Wafer caching device

Abstract

The utility model discloses a wafer cache device, which is used for providing a temporary storage space for a wafer in a circulation process between processing equipment, the wafer cache device comprises a shell, a cache cavity for storing the wafer is formed in the shell, and a wafer seat for supporting the wafer is arranged in the cache cavity; the wafer temporary storage device further comprises a spraying mechanism used for keeping the surface of the wafer clean. According to the utility model, the spraying mechanism used for keeping the surface of the wafer clean is arranged in the wafer cache device, and the spraying mechanism can spray water or cleaning fluid to the surface of the wafer, that is, the wafer cache device provides a cache space and also has a cleaning function, so that a preliminary cleaning link after the wafer is transferred to the next process is omitted, and the wafer cache device is simple in structure and convenient to operate. The wafer processing technology is simplified, and the wafer processing efficiency is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model belongs to the field of semiconductor processing, and in particular relates to a wafer buffer device. Background Art

[0002] During the semiconductor processing, wafers need to be transported between different processing equipment to undergo different processing processes. Since the time required for each process and the number of process chambers are different, after a wafer undergoes a processing step, there may still be wafers to be processed in the processing chamber of the next process, so the wafers need to be temporarily stored. The existing wafer temporary storage device only serves to temporarily store wafers. However, although the cache device can provide a relatively clean storage place for the wafers, there are still a small amount of particulate matter and AMC pollutants floating in the air in the cache device. After the wafer is placed in the cache device for a period of time, the pollutants floating in the cache cavity adhere to the surface of the wafer under the action of gravity or free diffusion, causing contamination to the wafer. With the improvement of semiconductor processing technology, the requirements for the cleanliness of the wafer surface are getting higher and higher, so higher requirements are put forward for the cleanliness of the wafers in the cache device. Summary of the invention

[0003] In view of the above technical problems, the utility model provides an improved wafer buffer device.

[0004] In order to achieve the above purpose, the utility model adopts the following technical solutions:

[0005] A wafer cache device is used to provide temporary storage space for wafers during their transfer between processing equipment. The wafer cache device includes a shell, a cache cavity for storing wafers is formed in the shell, and a wafer seat for supporting the wafer is provided in the cache cavity; the wafer cache device also includes a spray mechanism for maintaining the surface of the wafer clean.

[0006] Preferably, a plurality of wafer seats are provided in the cache cavity, and the plurality of wafer seats are arranged in the up-down direction; the wafer seat includes a support plate and a plurality of positioning pins arranged on the support plate, and the wafer is configured to be placed on the positioning pins with a gap between the wafer and the support plate; the support plate divides the cache cavity into a plurality of wafer placement positions arranged up-down.

[0007] Furthermore, the spray mechanism is configured to spray liquid onto the upper and lower surfaces of the wafer to keep the surface of the wafer moist.

[0008] Furthermore, the spray mechanism is configured to spray cleaning liquid onto the upper and lower surfaces of the wafer to remove pollutants on the surface of the wafer.

[0009] Furthermore, the spray mechanism includes a plurality of nozzles with adjustable angles, and each wafer placement position corresponds to at least two nozzles.

[0010] Furthermore, each of the support plates is provided with a through hole for air flow to pass through.

[0011] Furthermore, an air inlet connected to the cache cavity is provided at the top of the shell, an air outlet is provided at the bottom of the cache cavity, a flow channel for air flow is provided between the cache cavity and the shell, and the flow channel is connected to an external processing device.

[0012] Furthermore, each of the support plates is provided with a drainage mechanism, and the drainage mechanism is used to collect liquid on the surface of the support plate and then discharge it from the wafer buffer device.

[0013] Furthermore, the support plate is provided with a plurality of adjustment holes, and the positioning pins are detachably arranged in the adjustment holes.

[0014] Preferably, a movable door panel is further provided on one side of the cache cavity, and the door panel is driven in a contactless manner.

[0015] The utility model adopts the above solution, which has the following advantages compared with the prior art:

[0016] In the utility model, a spray mechanism for maintaining the cleanliness of the wafer surface is arranged in the wafer buffer device. The spray mechanism can spray water or cleaning liquid onto the surface of the wafer. That is, the wafer buffer device provides a buffer space while also having a cleaning function, thereby eliminating the initial cleaning step after the wafer is transported to the next process, simplifying the wafer processing process, and improving the efficiency of wafer processing. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solution of the present invention, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative work.

[0018] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure of a wafer buffer device in an embodiment of the utility model;

[0019] Figure 2 This is another three-dimensional structural schematic diagram of a wafer buffer device in an embodiment of the utility model;

[0020] Figure 3 for Figure 2 A local enlarged schematic diagram of the middle A;

[0021] Figure 4This is a schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure of the cache cavity in the embodiment of the utility model;

[0022] Figure 5 A side view of the cache cavity in the embodiment of the utility model;

[0023] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure of a wafer seat in an embodiment of the utility model;

[0024] Figure 7 A top view of a wafer seat in an embodiment of the utility model;

[0025] Figure 8 It is a side view of the wafer buffer device in the embodiment of the utility model;

[0026] Fig. 9 for Figure 8 The cross-sectional view along the BB direction;

[0027] Fig.10 This is a schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure of the spray mechanism in the embodiment of the utility model;

[0028] Fig.11 A side view of a door panel in an embodiment of the utility model;

[0029] Among them, 11. base; 12. shell; 2. cache cavity; 21. wafer placement position; 3. wafer seat; 31. support plate; 32. positioning pin; 33. through hole; 34. adjustment hole; 35. support rod; 36. wafer sensing sensor; 4. spray mechanism; 41. nozzle; 42. fixing frame; 43. angle adjustment seat; 44. angle adjustment shaft; 45. nozzle seat; 51. air inlet; 52. air outlet; 53. exhaust port; 61. door panel; 62. material loading and unloading port; 63. magnetic European cylinder; 64. slider; 7. wafer. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] In the description of the present utility model, Figure 8 In the figure, the upper direction is “up”, the lower direction is “down”, the left direction is “left”, the right direction is “right”, and the directions perpendicular to the paper are “front” and “back”. The directions of “front”, “back”, “left”, “right”, “up” and “down” are only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation on the present invention.

[0031] like Figures 1 to 11As shown, the wafer buffer device in this embodiment is mainly used to provide a temporary storage space for wafers 7 during the flow between processing equipment. Specifically, it includes a base 11 and a shell 12 arranged on the base 11, and a buffer cavity 2 for storing wafers is formed in the shell 12. Figure 1 As shown, rollers may be provided under the base 11 to facilitate movement of the wafer cache device between different processing equipment and to achieve docking of the wafer cache device with different equipment.

[0032] like Figure 2 , Figure 3 and Figure 4 As shown, a wafer seat 3 for supporting a wafer 7 is provided in the cache cavity 2. In this embodiment, a plurality of wafer seats 3 are provided in the cache cavity 2, and the plurality of wafer seats 3 are arranged in the vertical direction and are arranged in parallel. Specifically, the wafer seat 3 includes a support plate 31 and a plurality of positioning pins 32 arranged on the support plate 31, and the wafer 7 is configured to be placed on the positioning pins 32 and have a gap between the positioning pins 32 and the support plate 31. The support plate 31 divides the cache cavity 2 into a plurality of wafer placement positions 21 arranged vertically.

[0033] like Figure 6 and Figure 7 As shown, the support plate 31 is provided with a plurality of adjustment holes 34, and the positioning pins 32 are detachably arranged in the adjustment holes 34. Specifically in this embodiment, four annular positioning pins 32 are generally installed on each support plate 31 at a time. If the size of the wafer changes, the positioning pins are inserted into the corresponding adjustment holes according to the size of the wafer, so as to adapt to wafers of different sizes. Two adjacent support plates 31 are supported by support rods 35.

[0034] The wafer buffer device also includes a spray mechanism 4 for maintaining the wafer surface clean. Figure 3 and Fig.10 As shown, the spray mechanism 4 specifically includes a fixing frame 42 connected to a plurality of support plates 31, a plurality of angle adjustment seats 43 are provided on the fixing frame 42, a nozzle seat 45 is provided on each angle adjustment seat 43, and the nozzle seat 45 and the angle adjustment seat 43 are connected via an angle adjustment shaft 44. The nozzle 41 is provided on the nozzle seat 45, and the angle adjustment shaft 44 is provided to enable the nozzle seat 45 to move relative to the angle adjustment seat 43, thereby realizing multi-angle adjustment.

[0035] In a specific embodiment, the nozzle 41 is used to spray mist liquid into the cache chamber. In the cache chamber 2, there are still pollutants such as airborne molecular contamination (AMC) and solid particles. These pollutants are easy to adhere to the surface of the wafer 7 during the Brownian motion. By spraying mist liquid into the cache chamber, the surface of the wafer 7 can be kept moist, and the pollutants falling on the surface of the wafer 7 can be adhered to the liquid and leave the wafer surface with the flow of the liquid, thereby effectively preventing the pollutants in the cache chamber 2 from contaminating the stored wafers.

[0036] In another optional embodiment, the nozzle 41 is used to spray liquid onto the upper and lower surfaces of the wafer. At least two nozzles 45 are set for each wafer placement position 21. In this embodiment, two rows of fixing frames 42 are preferably set on opposite sides (for example, left and right sides) of the wafer buffer device. Each wafer placement position 21 corresponds to four nozzles 45, specifically two upper and lower nozzles 45 on the left side and two upper and lower nozzles 45 on the right side. Furthermore, when the wafer 7 is placed on the positioning pin 32, the height of the nozzle on either side is higher than the height of the wafer, and the height of the nozzle below is lower than the height of the wafer. This arrangement can ensure that the upper and lower surfaces of the wafer can be sprayed with liquid.

[0037] The nozzle 45 can choose to spray water or cleaning liquid to perform preliminary cleaning on the upper and lower surfaces of the wafer 7. The cache device has a cleaning function while providing cache space for the wafer, eliminating the preliminary cleaning step after the wafer is transferred to the next process (in most processing processes, the loaded wafers need to be preliminarily cleaned before they can be transferred to the normal processing flow). This device can realize the wafer temporary storage function while replacing the original preliminary cleaning equipment, simplifying the wafer processing process, saving equipment space, and reducing costs.

[0038] The wafer buffer device also includes a fresh air component, through which the gas in the wafer buffer device is purified. Figure 1 As shown, the top of the housing 12 is provided with an air inlet 51 connected to the cache chamber 2, and the air inlet 51 is connected to an external air purification device, and clean air is provided to the wafer cache device through the air purification device. Figure 4 As shown, the bottom of the cache chamber 2 is provided with an air outlet 52, which can be specifically arranged on the bottom support plate 31 in the cache chamber 2. A flow channel for air flow is also provided between the cache chamber 2 and the shell 12, and the flow channel is connected to the external processing equipment. Figure 1 As shown, the side wall above the shell 12 is also provided with an exhaust port 53, and the flow channel is connected to the external processing equipment through the exhaust port 53. The external processing equipment can be a gas recovery device. Figure 6As shown, each support plate 31 is provided with a through hole 33 for air flow. Clean gas is introduced into the air inlet 51, moves downward through the through holes 33 on the support plate 31 in turn, enters the flow channel after passing through the air outlet 52, and is discharged to the external processing equipment through the exhaust port 53. This arrangement helps to maintain the stability of the environment inside the wafer buffer device, provides a clean storage space for the wafer, and is more conducive to maintaining the cleanliness of the wafer surface.

[0039] Each support plate 31 is also provided with a drainage mechanism (not shown in the figure), which can be specifically arranged below the support plate 31, and is mainly used to collect the liquid on the surface of the support plate 31 and then discharge it from the wafer buffer device. The drainage mechanism is arranged below the support plate 31, and the liquid flowing from the surface can also be discharged through the drainage mechanism to avoid dripping directly downward and affecting the wafer below. In this embodiment, the specific structure of the drainage mechanism is not limited, as long as it can achieve the function of collecting the liquid dripping from the support plate 31. For example, a drainage plate is arranged at the lower edge of the support plate 31, and the dripping liquid is collected by the drainage plate and then discharged through a drain pipe arranged on one side of the drainage plate.

[0040] In another optional embodiment, the drainage mechanism is arranged on one side of the support plate.

[0041] A movable door panel 61 is also provided on one side of the cache chamber 2, and the door panel 61 is driven in a contactless manner. Figure 1 As shown, a material loading and unloading port 62 is provided on one side of each wafer placement position 11, and each material loading and unloading port 62 corresponds to a door panel 61. In this embodiment, the door panel 61 is driven by a magnetic coupling cylinder 63, and a plurality of sliders 64 are arranged on the magnetic coupling cylinder 63, each slider 64 is connected to a door panel 61, and each door panel 61 can move in the up and down directions respectively. When it is not necessary to transfer the wafer to the cache chamber 2 or to transfer the wafer in the cache chamber 2 out, the door panel 61 closes the material loading and unloading port 62. The contactless transmission method is adopted to avoid the friction between the door panel 61 and the driving mechanism, and also avoid the generation of particulate matter during the movement. At the same time, the magnetic coupling cylinder 63 can be isolated from external components, avoiding the pollution of the entire environment by pollutants generated when the cylinder moves. Furthermore, the material access port 62 is set to a standardized size (compliant with SEMI general standards) to achieve docking between the wafer cache device and external processing equipment (equipment that also complies with SEMI general standards). After the door panel 61 is removed, the material access port 62 can be directly docked with the external equipment.

[0042] In summary, the wafer buffer device in this embodiment has at least the following advantages:

[0043] 1. A spray mechanism for maintaining the cleanliness of the wafer surface is arranged in the wafer buffer device. The spray mechanism can spray water or cleaning liquid onto the surface of the wafer. That is, the wafer buffer device provides a buffer space and also has a cleaning function, thereby eliminating the initial cleaning step after the wafer is transported to the next process, simplifying the wafer processing process and improving the efficiency of wafer processing;

[0044] 2. The air inlet, the through hole on the support plate, the air outlet, the flow channel and the exhaust port sequentially form an exhaust channel connected to the external processing equipment. This arrangement helps to maintain the stability of the environment inside the wafer buffer device, provides a clean storage space for the wafer, and is more conducive to maintaining the cleanliness of the wafer surface;

[0045] 3. By setting up a drainage mechanism, the liquid dripping on the support plate can be collected to avoid secondary contamination of the wafer below;

[0046] 4. By setting a plurality of adjustment holes, the positioning pins are detachably set in the adjustment holes, and the positions of the positioning pins can be adjusted according to different wafer sizes, so that wafers of different sizes can be stored.

[0047] As shown in this specification and claims, the terms "comprises" and "include" only indicate the inclusion of the steps and elements that have been clearly identified, and these steps and elements do not constitute an exclusive list, and the method or device may also include other steps or elements. The term "and / or" as used herein includes any combination of one or more of the relevant listed items.

[0048] It should be noted that, unless otherwise specified, when a feature is referred to as being "fixed" or "connected" to another feature, it can be directly fixed or connected to the other feature, or it can be indirectly fixed or connected to the other feature. In addition, the descriptions of up, down, left, right, etc. used in the present invention are only relative to the relative positional relationship of the components of the present invention in the accompanying drawings.

[0049] The above embodiment is only for illustrating the technical concept and features of the utility model, and is a preferred embodiment. Its purpose is to enable people familiar with the technology to understand the content of the utility model and implement it accordingly, and it cannot be used to limit the protection scope of the utility model. Any equivalent transformation or modification made according to the principle of the utility model should be included in the protection scope of the utility model.

Claims

1. A wafer buffer device, used to provide temporary storage space for wafers during transfer between processing equipment, characterized in that: The wafer cache device comprises a shell, a cache cavity for storing wafers is formed in the shell, and a wafer seat for supporting wafers is arranged in the cache cavity; the wafer cache device also comprises a spray mechanism for keeping the surface of the wafer clean.

2. The wafer buffer device according to claim 1, characterized in that: A plurality of wafer seats are arranged in the cache cavity, and the plurality of wafer seats are arranged in the up-down direction; the wafer seat includes a support plate and a plurality of positioning pins arranged on the support plate, and the wafer is configured to be placed on the positioning pins with a gap between the wafer and the support plate; the support plate divides the cache cavity into a plurality of wafer placement positions arranged up-down.

3. The wafer buffer device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The spray mechanism is configured to spray liquid onto the upper and lower surfaces of the wafer to keep the surface of the wafer moist.

4. The wafer buffer device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The spray mechanism is configured to spray cleaning liquid onto the upper and lower surfaces of the wafer to remove pollutants on the surface of the wafer.

5. The wafer buffer device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The spray mechanism includes a plurality of spray heads with adjustable angles, and each wafer placement position corresponds to at least two spray heads.

6. The wafer buffer device according to claim 2, characterized in that: Each of the support plates is also provided with a through hole for air flow to pass through.

7. The wafer buffer device according to claim 6, characterized in that: An air inlet connected to the cache cavity is provided at the top of the shell, an air outlet is provided at the bottom of the cache cavity, a flow channel for air flow is provided between the cache cavity and the shell, and the flow channel is connected to an external processing device.

8. The wafer buffer device according to claim 2, characterized in that: Each of the support plates is provided with a drainage mechanism, and the drainage mechanism is used to collect liquid on the surface of the support plate and then discharge it from the wafer buffer device.

9. The wafer buffer device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The support plate is provided with a plurality of adjustment holes, and the positioning pins are detachably arranged in the adjustment holes.

10. The wafer buffer device according to claim 1, characterized in that: A movable door panel is also provided on one side of the cache cavity, and the door panel is driven in a contactless manner.

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