Process chamber of vertical LPCVD (Low Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition) equipment

Abstract

The utility model discloses a vertical LPCVD (low pressure chemical vapor deposition) equipment process chamber, and aims to provide a vertical LPCVD equipment process chamber capable of solving the problem that a quartz inner tube is inconvenient to disassemble and assemble, the technical scheme is as follows: the vertical LPCVD equipment process chamber comprises a quartz outer tube, a process tube is also arranged in the quartz outer tube, and a choked flow quartz sleeve is sleeved at the bottom end of the process tube; a variable-diameter cylinder is arranged at the bottom end of the choked flow quartz sleeve; and a rotating device is arranged in the variable-diameter cylinder and is connected with the quartz tube.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to the field of vertical furnace equipment, in particular to a vertical LPCVD equipment process chamber. Background Art

[0002] CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) is one of the common thin film deposition methods in the semiconductor industry. According to the different process pressures, it can be divided into atmospheric pressure APCVD, low pressure LPCVD, plasma enhanced PECVD, etc. Among them, low pressure LPCVD refers to the process of chemical vapor deposition under a relatively low pressure environment to generate the thin film required for the process.

[0003] The process chamber of the vertical LPCVD equipment is the core component of the equipment as the place to realize the thin film deposition process on the wafer surface. However, during the LPCVD thin film deposition process, while the film is deposited on the wafer surface, the film is also deposited on the surface of the quartz tube. As the number of process cycles increases, the film thickness on the surface of the quartz tube becomes thicker and thicker. When it reaches a certain thickness, these films will crack and peel off from the surface of the quartz tube, causing the surface of the wafer to be contaminated by particles, resulting in defective wafers and even failure of the internal circuit of the wafer. Therefore, it is usually necessary to set another layer of quartz inner tube inside the process chamber. According to the number of process cycles or the thickness of the deposited film, the quartz inner tube is regularly disassembled for cleaning and maintenance to avoid wafer contamination.

[0004] At present, a Chinese patent with publication number CN218915856U discloses a semiconductor vertical furnace swing door structure, which includes a large plate provided in a process body, a furnace body structure fixedly arranged on the large plate, a furnace mouth of the furnace body structure facing downward, a furnace mouth flange provided at the furnace mouth, a fixed upper positioning plate and a movable lifting lower positioning plate provided on the large plate, a lifting mechanism provided on the lower positioning plate to drive the lower positioning plate to move relative to the upper positioning plate, a rotating mechanism provided on the lower positioning plate, the rotating mechanism connected to the furnace door structure and enables the furnace door structure to rotate and cooperate with the furnace mouth flange.

[0005] Although the swing-open furnace door structure of this semiconductor vertical furnace adopts the structural design of rotation, lifting, buffering, etc., compared with the traditional furnace door mechanism, the control operation is accurate and fast, and it can save space while more effectively reducing heat loss. It can also save work hours and prevent particles from entering the furnace cavity, making the furnace cavity cleaner. The service life of electronic components in the entire process body is longer. However, the current quartz inner tube is usually fixed with a flange. Each time the quartz inner tube is disassembled, the quartz tube fixing flange needs to be disassembled, which can easily cause damage to the quartz inner tube and make disassembly and assembly inconvenient, time-consuming and labor-intensive, affecting the overall production capacity of the equipment. Summary of the invention

[0006] One purpose of the utility model is to provide a vertical LPCVD equipment process chamber, which has a quartz inner tube rotating supporting flange structure, and has the advantage that the quartz inner tube can be conveniently disassembled and assembled by only rotating the supporting flange to a certain angle during installation and maintenance.

[0007] The above technical objectives of the utility model are achieved through the following technical solutions:

[0008] A vertical LPCVD equipment process chamber includes a quartz outer tube, characterized in that: a process tube is also arranged inside the quartz outer tube, a flow-blocking quartz sleeve is sleeved at the bottom end of the process tube, a reducing cylinder is also arranged at the bottom end of the flow-blocking quartz sleeve, and a rotating device is also arranged inside the reducing cylinder to connect with the quartz tube.

[0009] It is further provided that: the rotating device comprises a protruding edge provided on the inner wall of the reducing cylinder and an inner tube supporting flange provided at the bottom end of the process tube, and the inner tube supporting flange is also provided with an edge matching the protruding edge.

[0010] It is further configured that a flange fixing ring is provided below the protruding edge, and a plurality of bolt holes are provided on the flange fixing ring, and the bolt holes match the inner tube supporting flange.

[0011] Further configuration: a vacuum tube is also provided on the variable diameter cylinder.

[0012] It is further arranged that: the reducer is also provided with an upper flange for fixing the quartz outer tube, and the quartz outer tube is provided with a soft collar support plate flange connected with the upper flange.

[0013] It is further configured that an O-type sealing ring is provided between the quartz outer tube and the upper flange.

[0014] Further configuration: a furnace bottom insulation ring is also provided on the soft collar support plate flange.

[0015] Further configuration: a flange thermocouple fixing joint is also provided on the reducer.

[0016] Further configuration: the reducer is also provided with a plurality of air inlet joints.

[0017] In summary, the utility model has the following beneficial effects:

[0018] The quartz inner tube has a rotating supporting flange structure. During installation and maintenance, the quartz inner tube can be easily disassembled and assembled by simply rotating the supporting flange to a certain angle.

[0019] In order to solve the problem of uneven distribution of process gas inside the chamber, air inlet pipes are set at different heights to introduce process gas at different heights according to process requirements to ensure process uniformity;

[0020] The thermocouple adopts L-shaped design, which can be easily disassembled and assembled. The O-ring seal at the end of the thermocouple ensures airtightness. The thermocouple lead is outside the furnace body to avoid being burned by high temperature. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] The utility model is further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0022] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the cross-sectional structure of the process chamber of a vertical LPCVD equipment;

[0023] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the process chamber of the vertical LPCVD equipment;

[0024] Figure 3 yes Figure 1 Enlarged schematic diagram at point A in the middle.

[0025] In the figure, 1, quartz outer tube; 2, process tube; 3, flow-blocking quartz sleeve; 4, reducer; 5, rotating device; 51, protruding edge; 52, inner tube supporting flange; 53, edge; 6, flange fixing ring; 7, bolt hole; 8, vacuum tube; 9, upper flange; 10, soft collar support plate flange; 11, O-ring; 12, furnace bottom insulation ring; 13, thermocouple fixing joint; 14, air inlet joint. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] The specific implementation of the utility model is further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0027] The technical solution adopted by the utility model is: a vertical LPCVD equipment process chamber, such as Figure 1 , Figure 2 and Figure 3 As shown, it includes a quartz outer tube 1, a process tube 2 is also arranged inside the quartz outer tube 1, a flow-blocking quartz sleeve 3 is sleeved on the bottom end of the process tube 2, a reducing cylinder 4 is also arranged on the bottom end of the flow-blocking quartz sleeve 3, and a rotating device 5 is also arranged inside the reducing cylinder 4 and connected to the quartz tube, and the rotating device 5 includes a protruding edge 51 provided on the inner wall of the reducing cylinder 4 and an inner tube supporting flange 52 provided at the bottom end of the process tube 2, and an edge 53 matching the protruding edge 51 is also arranged on the inner tube supporting flange 52.

[0028] A flange fixing ring 6 is further provided below the protruding edge 51, and a plurality of bolt holes 7 are provided on the flange fixing ring 6, and the bolt holes 7 match the inner tube supporting flange 52. A vacuum tube 8 is further provided on the reducing cylinder 4, and an upper flange 9 for fixing the quartz outer tube 1 is further provided on the reducing cylinder 4, and a soft collar support plate flange 10 connected to the upper flange 9 is provided on the quartz outer tube 1, and an O-ring 11 is further provided between the quartz outer tube 1 and the upper flange 9, and a furnace bottom insulation ring 12 is further provided on the soft collar support plate flange 10, and a flange thermocouple fixing joint 13 is further provided on the reducing cylinder 4, and a plurality of air inlet joints 14 are further provided on the reducing cylinder 4.

[0029] Its main working principle is as follows: the rotating supporting flange structure is adopted to solve the problem of inconvenient disassembly and assembly of the quartz inner tube. There is no need to disassemble the flange body for regular maintenance. It is only necessary to dock the tooling positioning pin with the pin hole on the inner tube supporting flange 52. The process tube 2 can be disassembled by rotating the tooling at a certain angle, and the disassembly tooling can be firmly placed on the lifting furnace door. The disassembled process tube 2 and the tooling can be withdrawn from the process chamber together with the lifting furnace door. The whole process does not require manual lifting, which avoids damage to the process tube 2 caused by personnel misoperation. By setting the air inlet joint 14 at different heights inside the process chamber, the amount of process gas introduced can be set at different heights according to actual process needs to ensure process uniformity. The flange thermocouple fixed joint 13 adopts an L-shaped design, which can be easily disassembled and assembled from the inside of the process chamber without disassembling other parts. The end of the flange thermocouple fixed joint 13 is also made of quartz material with a smooth and flat surface. The O-ring 11 is used to seal to ensure good air tightness at the end of the thermocouple. The thermocouple lead is set outside the process chamber to avoid the high temperature of the furnace body from burning the thermocouple lead.

[0030] The above are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the present invention in any form. Any simple modifications, equivalent changes and modifications made to the above embodiments based on the technical essence of the present invention are within the scope of the technical solution of the utility model.

Claims

1. A vertical LPCVD equipment process chamber, comprising a quartz outer tube (1), characterized in that: A process tube (2) is also provided inside the quartz outer tube (1), a flow-blocking quartz sleeve (3) is sleeved on the bottom end of the process tube (2), a reducing cylinder (4) is also provided on the bottom end of the flow-blocking quartz sleeve (3), and a rotating device (5) is also provided inside the reducing cylinder (4) and connected to the quartz tube.

2. A vertical LPCVD equipment process chamber according to claim 1, characterized in that: The rotating device (5) comprises a protruding edge (51) provided on the inner wall of the reducing cylinder (4) and an inner tube supporting flange (52) provided at the bottom end of the process tube (2); the inner tube supporting flange (52) is also provided with an edge (53) matching the protruding edge (51).

3. A vertical LPCVD equipment process chamber according to claim 2, characterized in that: A flange fixing ring (6) is also provided below the protruding edge (51), and a plurality of bolt holes (7) are provided on the flange fixing ring (6), wherein the bolt holes (7) match the inner tube supporting flange (52).

4. A vertical LPCVD equipment process chamber according to claim 3, characterized in that: The reducing cylinder (4) is also provided with a vacuum tube (8).

5. A vertical LPCVD equipment process chamber according to claim 4, characterized in that: The reducer (4) is also provided with an upper flange (9) for fixing the quartz outer tube (1), and the quartz outer tube (1) is provided with a soft collar support plate flange (10) connected to the upper flange (9).

6. A vertical LPCVD equipment process chamber according to claim 5, characterized in that: An O-type sealing ring (11) is also provided between the quartz outer tube (1) and the upper flange (9).

7. A vertical LPCVD equipment process chamber according to claim 6, characterized in that: The soft collar support plate flange (10) is also provided with a furnace bottom insulation ring (12).

8. The vertical LPCVD equipment process chamber according to claim 7, characterized in that: The reducer cylinder (4) is also provided with a flange thermocouple fixing joint (13).

9. A vertical LPCVD equipment process chamber according to claim 8, characterized in that: The reducer cylinder (4) is also provided with a plurality of air inlet joints (14).

Images