Semiconductor process equipment and wafer transmission system thereof

Abstract

The invention provides semiconductor process equipment and a wafer transmission system thereof. The wafer transmission system comprises a transmission cavity, a first transmission assembly and a calibration cavity. The transmission cavity is provided with a cavity butt joint port used for being communicated with the reaction cavity. The calibration cavity is communicated with the transmission cavity, a calibration assembly is arranged in the calibration cavity, the calibration assembly comprises a tray calibrator and a rotating seat, and the tray calibrator is used for generating a feedback signal based on the horizontal position of the tray center of the tray transmitted into the calibration cavity by the first transmission assembly; the rotating seat is used for driving the tray borne on the rotating seat to rotate around a rotating shaft of the rotating seat until the characteristic structure of the tray faces a first preset angle; the first conveying assembly is arranged in the conveying cavity and used for conveying the trays into the calibration cavity and taking the trays calibrated in the rotating direction out of the calibration cavity. The first transmission assembly is further used for adjusting the horizontal position of the tray according to the feedback signal, so that the tray is placed on the rotating seat after the horizontal position of the center of the tray is aligned with the horizontal position of the rotating shaft.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of semiconductor process equipment, and more specifically, to a wafer transport system and a semiconductor process apparatus including the wafer transport system. Background Technology

[0002] Silicon carbide (SiC) is a semiconductor material with unique physical and chemical properties. The silicon-carbon bonds that make up silicon carbide crystals have very large bond energies (4.6 eV), and its band gap is 2.3–

[0003] With a voltage of 3.3 eV, high hardness, high chemical inertness, wide bandgap, and good thermal stability, silicon carbide power devices can operate at high temperatures of 300°C, and their performance is guaranteed not to degrade even at higher temperatures. Under the same voltage conditions, the on-state resistance of silicon carbide power devices is more than an order of magnitude lower than that of silicon-based power devices, resulting in higher energy conversion efficiency. However, precisely because of its unique properties, silicon carbide devices are difficult to manufacture, have low yield rates, and are relatively expensive, limiting their widespread adoption.

[0004] Epitaxial growth is the first step in the manufacturing process of silicon carbide (SiC) power semiconductor devices. Unlike the 1000–1200°C epitaxial temperature of silicon epitaxy, SiC epitaxy typically operates at 1500–1800°C, and the growth time is generally longer. Under these conditions, directly removing the wafer as in silicon epitaxy would easily increase surface defects in the SiC wafer. Therefore, it is necessary to place the entire tray containing the SiC wafer into and out of the process chamber. That is, the wafer must first be placed on the tray before processing, then the tray and wafer are transferred together into the reaction chamber for processing. After processing, the tray and wafer are removed from the reaction chamber, and the wafer is then removed from the tray.

[0005] However, in the existing technology, the process steps of placing wafers on trays and removing them from trays both require human intervention, which greatly reduces the efficiency of semiconductor processes. Furthermore, human handling of wafers can easily cause small particles to fall onto the wafer surface, causing wafer contamination or scratches, thus affecting the yield of silicon carbide wafers.

[0006] Therefore, how to provide a transfer system for silicon carbide wafers that can achieve automated wafer transfer and retrieval has become a technical problem that urgently needs to be solved in this field. Summary of the Invention

[0007] The present invention aims to provide a wafer transport system and a semiconductor process apparatus including the wafer transport system, the wafer transport system being capable of automatic tray calibration.

[0008] To achieve the above object, as one aspect of the present application, a wafer transfer system is provided, which comprises a transfer cavity, a first transfer assembly and a calibration cavity, wherein,

[0009] The transfer cavity has a cavity interface for communicating with a reaction chamber;

[0010] The calibration cavity communicates with the transfer cavity, and a calibration assembly is arranged in the calibration cavity, which comprises a tray calibrator and a rotating seat, the tray calibrator is used to generate a feedback signal based on the horizontal position of the tray center of a tray transferred into the calibration cavity by the first transfer assembly; the rotating seat is used to drive the tray carried thereon to rotate around the rotating shaft of the rotating seat until the feature structure of the tray is oriented towards a first preset angle, so as to calibrate the rotation direction of the tray;

[0011] The first transfer assembly is arranged in the transfer cavity and is used to transfer the tray into the calibration cavity and take out the tray after the rotation direction is calibrated; the first transfer assembly is also used to adjust the horizontal position of the tray according to the feedback signal, so that the horizontal position of the tray center is aligned with the horizontal position of the rotating shaft before the tray is placed on the rotating seat.

[0012] Optionally, the tray calibrator is located above the rotating seat and is also used to vertically downwardly emit a detection signal at a preset position and judge whether the feature structure of the tray carried on the rotating seat is rotated to be oriented towards the first preset angle according to a reflected signal.

[0013] Optionally, the feedback information comprises offset amounts of the horizontal position of the tray center of the tray relative to the horizontal position of the rotating shaft of the rotating seat along X-axis and Y-axis directions.

[0014] Optionally, the wafer transfer system further comprises a loading cavity, one side of the loading cavity communicates with the transfer cavity, and the other side has a selectively openable transfer port;

[0015] The first transfer assembly is also used to take out the calibrated tray from the calibration cavity and transfer it into the loading cavity; wherein the tray has a plurality of thimble holes; the loading cavity comprises a cavity body, a base, a thimble driving assembly and a plurality of thimbles, the base is arranged in the cavity body, the base has a carrying surface for carrying the tray transferred by the first transfer assembly, the thimble driving assembly is used to drive the plurality of thimbles to pass upwardly from below the carrying surface and pass through the plurality of thimble holes on the tray one by one, or drive the plurality of thimbles to descend below the carrying surface via the plurality of thimble holes.

[0016] Optionally, the ejector pin driving assembly comprises a mounting plate, a lifting rod and a lifting driving assembly, a plurality of the ejector pins are arranged on the mounting plate, a mounting groove is formed on the bearing surface of the base, a first through hole penetrating to the bottom of the base is formed on the bottom of the mounting groove, the mounting plate is arranged in the mounting groove, the top end of the lifting rod is fixedly connected with the mounting plate, and the lifting driving assembly is used to drive the lifting rod to move in the first through hole, so as to drive the mounting plate and the plurality of the ejector pins arranged thereon to lift.

[0017] Optionally, a plurality of groups of the ejector pins are fixedly arranged on the mounting plate, and the distance between the plurality of the ejector pins in each group and the axis of the base is equal.

[0018] Optionally, the lifting driving assembly is arranged below the cavity, a second through hole is formed on the bottom wall of the cavity, the bottom end of the lifting rod penetrates out of the cavity through the second through hole, the bottom end of the lifting rod has a hemispherical part, the lifting driving assembly comprises a lifting driving part and an elastic driving part; the top of the lifting driving part has a horizontal contact surface, the lifting driving part is used to drive the horizontal contact surface to rise, so that the horizontal contact surface pushes the lifting rod to rise along the first through hole and the second through hole, or the lifting driving part is used to drive the horizontal contact surface to fall; and the elastic driving part is used to drive the lifting rod to fall by elastic force.

[0019] Optionally, the elastic driving part comprises a spring, a blocking ring and a guide seat, the top surface of the guide seat is formed with a guide hole, the bottom surface of the guide hole is formed with a third through hole coaxial with the guide hole and penetrating to the bottom surface of the guide seat, the bottom of the guide seat is fixedly connected with the bottom of the cavity, and the third through hole is in communication with the second through hole.

[0020] The lifting rod penetrates through the guide hole and the third through hole of the guide seat, the blocking ring and the spring are both sleeved on the lifting rod, the spring is located in the guide hole and between the blocking ring and the bottom surface of the guide hole, and is used to push the blocking ring and the bottom surface of the guide hole away from each other by elastic force, so that the lifting rod falls.

[0021] Optionally, the wafer conveying system further comprises a fixed platform and a second conveying assembly, and the loading cavity and the second conveying assembly are both fixedly arranged on the fixed platform.

[0022] The second conveying assembly is used to convey a wafer to the tray in the loading cavity through the conveying port, take the wafer off the tray in the loading cavity and convey the wafer out of the loading cavity through the conveying port.

[0023] Optionally, the wafer transfer system further comprises a wafer aligner fixedly arranged on the fixed platform, the wafer aligner being configured to align a rotation direction of the wafer so that a feature on the wafer is rotated to face a second preset angle; the fixed platform further comprises a first cassette fixing position and a second cassette fixing position configured to fix a cassette, and a center of the second transfer assembly, the loading cavity and the transfer cavity is located on a same straight line, and the first cassette fixing position and the second cassette fixing position are respectively located on two sides of the second transfer assembly in a direction perpendicular to a line connecting the second transfer assembly and the loading cavity.

[0024] The second transfer assembly is configured to, after taking the wafer out of the cassette at the first cassette fixing position, first transfer the wafer into the wafer aligner, and after the wafer aligner aligns the rotation direction of the wafer, transfer the wafer to the tray in the loading cavity through the transfer port; and, after taking the wafer out of the loading cavity, first transfer the wafer into the wafer aligner, and after the wafer aligner aligns the rotation direction of the wafer, transfer the wafer into the cassette at the second cassette fixing position.

[0025] Optionally, the wafer transfer system further comprises a tray support block fixedly arranged on the fixed platform, a top of the tray support block is provided with a tray support surface configured to support a tray, and the tray support block is formed with an opening in a direction facing the second transfer assembly;

[0026] The second transfer assembly is further configured to extend into the opening and be elevated above the tray support surface from below the tray support surface to take the tray supported on the tray support surface, and then place the tray into the loading cavity.

[0027] Another aspect of the present application further provides a semiconductor process equipment, comprising a wafer transfer system and a reaction chamber, the wafer transfer system being configured to transfer a tray supporting a wafer into the reaction chamber and take the tray supporting a wafer out of the reaction chamber, and the wafer transfer system is the wafer transfer system described above.

[0028] In the wafer transfer system and the semiconductor process equipment provided by the present application, the first transfer assembly can cooperate with the alignment cavity to align the tray in horizontal direction and rotation direction, the whole transmission process of the tray does not need human intervention, thereby improving the semiconductor process efficiency, providing a prerequisite for automatic transmission of the wafer, reducing the probability of wafer pollution or damage caused by particles attached to the surface of the wafer, and improving the product yield of the wafer (for example, silicon carbide wafer). BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0029] The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the application and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the application and serve to explain the principles of the application, but do not limit the application. In the drawings:

[0030] Figure 1 is a structural schematic diagram of a wafer transfer system provided by an embodiment of the application;

[0031] Figure 2 is a structural schematic diagram of a loading cavity in a wafer transfer system provided by an embodiment of the application;

[0032] Figure 3 is a structural schematic diagram of a loading cavity in a wafer transfer system provided by an embodiment of the application, from another perspective;

[0033] Figure 4 is a partial structural schematic diagram of an A area of the loading cavity; Figure 3

[0034] Figure 5 is a structural schematic diagram of a mounting plate in the loading cavity of the wafer transfer system provided by an embodiment of the application;

[0035] Figure 6 is a structural schematic diagram of a tray in an embodiment of the application;

[0036] Figure 7 is a partial structural schematic diagram of an A area of the tray; Figure 6

[0037] is a schematic diagram of the position relationship between the tray and the wafer in an embodiment of the application; Figure 8

[0038] is a structural schematic diagram of a tray support block in the wafer transfer system provided by an embodiment of the application; Figure 9

[0039] is a schematic diagram of the principle of taking the tray off the tray support block by the second transfer assembly in the wafer transfer system provided by an embodiment of the application; Figure 10

[0040] is a schematic diagram of the principle of taking the tray out of the loading cavity by the first transfer assembly in the wafer transfer system provided by an embodiment of the application; Figure 11

[0041] is a schematic diagram of the principle of transferring the wafer to the tray in the loading cavity by the second transfer assembly in the wafer transfer system provided by an embodiment of the application. Figure 12 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0042] 100: transfer cavity 200: first transfer assembly

[0043]

[0044] ​​300: Calibration chamber; 310: Tray calibrator

[0045] 400: Loading chamber; 410: Valve

[0046] 420: Valve drive mechanism; 430: Cavity

[0047] 440: Base; 450: Ejector pin

[0048] 460: Mounting plate 461: Connecting part

[0049] 462: Strip-shaped part; 463: Connecting hole

[0050] 464: Pin fixing hole; 470: Lifting rod

[0051] 471: Hemispherical section; 480: Lifting drive assembly

[0052] 480a: Lifting drive unit; 480b: Flexible drive unit

[0053] 481: Spring; 482: Retaining ring

[0054] 483: Guide seat; 500: Second transmission component

[0055] 600: Wafer calibrator; 700: Tray support block

[0056] 710: Opening; 800: Cooling chamber

[0057] 900: Fixed platform; 10: Wafer

[0058] 20: Pallet 21: Notch

[0059] 22: Receiving tank; 30: Reaction chamber

[0060] 40: Tablet Box Detailed Implementation

[0061] The specific embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are for illustration and explanation only and are not intended to limit the present invention.

[0062] To address the aforementioned technical problems, as one aspect of the present invention, a wafer transmission system is provided, such as... Figure 1 As shown, the wafer transport system includes a transport cavity 100, a first transport component 200, a calibration cavity 300, a loading cavity 400, and a second transport component 500, wherein...

[0063] The transfer cavity 100 has a chamber docking interface for communicating with the reaction chamber 30;

[0064] One side of the loading cavity 400 is in communication with the transfer cavity 100, and the other side has a selectively opened transfer port;

[0065] The second transfer assembly 500 is configured to transfer the wafer 10 to the tray 20 in the loading cavity 400 through the transfer port, and to take the wafer 10 from the tray 20 in the loading cavity 400 and transfer the wafer 10 out of the loading cavity 400 through the transfer port;

[0066] The calibration cavity 300 is in communication with the transfer cavity 100, and a calibration assembly is arranged in the calibration cavity 300, and the calibration assembly is configured to calibrate the position of the tray 20 transferred into the calibration cavity 300 (specifically, the horizontal position of the tray 20 and the rotation angle of the tray 20).

[0067] The first transfer assembly 200 is arranged in the transfer cavity 100 and is configured to transfer the tray 20 into the calibration cavity 300 to calibrate the position of the tray 20 by the calibration assembly, take the calibrated tray 20 out of the calibration cavity 300 and transfer the tray 20 into the loading cavity 400, and further configured to take the tray 20 carrying the wafer 10 in the loading cavity 400 out of the loading cavity 400 and transfer the tray 20 into the reaction chamber 30 through the chamber interface, and take the tray 20 in the reaction chamber 30 out.

[0068] For example, the first transfer assembly 200 is a vacuum mechanical hand, and the second transfer assembly 500 is an atmospheric mechanical hand.

[0069] In the embodiment of the present application, the wafer transfer system includes the transfer cavity 100, the calibration cavity 300 and the loading cavity 400, the first transfer assembly 200 can calibrate the position of the tray 20 by the calibration cavity 300 and put the calibrated tray 20 into the loading cavity 400, so that the second transfer assembly 500 can place the wafer 10 before the process on the calibrated tray 20, or take the wafer 10 with a determined position from the calibrated tray 20, to realize automatic placement of the wafer 10 on the tray 20 and automatic taking of the wafer 10 from the tray 20, the entire wafer 10 and tray 20 transfer process does not need human intervention, thereby improving the efficiency of semiconductor process, reducing the probability of wafer contamination or damage caused by wafer surface attached particles, and improving the product yield of wafers (for example, silicon carbide wafers).

[0070] It should be noted that the transfer cavity 100 has a function of controlling the internal gas pressure. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, Figures 1 to 3As shown, the loading cavity 400 is provided with a door valve 410 and a door valve driving mechanism 420 at the transmission port of the loading cavity 400, the door valve driving mechanism 420 is used to drive the door valve 410 to selectively close the transmission port, before the second transmission assembly 500 performs the wafer loading and unloading operation on the loading cavity 400 (i.e. the wafer 10 is transmitted into the loading cavity 400 or the wafer 10 is taken out of the loading cavity 400), the internal pressure of the transmission cavity 100 is changed from vacuum (or close to vacuum) to the same as the external atmospheric pressure, and then the door valve driving mechanism 420 drives the door valve 410 to open the transmission port; after the second transmission assembly 500 performs the wafer loading and unloading operation on the loading cavity 400, the door valve driving mechanism 420 drives the door valve 410 to close the transmission port, and the transmission cavity 100 is vacuumized, so as to be connected to the reaction cavity 30 through the cavity interface in the subsequent chamber, and the first transmission assembly 200 performs the wafer loading and unloading operation on the reaction cavity 30 in a vacuum environment, so as to prevent the particles and pollutants in the atmosphere from entering the reaction cavity 30, and improve the cleanliness of the wafer processing environment.

[0071] As an optional embodiment of the present application, the wafer 10 and the tray 20 both have a feature structure for distinguishing the orientation, the position of the pattern or component (e.g. chip) formed on the wafer 10 can be determined by identifying the orientation of the feature structure on the wafer 10, and similarly, the rotation direction of the tray 20 can be determined by identifying the orientation of the feature structure on the tray 20, so as to realize the accurate positioning of the wafer 10 carried thereon.

[0072] Specifically, as shown in Figure 6 , Figure 7 , the feature structure on the tray 20 can be a notch 21 formed on the edge of the tray 20; as shown in Figure 8 , the feature structure on the wafer 10 can be a flat edge f formed on one side edge of the wafer 10; as shown in Figure 6 , Figure 8 , the carrying surface of the tray 20 is formed with a receiving groove 22 for accommodating the wafer 10, the edge profile of the receiving groove 22 corresponds to the edge profile of the wafer 10, that is, the receiving groove 22 also has a corresponding flat edge g, and the wafer 10 is embedded into the receiving groove 22 after being placed on the tray 20, so as to improve the stability of the relative position between the wafer 10 and the tray 20 when the tray 20 drives the wafer 10 to rotate in the reaction cavity 30.

[0073] Optionally, as shown in Figure 6 , Figure 7 , the orientation of the feature structure (e.g. notch 21) of the tray 20 is the same as the orientation of the flat edge g of the receiving groove 22 thereof. Optionally, the material of the tray 20 can be graphite.

[0074] As an optional embodiment of the present application, the calibration assembly includes a tray calibrator 310 and a rotating seat 320. Figure 1(The rotating seat is obscured by the tray 20 and is not shown). The tray calibrator 310 is used to detect the rotation angle of the tray 20 and the horizontal position of the center of the tray 20 when it is passed into the calibration cavity 300. The first transmission component 200 is used to adjust the horizontal position of the tray 20 according to the feedback signal of the tray calibrator 310 after the tray 20 is passed into the calibration cavity 300, so that the horizontal position of the center of the tray 20 is aligned with the horizontal position of the rotation axis of the rotating seat, and then the tray 20 is placed on the rotating seat. The rotating seat is used to drive the tray 20 to rotate around the rotation axis until the feature structure (e.g., notch 21) on the tray 20 is oriented towards a first preset angle.

[0075] In this embodiment of the invention, the first transmission component 200 can adjust the horizontal position of the tray 20 according to the feedback signal of the tray calibrator 310, so that the horizontal position of the center of the tray 20 is aligned with the horizontal position of the rotation axis of the rotating seat, that is, the projection of the center of the tray 20 on the horizontal plane coincides with the projection of the rotation axis of the rotating seat on the horizontal plane. Specifically, the tray calibrator 310 can feed back the offset of the horizontal position of the center of the tray 20 relative to the horizontal position of the rotation axis of the rotating seat along the X-axis and Y-axis (the X-axis and Y-axis are the two axes of the XY horizontal rectangular coordinate system established by the tray calibrator 310) to the first transmission component 200. The first transmission component 200 moves the horizontal position of the tray 20 according to the feedback information, and performs reverse position compensation on the tray 20 (that is, makes the tray 20 displace along the X-axis and Y-axis in the opposite direction to the offset), so that the horizontal position of the center of the tray 20 is aligned with the horizontal position of the rotation axis of the rotating seat.

[0076] The rotating seat can drive the tray 20 to rotate around the rotation axis until the feature structure (e.g., notch 21) on the tray 20 is oriented towards a first preset angle, thereby calibrating the horizontal position and orientation of the tray 20, and thus ensuring the accuracy of the horizontal position and orientation of the tray 20 when the first transmission component 200 takes the tray 20 out of the calibration cavity 300 and sends it into the loading cavity 400.

[0077] As an optional embodiment of the present invention, the tray calibrator 310 detects the feature structures on the tray 20 based on the principle of optical ranging to determine whether the feature structures on the tray 20 have rotated to face a first preset angle. Specifically, as shown... Figure 1 As shown, the tray calibrator 310 is located above the rotating seat and can emit a detection signal vertically downward at a preset position. It can determine whether the feature structure on the tray 20 has rotated to face the first preset angle based on the reflected signal. The rotating seat stops rotating after the tray calibrator 310 determines that the feature structure has faced the first preset angle based on the reflected signal, thereby realizing the calibration of the rotation direction of the tray 20.

[0078] For example, when the feature structure on the tray 20 is the notch 21, the tray aligner 310 can emit a detection signal vertically downward at a position (i.e. a preset position) where the notch 21 is oriented towards the first preset angle, and the detection signal will be reflected on the upper surface of the tray 20 to form a reflected signal when the notch 21 is not rotated towards the first preset angle. When the notch 21 is rotated to the preset position, the detection signal will be reflected after propagating downward through the notch 21 to an object (e.g. the cavity bottom wall of the aligning cavity 300, a rotating seat or other object arranged below the tray 20), so that the reflected signal received by the tray aligner 310 is changed, and the tray aligner 310 determines that the feature structure notch 21 is oriented towards the first preset angle.

[0079] It should be noted that the orientation of the wafer 10 is the determined angle when the wafer 10 is picked up by the second transfer assembly 500, so as to ensure that the flat edge f of the wafer 10 is aligned with the flat edge g of the accommodating groove 22 on the tray 20. Specifically, the wafer 10 before being placed into the loading cavity 400 can be aligned by other aligning modules in the wafer transfer system. For example, as shown in Figure 1 as an optional embodiment of the present application, the wafer transfer system further comprises a wafer aligner 600 for aligning the rotating direction of the wafer 10, so that the feature structure (e.g. the flat edge f) on the wafer 10 is rotated towards a second preset angle. The second transfer assembly 500 is used to transfer the wafer 10 into the wafer aligner 600 after the wafer 10 is picked up from the cassette 40, and then transfer the wafer 10 to the tray 20 in the loading cavity 400 after the wafer aligner 600 aligns the rotating direction of the wafer 10.

[0080] In the embodiment of the present application, the aligning assembly in the aligning cavity 300 can align the rotating angle of the tray 20, and the wafer aligner 600 can align the rotating angle of the wafer 10. The first preset angle and the second preset angle are set such that the flat edge g of the accommodating groove 22 of the tray 20 whose feature structure (e.g. the notch 21) is oriented towards the first preset angle is transferred into the loading cavity 400 by the first transfer assembly 200, and the flat edge f of the wafer 10 whose feature structure (e.g. the flat edge f) is oriented towards the second preset angle is transferred into the loading cavity 400 by the second transfer assembly 500 after the wafer 10 is picked up from the wafer aligner 600, and the position and angle of the flat edge f correspond to each other.

[0081] In order to improve the stability of placing or picking up the wafer 10 on or from the tray 20 in the loading cavity 400, as a preferred embodiment of the present application, as shown in Figure 3 Figure 4 ​As shown, the loading cavity 400 comprises a cavity 430, a base 440, a pin driving assembly and a plurality of pins 450 (PIN), the base 440 is arranged in the cavity 430, the base 440 has a carrying surface for carrying the tray 20, the pin driving assembly is used to drive the plurality of pins 450 to pass through the carrying surface in the downward direction and pass through the plurality of pin holes on the tray 20 one by one, or drive the plurality of pins 450 to descend below the carrying surface.

[0082] In the embodiment of the present application, the loading cavity 400 comprises the base 440, the pin driving assembly and the plurality of pins 450, the pin driving assembly can drive the plurality of pins 450 to pass through the carrying surface of the base 440 upward and pass through the plurality of pin holes on the tray 20, or drive the plurality of pins 450 to retract downward below the carrying surface, so that when the second conveying assembly 500 places the wafer 10 on the tray 20, the plurality of pins 450 is first lifted by the pin driving assembly, the wafer 10 is placed on the plurality of pins 450, and then the plurality of pins 450 is lowered by the pin driving assembly, so that the wafer 10 is stably placed on the tray 20; similarly, when the second conveying assembly 500 takes the wafer 10 from the tray 20, the plurality of pins 450 is first lifted by the pin driving assembly, the wafer 10 is lifted to separate from the tray 20, so that the wafer 10 can be taken from the plurality of pins 450 by the second conveying assembly 500, thereby improving the stability of placing or taking the wafer 10 on the tray 20 in the loading cavity 400, and ensuring the stability of the position between the wafer 10 and the tray 20.

[0083] In order to ensure the consistency of the height of the plurality of pins 450 and improve the levelness of the wafer 10, as a preferred embodiment of the present application, as shown in Figure 4 As shown, the pin driving assembly comprises a mounting plate 460, a lifting rod 470 and a lifting driving assembly 480, the plurality of pins 450 is arranged on the mounting plate 460, the carrying surface of the base 440 is formed with a mounting groove, the bottom of the mounting groove is formed with a first through hole a penetrating to the bottom of the base 440, the mounting plate 460 is arranged in the mounting groove, the top end of the lifting rod 470 is fixedly connected with the mounting plate 460, and the lifting driving assembly 480 is used to drive the lifting rod 470 to move in the first through hole a, so as to drive the mounting plate 460 and the plurality of pins 450 arranged thereon to lift.

[0084] In the embodiment of the present application, the plurality of pins 450 is arranged on the mounting plate 460, the lifting driving assembly 480 drives the mounting plate 460 to drive the plurality of pins 450 to lift through the lifting rod 470, so as to realize the synchronous movement of the plurality of pins 450, ensure the consistency of the vertical feed amount of the plurality of pins 450, and further ensure the parallelism between the wafer 10 and the tray 20.

[0085] In order to improve the compatibility of the wafer conveying system to wafers 10 and trays 20 of different sizes, as a preferred embodiment of the present application, as shown in Figure 4 、 Figure 5 a plurality of sets of the pins 450 are fixedly arranged on the mounting plate 460, and the distance between the pins 450 in each set and the axis of the base 440 is equal, so that the compatibility of the wafer conveying system to wafers 10 and trays 20 of different sizes can be realized.

[0086] As an optional embodiment of the present application, as shown in Figure 5 the mounting plate 460 comprises a connecting portion 461 and three strip-shaped portions 462 fixedly arranged around the connecting portion 461 at equal intervals, a connecting hole 463 is formed in the center of the connecting portion 461, and the top end of the lifting rod 470 is fixedly arranged in the connecting hole 463; the strip-shaped portions 462 extend along the radial direction, and a plurality of pin fixing holes 464 are formed in the strip-shaped portions 462 at equal intervals along the radial direction, and each set of the pins 450 comprises three pins 450 fixedly arranged in three pin fixing holes 464 in the three strip-shaped portions 462 one by one.

[0087] That is, for wafers 10 and trays 20 of any size, a corresponding three-pin structure can be formed by the three pins 450 on the three strip-shaped portions 462 on the same circle of division, the three-pin structure passes through the three pin holes on the tray 20, and the top end of the three pins forms stable positioning of the plane of the wafer 10, and the force on the top end of each pin 450 is equal, so that the wafer 10 will not tilt due to uneven force, and stable take-off and landing of the wafer 10 is realized.

[0088] In order to ensure the stability of the movement direction of the plurality of pins 450, as a preferred embodiment of the present application, as shown in Figure 4 the lifting driving assembly 480 is arranged below the cavity 430, a second through hole b is formed in the bottom wall of the cavity 430, the bottom end of the lifting rod 470 passes out to the outside of the cavity 430 through the second through hole b, and the bottom end of the lifting rod 470 has a hemispherical portion 471, and the lifting driving assembly 480 comprises a lifting driving portion 480a and an elastic driving portion 480b; the top of the lifting driving portion 480a has a horizontal contact surface e, and the lifting driving portion 480a is used to drive the horizontal contact surface e to rise, so that the horizontal contact surface e pushes the lifting rod 470 to rise along the first through hole a and the second through hole b, or to drive the horizontal contact surface e to descend; and the elastic driving portion 480b is used to drive the lifting rod 470 to descend by elastic force.

[0089] In the embodiment of the present application, the top of the lifting driving part 480a has a horizontal contact surface e, the lifting rod 470 is driven to ascend by the way of the top of the lifting rod 470 being pushed by the half-sphere part 471 of the bottom end of the lifting rod 470, which can effectively ensure that the lifting driving part 480a only applies a vertical upward jacking force to the lifting rod 470 and does not apply a horizontal force to the lifting rod 470 to cause the direction of the lifting rod 470 to be deviated, thereby effectively ensuring the stability of the movement direction of the plurality of needles 450 and improving the levelness of the wafer 10.

[0090] As an optional embodiment of the present application, as shown in Figure 4 , the elastic driving part 480b includes a spring 481, a blocking ring 482 and a guide seat 483, the top surface of the guide seat 483 is formed with a guide hole d, the bottom surface of the guide hole d is formed with a third through hole c coaxial with the guide hole d and penetrating through the bottom surface of the guide seat 483, the bottom of the guide seat 483 is fixedly connected with the bottom of the cavity 430, and the third through hole c is in communication with the second through hole b;

[0091] The lifting rod 470 penetrates through the guide hole d and the third through hole c of the guide seat 483, the blocking ring 482 and the spring 481 are both sleeved on the lifting rod 470, the spring 481 is located in the guide hole d and between the blocking ring 482 and the bottom surface of the guide hole d, and is used to push the blocking ring 482 and the bottom surface of the guide hole d away from each other by the elastic force to make the lifting rod 470 descend.

[0092] In the embodiment of the present application, the elastic driving part 480b includes the spring 481, the blocking ring 482 and the guide seat 483, the spring 481 is sleeved on the lifting rod 470 and located in the guide hole d of the guide seat 483, thereby effectively preventing the spring 481 from being pushed out, and improving the reliability of the device as a whole. Moreover, the spring 481 pushes the blocking ring 482 and the bottom surface of the guide hole d away from each other by the elastic force to make the lifting rod 470 descend under the double guidance of the lifting rod 470 and the inner wall of the guide hole d, which further reduces the component force received by the lifting rod 470 in the horizontal direction, thereby further ensuring the stability of the movement direction of the plurality of needles 450 and improving the levelness of the wafer 10.

[0093] When the semiconductor process is started, for example, when the semiconductor process is performed on the first wafer 10 in the same batch of wafers 10, the tray 20 needs to be transmitted into the transmission cavity 100 from the outside through the loading cavity 400. In order to realize automatic operation of this step and realize overall automatic control, as a preferred embodiment of the present application, as shown in Figure 1 , Figure 9 , the wafer transmission system further includes a tray supporting block 700, the top of the tray supporting block 700 has a tray supporting surface for bearing the tray 20, and the tray supporting block 700 is formed with an opening 710 in the direction towards the second transmission assembly 500.

[0094] As shown in Figure 10 , the second transmission assembly 500 is also used to extend into the opening 710 when the semiconductor process is started, and is raised from below the tray support surface to be higher than the tray support surface, so as to take off the tray 20 carried on the tray support surface, and then put the tray 20 into the loading cavity 400.

[0095] In order to improve the cooling efficiency of the wafer 10 after the semiconductor process is completed, as a preferred embodiment of the present application, as shown in Figure 1 , the wafer transmission system further comprises a cooling cavity 800, which is in communication with the transmission cavity 100. After each wafer 10 is processed, the first transmission assembly 200 takes out the tray 20 carrying the wafer 10 from the reaction chamber 30, and then puts it into the cooling cavity 800. After the tray 20 and the wafer 10 carried thereon are cooled to room temperature, the tray 20 is transmitted to the calibration cavity 300 for calibration, and then the tray 20 is put into the loading cavity 400 to separate the wafer 10 from the tray 20.

[0096] In order to ensure the stability of the position between different cavities, as a preferred embodiment of the present application, as shown in Figure 1 , the wafer transmission system further comprises a fixed platform 900, and the loading cavity 400, the wafer calibrator 600, the tray support block 700 and the second transmission assembly 500 are fixedly arranged on the fixed platform 900.

[0097] Specifically, as an optional embodiment of the present application, as shown in Figure 1 , the transmission cavity 100 is a regular octagonal prism structure, the loading cavity 400 and the chamber docking port are respectively located on the two opposite sides of the transmission cavity 100, the fixed platform 900 is in position corresponding to the loading cavity 400, and the calibration cavity 300 and the cooling cavity 800 are respectively arranged on the two side walls adjacent to one side of the loading cavity 400 on the transmission cavity 100, that is Figure 1 , the upper and lower 45° sides of the right side of the transmission cavity 100, the line connecting the center of the transmission cavity 100 and the center of the calibration cavity 300, and the line connecting the center of the transmission cavity 100 and the center of the cooling cavity 800, all form a 45° angle with the line connecting the center of the second transmission assembly 500 and the center of the transmission cavity 100; the second transmission assembly 500 is located on the side of the loading cavity 400 away from the transmission cavity 100, and the center of the second transmission assembly 500, the loading cavity 400 and the transmission cavity 100 are located on the same straight line.

[0098] Optionally, the fixed platform 900 further comprises two cassette fixing positions for arranging the cassette 40, including a first cassette fixing position (located above the second transmission assembly 500 in Figure 1 , and a second cassette fixing position (located above the first transmission assembly 200 in Figure 1A second wafer transfer assembly 500 is arranged below the first wafer transfer assembly 100, and a wafer calibrator 600 is arranged below the second wafer transfer assembly 500.

[0099] To improve the compactness of the wafer transfer system structure, and to improve the wafer transfer precision and efficiency, as a preferred embodiment of the present application, as shown in Figure 1 , two wafer cassette fixing positions are respectively arranged on the two sides of the second wafer transfer assembly 500 in the direction perpendicular to the line connecting the second wafer transfer assembly 500 and the loading cavity 400 (i.e. Figure 1 , the upper and lower sides of the second wafer transfer assembly 500);

[0100] The second wafer transfer assembly 500 is used to transfer the wafer 10 into the wafer calibrator 600 after the wafer 10 is taken out from the wafer cassette 40 of the first wafer cassette fixing position, and then transfer the wafer 10 to the tray 20 in the loading cavity 400 after the wafer calibrator 600 calibrates the rotation direction of the wafer 10; and after the wafer 10 is taken out from the loading cavity, the wafer 10 is first transferred into the wafer calibrator 600, and then the wafer 10 is transferred into the wafer cassette 40 of the second wafer cassette fixing position after the wafer calibrator 600 calibrates the rotation direction of the wafer 10.

[0101] Optionally, the tray support block 700 and the wafer calibrator 600 are symmetrically arranged relative to the line connecting the second wafer transfer assembly 500 and the loading cavity 400, for example, taking the up-down-left-right directions in Figure 1 as the reference, the tray support block 700 is arranged in the direction of 48° left-up of the second wafer transfer assembly 500, and the opening 710 of the tray support block 700 faces the center of the second wafer transfer assembly 500, and the wafer calibrator 600 is arranged in the direction of 48° left-down of the second wafer transfer assembly 500.

[0102] It should be noted that, in order to show the position relationship between the tray 20 or the wafer 10 and the chamber or device when the tray 20 or the wafer 10 is on the chamber or device station, Figure 1 each chamber or device is displayed as a state of loading the tray 20 or the wafer 10. For example, the calibration cavity 300, the loading cavity 400, and the cooling cavity 800 are displayed as a state of loading the tray 20 and the wafer 10 carried thereon, the tray support block 700 is displayed as a state of loading the tray 20, and the wafer calibrator 600 is displayed as a state of loading the wafer 10. However, in actual use, only part of the chamber or device stations are loaded with the tray 20 or the wafer 10.

[0103] As a second aspect of the present application, a semiconductor processing equipment is provided, which comprises a wafer transfer system and a reaction chamber 30, the wafer transfer system is used to transfer a tray 20 carrying a wafer 10 into the reaction chamber 30 and take the tray 20 carrying the wafer 10 out of the reaction chamber 30, and the wafer transfer system is the wafer transfer system provided by the embodiments of the present application.

[0104] In the semiconductor processing equipment provided by the embodiments of the present application, the wafer transfer system comprises a transfer chamber 100, a calibration chamber 300 and a loading chamber 400, the first transfer assembly 200 can calibrate the position of the tray 20 in cooperation with the calibration chamber 300, and put the calibrated tray 20 into the loading chamber 400, so that the second transfer assembly 500 can place the wafer 10 before processing on the calibrated tray 20, or take the wafer 10 with a determined position from the calibrated tray 20, to realize automatic placement of the wafer 10 on the tray 20 and automatic taking of the wafer 10 from the tray 20, the whole transfer process of the wafer 10 and the tray 20 does not need human intervention, thereby improving the semiconductor processing efficiency, reducing the probability of wafer pollution or damage caused by particles attached to the wafer surface, and improving the product yield of the wafer (for example, a silicon carbide wafer).

[0105] For the convenience of the technicians, a specific embodiment of semiconductor processing of the same batch of wafers by using the wafer transfer system provided by the embodiments of the present application is provided as follows:

[0106] Before the first processing starts (that is, before the first wafer 10 is subjected to semiconductor processing), the second transfer assembly 500 extends into the opening 710 of the tray support block 700, and is raised from below the tray support surface to above the tray support surface of the tray support block 700 (as shown in Figure 10 indicated), so as to take the tray 20 carried on the tray support surface;

[0107] The gate valve driving mechanism 420 drives the gate valve 410 to open, and the second transfer assembly 500 sends the tray 20 into the loading chamber 400 and places it on the base 440 (at this time, the rotation direction of the tray 20 is not calibrated).

[0108] The gate valve driving mechanism 420 drives the gate valve 410 to close and isolate the outside atmosphere from the chamber environment, and the first transfer assembly takes the tray 20 out of the loading chamber 400 (as shown in Figure 11 indicated).

[0109] The first transfer assembly transports the tray 20 into the calibration cavity 300, and adjusts the horizontal position of the tray 20 according to the feedback signal of the tray calibrator 310 (the offset of the horizontal position of the center of the tray 20 relative to the horizontal position of the rotation axis of the rotating seat along the X-axis and Y-axis directions) so that the horizontal position of the center of the tray 20 is aligned with the horizontal position of the rotation axis of the rotating seat. Then the tray 20 is placed on the rotating seat, and the rotating seat drives the tray 20 to rotate until the notch 21 on the tray 20 is detected by the tray calibrator 310 to stop rotating at the preset position.

[0110] The first transfer assembly takes out the calibrated tray 20 from the calibration cavity 300 and places it again on the base 440 in the loading cavity 400, and the pin driving assembly drives the plurality of pins 450 to pass through the plurality of pin holes on the tray 20 upward.

[0111] The gate valve driving mechanism 420 drives the gate valve 410 to open, and the second transfer assembly 500 takes out the first wafer 10 from the wafer box 40 at the first wafer box fixing position and places it into the wafer calibrator 600 to calibrate the rotation direction of the wafer, and then transfers the calibrated wafer 10 to the plurality of pins 450 raised in the loading cavity 400 (as shown in FIG. 8B). Figure 12 The gate valve driving mechanism 420 drives the gate valve 410 to close and isolates the external atmosphere from the cavity environment.

[0112] The pin driving assembly drives the plurality of pins 450 to retract downward, so that the wafer 10 falls into the accommodating groove 22 on the tray 20.

[0113] The first transfer assembly takes out the tray 20 and the wafer 10 carried thereon from the loading cavity 400 and transfers them into the reaction cavity 30 for semiconductor process.

[0114] After each wafer 10 completes the semiconductor process, the first transfer assembly takes out the tray 20 and the wafer 10 carried thereon from the reaction cavity 30 and transfers them into the cooling cavity 800, and after the tray 20 and the wafer 10 carried thereon are cooled to room temperature, the tray 20 and the wafer 10 carried thereon are transferred into the calibration cavity 300 for calibration of the tray 20, and then the tray 20 is placed into the loading cavity 400, and the pin driving assembly drives the plurality of pins 450 to pass through the plurality of pin holes on the tray 20 upward, so that the wafer 10 is separated from the tray 20.

[0115] The gate valve driving mechanism 420 drives the gate valve 410 to open, and the second transfer assembly 500 takes out the wafer 10 from the plurality of pins 450 and places it into the wafer calibrator 600 to calibrate the rotation direction of the wafer, and then transfers the calibrated wafer 10 to the wafer box 40 at the second wafer box fixing position.

[0116] Subsequently, the second conveying assembly 500 takes out the next wafer 10 from the wafer box 40 at the first wafer box fixing position and puts it into the wafer aligner 600 to align the rotation direction of the wafer, and then conveys the aligned wafer 10 to the plurality of pins 450 raised in the loading cavity 400. The door valve driving mechanism 420 drives the door valve 410 to close and isolate the outside atmosphere from the cavity environment.

[0117] The steps of taking out the wafer 10 to be processed from the wafer box 40 at the first wafer box fixing position by the second conveying assembly 500 and conveying the processed wafer 10 into the wafer box 40 at the second wafer box fixing position by the second conveying assembly 500 are repeated, so as to realize the full automation of the wafer 10 production.

[0118] It can be understood that the above embodiments are only exemplary embodiments for illustrating the principles of the present application, and the present application is not limited thereto. Various modifications and improvements can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and essence of the present application, and these modifications and improvements are also considered as the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A wafer transmission system, characterized in that, The wafer transport system includes a transport cavity, a first transport component, and a calibration cavity, wherein, The transmission cavity has a chamber docking interface for communicating with the reaction chamber; The calibration chamber is connected to the transmission chamber, and a calibration component is provided in the calibration chamber. The calibration component includes a tray calibrator and a rotating seat. The tray calibrator is used to generate a feedback signal based on the horizontal position of the center of the tray transmitted into the calibration chamber by the first transmission component. The rotating seat is used to drive the tray carried on it to rotate around the rotation axis of the rotating seat until the characteristic structure of the tray faces a first preset angle, so as to achieve calibration of the rotation direction of the tray. The first transmission component is disposed in the transmission cavity and is used to transmit the tray into the calibration cavity and remove the tray after rotation direction calibration from the calibration cavity; the first transmission component is also used to adjust the horizontal position of the tray according to the feedback signal, so that the horizontal position of the center of the tray is aligned with the horizontal position of the rotation axis before placing the tray on the rotating seat.

2. The wafer transport system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The tray calibrator is located above the rotating seat and is also used to emit a detection signal vertically downward at a preset position, and to determine whether the characteristic structure of the tray carried on the rotating seat has rotated to face the first preset angle based on the reflected signal.

3. The wafer transport system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The feedback information includes: the offset of the horizontal position of the tray center relative to the horizontal position of the rotation axis of the swivel seat along the X and Y axes.

4. The wafer transport system according to claim 1, characterized in that, Also includes: A loading cavity, one side of which is connected to the transmission cavity, and the other side has a selectively openable transmission port; The first transmission component is further configured to remove the calibrated tray from the calibration chamber and transfer it into the loading chamber; wherein the tray has a plurality of ejector pin holes; the loading chamber includes a cavity, a base, an ejector pin drive assembly, and a plurality of ejector pins, the base being disposed in the cavity, the base having a bearing surface for bearing the tray transferred by the first transmission component, the ejector pin drive assembly being configured to drive the plurality of ejector pins to pass through the plurality of ejector pin holes on the tray from below the bearing surface and pass through the plurality of ejector pin holes one by one, or drive the plurality of ejector pins to descend below the bearing surface via the plurality of ejector pin holes.

5. The wafer transport system according to claim 4, characterized in that, The ejector pin drive assembly includes a mounting plate, a lifting rod, and a lifting drive assembly. Multiple ejector pins are disposed on the mounting plate. A mounting groove is formed on the bearing surface of the base. A first through hole extending to the bottom of the base is formed at the bottom of the mounting groove. The mounting plate is disposed in the mounting groove. The top end of the lifting rod is fixedly connected to the mounting plate. The lifting drive assembly is used to drive the lifting rod to move in the first through hole, thereby driving the mounting plate and the multiple ejector pins disposed thereon to rise and fall.

6. The wafer transport system according to claim 5, characterized in that, Multiple sets of ejector pins are fixedly arranged on the mounting plate, and the distance between the multiple ejector pins in each set and the axis of the base is equal.

7. The wafer transport system according to claim 5, characterized in that, The lifting drive assembly is disposed below the cavity. A second through hole is formed on the bottom wall of the cavity. The bottom end of the lifting rod extends through the second through hole to the outside of the cavity, and the bottom end of the lifting rod has a hemispherical portion. The lifting drive assembly includes a lifting drive part and an elastic drive part. The top of the lifting drive part has a horizontal contact surface, and the lifting drive part is used to drive the horizontal contact surface to rise, so that the horizontal contact surface pushes the lifting rod to rise along the first through hole and the second through hole, or drives the horizontal contact surface to fall. The elastic drive part is used to drive the lifting rod to fall by elastic force.

8. The wafer transport system according to claim 7, characterized in that, The elastic drive unit includes a spring, a retaining ring, and a guide seat. A guide hole is formed on the top surface of the guide seat, and a third through hole is formed on the bottom surface of the guide hole, which is coaxial with the guide hole and extends through to the bottom surface of the guide seat. The bottom of the guide seat is fixedly connected to the bottom of the cavity, and the third through hole communicates with the second through hole. The lifting rod passes through the guide hole and the third through hole of the guide seat. The retaining ring and the spring are both sleeved on the lifting rod. The spring is located in the guide hole and between the bottom surface of the retaining ring and the guide hole. It is used to push the retaining ring and the bottom surface of the guide hole away from each other by elastic force so that the lifting rod descends.

9. The wafer transport system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that, The wafer transfer system further includes a fixed platform and a second transfer component, both of which are fixedly mounted on the fixed platform; The second transmission component is used to transfer the wafer to a tray in the loading cavity through the transmission port, and to remove the wafer from the tray in the loading cavity and transmit the wafer out of the loading cavity through the transmission port.

10. The wafer transport system according to claim 9, characterized in that, The wafer transfer system further includes a wafer calibrator fixedly mounted on the fixed platform. The wafer calibrator is used to calibrate the rotation direction of the wafer, so that the feature structure on the wafer rotates to face a second preset angle. The fixed platform also includes a first wafer cassette fixing position and a second wafer cassette fixing position for setting the wafer cassette. The centers of the second transfer component, the loading cavity, and the transfer cavity are located on the same straight line, and the first wafer cassette fixing position and the second wafer cassette fixing position are respectively located on both sides of the second transfer component in the direction perpendicular to the line connecting the second transfer component and the loading cavity. The second transmission component is configured to, after removing the wafer from the wafer cassette at the first wafer cassette fixing position, first transmit the wafer to the wafer calibrator, and after the wafer calibrator calibrates the rotation direction of the wafer, transmit the wafer to the tray in the loading cavity through the transmission port; and, after removing the wafer from the loading cavity, first transmit the wafer to the wafer calibrator, and after the wafer calibrator calibrates the rotation direction of the wafer, transmit the wafer to the wafer cassette at the second wafer cassette fixing position.

11. The wafer transport system according to claim 10, characterized in that, The wafer transfer system further includes a tray support block fixedly mounted on the fixed platform. The top of the tray support block has a tray support surface for supporting the tray, and the tray support block has an opening in the direction toward the second transfer component. The second transmission component is also used to extend into the opening and rise from below the tray support surface to above the tray support surface to remove the tray carried on the tray support surface and then place the tray into the loading cavity.

12. A semiconductor process apparatus, characterized in that, The device includes a wafer transport system and a reaction chamber, wherein the wafer transport system is used to transfer a wafer-carrying tray into the reaction chamber and to remove the wafer-carrying tray from the reaction chamber, and the wafer transport system is the wafer transport system according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

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