Focusing support ring convenient for placing wafer

By designing a focus support ring with abutment surface and a circumferential array, the problem of difficult to place the wafer stably on the etching machine is solved, and high-precision wafer lifting and placement is achieved, which avoids scratches and simplifies the operation process.

CN222320234UActive Publication Date: 2025-01-07WUXI XINHAN ELECTRONIC TECH CO LTD
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Patent Information

Application Number
CN202323519303.8
Authority / Receiving Office
CN · China
Patent Type
Utility models(China)
Current Assignee / Owner
Filing Date
2023-12-22
Publication Date
2025-01-07
Estimated Expiration
2033-12-22

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

When the wafer is placed on the focus support ring of the etching machine, it is difficult to place it stably, and it is prone to scratches due to mistakes. The structure of the prior art slide plate affects the processing accuracy.

Method used

A focusing support ring including a support ring body and a plurality of restriction blocks is designed. The restriction block has an abutment surface, a circumferential array is arranged on the support ring, and a gap is left at a distance to contact the wafer side. The restriction block includes an arc and Planar limiting blocks, used to lift and fix wafers, ensuring their horizontal stability.

Benefits of technology

The wafer is stable on the focus support ring, avoiding scratches, improving processing accuracy, and simplifying the single-person operation process.

✦ Generated by Eureka AI based on patent content.

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Abstract

The utility model provides a focusing support ring convenient for placing a wafer, which relates to the technical field of wafer loading and comprises a support ring body used for lifting the wafer and a plurality of limiting blocks. The limiting blocks are fixedly arranged on the disc surface, used for lifting a wafer, of the supporting ring body; the limiting block is provided with an attaching surface which is closely attached to the side edge of the wafer; all the limiting blocks can limit the wafer to move in the horizontal direction; the limiting blocks are arranged on the supporting ring body in a circumferential array mode with the circular circle center of the supporting ring body as the circle center. The limiting blocks are arranged at intervals; gaps are reserved between the limiting blocks, and the limiting blocks penetrate through the gaps and can make direct contact with the side edge of a wafer placed on the supporting ring body. According to the focusing support ring convenient for placing the wafer provided by the utility model, the problem in the prior art that the wafer is difficult to stably place and is easy to scratch in the process of placing the wafer on the focusing support ring of an etching machine is solved, and the wafer can be stably placed on the focusing support ring.
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Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to the technical field of wafer placement, in particular to a focusing support ring which is convenient for placing wafers. Background Art

[0002] Wafer is the abbreviation of silicon wafer. etcher is an instrument that performs etching process on wafer. When the wafer is undergoing etching process, it needs to be stably fixed with a support ring. The principle of the support ring is to set a groove that can just hold the wafer, so that the wafer can be restricted from moving in the groove.

[0003] The operation of placing the wafer into the support ring is a loading operation, which is usually done manually. However, when placing the wafer manually, since people cannot move the wafer very accurately, it is easy to scratch the wafer due to mistakes in the process of positioning the wafer and placing it on the support ring of the etcher for placing the wafer. To solve this problem, in the prior art, such as the Chinese patent application No. 202021522453.8, a tray and a loading carrier for automatic wafer loading are provided, which provide a wafer carrier that is convenient for the machine to identify the position of the wafer. The wafer carrier has a larger space for placing the wafer, so that it is convenient to manually place the wafer into the wafer carrier, and then the wafer is positioned to the center of the wafer carrier through the mounting groove 103 structure of the wafer carrier. When the wafer needs to be processed, the wafer carrier with the wafer fixed is directly moved by an external moving device, and the wafer carrier is moved to the etcher. The etcher cancels the support ring structure and is provided with a structure for matching the wafer carrier. When the etcher is working, it directly processes the wafer fixed on the wafer carrier.

[0004] However, the processing accuracy of the wafer is very high. The detachable structure of the carrier plate and the etcher will affect the placement accuracy of the wafer relative to the etcher. The area of ​​the carrier plate with adjustable size for placing the wafer is also easy to move during the wafer processing, thereby affecting the processing accuracy of the wafer. Utility Model Content

[0005] In view of the above technical problems, the utility model provides a focusing support ring which is convenient for placing wafers, so that the wafers can be prevented from being placed on the focusing support ring more stably.

[0006] In order to achieve the above purpose, the technical solution adopted by the utility model is:

[0007] The utility model provides a focusing support ring for facilitating placement of wafers, comprising a support ring body for lifting the wafer and a plurality of limiting blocks; the limiting blocks are fixedly arranged on a disk surface of the support ring body for lifting the wafer; the limiting blocks have abutment surfaces for sealing against the side edges of the wafer; all of the limiting blocks can limit the horizontal movement of the wafer; the limiting blocks are arranged in a circular array on the support ring body with the center of the circular ring of the support ring body as the center of the circle; the limiting blocks are arranged at intervals; gaps are left between the limiting blocks, and the side edges of the wafers placed on the support ring body can be directly contacted by passing through the gaps.

[0008] The utility model provides a focusing support ring that is convenient for placing wafers. Preferably, a signal transmitter that can send out a positioning signal is fixed on the support ring body.

[0009] The utility model provides a focusing support ring for facilitating the placement of wafers. Preferably, the limiting blocks include a plurality of arc limiting blocks and plane limiting blocks; the surface of the arc limiting block facing the center of the support ring body is an arc surface; the surface of the plane support block facing the center of the support ring body is a plane; the arc radii of the arc surfaces of all the arc limiting blocks are equal; the arc surface axes of all the arc limiting blocks are coaxial; the support ring body includes a base for supporting the wafer; the upper surface of the base is the disk surface of the wafer support ring; a light-transmitting hole similar to the wafer is provided on the base; the light-transmitting hole is a chord-cutting circle; the center of the chord-cutting circle coincides with the center of the circular ring of the support ring body; the plane of the plane support block is arranged parallel to the chord of the chord-cutting circle of the light-transmitting hole; the diameter of the arc surface of the arc support block is larger than the diameter of the chord-cutting circle of the light-transmitting hole.

[0010] The utility model provides a focusing support ring for facilitating placement of wafers. Preferably, the distance between the plane of the planar support block and the chord of the chord-tangent circle of the light-transmitting hole is equal to the difference between the radius of the arc surface of the arc support block and the radius of the chord-tangent circle of the light-transmitting hole.

[0011] The above technical solution has the following advantages or beneficial effects:

[0012] The utility model provides a focusing support ring that is convenient for placing wafers, and relates to the field of wafer loading technology, including a support ring body for lifting wafers and a plurality of limiting blocks; the limiting blocks are fixedly arranged on the disk surface of the support ring body for lifting wafers; the limiting blocks have abutment surfaces for sealing against the side edges of wafers; all the limiting blocks can limit the horizontal movement of the wafer; the limiting blocks are arranged on the support ring body in a circular array with the center of the circular ring of the support ring body as the center; the limiting blocks are arranged at intervals; gaps are left between the limiting blocks, and the side edges of the wafers placed on the support ring body can be directly contacted through the gaps. The focusing support ring that is convenient for placing wafers provided by the utility model solves the problem in the prior art that the wafer is difficult to be stably placed and easily scratched during the process of placing the wafer on the focusing support ring of the etching machine, and the utility model enables the wafer to be stably placed on the focusing support ring. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] The present invention and its features, appearance and advantages will become more apparent by reading the detailed description of non-limiting embodiments with reference to the following drawings. The same reference numerals indicate the same parts in all the drawings. The drawings are not drawn to scale, but the emphasis is on illustrating the subject matter of the present invention.

[0014] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of a focusing support ring for facilitating wafer placement provided in Example 1 of the utility model. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0015] It should be noted that, in the absence of conflict, the embodiments and features in the embodiments of the present application can be combined with each other. It should be noted that the terms used in the present invention are only for describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the exemplary embodiments according to the present application.

[0016] It should be understood that when the terms “include” and / or “comprise” are used in the present specification, they specify the presence of features, steps, operations, devices, components and / or their combinations.

[0017] If the terms "center", "up", "down", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "inside", "outside", etc. appear, the orientation or position relationship indicated is based on the orientation or position relationship shown in the drawings, which is only for the convenience of describing the utility model and simplifying the description, and does not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operate in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation on the utility model.

[0018] The terms “first”, “second” and “third” are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be understood as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0019] Unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "installed", "connected" and "connected" should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can be a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium, or it can be the internal communication of two components. For ordinary technicians in this field, the specific meanings of the above terms in this utility model can be understood according to specific circumstances.

[0020] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention are described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. It is obvious that the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, rather than all the embodiments. Therefore, the following detailed description of the embodiments of the present invention provided in the drawings is not intended to limit the scope of the utility model claimed for protection, but merely represents the selected embodiments of the present invention. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without making creative work belong to the protection scope of the present invention.

[0021] Embodiment 1:

[0022] When using an etcher to process a wafer, the wafer needs to be placed manually on the focusing support ring of the etcher. However, when placed manually, since the support ring and the wafer fit tightly together, the wafer is prone to collision when placed in the support ring and cannot be placed in the support ring at one time. If the wafer is not aligned with the support ring and contacts the support ring, scratches may be left on the surface of the wafer, affecting the quality of the wafer. To solve this problem, the focusing support ring provided in Example 1 of the utility model is convenient for placing the wafer, such as Figure 1 As shown, it includes a support ring body 1 for lifting the wafer and a plurality of limiting blocks 2; the limiting blocks 2 are fixedly arranged on the disk surface of the support ring body 1 for lifting the wafer; the limiting blocks 2 have a contact surface for sealing against the side of the wafer; all the limiting blocks 2 can limit the horizontal movement of the wafer; the limiting blocks 2 are arranged in a circular array on the support ring body 1 with the center of the circle of the support ring body 1 as the center; the limiting blocks 2 are arranged at intervals; gaps are left between the limiting blocks 2, and the side of the wafer placed on the support ring body 1 can be directly contacted by passing through the gaps.

[0023] When using the focusing support ring for placing wafers provided in Example 1 of the utility model, the wafer is placed on the focusing support ring, the disk surface of the support ring body 1 is horizontally arranged upward, and the lower surface of the wafer is abutted against the disk surface of the support ring body 1. The wafer is placed on the support ring body 1, and the limiting block 2 will limit the freedom of horizontal movement of the wafer, and the limiting block 2 will limit the rotation of the wafer. Therefore, the focusing support ring of this embodiment can play all the functions of the support ring in the prior art. The difference from the support ring in the prior art is that there are multiple limiting blocks 2 in this embodiment, which are respectively abutted against the side edges of the wafer, while the prior art is a circular ring structure abutting against the side edges of the wafer. Since there are gaps between the limiting blocks 2 in this embodiment, the staff can hold the opposite sides of the wafer with both hands, and use the friction between the fingers and the sides of the wafer to slowly place the wafer on the support ring body 1, without releasing the wafer at a distance above the support ring, which causes scratches on the wafer during the falling process; in the prior art, the staff can also lift the wafer from the bottom of the wafer to place the wafer After being aligned to the side limit of the support ring, the wafer is slowly placed on the support ring while being lifted at the bottom. However, this method is inconvenient to operate and requires two people to cooperate in the installation, that is, one person adjusts the angle of the wafer at the top, and the other person lifts the wafer from the bottom and slowly moves it down. If there is only one person, the horizontal angle of the wafer is difficult to adjust, because when one hand is at the bottom, the line of sight is not good for visual inspection of the wafer. This is because the processed wafer is not a complete circle. In order to limit the horizontal rotation of the wafer, the wafer is usually a tangential circle. Therefore, the method of lifting the wafer from the bottom by one person is not conducive to controlling the angle of the wafer. In this embodiment, since there is a gap between the limiting blocks 2, the main purpose is to use a mechanical claw to clamp the wafer. The mechanical claw can clamp the wafer by clamping the side of the wafer, and use the precise control of the mechanical claw to adjust the angle between the wafer and the support ring, accurately position the wafer to the support ring body 1, and make the lower surface of the wafer against the disk of the support body 1, and then release the mechanical claw to complete the wafer placement, so that the wafer can be stably placed on the support ring.

[0024] The focusing support ring provided in Example 1 of the utility model is convenient for placing the wafer, which solves the problem in the prior art that the wafer is difficult to place stably and is easily scratched during the process of placing the wafer on the focusing support ring of the etcher. The equipment proposed in the utility model enables the wafer to be stably placed on the focusing support ring.

[0025] For the above-mentioned mechanical claws to clamp the wafer and accurately position it to the support ring body 1 for placement, in order to achieve this operation, as a preferred solution, in this embodiment, a signal transmitter 3 that can send a positioning signal is fixed on the support ring body 1. This embodiment needs to be used in conjunction with a wafer carrier plate for placing wafers. The wafer placement method on the wafer carrier plate is fixed. The wafer carrier plate is provided with a signal transmitter for mechanical claw recognition. After the mechanical claw recognizes the signal transmitter on the carrier plate, it clamps the wafer at a fixed angle. After the mechanical claw moves the wafer to the support ring body 1, the mechanical claw locates the position of the support ring body 1 through the signal transmitter 3 on the support ring body 1, and finally places the wafer on the support ring body 1 at a predetermined angle. During the placement of the mechanical claw, the position of the wafer clamped by the side of the mechanical claw just passes through the gap between the limiting blocks 2.

[0026] Because under normal circumstances, in order to prevent the wafer from rotating during processing, the wafer is not a perfect disc, a knife string will be cut on the wafer, and a straight edge will be correspondingly set on the focusing support ring. The rotation of the wafer is limited by the cooperation of the straight edge and the chord of the wafer. In this embodiment, the limiting block 2 includes a plurality of arc limiting blocks 21 and a plane limiting block 22; the surface of the arc limiting block 21 facing the center direction of the support ring body 1 is an arc surface; the surface of the plane support block 22 facing the center direction of the support ring body 1 is a plane; the arc radii of the arc surfaces of all arc limiting blocks 21 are the same. etc.; the arc surface axes of all arc limiting blocks 21 are coaxial; (the cylindrical axis of the cylindrical surface formed by the arc surface) the support ring body 1 includes a base 11 for holding up the wafer; the upper surface of the base 11 is the disk surface of the wafer support ring 1; a light-transmitting hole 12 similar to the wafer is opened on the base 11; the light-transmitting hole 12 is a chord-cutting circle; the center of the chord-cutting circle coincides with the center of the ring of the support ring body 1; the plane of the planar support block 22 is arranged parallel to the chord of the chord-cutting circle of the light-transmitting hole 12; the arc surface diameter of the arc support block 22 is larger than the circle diameter of the chord-cutting circle of the light-transmitting hole 12. In this embodiment, a plurality of arc support blocks 21 are used to simulate the arc side of the support ring in the prior art, and a plane support block 22 is used to simulate the plane side of the support ring in the prior art. After the wafer is placed on the base 11, the arc limit block 21 and the plane limit block 22 are both tightly attached to the side of the wafer to jointly limit the horizontal movement of the wafer. The plane of the plane limit block 22 can limit the rotation of the wafer. There are gaps between the arc limit blocks 21 and between the arc limit blocks 21 and the plane limit blocks 22. The claws of the mechanical claw can move to these gaps to keep the mechanical claw clamping the wafer from the side of the wafer until the wafer is attached to the disk surface of the base 11 and then released, thereby achieving stable placement of the wafer.

[0027] As a preferred solution, in this embodiment, the distance between the plane of the planar support block 22 and the chord of the tangent circle of the light-transmitting hole 12 is equal to the difference between the radius of the arc surface of the arc support block 21 and the radius of the tangent circle of the light-transmitting hole 12. After the wafer is placed on the base 11, the side of the wafer is supported by a uniform annular structure, which is the upper surface of the light-transmitting hole 12, with the light-transmitting hole 12 as the hole of the annular structure, and the edge contour of the wafer is an annular structure formed by the outer ring of the annular structure. This annular structure is used to give the wafer a vertical upward support force. The annular structure needs to ensure that the wafer can be stably supported on the base 11. The annular structure forms an equal-width ring for supporting the wafer, which can avoid the overlap of the edge of the light-transmitting hole 12 and the wafer at a certain position, which affects the light transmittance of the wafer, and can also avoid the overlap of the edge of the light-transmitting hole 12 and the wafer at a certain position, which is too small, resulting in the wafer not being stably supported.

[0028] In summary, the utility model provides a focusing support ring that is convenient for placing wafers, and relates to the field of wafer loading technology, including a support ring body for lifting wafers and a plurality of limiting blocks; the limiting blocks are fixedly arranged on the disk surface of the support ring body for lifting wafers; the limiting blocks have abutment surfaces for sealing against the side edges of wafers; all the limiting blocks can limit the horizontal movement of the wafer; the limiting blocks are arranged on the support ring body in a circular array with the center of the circular ring of the support ring body as the center; the limiting blocks are arranged at intervals; gaps are left between the limiting blocks, and the side edges of the wafers placed on the support ring body can be directly contacted through the gaps. The focusing support ring that is convenient for placing wafers provided by the utility model solves the problem in the prior art that the wafer is difficult to be stably placed and easily scratched during the process of placing the wafer on the focusing support ring of the etching machine. The utility model enables the wafer to be stably placed on the focusing support ring.

[0029] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and does not limit the patent scope of the present invention. Any equivalent structural transformation made using the contents of the specification and drawings of the present invention, or directly or indirectly applied in other related technical fields, is also included in the patent protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A focusing support ring for facilitating wafer placement, characterized in that: It includes a support ring body for lifting a wafer and a plurality of limiting blocks; The limiting block is fixedly arranged on the disk surface of the support ring body for lifting the wafer; the limiting block has a contact surface for sealing against the side of the wafer; all the limiting blocks can limit the horizontal movement of the wafer; The limiting blocks are arranged on the support ring body in a circular array with the center of the circle of the support ring body as the center; The limiting blocks are arranged at intervals; gaps are left between the limiting blocks, and the side edge of the wafer placed on the supporting ring body can be directly contacted through the gaps.

2. The focusing support ring for facilitating wafer placement as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: A signal transmitter capable of sending out a positioning signal is fixed on the support ring body.

3. The focusing support ring for facilitating wafer placement as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that: The limiting blocks include a plurality of arc limiting blocks and plane limiting blocks; The surface of the arc limiting block facing the center direction of the support ring body is an arc surface; the surface of the plane support block facing the center direction of the support ring body is a plane; The arc radii of the arc surfaces of all the arc limiting blocks are equal; the arc surface axes of all the arc limiting blocks are coaxial; The support ring body includes a base for supporting the wafer; the upper surface of the base is the disk surface of the wafer support ring; The base is provided with a light-transmitting hole similar to a wafer; the light-transmitting hole is a tangent circle; the center of the tangent circle coincides with the center of the ring of the support ring body; The plane of the planar support block is arranged parallel to the chord of the chord-tangent circle of the light-transmitting hole; the diameter of the arc surface of the arc support block is larger than the circle diameter of the chord-tangent circle of the light-transmitting hole.

4. The focusing support ring for facilitating wafer placement as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that: The distance between the plane of the planar support block and the chord of the chord tangent circle of the light transmission hole is equal to the difference between the radius of the arc surface of the arc support block and the radius of the chord tangent circle of the light transmission hole.

Citation Information

Patent Citations

  • Tray for automatic wafer loading and loading carrier

    CN211700234U