further embodiment of the present application, devices such as high-speed cameras can be used to detect whether the wafer moves relative to the support surface. In another embodiment of the present application, a plurality of detection components can also be installed on the support body to detect the straight-line distance between the detection components and the wafer. Based on the plurality of distance detection results, it can also be determined whether the wafer moves relative to the support surface. Of course, when the wafer moves relative to the support surface, the magnitude of the current passed through each electromagnet can be increased to increase the clamping force between the clamping jaws and the wafer, thereby improving the clamping stability of the wafer.

[0085] Considering that the clamping stability of the wafer is directly related to the clamping force of the clamping mechanism, and the centrifugal force acting on the clamping mechanism during the operation of the rotating mechanism will affect the clamping force between the clamping mechanism and the wafer. Therefore, in the embodiment of the present application, the control method may further include:

[0086] When the rotation speeds of the rotating mechanisms are different, control the clamping forces between each clamping mechanism and the wafer to be equal. Specifically, based on parameters such as the actual position of the centroid of the clamping mechanism, it can be determined whether the centrifugal force acting on the clamping mechanism during the rotation of the rotating mechanism has a positive or negative effect on the clamping effect, so as to correspondingly control the magnitude of the first driving current passed through the electromagnet. For example, if the centrifugal force exerted by the rotating mechanism on the clamping mechanism reduces the clamping force between the clamping jaws and the wafer, the magnitude of the first driving current passed through the electromagnet can be increased. Conversely, the magnitude of the first driving current passed through the electromagnet can be reduced to ensure that the clamping force between the clamping jaws and the wafer remains unchanged or basically unchanged, preventing the wafer from bouncing due to unstable clamping or being damaged due to excessive clamping.

[0087] Based on any of the above wafer support components, the embodiment of the present application also discloses a semiconductor device, which includes any of the above wafer support components. Of course, the semiconductor device may further include a cavity, and at least a part of the wafer support component can be installed in the cavity.

[0088] It should be noted that, in this document, the terms "include", "comprise" or any other variants thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article or device that includes a series of elements not only includes those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements that are inherent to such process, method, article or device. Without further limitation, an element defined by the statement "including one..." does not exclude the presence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article or device that includes such element. In addition, it should be pointed out that the scope of the methods and devices in the embodiments of the present application is not limited to performing functions in the order shown or discussed, and may also include performing functions in a substantially simultaneous manner or in a reverse order according to the functions involved. For example, the described methods may be performed in an order different from that described, and various steps may be added, omitted, or combined. Additionally, the features described with reference to certain examples may be combined in other examples.

[0089] The embodiments of the present application have been described above in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the present application is not limited to the above specific embodiments. The above specific embodiments are merely illustrative and not restrictive. Under the inspiration of the present application, those of ordinary skill in the art can also make many forms without departing from the purpose of the present application and the scope protected by the claims, and all of them fall within the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A wafer support assembly, characterized in that, It includes a rotating mechanism (100), a supporting mechanism (200) and a clamping mechanism (300). Among them, the supporting mechanism (200) includes a supporting body (210) and a first driving member (220). The supporting body (210) has a supporting surface for supporting a wafer (900), and the supporting body (210) is installed on the rotating mechanism (100), and the rotating mechanism (100) is used to drive the supporting body (210) to rotate; the number of the first driving members (220) and the clamping mechanism (300) is at least three. A plurality of the first driving members (220) are installed at intervals below the supporting surface in the supporting body (210) along the rotation direction of the rotating mechanism (100), and a plurality of the clamping mechanisms (300) are arranged in one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of the first driving members (220); each of the clamping mechanisms (300) includes a jaw (310) and a second driving member (320) installed on the jaw (310). Each of the jaws (310) is rotatably installed on the supporting body (210). The second driving member (320) is located below the first driving member. Both the first driving member and the second driving member are located inside the rotation axis of the jaw (310). One of any corresponding first driving member (220) and second driving member (320) includes an electromagnet. Each of the electromagnets has a first state and a second state. When the electromagnet is in the first state, the first driving member (220) repels the second driving member (320), and each of the jaws (310) contacts the outer edge of the wafer (900); when the electromagnets are all in the second state, the first driving member (220) attracts the second driving member (320).

2. The wafer support assembly according to claim 1, wherein, A first limiting surface (212a) is provided on the outer side of the supporting body (210), and a second limiting surface (311b) is provided on the inner side of each of the jaws (310). When the electromagnets are all in the first state, each of the second limiting surfaces (311b) is limited to the first limiting surface (212a), and the first limiting surface (212a) is used to prevent each of the jaws (310) from squeezing and damaging the wafer (900).

3. The wafer support assembly according to claim 1, wherein, When the electromagnets are all in the first state, the centroid of each of the clamping mechanisms (300) is located below the horizontal plane passing through the rotation axis of the clamping mechanism (300) and outside the vertical plane passing through the rotation axis of the clamping mechanism (300).

4. The wafer support assembly according to claim 1, wherein The clamping jaw (310) includes a clamping portion (311) and a fastening portion (312). The fastening portion (312) is connected to the top end of the clamping portion (311). The clamping portion (311) has a clamping surface (311a). When each of the electromagnets is in the first state, the clamping surface (311a) contacts the outer edge of the wafer (900), and at least a part of the projection of the fastening portion (312) in the horizontal plane is located on the wafer (900).

5. The wafer support assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that, The support body (210) includes a base (211), a mounting seat (212) and a support arm (213). One end of the support arm (213) is fixedly connected to the base (211), and the other end of the support arm (213) is provided with the mounting seat (212). The mounting seat (212) is provided with the first driving member (220), and the clamping mechanism (300) is rotatably connected to the mounting seat (212) through a rotating shaft (240).

6. The wafer support assembly according to claim 5, wherein, The support body (210) further includes a support block (214). The top surface of each mounting seat (212) is provided with the support block (214), and the top surfaces of the plurality of support blocks (214) are all the support surfaces.

7. The wafer support assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that, Each of the first driving members (220) includes an electromagnet. The support body (210) is connected to the rotating mechanism (100) through a conductive slip ring (410). The support body (210) is provided with a hollow channel (213a) for accommodating the connecting wire cable (230) of the first driving member (220).

8. The wafer support assembly according to claim 1, wherein Each of the first driving members (220) is inclined relative to the vertical direction. When each of the electromagnets is in the first state, the magnetic pole distribution directions of the corresponding first driving member (220) and the second driving member (320) are parallel to each other.

9. The wafer support assembly according to claim 1, wherein, It further includes a detection member (500) for detecting whether a wafer (900) is supported on the support surface.

10. A control method for controlling the wafer support assembly according to any one of claims 1-9, characterized in that, The control method includes: Controlling the first driving current applied to each of the electromagnets to continuously increase to a first current value, so that each of the first driving members repels the corresponding second driving member to clamp the wafer, wherein the first current value is less than a preset value; Controlling each of the electromagnets to apply a second driving current, or controlling each of the electromagnets to be powered off, so that each of the first driving members attracts the corresponding second driving member to release the wafer.

11. The control method according to claim 10, characterized in that, The direction of the second driving current is the same as the direction of the first driving current, and the value of the second driving current continuously decreases; or the direction of the second driving current is opposite to the direction of the first driving current.

12. The control method according to claim 10, wherein It further includes: When the support body does not support a wafer, controlling each of the electromagnets to remain in the second state.

13. The control method according to claim 10, wherein It further includes: Controlling the magnitudes of the first driving currents applied to each of the electromagnets to be equal, so that the center of the wafer matches the center of the support surface; Control the magnitudes of the first driving currents applied to the respective electromagnets to be different, so as to move the wafer relative to the support surface and align the center of the wafer with the center of the support surface.

14. The control method according to claim 10, wherein Further comprising: When the rotational speeds of the rotation mechanism are different, control the clamping forces between the respective clamping mechanisms and the wafer to be equal.

15. A semiconductor device, characterized in that, Comprising the wafer support assembly according to any one of claims 1-9.

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