Pressing needle driving device and substrate fixing device

Abstract

The invention discloses a pressing needle driving device and a substrate fixing device, and is applied to the field of semiconductor manufacturing equipment. The substrate fixing device comprises a pressing needle driving device and a pressing needle. The pressing needle driving device comprises a first temperature change spring, a second temperature change spring and a rotor. When the temperature is in a low-temperature interval, the deformation quantity of the first temperature change spring is greater than that of the second temperature change spring, so that the rotor drives the pressing needle to deflect along a certain direction; and when the temperature is in a high-temperature interval, the deformation quantity of the second temperature change spring is greater than that of the first temperature change spring, so that the rotor drives the pressing needle to deflect along another opposite direction. Therefore, the pressing needle driving structure does not depend on an electromagnet and is resistant to high temperature and creep.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and more particularly to a needle drive device and a substrate fixing device. Background Technology

[0002] In some semiconductor manufacturing processes, substrates (also called plates) placed on carrier plates are fixed in place using pressure pins. Taking vacuum deposition as an example, it is a crucial process in the fabrication of semiconductor devices. To enable substrate deposition under high vacuum conditions, the carrier plate, as an important component of the vacuum deposition equipment, plays a vital role in supporting the substrate and transporting it into the vacuum chamber. Depending on the structure of the vacuum deposition equipment, carrier plates are typically classified as horizontal or vertical. Vertical carrier plates use pressure pins to fix the substrate, ensuring that it does not fall off during carrier plate movement and cavity ventilation during deposition.

[0003] Traditional needle drive devices typically consist of an electromagnet, a common spring, and a lever structure. These devices suffer from three main drawbacks: First, high-temperature failure. The elastic modulus of common spring materials (such as stainless steel) decreases at high temperatures, leading to pressure drift, limited needle opening, and the risk of the substrate falling off the carrier plate. Second, thermal expansion interference. The difference in thermal expansion coefficients between the carrier plate and the needle can cause jamming or poor contact. Third, indentation problems. Because the needle has a certain coverage area and blocks part of the substrate surface, film cannot be deposited in the blocked area, affecting the uniform coverage of the film on the entire substrate surface and potentially causing adverse effects on subsequent processes. Summary of the Invention

[0004] To address the aforementioned technical problems, this application provides a pressure needle driving device and a substrate fixing device.

[0005] In a first aspect, embodiments of this application provide a pressure needle driving device. The pressure needle is used to fix a substrate placed on a carrier plate. The pressure needle driving device includes a first temperature-sensitive spring, a second temperature-sensitive spring, and a rotor.

[0006] The free ends of both the first and second temperature-sensitive springs are connected to the rotor, and the rotor is connected to the pressure needle. The fixed ends of the first and second temperature-sensitive springs are located on the same side of the rotor, and the pressure needle is located on the other side of the rotor.

[0007] When the temperature is in the low-temperature range, the deformation of the first temperature-sensitive spring is greater than that of the second temperature-sensitive spring, causing the rotor to drive the pressure needle to deflect in the first direction. When the temperature is in the high-temperature range, the deformation of the second temperature-sensitive spring is greater than that of the first temperature-sensitive spring, causing the rotor to drive the pressure needle to deflect in the second direction. The lower limit temperature of the high-temperature range is not less than the upper limit temperature of the low-temperature range, and the second direction is opposite to the first direction.

[0008] In some embodiments, the lower limit temperature of the high temperature range and the upper limit temperature of the low temperature range are both 150°C.

[0009] In some embodiments, the maximum deflection range of the pressure needle is -90° to 90°.

[0010] In some embodiments, the fixed ends of the first temperature-sensitive spring and the second temperature-sensitive spring are both fixed to the back side of the carrier plate, which is used to support the substrate.

[0011] In some embodiments, both the first and second temperature-sensitive springs are fixed to the back side of the carrier plate, while the rotor is fixed to the front side of the carrier plate. Furthermore, the carrier plate has through holes to allow the free ends of the first and second temperature-sensitive springs to pass through the carrier plate and connect to the rotor.

[0012] In some embodiments, the rotor is made of metal.

[0013] In some embodiments, the first thermostatic spring is made of at least one material selected from platinum, aluminum, and copper.

[0014] In some embodiments, the second thermostatic spring is made of silicon carbide ceramic and / or boron nitride.

[0015] Secondly, embodiments of this application provide a substrate fixing device. The substrate fixing device includes a pressure pin for fixing the substrate and a pressure pin driving device as described in the first aspect.

[0016] In some embodiments, the pressure needle is made of an aluminum-silicon alloy.

[0017] The technical solution provided in this application has the following advantages compared with the prior art: (1) By utilizing the difference in deformation of different materials at different temperatures to drive the rotor to rotate, thereby driving the pressure needle to deflect, a pressure needle drive structure that does not rely on electromagnets, is resistant to high temperatures and creep is provided; (2) The deflection of the indenter changes with the operating temperature, and the indenter will not always block the fixed area of ​​the substrate, thus improving the indentation problem; (3) Improving the indentation problem helps to improve the uniformity of the entire film layer and prevents the uncoated area from becoming a defect point that affects the normal operation of subsequent processes. Attached Figure Description

[0018] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with this application and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of this application.

[0019] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the substrate fixing device provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0020] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram showing the deflection direction of the pressure needle at different temperatures. Detailed Implementation

[0021] To better understand the above-mentioned objectives, features, and advantages of this application, embodiments of this application will be further described below. It should be noted that, unless otherwise specified, the embodiments and features described herein can be combined with each other.

[0022] Numerous specific details are set forth in the following description to provide a thorough understanding of this application, but this application may also be implemented in other ways than those described herein. Clearly, the embodiments described in the specification are only a portion of, and not all, of the embodiments of this application.

[0023] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the substrate fixing device provided in an embodiment of this application. Figure 1 As shown, the substrate fixing device 100 includes a pressure pin driving device 110 and a pressure pin 120. The pressure pin 120 is used to fix a substrate (such as a silicon wafer) placed on a carrier plate.

[0024] The pressure needle drive device 110 includes a first temperature-sensitive spring 111, a second temperature-sensitive spring 112, and a rotor 113. The free ends of both the first and second temperature-sensitive springs 111 and 112 are connected to the rotor 113, which is connected to the pressure needle 120 (e.g., by welding an aluminum sheet together). The fixed ends of the first and second temperature-sensitive springs 111 and 112 are located on the same side of the rotor 113. Figure 1 (The middle is on the left), the pressure needle 120 is located on the other side of the rotor 113 ( Figure 1 (The middle is the right side).

[0025] A temperature-dependent spring is a spring whose properties (such as length) change significantly with temperature. The properties (such as length) of a regular spring remain essentially unchanged under operating temperature. Therefore, the deformation of a temperature-dependent spring can be controlled by temperature.

[0026] In this embodiment, the temperature-dependent characteristics of the first and second temperature-dependent springs differ. Utilizing this difference, the torque generated by the spring deformation causes the rotor to rotate, thereby deflecting the pressure needle 120. Specifically, when the temperature is in the low-temperature range, the deformation of the first temperature-dependent spring 111 is greater than that of the second temperature-dependent spring 112 (i.e., the first temperature-dependent spring 111 dominates the rotation of the rotor 113), causing the rotor 113 to drive the pressure needle 120 to deflect in a certain direction (referred to as the first direction). When the temperature is in the high-temperature range, the deformation of the second temperature-dependent spring 112 is greater than that of the first temperature-dependent spring 111 (i.e., the second temperature-dependent spring 112 dominates the rotation of the rotor 113), causing the rotor 113 to drive the pressure needle 120 to deflect in the opposite direction (referred to as the second direction). It should be noted that the lower limit temperature of the high-temperature range is not less than (for example, equal to) the upper limit temperature of the low-temperature range.

[0027] In some embodiments, the lower limit temperature of the high temperature range and the upper limit temperature of the low temperature range are both 150°C. For example, the low temperature range is (25°C, 150°C) and the high temperature range is (150°C, 300°C).

[0028] In some embodiments, the maximum deflection range of the pressure needle 113 is -90° to 90°.

[0029] For example only, for reference. Figure 2 The pressure needle presses on the substrate (yellow rectangle). When the temperature is in the low temperature range, the first temperature-changing spring dominates the rotation of the rotor, causing the rotor to drive the pressure needle to deflect to the left (counterclockwise). When the temperature is in the high temperature range, the second temperature-changing spring dominates the rotation of the rotor, causing the rotor to drive the pressure needle to deflect to the right (clockwise).

[0030] In some embodiments, the first thermostatic spring 111 is made of at least one material selected from platinum, aluminum, and copper.

[0031] In some embodiments, the second thermostatic spring 112 is made of silicon carbide ceramic and / or boron nitride.

[0032] In some embodiments, the rotor 113 is made of metal, i.e., a metal rotor.

[0033] In some embodiments, the fixed ends of the first temperature-sensitive spring 111 and the second temperature-sensitive spring 112 are both fixed to the back side of the carrier plate. The front side of the carrier plate refers to the side on which the substrate (such as a silicon wafer) is placed, and the other side is the back side. As an example only, the fixed ends of the first temperature-sensitive spring 111 and the second temperature-sensitive spring 112 can both be soldered to the back side of the carrier plate by aluminum sheets.

[0034] In some embodiments, the first temperature-sensitive spring 111 and the second temperature-sensitive spring 112 are both fixed to the back side of the carrier plate, while the rotor 113 is fixed to the front side of the carrier plate. (See reference) Figure 1The black part at the center of rotor 113 is the shaft 114, and the rotor is fixed to the front of the carrier plate through the shaft 114. On this basis, the carrier plate is provided with through holes so that the free ends of the first temperature spring 111 and the second temperature spring 112 can pass through the carrier plate and connect to the rotor 113.

[0035] The pressure needle 120 can be made of a lightweight (i.e., low-density) and high-temperature resistant metal (including but not limited to aluminum-silicon alloys). This prevents the spring force from being insufficient to deflect the pressure needle to the intended position and prevents the pressure needle from deforming at high temperatures.

[0036] It is understood that, since this application aims to provide a high-temperature resistant needle driving device and substrate fixing device, the components of the needle driving device 110 and the substrate fixing device 100 are all made of high-temperature resistant materials, such as high-temperature resistant metal materials and / or non-metallic materials.

[0037] In practical applications, a substrate can be fixed by two or more substrate fixing devices 110. The pressure pins 113 of these substrate fixing devices 110 can be evenly distributed on the substrate to ensure that the substrate is subjected to uniform force and to prevent the substrate from chipping and being damaged.

[0038] It should be noted that, in this document, relational terms such as "first" and "second" are used merely to distinguish one entity or operation from another, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Furthermore, the terms "comprising," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to the process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitations, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that includes said element.

[0039] The above descriptions are merely embodiments of this application, which enable those skilled in the art to understand and implement this application. Various modifications to the embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be implemented in other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of this application. Therefore, this application is not to be limited to the embodiments described herein, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A pressure needle driving device, wherein the pressure needle is used to fix a substrate placed on a carrier plate, characterized in that, The pressure needle driving device includes a first thermostatic spring, a second thermostatic spring, and a rotor; The free ends of the first temperature-sensitive spring and the second temperature-sensitive spring are both connected to the rotor, and the rotor is connected to the pressure needle; the fixed ends of the first temperature-sensitive spring and the second temperature-sensitive spring are located on the same side of the rotor, and the pressure needle is located on the other side of the rotor; When the temperature is in the low-temperature range, the deformation of the first temperature-sensitive spring is greater than that of the second temperature-sensitive spring, causing the rotor to drive the pressure needle to deflect in the first direction; when the temperature is in the high-temperature range, the deformation of the second temperature-sensitive spring is greater than that of the first temperature-sensitive spring, causing the rotor to drive the pressure needle to deflect in the second direction; the lower limit temperature of the high-temperature range is not less than the upper limit temperature of the low-temperature range, and the second direction is opposite to the first direction.

2. The pressure needle driving device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The lower limit temperature of the high-temperature range and the upper limit temperature of the low-temperature range are both 150°C.

3. The pressure needle driving device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The maximum deflection range of the pressure needle is -90° to 90°.

4. The pressure needle driving device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The fixed ends of the first temperature-sensitive spring and the second temperature-sensitive spring are both fixed to the back of the carrier plate, which is used to support the substrate.

5. The pressure needle driving device according to claim 4, characterized in that, The rotor is fixed to the front side of the carrier plate; the carrier plate is provided with through holes so that the free ends of the first temperature-sensitive spring and the second temperature-sensitive spring can pass through the carrier plate and connect to the rotor.

6. The pressure needle driving device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The rotor is made of metal.

7. The pressure needle driving device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first temperature-sensitive spring is made of at least one of platinum, aluminum, and copper.

8. The pressure needle driving device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The second temperature-sensitive spring is made of silicon carbide ceramic and / or boron nitride.

9. A substrate fixing device, comprising pressure pins for fixing a substrate, characterized in that, It also includes the pressure needle drive device as described in any one of claims 1 to 8.

10. The substrate fixing device according to claim 9, characterized in that, The pressure needle is made of aluminum-silicon alloy.

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