Pressure control assembly for etching equipment and etching equipment

Abstract

The utility model discloses a pressure control assembly used for etching equipment and the etching equipment, the pressure control assembly comprises a valve, and the valve comprises a valve body and a valve core located in the valve body; the gear assembly comprises a rotating shaft connected with the valve element, a driven gear connected with the rotating shaft and a driving gear meshed with the driven gear, and the rotating source is connected with the driving gear, drives the valve element to rotate in the valve body through the gear assembly and controls the opening degree of the valve; the encoder is connected with the rotating shaft and used for measuring the rotating angle of the valve element. According to the utility model, the accuracy of controlling the opening degree of the valve is improved, the accuracy of controlling the pressure of the etching equipment is further improved, and the quality and the consistency of etched products are improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to the technical field of semiconductor processing equipment, and more specifically, to a pressure control component for etching equipment and the etching equipment. Background Art

[0002] Etching equipment plays a key role in semiconductor manufacturing. It forms microcircuit patterns by precisely removing materials from specific areas on the wafer. The etching equipment structure includes a host, a pressure control component, and a magnetic levitation molecular pump. The magnetic levitation molecular pump is responsible for providing the required high vacuum or ultra-high vacuum environment for the etching chamber, while the pressure control component is used to adjust the pressure of the etching chamber to ensure the smooth progress of the etching operation. The efficiency of the etching process and the quality of the final product are greatly dependent on the accuracy of the pressure control in the etching chamber.

[0003] In the prior art, the pressure control assembly is usually composed of a rotation source, a valve, a transmission mechanism connecting the rotation source and the valve and including a gear assembly, and an encoder mounted on the motor output shaft. The function of the encoder is to detect the rotation angle of the motor output shaft, so that the controller can calculate the valve opening according to the rotation angle and control the pressure in the etching chamber accordingly.

[0004] However, due to the precision limitation of machining, there is a slight clearance between the gears in the gear assembly. In low and medium vacuum environments, the effect of this clearance on pressure control is relatively small, but in high vacuum or ultra-high vacuum environments, the effect of the clearance on pressure control becomes significant. Therefore, this clearance directly causes the encoder's measurement results to be unable to accurately reflect the actual opening of the valve, which in turn affects the fine adjustment of the pressure in the etching chamber and reduces the quality and consistency of the final product. Utility Model Content

[0005] In order to solve one or more of the technical problems mentioned above, the utility model provides a pressure control component for etching equipment and etching equipment, which solves the shortcomings of etching equipment in the prior art that the quality and consistency of etched products are poor due to poor accuracy of valve opening control, thereby improving the quality and consistency of etched products.

[0006] According to a first aspect of the utility model, a pressure control component for an etching device is provided, the pressure control component comprising:

[0007] A valve, comprising a valve body and a valve core located in the valve body;

[0008] The transmission mechanism comprises a rotating shaft connected to the valve core, a driven gear connected to the rotating shaft, and a driving gear meshing with the driven gear.

[0009] A rotation source, which is connected to the driving gear and drives the valve core to rotate in the valve body through a transmission mechanism to control the opening of the valve;

[0010] An encoder is connected to the rotating shaft and is used to measure the rotation angle of the valve core.

[0011] As the pressure control component as described above, optionally, the encoder includes a sensing module for emitting and receiving light and an optical turntable rotatably disposed in the sensing module and having a light-transmitting through hole, wherein the sensing module is fixedly disposed relative to the valve body, and the optical turntable is fixedly sleeved on the end of the rotating shaft away from the valve core.

[0012] The pressure control component as described above may optionally further include a controller, wherein the controller is connected to both the encoder and the rotation source, and controls the rotation angle of the rotation source according to the measurement result of the encoder.

[0013] As the pressure control component described above, optionally, the rotation source includes a servo motor or a stepper motor.

[0014] In the pressure control assembly as described above, optionally, the driven gear is fixedly sleeved on the rotating shaft and is located between the valve body and the encoder.

[0015] In the pressure control assembly as described above, optionally, the driving gear is a cylindrical gear, and the driven gear is a sector gear.

[0016] As the pressure control component described above, optionally, the etching equipment is a plasma etching equipment or a dry etching equipment.

[0017] As the pressure control assembly described above, optionally, the valve comprises a butterfly valve or a ball valve.

[0018] According to a second aspect of the present invention, an etching device is provided, comprising any one of the above-mentioned pressure control components.

[0019] The etching device as described above may optionally further include a host having an etching chamber and a magnetic levitation molecular pump, wherein an air inlet of the magnetic levitation molecular pump is connected to the etching chamber of the host through a valve of the pressure control component.

[0020] As provided above, the pressure control assembly for etching equipment and etching equipment, the pressure control assembly includes a valve, which includes a valve body and a valve core located in the valve body, the first end of the valve core is fixedly connected to the valve body; a transmission mechanism, which includes a rotating shaft connected to the second end of the valve core, a driven gear connected to the rotating shaft, and a driving gear meshing with the driven gear, a rotation source, which is connected to the driving gear and drives the valve core to rotate in the valve body through the transmission mechanism to control the opening of the valve; an encoder, which is connected to the rotating shaft and is used to measure the rotation angle of the valve core. By fixing the encoder for measuring the valve core opening on the rotating shaft, it is ensured that the measurement result does not contain the clearance error of the gear assembly, and the measured valve core opening is accurate, which improves the accuracy of pressure control, thereby improving the quality and consistency of the products etched by the etching equipment.

[0021] Furthermore, in the embodiment, a controller is connected to both the encoder and the rotation source, and the measurement result of the encoder is obtained in real time and the rotation angle of the rotation source is adjusted in real time, so as to promptly respond to the control demand of the valve opening, thereby promptly meeting the pressure control demand of the etching chamber of the etching equipment. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] By reading the detailed description below with reference to the accompanying drawings, the above and other purposes, features and advantages of the exemplary embodiments of the present invention will become easy to understand. In the accompanying drawings, several embodiments of the present invention are shown in an exemplary and non-limiting manner, and the same or corresponding reference numerals represent the same or corresponding parts, wherein:

[0023] Figure 1 It is a structural schematic diagram of a pressure control component of the related art;

[0024] Figure 2 A schematic diagram showing the structure of a pressure control assembly according to an embodiment of the utility model is shown;

[0025] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the composition of the etching equipment of an embodiment of the utility model.

[0026] Explanation of the accompanying reference numerals: 1. Rotation source; 2. Valve; 3. Transmission mechanism; 4. Encoder; 6. Host; 7. Magnetic levitation molecular pump; 21. Valve core; 31. Rotating shaft; 32. Driven gear; 33. Driving gear. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present disclosure to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure. Obviously, the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of the present disclosure, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

[0028] As attached Figure 1 The pressure control assembly shown is a assembly for controlling the pressure of the etching chamber of the etching equipment in the prior art, and is usually composed of a motor 1, a valve (including a valve core 21), a transmission mechanism connecting the motor 1 and the valve and including a gear assembly, and an encoder 4 installed on the output shaft of the motor 1. The function of the encoder 4 is to detect the rotation angle of the output shaft of the motor 1, so that the opening of the valve can be calculated according to the rotation angle, and the pressure in the etching chamber can be controlled accordingly. It can be found that the encoder 4 is directly installed on the output shaft of the motor 1, which is convenient for accurately measuring the rotation angle of the motor output shaft and determining the opening of 2 according to the rotation angle of the motor output shaft. The etching chamber of the etching equipment is a high vacuum or ultra-high vacuum environment, and the pressure regulation accuracy is very high, that is, the regulation accuracy of the valve opening controlled by the electrode output shaft is required to be very high.

[0029] The transmission mechanism between the motor 1 and the valve includes a gear assembly, which is a component that realizes rotational connection through the meshing of several gears. Due to the precision limitation of mechanical processing, there is a slight clearance between the gears. Even a slight clearance will cause a control error in the opening of the valve, which directly leads to the measurement result of the encoder 4 not being able to accurately reflect the actual opening of the valve, making it impossible to accurately adjust the opening of the valve through the motor 1, thereby affecting the fine adjustment of the pressure in the etching chamber and reducing the quality and consistency of the final product.

[0030] In order to solve the problem that the opening of the valve cannot be accurately adjusted in the prior art, this embodiment provides a new pressure control component for etching equipment, and its structural schematic diagram is shown in the attached Figure 2 The pressure control assembly includes a valve, which includes a valve body (not shown in the figure) and a valve core 21 located in the valve body; a transmission mechanism 3, which includes a rotating shaft 31 connected to the valve core 21, a driven gear 32 connected to the rotating shaft 31, and a driving gear 33 meshing with the driven gear 32; a rotation source 1, which is connected to the driving gear 33 and drives the valve core 21 to rotate in the valve body through the transmission mechanism 3 to control the opening of the valve; an encoder 4, which is connected to the rotating shaft 31 and is used to measure the rotation angle of the valve core 21.

[0031] During operation, when the rotation source 1 can drive the driving gear 33 to rotate, the driven gear 32 will rotate along with the driving gear 33, thereby driving the rotating shaft 31 to rotate, and then the rotating shaft 31 drives the valve core 21 to rotate in the valve body to control the opening of the valve.

[0032] In addition, the pressure control component in the present embodiment also includes an encoder 4, which is connected to the rotating shaft 31 and is used to directly measure the rotation angle of the valve core 21, that is, the rotation angle of the valve core 21 can be directly obtained through the measurement result of the encoder 4, and then the rotation angle of the rotation source 1 is controlled according to the measurement result, without considering the influence of the clearance between the driving gear 33 and the driven gear 32 in the transmission mechanism 3 on the measurement result; the accuracy of the valve opening measurement is improved, the accuracy of the pressure control of the etching chamber of the etching equipment is ensured, and then the quality and consistency of the products etched by the etching equipment are improved.

[0033] As an example, the encoder 4 includes a sensing module for emitting and receiving light and an optical turntable rotatably disposed in the sensing module and having a light-transmitting through hole, wherein the sensing module is fixed relative to the valve body, and the optical turntable is fixedly sleeved on the end of the rotating shaft 31 away from the valve core 21.

[0034] The encoder 4 is used to measure the rotation angle or speed of the target component, and generally includes a sensing module for emitting and receiving light and an optical turntable rotatably disposed in the sensing module and having a light-transmitting through hole; the rotation angle is measured by measuring the light passing through the light-transmitting through hole disposed on the optical turntable when the optical turntable rotates through the sensing module. Therefore, the optical turntable is generally fixed on the component that needs to rotate and rotates with the component, while the sensing module is fixed.

[0035] Specifically, in the present embodiment, one end of the rotating shaft 31 is fixedly connected to the valve core 21, and the other end of the rotating shaft 31 is fixedly connected to the driven gear 32. The optical turntable is fixed to the end of the rotating shaft 31 away from the valve core 21 and rotates with the rotating shaft 31. The sensing module is fixed on the valve body to emit light to the optical turntable. When the optical turntable rotates with the rotating shaft 31, the light passing through the light-transmitting through hole on the optical turntable is received to measure the rotation angle of the rotating shaft 31, and then the rotation angle of the valve core 21 is measured.

[0036] The pressure control assembly of this embodiment also includes a controller, which is connected to both the encoder 4 and the rotation source 1, and controls the rotation angle of the rotation source 1 according to the measurement result of the encoder 4. The controller obtains the measurement result of the encoder 4 in real time and adjusts the rotation angle of the rotation source 1 in real time, responds to the control demand of the valve opening in time, and then satisfies the pressure control demand of the etching chamber of the etching equipment in time, thereby improving the quality of the etched product. Among them, the controller includes a programmable logic control component (such as a PLC or a CPU), a memory, and electronic components connected to the programmable logic control component, which are well known to those skilled in the art and will not be described in detail here.

[0037] The rotation source 1 in this embodiment includes a servo motor or a stepper motor, wherein both the servo motor and the stepper motor can be used as the rotation source 1 to drive the valve core 21 to rotate in the valve body through the transmission mechanism 3. In comparison, the servo motor has higher control accuracy and therefore a higher price. Since the encoder 4 in this embodiment can directly measure the rotation angle of the valve core 21 and adjust the rotation angle of the rotation source 1 according to the measurement result, the control accuracy of the rotation source 1 needs to be relatively low. Therefore, the pressure control component of this embodiment preferably uses a stepper motor as the rotation source 1, which can not only ensure the accuracy of the valve opening, but also has a low price cost.

[0038] As attached Figure 2 As shown, the driven gear 32 is fixedly sleeved on the rotating shaft 31 and is located between the valve body and the encoder 4. The driven gear 32 is provided with a plug hole matching the rotating shaft 31, and the driven gear 32 is fixedly sleeved on the rotating shaft 31 through the plug hole. Among them, the encoder 4 is fixedly sleeved on the end of the rotating shaft 31 away from the valve core 21 through an optical turntable, and the driven gear 32 is sleeved on the shaft body between the valve body and the encoder 4 on the rotating shaft 31.

[0039] In this embodiment, the driving gear and the driven gear can be cylindrical gears, but in order to save space occupancy, it is recommended that the driving gear 33 be a cylindrical gear and the driven gear 3 be a fan gear. The pressure control assembly is used to control the pressure of the etching chamber of the etching equipment. The opening range of the valve is relatively small, so the rotation angle of the valve core 21 of the valve is relatively small. The driven gear 32 in the shape of a fan gear can meet the adjustment of the rotation angle of the valve core 21 by the rotation source 1, and the fan gear has a smaller volume, which is conducive to promoting the structure of the pressure control assembly to be more compact.

[0040] The pressure control component in this embodiment can be used for a variety of etching equipment. For example, the etching equipment includes a plasma etching equipment or a dry etching equipment. In the field of semiconductor preparation, the etching equipment includes a plasma etching equipment or a dry etching equipment. Whether it is a plasma etching equipment or a dry etching equipment, the control requirements for the pressure of the etching chamber are relatively high. The pressure control component of the utility model can meet the precision requirements of the pressure control of the etching chamber of the etching equipment.

[0041] In the prior art, valves can be divided into many types according to their types, such as gate valves, stop valves, butterfly valves, ball valves, plug valves, check valves, pressure reducing valves and other types or other types. The valve of this embodiment is used to control the pressure of the etching chamber of the etching equipment. The valve is preferably a butterfly valve or a ball valve, which has a simple structure, a small size, and a relatively fast response speed, and can quickly respond to the pressure adjustment requirements of the etching chamber of the etching equipment.

[0042] Based on the same utility model concept, an embodiment of the utility model further provides an etching device, comprising any of the above-mentioned pressure control components.

[0043] As attached Figure 3 As shown, the etching device of this embodiment also includes a host 6 having an etching chamber and a magnetic suspension molecular pump 7, and the air inlet of the magnetic suspension molecular pump 7 is connected to the etching chamber of the host 6 through the valve of the pressure control component. The magnetic suspension molecular pump 7 is responsible for providing the required high vacuum or ultra-high vacuum environment for the etching chamber, and the pressure control component is used to adjust the pressure of the etching chamber to ensure the smooth progress of the etching operation.

[0044] In the above description of the present invention, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "fixed", "installed", "connected" or "connected" should be understood in a broad sense. For example, with regard to the term "connection", it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral one; 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 connection of two elements or the interaction relationship between two elements. Therefore, unless otherwise clearly defined in the present invention, those skilled in the art can understand the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention according to the specific circumstances.

[0045] According to the above description of the utility model, those skilled in the art may also understand that the terms used below, such as "inside", "outside", and the like indicating the orientation or position relationship, are based on the orientation or position relationship shown in the drawings of the utility model, and are only for the purpose of facilitating the explanation of the scheme of the utility model and simplifying the description, rather than explicitly or implicitly indicating that the device or element involved must have the specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, the above-mentioned orientation or position relationship terms cannot be understood or interpreted as limitations on the scheme of the utility model.

[0046] In addition, the terms "first" or "second" used in the present invention to refer to numbers or ordinals are only used for descriptive purposes and cannot be understood as explicitly or implicitly indicating relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Therefore, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one such feature. In the description of the present invention, the meaning of "plurality" is at least two, such as two, three or more, etc., unless otherwise clearly and specifically defined.

[0047] Although multiple embodiments of the utility model have been shown and described herein, it is obvious to those skilled in the art that such embodiments are provided by way of example only. Those skilled in the art may think of many changes, modifications and alternatives without departing from the idea and spirit of the utility model. It should be understood that in the process of practicing the utility model, various alternatives to the embodiments of the utility model described herein may be adopted. The attached claims are intended to define the scope of protection of the utility model, and therefore cover equivalents or alternatives within the scope of these claims.

Claims

1. A pressure control assembly for an etching device, characterized in that: The pressure control assembly comprises: A valve, comprising a valve body and a valve core located in the valve body; The transmission mechanism comprises a rotating shaft connected to the valve core, a driven gear connected to the rotating shaft, and a driving gear meshing with the driven gear. A rotation source, which is connected to the driving gear and drives the valve core to rotate in the valve body through a transmission mechanism to control the opening of the valve; An encoder, comprising a sensing module for emitting and receiving light and an optical turntable rotatably disposed in the sensing module and having a light-transmitting through hole, wherein the sensing module is fixedly disposed relative to the valve body, the optical turntable is fixedly sleeved on the end of the rotating shaft away from the valve core, the encoder is connected to the rotating shaft, and is used to measure the rotation angle of the valve core; A controller is connected to both the encoder and the rotation source, and controls the rotation angle of the rotation source according to the measurement result of the encoder.

2. The pressure control assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that The invention also includes a controller, which is connected to both the encoder and the rotation source and controls the rotation angle of the rotation source according to the measurement result of the encoder.

3. The pressure control assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that The rotation source includes a servo motor or a stepper motor.

4. A pressure control assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The driven gear is fixedly sleeved on the rotating shaft and is located between the valve body and the encoder.

5. The pressure control assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The driving gear is a cylindrical gear, and the driven gear is a sector gear.

6. The pressure control assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The etching equipment includes plasma etching equipment or dry etching equipment.

7. A pressure control assembly as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The valve comprises a butterfly valve or a ball valve.

8. An etching device, characterized in that: Comprising a pressure control assembly as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7.

9. The etching device according to claim 8, characterized in that: It also includes a host computer with an etching chamber and a magnetic suspension molecular pump, wherein the air inlet of the magnetic suspension molecular pump is connected to the etching chamber of the host computer through the valve of the pressure control component.

Images