Large vacuum chamber with double-layer gas uniform flow structure

Abstract

The invention relates to the field of photovoltaic equipment, and discloses a large vacuum chamber provided with a double-layer gas flow uniformizing structure, and the double-layer gas flow uniformizing structure comprises a pipeline box, and an upper flow uniformizing assembly and a lower flow uniformizing assembly which are arranged on the upper surface and the lower surface of the pipeline box. The pipeline box is located in the middle inside the cavity. The air inlet pipe comprises an upper-layer air inlet pipe and a lower-layer air inlet pipe which independently control air inlet. The upper flow uniformizing assembly sequentially comprises a first sealing ring, a diffusion flow uniformizing plate, a second sealing ring and a net-shaped flow uniformizing plate from bottom to top. Diffusion flow-uniformizing holes are formed in the diffusion flow-uniformizing plate, the diffusion flow-uniformizing holes are dispersed from the center hole to the periphery in a corrugated mode, and the farther the diffusion flow-uniformizing holes are away from the center hole, the denser the diffusion flow-uniformizing holes are. And the center of the diffusion uniform flow plate is positioned above the upper-layer air inlet. And uniformly distributed net-shaped flow uniformizing holes are formed in the net-shaped flow uniformizing plate. The vacuum breaking efficiency can be improved, the gas distribution uniformity of the cavity can be improved, the silicon wafer falling rate is reduced, and the yield is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the field of photovoltaic equipment, in particular to a large vacuum chamber provided with a double-layer gas uniform flow structure. Background Art

[0002] PECVD or PVD equipment needs to operate in a vacuum environment during the coating process. When transporting products, the chamber must be broken before the gate valve can be opened. Therefore, the vacuum breaking time can directly affect the efficiency of coating, and whether the breaking gas is uniform can directly affect the yield rate of silicon wafers. The existing breaking method is to set multiple air inlets above or below the chamber, or to use a single air inlet with an air uniforming plate to increase the air intake volume, reduce the flow rate of the breaking gas, and increase the uniformity of the breaking gas, thereby achieving a rapid breaking effect.

[0003] With the development of the market, in order to meet the needs of large-capacity PECVD or PVD, the PECVD or PVD chambers on the market are gradually increasing, and even using double-layer coating methods, which has a great impact on the equipment's air-breaking cycle and yield. The existing air-breaking structure and method cannot meet the air-breaking cycle of large chambers, or it is necessary to increase the air pressure and gas volume to increase the gas flow rate to match the production time cycle. Increasing the gas flow rate will easily cause the gas to flow out at the air inlet, which is easy to blow off the silicon wafers on the carrier, reduce the production yield, and finally affect the production capacity.

[0004] Therefore, a breakthrough structure suitable for large chambers and double-layer coating equipment is needed to meet market demand. Summary of the invention

[0005] The purpose of the present invention is to solve the shortcomings of the prior art and provide a large vacuum chamber equipped with a double-layer gas uniform flow structure, which can not only improve the air breaking efficiency, but also realize the uniform flow of gas in the chamber, improve the gas distribution uniformity of the large vacuum chamber equipment, reduce the silicon wafer drop rate, and improve the yield.

[0006] To achieve the above object, the present invention adopts the following technical solutions:

[0007] The present invention discloses a large vacuum chamber provided with a double-layer gas uniform flow structure, which comprises a chamber and a double-layer gas uniform flow structure arranged in the chamber, wherein the double-layer gas uniform flow structure comprises a pipeline box, an upper uniform flow component and a lower uniform flow component; the pipeline box comprises a box body, an air inlet pipe and an air outlet, the box body is rectangular and is located in the middle of the chamber, and the volume of the box body can fill the internal space of the cavity, thereby reducing the required evacuation volume and air-breaking time of the cavity.

[0008] The air inlet pipe and the air outlet are arranged inside the box body, and the air inlet is located outside the chamber. The air inlet pipe includes an upper air inlet pipe and a lower air inlet pipe that independently control the air inlet, and the air outlet includes an upper air outlet connected to the upper air inlet pipe and a lower air outlet connected to the lower air inlet pipe. The upper flow-uniform component is arranged on the upper surface of the box body and is connected to the upper air outlet; the lower flow-uniform component is arranged on the lower surface of the box body and is connected to the lower air outlet. The double inlet pipelines independently control the air intake of the double-layer gas flow-uniform structure, so that the flow rate of each air intake point can be controlled according to production requirements, which is convenient for improving the air-breaking efficiency.

[0009] The upper flow-leveling assembly includes, from bottom to top, a first sealing ring, a diffuser flow-leveling plate, a second sealing ring, and a mesh flow-leveling plate. The diffuser flow-leveling plate and the mesh flow-leveling plate are fixed on the upper surface of the box body, respectively. The upper surface of the box body, the first sealing ring, and the bottom surface of the diffuser flow-leveling plate form a first flow-leveling chamber. The upper surface of the diffuser flow-leveling plate, the second sealing ring, and the mesh flow-leveling plate form a second flow-leveling chamber. After the gas enters from the air inlet pipe, it enters the first flow-leveling chamber from the air outlet and diffuses, then enters the second flow-leveling chamber and flows out evenly, and finally enters the chamber;

[0010] The diffusion plate is provided with diffusion holes, which spread out in a "corrugated" manner from the central hole on the diffusion plate to the surrounding areas. The farther the diffusion holes are from the central hole, the denser their distribution. The center of the diffusion plate is located above the upper air inlet, so that the closer to the air inlet, the greater the airflow. By changing the density of the diffusion holes to match the size of the airflow, the gas flow rate in the center area is high, the sparse holes reduce the resistance, the flow rate in the edge area is low, and the dense holes increase the flow rate. This achieves the effect of diffusing the gas at the outlet to the entire second flow chamber. The mesh flow plate is provided with evenly distributed mesh holes for further evenly dispersing the gas in the second flow chamber into the chamber.

[0011] Furthermore, the structure of the lower flow-uniform component is consistent with that of the upper flow-uniform component, which reduces the types of accessories and facilitates production.

[0012] Furthermore, the upper and lower air outlets are both provided with two, and the diffuser and flow equalizer plate is provided with two diffuser center holes, the upper air outlets are both located directly below the diffuser center hole, and the lower air outlets are both located directly above the diffuser center hole. The upper air outlets are both facing upward, and the lower air outlets are both facing downward.

[0013] Furthermore, the back sides of the diffusion flow-distributing plate and the mesh flow-distributing plate are both provided with isolation columns for isolating the distance between adjacent plates.

[0014] Furthermore, the air inlet pipe includes a clamp, a bellows and a vacuum tube. The vacuum tube is arranged in the box body and connected to the air outlet. The clamps are arranged at both ends of the bellows. One end of the bellows is connected to the vacuum tube through the clamp, and the other end is connected to the external inflation device through the clamp. The clamp connection has a quick release function and is easy to maintain. The bellows is used for installation, which can compensate for dimensional errors and is easy to install.

[0015] Furthermore, the box body is a hollow rectangular box formed by a plurality of fixing plates, and a plurality of crisscross ribs are arranged inside for increasing stability and fixing the vacuum tube, which can reduce the weight of the entire box body and reduce manufacturing materials.

[0016] The benefits of the present invention are:

[0017] 1. The pipeline box of the present invention is provided in a box shape, and the air inlet pipe is hidden inside the box body to fill the internal space of the cavity, thereby reducing the required evacuation volume and air-breaking time of the cavity.

[0018] 2. The present invention adopts dual inlet pipelines for air intake, and independently controls the air intake of the double-layer gas uniform flow structure, so that the flow rate of each air intake point can be controlled according to production needs, which is convenient for improving the air breaking efficiency.

[0019] 3. The uniform flow component of the present invention forms two uniform flow chambers by arranging a diffusion uniform flow plate and a mesh uniform flow plate, which diffuses first and then uniformly flows, thereby achieving uniform flow of gas in the chamber, improving the uniformity of gas distribution in large vacuum chamber equipment, reducing the silicon wafer drop rate, and improving the yield. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings required for use in the embodiments are briefly introduced below. It should be understood that the following drawings only show certain embodiments of the present invention and therefore should not be regarded as limiting the scope. For ordinary technicians in this field, other related drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative work.

[0021] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of this embodiment.

[0022] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of a double-layer gas uniform flow structure.

[0023] Figure 3 It is an exploded diagram of the double-layer gas uniform flow structure.

[0024] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the pipeline box.

[0025] Figure 5 It is a front view of the double-layer gas uniform flow structure.

[0026] Figure 6 yes Figure 4 Schematic diagram of the cross-sectional structure along AA.

[0027] Figure 7 This is a front view of the diffusion flow plate.

[0028] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the back side of the diffusion flow plate.

[0029] Fig. 9 It is a front view schematic diagram of the mesh flow plate.

[0030] Fig.10 It is a schematic diagram of the back side of the mesh flow plate.

[0031] Fig.11 It is a top view of the double-layer gas uniform flow structure.

[0032] Fig.12 yes Fig.10 Schematic diagram of the cross section along B_B.

[0033] Fig.13 yes Fig.11 A partial enlarged view of point F in the middle.

[0034] Main component symbols:

[0035] 1. Pipe box, 11. Box body, 12. Air inlet pipe, 13. Air outlet, 14. Clamp, 15. Bellows, 16. Vacuum tube;

[0036] 2. Upper flow equalization component;

[0037] 3. Lower flow equalization component;

[0038] 41. a first sealing ring, 42. a diffuser flow plate, 43. a second sealing ring, 44. a mesh flow plate, 45. a first flow chamber, 46. a second flow chamber, 47. a diffuser flow hole, 48. a diffuser center hole, 49. a mesh flow hole;

[0039] 5. Isolation column;

[0040] 100. Chamber. 200. Double-layer gas uniform flow structure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0041] In order to make the purpose, technical solution and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention clearer, the technical solution in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the drawings of the specification. Obviously, the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0042] In the present invention, unless otherwise specified, directional words such as "upper, lower, left, right" are generally understood in conjunction with the directions shown in the drawings and actual applications.

[0043] In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features. Therefore, the features defined as "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the features. In the description of the present invention, the meaning of "plurality" is two or more, unless otherwise clearly and specifically defined.

[0044] In the present invention, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, a first feature being "above" or "below" a second feature may mean that the first and second features are in direct contact, or that the first and second features are in indirect contact through an intermediate medium. Moreover, a first feature being "above", "above" or "above" a second feature may mean that the first feature is directly above or obliquely above the second feature, or simply means that the first feature is higher in level than the second feature. A first feature being "below", "below" or "below" a second feature may mean that the first feature is directly below or obliquely below the second feature, or simply means that the first feature is lower in level than the second feature.

[0045] The endpoints and any values ​​of the ranges disclosed herein are not limited to the precise ranges or values, and these ranges or values ​​should be understood to include values ​​close to these ranges or values. For numerical ranges, the endpoint values ​​of each range, the endpoint values ​​of each range and the individual point values, and the individual point values ​​can be combined with each other to obtain one or more new numerical ranges, which should be considered as specifically disclosed in this article. Among them, the terms "optional" and "optional" all mean that they may be included or not included (or may be present or not).

[0046] like Figures 1 to 3 As shown, the present invention discloses a large vacuum chamber provided with a double-layer gas uniform flow structure, which includes a chamber 100 and a double-layer gas uniform flow structure 200 arranged in the chamber 100 .

[0047] The double-layer gas uniform flow structure 200 includes a pipeline box 1 , an upper uniform flow component 2 and a lower uniform flow component 3 .

[0048] Among them, Figures 4 to 6As shown, the pipeline box 1 includes a box body 11, an air inlet pipe 12 and an air outlet 13. Specifically, the box body 11 is rectangular and is located in the middle of the chamber. The volume of the box body 11 can fill the internal space of the cavity, thereby reducing the required evacuation volume and air-breaking time of the cavity. Specifically, the box body 11 is a hollow rectangular box formed by a plurality of fixing plates, and a plurality of criss-cross rib plates are arranged inside to increase stability and fix the vacuum tube 16. This design can also reduce the weight of the entire box body 11 and reduce manufacturing materials.

[0049] Specifically, the air inlet pipe 12 includes a clamp 14, a bellows 15 and a vacuum tube 16. The vacuum tube 16 is arranged in the box body 11 and connected to the air outlet 13. The clamps 14 are arranged at both ends of the bellows 15. One end of the bellows 15 is connected to the vacuum tube 16 through the clamp 14, and the other end is connected to the external inflation device through the clamp 14. The clamp 14 is used for connection, has a quick release function, and is easy to maintain. The bellows 15 is used for installation, which can compensate for dimensional errors and is easy to install.

[0050] Among them, the vacuum tube 16 and the air outlet 13 are arranged inside the box body 11, and the bellows 15 is located outside the chamber. The air inlet pipe 12 includes an upper air inlet pipe 12 and a lower air inlet pipe 12 that independently control the air inlet, and the air outlet 13 includes two upper air outlets 13 and two lower air outlets 13. The two upper air outlets 13 are both facing upward and are respectively connected to the upper air inlet pipe 12, and the two lower air outlets 13 are both facing downward and are respectively connected to the lower air inlet pipe 12.

[0051] The upper flow-uniform component 2 is arranged on the upper surface of the box body 11 and is connected to the upper gas outlet 13. The lower flow-uniform component 3 is arranged on the lower surface of the box body 11 and is connected to the lower gas outlet 13. The double inlet pipelines independently control the air intake of the double-layer gas flow-uniform structure, so that the flow rate of each air intake point can be controlled according to production requirements, which is convenient for improving the air-breaking efficiency.

[0052] Among them, Figure 3 As shown, the upper flow-distributing assembly 2 includes, from bottom to top, a first sealing ring 41, a diffuser flow-distributing plate 42, a second sealing ring 43, and a mesh flow-distributing plate 44. Figures 11 to 13 As shown, the diffuser flow plate 42 and the mesh flow plate 44 are respectively fixed on the upper surface of the box body 11. The upper surface of the box body 11, the first sealing ring 41 and the bottom surface of the diffuser flow plate 42 form a first flow chamber 45. The upper surface of the diffuser flow plate 42, the second sealing ring 43 and the mesh flow plate 44 form a second flow chamber 46. After the gas enters from the air inlet pipe 12, it enters the first flow chamber 45 from the air outlet 13 and diffuses, then enters the second flow chamber 46 and flows out evenly, and finally enters the chamber. Figure 8 , Fig.10As shown, in order to enhance the stability of the cavity space, the back sides of the diffusion flow plate 42 and the mesh flow plate 44 are both provided with isolation columns 5 for isolating the distance between adjacent plates.

[0053] Specifically, Figure 7 , Fig. 9 As shown, the diffusion flow equalizer plate 42 is provided with diffusion flow equalizer holes 47, and the diffusion flow equalizer holes 47 spread out in a "corrugated" manner from the center hole on the diffusion flow equalizer plate 42 to the surrounding areas. The farther the diffusion flow equalizer holes 47 are from the center hole, the denser their distribution. In this embodiment, two diffusion center holes 48 are provided on the diffusion flow equalizer plate 42, and the diffusion center hole 48 on the diffusion flow equalizer plate 42 is located directly above the upper air inlet, so that the closer to the diffusion center hole 48, the greater the airflow. By changing the density of the diffusion flow equalizer holes 47, in accordance with the size of the airflow, the gas flow rate in the central area is high, and the sparse holes reduce the resistance; the flow rate in the edge area is low, and the dense holes increase the flow rate. Thereby, the gas at the outlet 13 is diffused to the entire second flow equalizer chamber 46. The mesh flow equalizer plate 44 is provided with evenly distributed mesh flow equalizer holes 49, which are used to further evenly disperse the gas in the second flow equalizer chamber 46 into the chamber.

[0054] The structure of the lower flow-uniform component 3 is consistent with that of the upper flow-uniform component 2, which reduces the types of accessories and facilitates production.

[0055] In summary, the present invention designs the structural body into a box shape to fill the internal space of the cavity and reduce the evacuated volume. It adopts multi-point air intake with controllable flow rate at each air intake point. Uniform flow components are arranged on the upper and lower surfaces of the box body to achieve uniform flow of gas in the cavity, improve the uniformity of gas distribution in large vacuum chamber equipment, reduce the silicon wafer drop rate, and improve the yield.

[0056] The preferred embodiments of the present invention are described in detail above, but the present invention is not limited thereto. Within the technical concept of the present invention, the technical solution of the present invention can be subjected to a variety of simple modifications, including the combination of various technical features in any other suitable manner, and these simple modifications and combinations should also be regarded as the contents disclosed by the present invention and belong to the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A large vacuum chamber provided with a double-layer gas uniform flow structure, characterized in that: It comprises a chamber and a double-layer gas uniform flow structure arranged in the chamber, the double-layer gas uniform flow structure comprises a pipeline box, an upper uniform flow assembly and a lower uniform flow assembly; the pipeline box comprises a box body, an air inlet pipe and an air outlet, the box body is rectangular and is located in the middle of the chamber, the air inlet pipe and the air outlet are arranged inside the box body, and the air inlet is located outside the chamber; the air inlet pipe comprises an upper air inlet pipe and a lower air inlet pipe for independently controlling the air inlet, the air outlet comprises an upper air outlet communicated with the upper air inlet pipe and a lower air outlet communicated with the lower air inlet pipe, the upper uniform flow assembly is arranged on the upper surface of the box body and is communicated with the upper air outlet; the lower uniform flow assembly is arranged on the lower surface of the box body and is communicated with the lower air outlet; The upper flow-uniform component includes, from bottom to top, a first sealing ring, a diffuser flow-uniform plate, a second sealing ring and a mesh flow-uniform plate, the diffuser flow-uniform plate and the mesh flow-uniform plate are respectively fixed on the upper surface of the box body, the upper surface of the box body, the first sealing ring and the bottom surface of the diffuser flow-uniform plate form a first flow-uniform cavity, and the upper surface of the diffuser flow-uniform plate, the second sealing ring and the mesh flow-uniform plate form a second flow-uniform cavity; After entering from the air inlet pipe, the gas enters the first uniform flow chamber from the air outlet, then enters the second uniform flow chamber, and finally enters the chamber; The diffusion equalizer plate is provided with diffusion equalizer holes, which spread out in a "corrugated" manner from the central hole on the diffusion equalizer plate to the surrounding areas. The farther the diffusion equalizer holes are from the central hole, the denser their distribution is; the center of the diffusion equalizer plate is located above the upper air inlet; the mesh equalizer plate is provided with evenly distributed mesh equalizer holes.

2. The large vacuum chamber with a double-layer gas uniform flow structure according to claim 1, characterized in that: The structure of the lower flow-uniform component is consistent with that of the upper flow-uniform component.

3. The large vacuum chamber with a double-layer gas uniform flow structure according to claim 2, characterized in that: There are two upper and lower air outlets, and two diffusion center holes are arranged on the diffusion uniform flow plate. The upper air outlets are located directly below the diffusion center hole, and the lower air outlets are located directly above the diffusion center hole. The upper air outlets are all facing upward, and the lower air outlets are all facing downward.

4. The large vacuum chamber with a double-layer gas uniform flow structure according to claim 1, characterized in that: The backs of the diffusion flow-distributing plate and the mesh flow-distributing plate are both provided with isolation columns for isolating the distance between adjacent plates.

5. The large vacuum chamber with a double-layer gas uniform flow structure according to claim 1, characterized in that: The air inlet pipe includes a clamp, a bellows and a vacuum tube. The vacuum tube is arranged in the box body and connected to the air outlet. The clamps are arranged at both ends of the bellows. One end of the bellows is connected to the vacuum tube through the clamp, and the other end is connected to the external inflation device through the clamp.

6. The large vacuum chamber with a double-layer gas uniform flow structure according to claim 1, characterized in that: The box body is a hollow rectangular box formed by fixing a plurality of fixing plates, and a plurality of crisscrossing rib plates are arranged inside for increasing stability and fixing the vacuum tube.

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