High efficiency semiconductor photocathode microchannel image intensifier integrated manufacturing equipment

Abstract

The application relates to the technical field of micro-light image intensifier manufacturing, and discloses a high-efficiency semiconductor photocathode micro-light image intensifier integrated manufacturing equipment, which comprises a photocathode assembly sample feeding treatment unit and a fluorescent screen tube body sample feeding unit; the photocathode assembly sample feeding treatment unit comprises a cathode sample feeding chamber, a 200 DEG C preheating and degassing chamber, a 450 DEG C photocathode assembly degassing chamber, a transition chamber, a cesium-oxygen activation chamber and a cathode trolley taking-out chamber which are sequentially connected; the fluorescent screen tube body sample feeding unit comprises a tube body sample feeding chamber, two 450 DEG C fluorescent screen tube body degassing chambers, an electronic cleaning chamber, an assembling chamber, a multi-station press-sealing chamber and a finished product sampling chamber which are sequentially connected; the 15 vacuum chambers are arranged in a modular mode and respectively undertake different functional tasks, the double-line parallel process of the fluorescent screen tube body and the photocathode assembly supply is realized, and the production line efficiency is improved; the multi-station activation and the multi-station press-sealing can significantly improve the equipment utilization rate, and the production efficiency can be improved by more than 20 times.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of low-light-level image intensifier manufacturing, in particular to high-efficiency semiconductor photocathode low-light-level image intensifier integrated manufacturing equipment. Background Art

[0002] Low-light-level image intensifiers convert weak light patterns into electronic images through a photocathode. After multiplication by an electron multiplier, the electro-optical conversion is completed by a fluorescent screen, enhancing faint or invisible images. Semiconductor photocathodes are widely used in industrial night vision applications due to their high quantum efficiency, wide spectral response range, and fast response speed. Commonly used semiconductor photocathodes include GaAs, GaN, and InGaAs.

[0003] Existing semiconductor photocathode low-light level image intensifier fabrication systems typically have a simplistic structure, consisting of only a sample delivery chamber, a shared chamber for thermal cleaning and activation, and a shared chamber for tube degassing and pressure sealing. This structure suffers from poor activation uniformity, low equipment utilization, and inefficient serial process flow, making it difficult to meet the requirements of efficient mass production. In light of these issues, in-depth research has been conducted to address these issues, leading to the present case. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of the present invention is to solve the above problems and to design a high-efficiency semiconductor photocathode low-light level image intensifier integrated manufacturing equipment, which solves the problems of the existing semiconductor photocathode low-light level image intensifier preparation system being too simple in structure, poor activation uniformity, low equipment utilization, low process serial efficiency and difficulty in meeting the needs of efficient mass production.

[0005] The technical solution of the present invention to achieve the above-mentioned purpose is: a high-efficiency semiconductor photocathode low-light image intensifier integrated manufacturing equipment, including a photocathode component sampling processing unit and a fluorescent screen tube body sampling unit:

[0006] The photocathode assembly sampling processing unit includes a cathode sampling chamber, a 200°C preheating degassing chamber, a 450°C photocathode assembly degassing chamber, a transition chamber, a cesium oxide activation chamber, and a cathode trolley removal chamber, which are connected in sequence. Two 450°C thermal cleaning chambers are symmetrically arranged on one side of the cesium oxide activation chamber. A transfer track is provided between the cesium oxide activation chamber and the 450°C thermal cleaning chamber, and a track tray is provided on the transfer track.

[0007] The cesium oxygen activation chamber can simultaneously accommodate and process 4-8 photocathode assemblies and is equipped with a large-area molecular beam-grade cesium source and an electrically heated oxide oxygen source;

[0008] The fluorescent screen tube body sampling unit includes a tube body sampling chamber, two 450°C fluorescent screen tube body degassing chambers, an electronic cleaning chamber, an assembly chamber, a multi-station pressure sealing chamber and a finished product sampling chamber connected in sequence;

[0009] The cesium oxide activation chamber and the assembly chamber are connected to each other, and one end of the transfer track extends into the assembly chamber;

[0010] The cesium oxide activation chamber and the assembly chamber are both provided with a robot;

[0011] The photocathode assembly sample processing unit and the fluorescent screen tube body sample processing unit are both provided with linear tracks, and a track trolley is installed on the linear track, and the track trolley is used to place the photocathode assembly and the fluorescent screen tube body;

[0012] The intersection of the linear track and the transfer track is arranged in a staggered manner, and the transfer track is located below the linear track;

[0013] Each chamber in the photocathode assembly sample introduction processing unit and the fluorescent screen tube body sample introduction unit is an independently controllable vacuum chamber, and each chamber is isolated by an ultra-high vacuum gate valve.

[0014] Furthermore, the cathode injection chamber is equipped with a programmable temperature control system to meet the differentiated pretreatment requirements of different types of photocathode components.

[0015] Furthermore, the above-mentioned 450°C photocathode assembly degassing chamber, 450°C thermal cleaning chamber and 450°C fluorescent screen tube body degassing chamber adopt a highly uniform light radiation heating source and have a double-layer water cooling structure.

[0016] Furthermore, the above-mentioned high uniformity light radiation heating source adopts a near infrared source with a wavelength controlled at 500-1200nm to enhance the cleaning efficiency of the photocathode assembly and the surface of the fluorescent screen tube body.

[0017] Furthermore, the above-mentioned cesium source adopts a 300mm large-area molecular beam-grade cesium source.

[0018] Furthermore, the above-mentioned 450°C fluorescent screen tube body degassing chamber is provided with an automatic lifting heating module and a residual gas monitoring module for real-time monitoring of the cleanliness level in the chamber.

[0019] Furthermore, the multi-station press-sealing chamber is provided with a multi-point cold pressure system, which independently adjusts the pressure rate through a programmable electronically controlled pressure head and can simultaneously perform cold pressing integrated operations on 4-8 groups of photocathode assemblies and fluorescent screen tube bodies.

[0020] Furthermore, the cathode injection chamber is provided with a glove operation interface and has a photoelectric cathode component preheating and cleaning function.

[0021] Furthermore, the tube body sampling chamber has a pre-degassing function of 200°C.

[0022] The high-efficiency semiconductor photocathode low-light level image intensifier integrated manufacturing equipment manufactured using the technical solution of the present invention has the following beneficial effects.

[0023] 1. A modular layout is used to construct 15 vacuum chambers, each of which has different functional tasks, to achieve a dual-line parallel process for the supply of fluorescent screen tubes and photocathode components, thereby improving production line efficiency.

[0024] 2. Multi-station activation and multi-station sealing can significantly improve equipment utilization and increase production efficiency by more than 20 times.

[0025] 3. The cesium oxide activation chamber adopts an improved cesium source structure to ensure the uniform distribution of the cesium beam, greatly improving the activation uniformity and achieving good product consistency.

[0026] 4. The vacuum environment of each chamber is independently controlled to ensure process stability.

[0027] This device supports 24-hour continuous operation and is compatible with semiconductor photocathode components and fluorescent screen tubes of various sizes. It is suitable for large-scale high-end night vision device production lines. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall layout structure of the high-efficiency semiconductor photocathode low-light image intensifier integrated manufacturing equipment of the present invention.

[0029] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure of the cesium source arrangement in the cesium oxygen activation chamber of the present invention.

[0030] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure of the position of the manipulator described in the present invention.

[0031] Figure 4 For the present invention Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the main structure.

[0032] Figure 5 For the present invention Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the top view structure.

[0033] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure of the degassing chamber of the 450°C photocathode assembly of the present invention.

[0034] Figure 7 For the present invention Figure 6 Schematic diagram of the main cross-sectional structure.

[0035] Figure 8 For the present invention Figure 6 Schematic diagram of the side structure.

[0036] In the figure: 1. Cathode injection chamber; 2. 200℃ preheating degassing chamber; 3. 450℃ photocathode assembly degassing chamber; 4. Transition chamber; 5. Cesium oxide activation chamber; 6. Cathode trolley removal chamber; 7. 450℃ thermal cleaning chamber; 8. Track tray; 9. Cesium source; 10. Tube injection chamber; 11. 450℃ fluorescent screen tube degassing chamber; 12. Electronic cleaning chamber; 13. Assembly chamber; 14. Multi-station pressure sealing chamber; 15. Finished product sampling chamber; 16. Transfer track; 17. Robot; 18. Linear track; 19. Track trolley; 20. Ultra-high vacuum gate valve; 701. No. 1 450℃ thermal cleaning chamber; 702. No. 2 450℃ thermal cleaning chamber. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0037] The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0038] Example: In conjunction with the specification Figure 1-8 It can be seen that in order to solve the problems in the prior art that the semiconductor photocathode low-light level image intensifier preparation system structure is too simple, the activation uniformity is poor, the equipment utilization rate is low, the process serial efficiency is low, and it is difficult to meet the needs of efficient mass production, the present application specifically designs a high-efficiency semiconductor photocathode low-light level image intensifier integrated manufacturing equipment, including a photocathode component sampling and processing unit and a fluorescent screen tube body sampling unit: the photocathode component sampling and processing unit includes a cathode sampling chamber 1, a 200°C preheating degassing chamber 2, a 450°C photocathode component degassing chamber 3, a transition chamber 4, a cesium oxide activation chamber 5 and a cathode trolley removal chamber 6 connected in sequence, two 450°C thermal cleaning chambers 7 are symmetrically arranged on one side of the cesium oxide activation chamber 5, a transfer track 16 is provided between the cesium oxide activation chamber 5 and the 450°C thermal cleaning chamber 7, and a track tray 8 is provided on the transfer track 16; the cesium oxide activation chamber 5 can accommodate and process 4-8 photocathode assemblies at the same time and is equipped with a large-area molecular beam-grade cesium source 9 and an electrically heated oxide oxygen source.

[0039] The fluorescent screen tube sampling unit comprises a tube sampling chamber 10, two 450°C fluorescent screen tube degassing chambers 11, an electronic cleaning chamber 12, an assembly chamber 13, a multi-station pressing and sealing chamber 14 and a finished product sampling chamber 15 connected in sequence.

[0040] The cesium oxide activation chamber 5 and the assembly chamber 13 are interconnected and one end of the transfer track 16 extends into the assembly chamber 13; a robot 17 is provided in both the cesium oxide activation chamber 5 and the assembly chamber 13, wherein the robot 17 in the activation chamber of the cesium source 9 is used to place the cleaned photocathode assembly on the track trolley 19 in an orderly manner onto the track tray 8 located on the activation station, and the robot 17 in the assembly chamber 13 is used to place the activated photocathode assembly onto the top of the fluorescent screen tube body on the track trolley 19 to complete the assembly between the photocathode assembly and the fluorescent screen tube body.

[0041] A linear track 18 is provided in the photocathode assembly sampling processing unit and the fluorescent screen tube body sampling unit, and a track trolley 19 is installed on the linear track 18. The track trolley 19 is used to place the photocathode assembly and the fluorescent screen tube body. The intersection of the linear track 18 and the transfer track 16 is arranged in a staggered manner. The transfer track 16 is located below the linear track 18. The track trolley 19 and the track tray 8 are both electromagnetically driven and controlled to realize automatic transmission operations.

[0042] Each chamber in the photocathode assembly sample processing unit and the fluorescent screen tube body sample processing unit is an independently controllable vacuum chamber and each chamber is isolated by an ultra-high vacuum gate valve 20 .

[0043] The specific working principle is as follows:

[0044] The photocathode assembly is placed on the rail trolley 19 according to the designed position, and the rail trolley 19 loaded with the photocathode assembly is sent into the photocathode assembly injection processing unit through the cathode injection door at one end of the cathode injection chamber 1. Under the control of electromagnetic drive, the rail trolley 19 passes through the cathode injection chamber 1, the 200℃ preheating degassing chamber 2, the 450℃ photocathode assembly degassing chamber 3 and the transition chamber 4 along the straight track 18 in sequence, and enters the cesium oxygen activation chamber 5.

[0045] The fluorescent screen tube body is placed on the rail trolley 19 according to the designed position, and the rail trolley 19 loaded with the light fluorescent screen tube body is sent into the fluorescent screen tube body sampling unit through the tube body sampling door at one end of the tube body sampling chamber 10. Under the control of electromagnetic drive, the rail trolley 19 passes through the tube body sampling chamber 10, two 450℃ fluorescent screen tube body degassing chambers 11 and the electronic cleaning chamber 12 along the straight track 18 in sequence, and enters the assembly chamber 13.

[0046] During the specific implementation process, the above-mentioned two 450℃ hot cleaning chambers 7 are respectively 450℃ hot cleaning chamber No. 1 701 and 450℃ hot cleaning chamber No. 2 702; the number of track trays 8 is also two, namely track tray No. 1 and track tray No. 2; among them, track tray No. 1 is set on the transfer track 16 in 450℃ hot cleaning chamber No. 1 701; track tray No. 2 is set on the transfer track 16 in 450℃ hot cleaning chamber No. 2 702.

[0047] When the rail trolley 19 loaded with the photocathode assembly enters the cesium oxide activation chamber 5, the No. 1 rail tray is sent into the cesium oxide activation chamber 5 and stays on the activation station. The manipulator 17 in the cesium oxide activation chamber 5 is used to place the cleaned photocathode assembly on the rail trolley 19 on the No. 1 rail tray in an orderly manner. After the empty rail trolley 19 enters the cathode trolley removal chamber 6, it can be taken out through the cathode trolley removal door at the rear end of the cathode trolley removal chamber 6.

[0048] Turn on the cesium source 9 and oxygen source in the cesium oxide activation chamber 5 to complete the activation of the corresponding photocathode assembly on the No. 1 track tray, control the No. 1 track tray to return to the No. 1 450℃ thermal cleaning chamber 701 for a 450℃ thermal cleaning operation, and cool it to 200℃ after thermal cleaning; while the No. 1 450℃ thermal cleaning chamber 701 is performing thermal cleaning and cooling, the No. 2 track tray in the No. 2 450℃ thermal cleaning chamber 702 is controlled to enter the cesium oxide activation chamber 5 for loading and activating the photocathode assembly. After the photocathode assembly is activated, the No. 2 track tray is controlled to return to the No. 2 450℃ thermal cleaning chamber 702 for a 450℃ thermal cleaning operation, and cool it to 200℃ after thermal cleaning; at the same time, the photocathode assembly on the No. 1 track tray has completed cooling, and the No. 1 track tray is transferred to the assembly chamber 13.

[0049] The activated photocathode assembly is placed on the top of the fluorescent screen tube body on the current corresponding rail trolley 19 by using the robot 17 in the assembly room 13, completing the assembly between the photocathode assembly and the fluorescent screen tube body; the assembled photocathode assembly and the fluorescent screen tube body further enter the multi-station sealing room 14 for sealing operation, and the sealed low-light image intensifier product enters the finished product sampling room 15, and is further taken out through the finished product removal door at the end of the finished product sampling room 15.

[0050] After being unloaded, the No. 1 track tray is controlled to return to the cesium oxide activation chamber 5, and the photocathode assembly is loaded and activated. After the photocathode assembly is activated, the No. 1 track tray is controlled to return to the No. 1 450°C thermal cleaning chamber 701 for 450°C thermal cleaning and cooling operations. At the same time, the photocathode assembly on the No. 2 track tray has completed cooling, and the No. 2 track tray is transferred to the assembly chamber 13 for assembly between the photocathode assembly and the fluorescent screen tube body. The alternating use of the No. 1 track tray and the No. 2 track tray can further improve the overall operating efficiency of the low-light image intensifier manufacturing.

[0051] Among them, the following parts need to be highlighted:

[0052] The cathode injection chamber 1 is provided with a glove operation interface and has a 200°C preheating and cleaning function for the photocathode assembly. The cathode injection chamber 1 is equipped with a programmable temperature control system to meet the differentiated pretreatment requirements of different types of photocathode assemblies; the tube body injection chamber 10 has a 200°C pre-degassing function and can perform 200°C preheating, cleaning and degassing operations on the fluorescent screen tube body.

[0053] The photocathode assembly sampling processing unit and the fluorescent screen tube body sampling unit adopt a dual-line parallel arrangement, and the fluorescent screen tube body and the photocathode assembly are supplied in a dual-line parallel process, which can effectively improve the production line efficiency; the transmission and transportation of the photocathode assembly and the fluorescent screen tube body are realized by the rail trolley 19 and the rail tray 8. One rail trolley 19 or rail tray 8 can accommodate 4-8 photocathode assemblies or fluorescent screen tube bodies; the rail trolley 19 is installed on the linear rail 18, and the rail tray 8 is installed on the transfer rail 16. The rail trolley 19 and the rail tray 8 are both electromagnetically driven to realize automatic transmission operations.

[0054] The cesium oxygen activation chamber 5 adopts an improved cesium source 9 structure. The cesium source 9 adopts a 300mm large-area molecular beam-grade cesium source 9 to ensure uniform distribution of the cesium beam, greatly improve activation uniformity, and achieve good product consistency. The oxygen source is obtained by decomposing electrically heated oxides.

[0055] The 450°C photocathode assembly degassing chamber 3, the 450°C thermal cleaning chamber 7 and the 450°C fluorescent screen tube degassing chamber 11 all use highly uniform light radiation heating sources and have a double-layer water cooling structure. Thermal cleaning operations can be performed in the 450°C photocathode assembly degassing chamber 3, the 450°C thermal cleaning chamber 7 and the 450°C fluorescent screen tube degassing chamber 11. A highly uniform light radiation heating source is used, with high control accuracy and fast response. The above-mentioned highly uniform light radiation heating source uses a near-infrared source with a wavelength controlled at 500-1200nm to enhance the cleaning efficiency of the photocathode assembly and the surface of the fluorescent screen tube; the 450°C fluorescent screen tube degassing chamber 11 is provided with an automatic lifting heating module and a residual gas monitoring module for real-time monitoring of the cleanliness level in the chamber.

[0056] A multi-point cold pressure system is provided in the multi-station pressing chamber 14, which can independently adjust the pressure rate through a programmable electrically controlled pressure head and can simultaneously perform cold pressing integration operations on 4-8 groups of photocathode assemblies and fluorescent screen tube bodies; in addition, the pressing operation is carried out on the rail trolley 19 without leaving the current linear track 18, which can effectively reduce mechanical grasping errors and improve the reliability of the pressing operation; the multi-point cold pressing system is used in the multi-station pressing chamber 14, which can simultaneously complete the pressing and sealing integration of multiple photocathode assemblies and fluorescent screen tube bodies, thereby improving production capacity.

[0057] In summary, the high-efficiency semiconductor photocathode low-light level image intensifier integrated manufacturing equipment adopts a modular layout to construct 15 vacuum chambers, each of which undertakes different functional tasks. The photocathode components and fluorescent screen tubes are pre-treated and automatically transported to subsequent workstations in sequence; the cesium oxygen activation chamber adopts an improved cesium source structure to ensure the uniform distribution of the cesium beam, greatly improving the activation uniformity and achieving good product consistency. The vacuum environment of each chamber is independently controlled to ensure process stability; the dual-line parallel process improves production line efficiency, and multi-station activation and multi-station pressing and sealing can significantly improve equipment utilization and increase production efficiency by more than 20 times; this equipment supports 24-hour continuous operation and is compatible with semiconductor photocathode components and fluorescent screen tubes of various sizes, making it suitable for large-scale high-end night vision device production lines.

[0058] The above technical solutions only reflect the preferred technical solutions of the technical solutions of the present invention. Any changes that may be made to certain parts thereof by those skilled in the art all reflect the principles of the present invention and fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. High-efficiency semiconductor photocathode low-light image intensifier integrated manufacturing equipment, characterized by: It includes a photocathode assembly sample processing unit and a fluorescent screen tube sample processing unit: The photocathode assembly sample processing unit comprises a cathode sample chamber (1), a 200°C preheating degassing chamber (2), a 450°C photocathode assembly degassing chamber (3), a transition chamber (4), a cesium oxide activation chamber (5), and a cathode trolley removal chamber (6) connected in sequence, wherein two 450°C thermal cleaning chambers (7) are symmetrically arranged on one side of the cesium oxide activation chamber (5), a transfer track (16) is provided between the cesium oxide activation chamber (5) and the 450°C thermal cleaning chamber (7), and a track tray (8) is provided on the transfer track (16); The cesium oxygen activation chamber (5) can simultaneously accommodate and process 4-8 photocathode assemblies and is equipped with a large-area molecular beam-grade cesium source (9) and an electrically heated oxide oxygen source; The fluorescent screen tube body sampling unit comprises a tube body sampling chamber (10), two 450°C fluorescent screen tube body degassing chambers (11), an electronic cleaning chamber (12), an assembly chamber (13), a multi-station pressure sealing chamber (14), and a finished product sampling chamber (15) connected in sequence; The cesium oxide activation chamber (5) and the assembly chamber (13) are interconnected, and one end of the transfer track (16) extends into the assembly chamber (13); A robot (17) is provided in the cesium oxide activation chamber (5) and the assembly chamber (13); The photocathode assembly sample processing unit and the fluorescent screen tube body sample processing unit are both provided with a linear track (18), and a track trolley (19) is installed on the linear track (18), and the track trolley (19) is used to place the photocathode assembly and the fluorescent screen tube body; The intersection of the linear track (18) and the transfer track (16) is arranged in a staggered manner, and the transfer track (16) is located below the linear track (18); Each chamber in the photocathode assembly sampling processing unit and the fluorescent screen tube body sampling unit is an independently controllable vacuum chamber, and each chamber is isolated by an ultra-high vacuum gate valve (20).

2. The high-efficiency semiconductor photocathode low-light level image intensifier integrated manufacturing equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that: The cathode injection chamber (1) is equipped with a programmable temperature control system to meet the differentiated pretreatment requirements of different types of photocathode components.

3. The high-efficiency semiconductor photocathode low-light level image intensifier integrated manufacturing equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that: The 450°C photocathode assembly degassing chamber (3), the 450°C thermal cleaning chamber (7), and the 450°C fluorescent screen tube body degassing chamber (11) adopt a highly uniform light radiation heating source and have a double-layer water cooling structure.

4. The high-efficiency semiconductor photocathode low-light level image intensifier integrated manufacturing equipment according to claim 3, characterized in that: The high-uniformity light radiation heating source adopts a near-infrared source with a wavelength controlled at 500-1200 nm to enhance the cleaning efficiency of the photocathode assembly and the surface of the fluorescent screen tube body.

5. The high-efficiency semiconductor photocathode low-light level image intensifier integrated manufacturing equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that: The cesium source (9) adopts a 300mm large-area molecular beam-grade cesium source.

6. The high-efficiency semiconductor photocathode low-light image intensifier integrated manufacturing equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that: The 450°C fluorescent screen tube degassing chamber (11) is provided with an automatic lifting heating module and a residual gas monitoring module for real-time monitoring of the cleanliness level in the chamber.

7. The high-efficiency semiconductor photocathode low-light level image intensifier integrated manufacturing equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that: The multi-station sealing chamber (14) is provided with a multi-point cold pressure system, which can independently adjust the pressure rate through a programmable electric pressure head and can simultaneously perform cold pressing integrated operations on 4-8 groups of photocathode assemblies and fluorescent screen tube bodies.

8. The high-efficiency semiconductor photocathode low-light level image intensifier integrated manufacturing equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that: The cathode injection chamber (1) is provided with a glove operation interface and has a photoelectric cathode component preheating and cleaning function.

9. The high-efficiency semiconductor photocathode low-light level image intensifier integrated manufacturing equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that: The tube body sampling chamber (10) has a pre-degassing function of 200°C.

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