Ultraviolet curing equipment

Abstract

The invention provides an ultraviolet curing device. The ultraviolet curing equipment comprises a light source used for providing first light and a process cavity used for containing a semiconductor device to be cured. And a filter for transmitting ultraviolet light and reflecting infrared band light is arranged between the light source and the process cavity. And the filter filters the first light provided by the light source into second light in an ultraviolet band, and irradiates the semiconductor device so as to carry out an ultraviolet curing process on the semiconductor device. According to the ultraviolet curing equipment, the filter for transmitting the ultraviolet light and reflecting the infrared band light is arranged between the light source and the process cavity and is used for filtering the infrared band light in the light emitted by the light source, so that the problem of abnormal temperature rise caused by illumination of the ultraviolet curing equipment is solved, and the film forming quality of the surface of a wafer is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of semiconductor device processing, and in particular to ultraviolet curing equipment. Background Art

[0002] UV curing is a commonly used curing method in thin film deposition. This technology uses the energy of ultraviolet light to trigger chemical reactions in the thin film material, transforming it from a liquid or semi-solid state into a hard, solid film. UV curing offers advantages such as fast curing speed, no need for heat treatment, and energy savings. It is widely used in the manufacturing of semiconductor devices, optical thin films, and coatings. UV curing equipment requires a quartz window to transmit light from a light source onto the wafer surface. The effective spectral range of UV curing equipment is 200-400 nm. However, the light source emits a full-band spectrum, and the quartz window also transmits a full-band spectrum. The infrared spectrum emitted by the light source and transmitted by the quartz window can cause abnormal temperature increases in the process chamber. This can cause the process parameters of the UV-cured thin film on the wafer surface to deviate from normal process standards, seriously impacting the quality of semiconductor device processing.

[0003] In order to overcome the above-mentioned defects of the existing technology, the field urgently needs an improved UV curing equipment to filter out the infrared light in the light emitted by the light source, thereby solving the problem of abnormal temperature rise caused by the UV curing equipment during illumination, and thereby improving the film formation quality on the wafer surface. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The following is a brief summary of one or more aspects to provide a basic understanding of these aspects. This summary is not an exhaustive overview of all conceivable aspects and is neither intended to identify key or critical elements of all aspects nor to define the scope of any or all aspects. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that will be provided later.

[0005] In order to overcome the above-mentioned defects of the prior art, the present invention provides a UV curing device, which can be used to filter out infrared light from the light emitted by the light source by arranging a filter between the light source and the process chamber, thereby solving the problem of abnormal temperature rise caused by the UV curing device during illumination, and thus improving the film formation quality on the wafer surface.

[0006] Specifically, the UV curing apparatus provided according to the first aspect of the present invention includes a light source for providing a first light beam, and a process chamber for accommodating a semiconductor device to be cured. A filter that transmits UV light and reflects infrared light is positioned between the light source and the process chamber. The filter filters the first light beam provided by the light source into a second light beam in the UV band, which is then used to illuminate the semiconductor device for UV curing.

[0007] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present invention, the light source is located above the process chamber, and the filter is located on the top of the process chamber and / or at least covers the lower surface of the light source.

[0008] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present invention, a quartz window is provided at the top of the process chamber, the quartz window encloses the top space of the process chamber, and the filter covers the upper surface of the quartz window.

[0009] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present invention, the light source is an electrodeless mercury lamp tube, and the filter circumferentially surrounds the light-emitting surface of the electrodeless mercury lamp tube.

[0010] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present invention, the filter is formed on the top of the process chamber and / or at least on the lower surface of the light source by physical vapor deposition, chemical vapor deposition or sol-gel method.

[0011] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present invention, the filter is formed by alternately stacking a plurality of coating materials.

[0012] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present invention, the plurality of coating materials include a combination of SiO2, HFO2, and Al2O3, or a combination of SiO2 and HFO2. The filter comprises a plurality of filter composite layers, each comprising the plurality of coating materials alternately stacked together.

[0013] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present invention, the top and bottom layers of the filter are 96.75 nm SiO2 layers, respectively. Multiple intermediate composite layers are located between the top and bottom layers, each of which comprises, from top to bottom, a 37.125 nm HFO2 layer, a 21.375 nm SiO2 layer, a 135.9 nm HFO2 layer, a 21.375 nm SiO2 layer, and a 37.125 nm HFO2 layer in a vertically symmetrical film structure.

[0014] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present invention, the process chamber is further provided with a temperature-controlled carrier for carrying the semiconductor device and adjusting the temperature of the semiconductor device during the UV curing process. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] The above features and advantages of the present invention will be better understood after reading the detailed description of the embodiments of the present disclosure in conjunction with the following drawings. In the drawings, the components are not necessarily drawn to scale, and components with similar related properties or characteristics may have the same or similar reference numerals.

[0016] Figure 1 A schematic structural diagram of an ultraviolet curing device provided according to some embodiments of the present invention is shown.

[0017] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the internal structure of a UV curing device provided according to a reference example is shown.

[0018] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of the internal structure of a UV curing device provided according to some embodiments of the present invention is shown.

[0019] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of a curve showing the transmittance of a filter provided according to some embodiments of the present invention for light across the entire spectrum is shown.

[0020] Reference numerals:

[0021] 11 Light Source

[0022] 12 process chambers

[0023] 13 filters

[0024] 14 Semiconductor devices

[0025] 15 Quartz Window

[0026] 16 Primary reflector

[0027] 17 Temperature Control Stage DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] The following specific embodiments illustrate the embodiments of the present invention. Those skilled in the art can easily understand other advantages and effects of the present invention from the contents disclosed in this specification. Although the description of the present invention will be introduced in conjunction with the preferred embodiment, this does not mean that the features of this invention are limited to this 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, the following description will include many specific details. The present invention can also be implemented without using these details. In addition, in order to avoid confusion or blurring the focus of the present invention, some specific details will be omitted in the description.

[0029] In the description of the present invention, it should be noted that, unless otherwise expressly specified or limited, the terms "mounted," "connected," and "connected" should be understood in a broad sense. For example, they may refer to fixed, detachable, or integral connections; mechanical or electrical connections; direct or indirect connections through an intermediate medium; and internal communication between two components. Those skilled in the art will understand the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention based on the specific circumstances.

[0030] Furthermore, the terms "upper," "lower," "left," "right," "top," "bottom," "horizontal," and "vertical" used in the following description should be understood to refer to the orientations depicted in that section and the accompanying drawings. These relative terms are used solely for convenience of description and do not necessarily imply that the devices described herein must be manufactured or operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, they should not be construed as limiting the present invention.

[0031] It will be understood that although the terms "first," "second," "third," etc. may be used herein to describe various components, regions, layers, and / or portions, these components, regions, layers, and / or portions should not be limited by these terms, and these terms are merely used to distinguish different components, regions, layers, and / or portions. Thus, a first component, region, layer, and / or portion discussed below may be referred to as a second component, region, layer, and / or portion without departing from some embodiments of the present invention.

[0032] As mentioned above, UV curing is a commonly used curing method in thin film deposition. This technology uses the energy of ultraviolet light to trigger chemical reactions in the thin film material, transforming it from a liquid or semi-solid state into a hard, solid film. UV curing offers advantages such as fast curing speed, no need for heat treatment, and energy savings. It is widely used in the manufacturing of semiconductor devices, optical thin films, and coatings. UV curing equipment requires a quartz window to transmit light generated by a light source onto the wafer surface. The effective spectral range of UV curing equipment is 200-400 nm. However, the light emitted by the light source is full-spectrum, and the quartz window also transmits full-spectrum light. The infrared spectrum emitted by the light source and the infrared spectrum transmitted by the quartz window can cause abnormal temperature increases in the process chamber. This can cause the process parameters of the UV-cured thin film on the wafer surface to fail to meet normal process standards, seriously affecting the quality of semiconductor device processing.

[0033] In order to overcome the above-mentioned defects of the prior art, the present invention provides a UV curing device, which can be used to filter out infrared light from the light emitted by the light source by arranging a filter between the light source and the process chamber, thereby solving the problem of abnormal temperature rise caused by the UV curing device during illumination, and thus improving the film formation quality on the wafer surface.

[0034] Please refer to Figures 1 to 3 . Figure 1 A schematic structural diagram of an ultraviolet curing device provided according to some embodiments of the present invention is shown. Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the internal structure of a UV curing device provided according to a reference example is shown. Figure 3 A schematic diagram of the internal structure of a UV curing device provided according to some embodiments of the present invention is shown.

[0035] exist Figure 1 In the illustrated embodiment, the UV curing device provided by the first aspect of the present invention includes a light source 11 for providing a first light, and a process chamber 12 for accommodating a semiconductor device to be cured.

[0036] exist Figure 2 In the embodiment shown, in the existing UV curing equipment, the light source 11 directly emits light of the full spectrum into the process chamber 12, wherein the infrared spectrum light may cause the temperature in the process chamber to rise abnormally.

[0037] Furthermore, technicians can calculate the ability of the ultraviolet curing equipment provided by the present invention to absorb infrared radiation and solve the temperature rise of the wafer surface:

[0038] △T=αPt / mc

[0039] Where △T is the temperature rise of the wafer surface, α is the absorptivity of the wafer, P is the infrared radiation power absorbed by the wafer, t is the irradiation time, m is the weight of the wafer, and c is the specific heat capacity of the wafer.

[0040] Specifically, for a 12-inch wafer, its weight m is 0.1275 kg, and its specific heat capacity c is 700 J / kgK. The infrared radiation power P emitted by the light source 11 in the UV curing equipment is 10 W, the irradiation time t is 180 s, and the absorptivity α is 0.9. The temperature rise on the wafer surface can be calculated as:

[0041] △T=0.9×10×180 / 0.1275×700≈18.15K

[0042] It can be seen from this that in the UV curing equipment existing in the prior art, the temperature rise value of the wafer surface is relatively high. This phenomenon of abnormal temperature rise on the wafer surface caused by infrared light will make the process parameters of the thin film obtained by UV curing on the wafer surface not meet the normal process standards, seriously affecting the quality of the semiconductor device processing technology.

[0043] exist Figure 3In the illustrated embodiment, a filter 13 that transmits ultraviolet light and reflects infrared light is disposed between the light source 11 and the process chamber 12. This filter 13 filters the first light provided by the light source 11 into a second light in the ultraviolet band, which is then used to illuminate the semiconductor device 14 for UV curing.

[0044] Further, in Figure 3 In the embodiment shown, the light source 11 is located above the process chamber 12 . Here, the filter 13 is located on the top of the process chamber 12 and / or at least covers the lower surface of the light source 11 .

[0045] In addition, Figure 1 In the embodiment shown, a quartz window 15 is provided on the top of the process chamber 11. Here, the quartz window 15 closes the top space of the process chamber 12. Figure 3 In the embodiment shown, the filter 13 covers the upper surface of the quartz window 15 .

[0046] In addition, Figure 1 In the embodiment shown, the UV curing device provided by the first aspect of the present invention may further optionally include a primary reflector 16. Here, the primary reflector 16 is used to reflect the UV light generated by the light source 11 to the surface of the semiconductor device 14 to be UV cured.

[0047] In addition, Figure 1 In the illustrated embodiment, a temperature-controlled carrier 17 is further provided in the process chamber 12 for carrying the semiconductor device 14 and regulating the temperature of the semiconductor device 14 during the UV curing process.

[0048] Furthermore, in some optional embodiments, the light source 11 is an electrodeless mercury lamp tube, and the filter 13 circumferentially surrounds the light-emitting surface of the electrodeless mercury lamp tube.

[0049] Furthermore, in some embodiments, the filter 13 is formed on the top of the process chamber 12 and / or at least the bottom surface of the light source 11 by physical vapor deposition, chemical vapor deposition or sol-gel method.

[0050] Specifically, in some embodiments, the filter 13 is formed by alternately stacking a plurality of coating materials.

[0051] Furthermore, the multiple coating materials include a combination of SiO2, HFO2 and Al2O3, or a combination of SiO2 and HFO2. Here, the filter 13 uses multiple coating materials stacked alternately as a filter composite layer, and includes multiple (for example, 3 to 20) filter composite layers.

[0052] Please further refer to Table 1. Table 1 shows the film layer structure of the filter provided according to some embodiments of the present invention.

[0053] Table 1 Filter film structure

[0054]

[0055] As shown in Table 1, the top and bottom layers of the filter 13 are 96.75 nm SiO2 layers, respectively. A plurality of (e.g., 7 to 10) intermediate composite layers are included between the top and bottom layers. Each intermediate composite layer has a vertically symmetrical film structure including, from top to bottom, a 37.125 nm HFO2 layer, a 21.375 nm SiO2 layer, a 135.9 nm HFO2 layer, a 21.375 nm SiO2 layer, and a 37.125 nm HFO2 layer.

[0056] Those skilled in the art will understand that the above-mentioned embodiments of the filter 13 including multiple intermediate composite layers are only some non-limiting implementation methods provided by the present invention, which are intended to clearly demonstrate the main concepts of the present invention and provide some specific solutions that are convenient for the public to implement, rather than to limit the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0057] Optionally, in other embodiments, the top and bottom layers of the filter are 96.75 nm SiO2 layers respectively, and there are multiple (for example, 7 to 10) intermediate layers between the top and bottom layers, and the thickness thereof is between 10 nm and 200 nm.

[0058] Here, the above-mentioned filter 13 can be based on the principle of symmetrical periodic film system, and the above-mentioned intermediate layer can be equivalent to a filter composite layer, and by adjusting the symmetrical structure in each filter composite layer, a refractive index between two materials or several materials can be obtained, and the film system structure design of the filter 13 can be simplified by replacing it with an equivalent refractive index.

[0059] Please refer to further Figure 4 . Figure 4 A schematic diagram of a curve showing the transmittance of a filter provided according to some embodiments of the present invention for light across the entire spectrum is shown.

[0060] like Figure 4 As shown, the transmittance of the above-mentioned filter 13 for light in the infrared band (for example, 800nm~1000nm) is close to 0, and it can be used to shield the infrared band light in the first light of the full-band spectrum provided by the light source 11 to filter it into the second light of the ultraviolet band, and irradiate the semiconductor device 14 to perform a UV curing process on it.

[0061] In summary, the above-mentioned UV curing equipment provided by the present invention can solve the problem of abnormal temperature rise caused by the UV curing equipment during illumination by setting a filter that transmits ultraviolet light and reflects infrared light between the light source and the process chamber to filter out infrared light from the light emitted by the light source, thereby improving the film formation quality on the wafer surface.

[0062] Although the above methods are illustrated and described as a series of acts for simplicity of explanation, it is to be understood and appreciated that these methods are not limited by the order of the acts, as some acts may occur in a different order and / or concurrently with other acts from those illustrated and described herein or not illustrated and described herein but understandable to those skilled in the art according to one or more embodiments.

[0063] The previous description of the disclosure is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the disclosure. Various modifications to the disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not intended to be limited to the examples and designs described herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A UV curing device comprising a light source for providing a first light and a process chamber for accommodating a semiconductor device to be cured, characterized in that: A filter that transmits ultraviolet light and reflects infrared light is provided between the light source and the process chamber. The filter filters the first light provided by the light source into a second light in the ultraviolet band and irradiates the semiconductor device to perform an ultraviolet curing process on it.

2. The UV curing device according to claim 1, wherein: The light source is located above the process chamber, wherein the filter is located on the top of the process chamber and / or at least covers the lower surface of the light source.

3. The UV curing device according to claim 2, wherein: A quartz window is provided on the top of the process chamber, wherein the quartz window closes the top space of the process chamber, and the filter covers the upper surface of the quartz window.

4. The UV curing device according to claim 2, wherein: The light source is an electrodeless mercury lamp tube, and the filter circumferentially surrounds the light-emitting surface of the electrodeless mercury lamp tube.

5. The UV curing device according to claim 2, wherein: The filter is formed on the top of the process chamber and / or at least the lower surface of the light source by physical vapor deposition, chemical vapor deposition or sol-gel method.

6. The UV curing device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The filter is formed by stacking a plurality of coating materials alternately.

7. The UV curing device according to claim 6, wherein: The plurality of coating materials include a combination of SiO2, HFO2 and Al2O3, or a combination of SiO2 and HFO2, wherein: The filter plate uses the multiple coating materials alternately stacked on each other as a filter composite layer, and includes multiple filter composite layers.

8. The UV curing device according to claim 6, wherein: The top and bottom layers of the filter are respectively 96.75nm SiO2 layers, and there are multiple intermediate composite layers between the top and bottom layers. Each of the intermediate composite layers has a top-to-bottom symmetrical film structure including a 37.125nm HFO2 layer, a 21.375nm SiO2 layer, a 135.9nm HFO2 layer, a 21.375nm SiO2 layer and a 37.125nm HFO2 layer.

9. The UV curing device according to claim 1, wherein: The process chamber is also provided with a temperature-controlled carrier for carrying the semiconductor device and adjusting the temperature of the semiconductor device during the UV curing process.

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