Wafer supporting table

Abstract

The utility model provides a wafer supporting table. The wafer supporting table comprises a platform, a plurality of supporting pieces and a plurality of supporting parts connected with the supporting pieces, the platform is provided with a plurality of grooves for accommodating the supporting pieces; the supporting part is in a step shape, and the surface of the step is used for supporting a wafer. According to the wafer supporting table, through the step design of the supporting part and the insertion and disassembly of the supporting piece, the supporting stability of the wafer supporting table is improved, the wafer can be conveniently and effectively loaded, the deviation probability of the loaded wafer is effectively reduced, the efficiency of a semiconductor manufacturing process is improved, and the cost of semiconductor processing is saved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to the field of semiconductor processing equipment, in particular to a wafer supporting table. Background Art

[0002] The prior art provides a plurality of grooves in the wafer loading stage (Load Lock Stage), into which a plurality of guide pins can be inserted to support the wafer. However, the disadvantage of this structure is that once there is interference from various external reasons, it is easy to cause the wafer to shift. For example, during the process of inflation and degassing of the loading stage, the airflow, excessive vibration or the error itself may cause the wafer to shift, thereby causing the wafer position error when taking the wafer. Therefore, it is urgent to develop a wafer support stage with a simple structure that can stably carry the wafer to be processed.

[0003] It should be noted that the information disclosed in the above background technology section is only used to enhance the understanding of the background of the present invention, and therefore may include information that does not constitute prior art known to those skilled in the art. Utility Model Content

[0004] In view of the problems in the prior art, the purpose of the present invention is to provide a wafer support table, which effectively reduces the deviation of the wafer loaded during the process and improves the efficiency of the semiconductor process through the step design of the support part and the pluggable and detachable support member.

[0005] An embodiment of the utility model provides a wafer support platform, comprising a platform, a plurality of support members, and a plurality of support parts connected to the support members;

[0006] The platform is provided with a plurality of grooves for accommodating the support members;

[0007] The supporting portion is in a step shape, and the surface of the step is used to support the wafer.

[0008] According to some examples of the present invention, the support member is cylindrical.

[0009] According to some examples of the present invention, the number of the support portions is less than the number of the support members.

[0010] According to some examples of the present invention, the plurality of support members are distributed circumferentially, and the steps of the support portion form an annular surface.

[0011] According to some examples of the present invention, the step-formed annular surface of the support portion is discontinuous.

[0012] According to some examples of the present invention, the plurality of support members are evenly distributed along the circumference; and / or

[0013] The discontinuous parts of the annular surface formed by the steps of the support portion are evenly distributed in the circumferential direction.

[0014] According to some examples of the present invention, the curvature of the outer diameter of the annular surface formed by the step of the supporting portion is greater than or equal to the curvature of the outer diameter of the supported wafer.

[0015] According to some examples of the present invention, a difference between an outer diameter of the annular surface formed by the step of the supporting portion and an outer diameter of the supported wafer is between 0.5 mm and 1.0 mm.

[0016] According to some examples of the present invention, the height of the step is greater than or equal to 0.15 mm.

[0017] According to some examples of the present invention, the height of each of the supporting members can be raised or lowered.

[0018] The wafer support platform of the utility model improves the stability of the wafer support platform through the step design of the support part and the pluggable and detachable support parts. The support platform can conveniently and effectively load wafers, greatly reducing the probability of deviation of the loaded wafers, improving the efficiency of the semiconductor process and reducing the cost of semiconductor processing. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] The drawings herein are incorporated into the specification and constitute a part of the specification, showing embodiments consistent with the present application, and together with the specification, are used to explain the principles of the present application. By reading the detailed description of the non-limiting embodiments with reference to the following drawings, other features, purposes and advantages of the utility model will become more obvious. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the utility model. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can also be obtained based on these drawings without creative work. In addition, the drawings are only schematic illustrations of the present disclosure and are not necessarily drawn to scale. The same figure numbers in the figures represent the same or similar parts, and their repeated descriptions will be omitted. Some of the block diagrams shown in the drawings are functional entities and do not necessarily correspond to physically or logically independent entities.

[0020] Figure 1 A schematic structural diagram of a wafer support platform according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

[0021] Figure 2 This is a diagram showing the effect of a wafer supporting platform supporting a wafer according to an embodiment of the utility model. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] Example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, example embodiments can be implemented in a variety of forms and should not be construed as limited to the examples set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that the disclosure will be more comprehensive and complete and to fully convey the concepts of the example embodiments to those skilled in the art. The described features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

[0023] In the description of this specification, the reference terms "one embodiment", "some embodiments", "example", "specific example", or "some examples" and the like mean that the specific features, structures, materials or characteristics represented in conjunction with the embodiment or example are included in at least one embodiment or example of this specification. Moreover, the specific features, structures, materials or characteristics represented may be combined in any one or more embodiments or examples in a suitable manner. In addition, those skilled in the art may combine and combine different embodiments or examples and features of different embodiments or examples represented in this specification without contradiction.

[0024] Throughout the specification, when it is said that a device is "connected" to another device, this includes not only the case of "direct connection" but also the case of "indirect connection" by placing other elements therebetween. Terms indicating relative spaces such as "front", "rear", "upper", and "lower" may be used to more easily explain the relationship of a device illustrated in the accompanying drawings relative to another device. Such terms refer not only to the meanings indicated in the accompanying drawings, but also to other meanings or operations of the device in use. For example, if the device in the accompanying drawings is turned over, a device that was described as being "under" other devices is described as being "over" other devices. Therefore, the exemplary term "under" includes both upper and lower sides. The device can be rotated 90° or other angles, and the terms representing relative spaces are interpreted accordingly.

[0025] Although the terms first, second, etc. are used to represent various elements in some examples, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another element. For example, the first interface and the second interface, etc. are represented. Moreover, as used in this article, the singular forms "one", "one" and "the" are intended to also include plural forms, unless there is an opposite indication in the context. It should be further understood that the terms "comprising" and "including" indicate that there are the described features, steps, operations, elements, components, projects, kinds, and / or groups, but do not exclude the existence, occurrence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, projects, kinds, and / or groups. The terms "or" and "and / or" used herein are interpreted as inclusive, or mean any one or any combination. Therefore, "A, B or C" or "A, B and / or C" means "any of the following: A; B; C; A and B; A and C; B and C; A, B and C". Only when the combination of elements, functions, steps or operations is inherently mutually exclusive in some way, will there be an exception to this definition.

[0026] Although not fully defined, all terms, including technical and scientific terms, used herein have the same meaning as those generally understood by those skilled in the art to which this specification belongs. Terms defined in commonly used dictionaries are additionally interpreted as having meanings consistent with the relevant technical literature and the current disclosure, and unless defined, shall not be overly interpreted as having an ideal or very formal meaning.

[0027] In view of the problems in the prior art, the utility model provides a wafer support platform, the wafer support platform includes a platform, a plurality of support members and a plurality of support parts connected to the support members; the platform is provided with a plurality of grooves for accommodating the support members; the support part is in a step shape, and the surface of the step is used to support the wafer. The wafer support platform of the utility model improves the stability of the wafer support platform through the step design of the support part and the pluggable support members, facilitates and effectively loads the wafer, effectively reduces the probability of the loaded wafer being offset, improves the efficiency of the semiconductor process, and saves the cost of semiconductor processing.

[0028] The structure of the wafer support table of the present invention is further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. It can be understood that the various specific embodiments are not intended to limit the protection scope of the present invention.

[0029] Figure 1It is a structural schematic diagram of a wafer support table according to an embodiment of the utility model. Specifically, the wafer support table includes a platform 1, a plurality of support members 2 and a plurality of support portions connected to the support members; the platform 1 is provided with a plurality of grooves (not shown in the figure) for accommodating the support members 2; the support portion is step-shaped, that is, the support portion includes a step 31 and a step side portion 32, and the surface of the step 31 is used to support the wafer.

[0030] In one embodiment, one support member 2 corresponds to one support part, forming a support unit. The support member 2 is detachably connected to the groove of the platform 1 to realize connecting multiple support units to the platform 1. Preferably, the support member 2 is cylindrical, and correspondingly, the groove of the platform 1 is also not cylindrical. The height of each support member relative to the upper surface of the platform 1 can be adjusted by adjusting the depth of each support member 2 inserted into the groove, so that multiple steps 31 of multiple support units constitute a support plane for supporting the wafer to be processed. Since the wafer to be processed is usually supported in a circular shape, correspondingly, multiple steps 31 constitute a support plane that is circular, and multiple support members 2 can be distributed in a circumference, and the steps 31 of the support part form an annular surface. The annular surface formed by the steps of the support part is discontinuous, and each discontinuous part of the annular surface formed by the steps of the support part is evenly distributed along the circumference. A robot or other device can pick up the wafer to be processed supported by the wafer support table through the discontinuity of the annular surface. The support member and the groove are not limited to cylindrical, and their cross-section can be elliptical or polygonal, which is not limited here. In order to facilitate processing, the support member and the support part can be made of metal material.

[0031] Figure 1 In the embodiment, the number of support members 2 is 6, and the number of the support parts is 2, that is, the number of the support parts is less than the number of the support members 2, and the two support parts form a ring, and the discontinuous gap between the support parts can be used to pick up the wafer. The curvature of the outer diameter of the annular surface formed by the step of the support part is greater than or equal to the curvature of the outer diameter of the supported wafer. So that the wafer to be processed can be carried. The difference between the outer diameter of the annular surface formed by the step of the support part and the outer diameter of the supported wafer is between 0.5 mm and 1.0 mm. The annular surface formed by the step of the support part can be circular or elliptical. When the annular surface and the wafer to be processed are both circular, the difference between the outer diameter of the annular surface and the outer diameter of the supported wafer is the difference between the diameters of the two. When the annular surface is elliptical, the difference at this time is the difference between the minimum diameter of the ellipse and the diameter of the supported wafer. A smaller difference can effectively reduce the possible deviation of the carried wafer.

[0032] Figure 2This is a diagram showing the effect of a wafer supporting platform according to an embodiment of the utility model after supporting a wafer. In some embodiments, the height of the step is greater than or equal to 0.15 mm, that is, the height of the step side 32 is greater than or equal to 0.15 mm. When the wafer 9 to be processed is placed on the annular surface formed by the step 31, the surface of the wafer 9 needs to be higher than the upper surface of the step side 32. The wafer supporting platform of the present invention can effectively reduce slight deviations caused by external factors, improve the stability of the wafer supporting platform, and improve the efficiency of semiconductor processing procedures.

[0033] The above content is a further detailed description of the utility model in combination with specific preferred embodiments, and it cannot be determined that the specific implementation of the utility model is limited to these descriptions. For those skilled in the art, it is obvious that the present application is not limited to the details of the above exemplary embodiments, and the present application can be implemented in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or basic features of the present application. Therefore, no matter from which point of view, the embodiments should be regarded as exemplary and non-restrictive, and the scope of the present application is limited by the attached claims rather than the above description, so it is intended to include all changes within the meaning and scope of the equivalent elements of the claims in the present application. Any figure mark in the claims should not be regarded as limiting the claims involved.

Claims

1. A wafer support table, characterized in that: It comprises a platform, a plurality of supporting members and a plurality of supporting parts connected to the supporting members; The platform is provided with a plurality of grooves for accommodating the support members; The supporting portion is in a step shape, and the surface of the step is used to support the wafer.

2. The wafer support table according to claim 1, wherein: The supporting member is cylindrical.

3. The wafer support table according to claim 1, wherein: The number of the supporting portions is smaller than the number of the supporting members.

4. The wafer support table according to claim 1, wherein: The plurality of support members are distributed circumferentially, and the steps of the support portion form an annular surface.

5. The wafer support table according to claim 4, wherein: The step-forming annular surface of the support portion is discontinuous.

6. The wafer support table according to claim 4, wherein: The plurality of support members are evenly distributed along the circumference; and / or The discontinuous parts of the annular surface formed by the steps of the support portion are evenly distributed in the circumferential direction.

7. The wafer support table according to claim 4, wherein: The curvature of the outer diameter of the annular surface formed by the step of the supporting portion is greater than or equal to the curvature of the outer diameter of the supported wafer.

8. The wafer support table according to claim 7, wherein: The difference between the outer diameter of the annular surface formed by the step of the support portion and the outer diameter of the supported wafer is between 0.5 mm and 1.0 mm.

9. The wafer support table according to claim 1, wherein: The height of the step is greater than or equal to 0.15 mm.

10. The wafer support table according to claim 1, wherein: The height of each of the supporting members can be raised or lowered.

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