Semiconductor processing device

Abstract

The utility model provides a semiconductor processing device, which comprises a furnace tube and a loading unit arranged in a loading area below the furnace tube, and is characterized in that the loading unit comprises a first bearing assembly, a second bearing assembly and a rotating device, and the first bearing assembly and the second bearing assembly are arranged at two ends of the rotating device at an interval; the first bearing assembly is used for bearing a first wafer boat, and the second bearing assembly is used for bearing a second wafer boat; the control system is electrically connected with the rotating device and used for controlling the rotating device to rotate, so that the first bearing assembly and the second bearing assembly are alternately arranged in the cooling chamber and the to-be-heated chamber. A liftable heat insulation plate is arranged between the first bearing assembly and the second bearing assembly, and one end of the liftable heat insulation plate is movably arranged on the outer side of the furnace tube; a plurality of cold air ports are formed in the liftable heat insulation plate, and the air outlet directions of the cold air ports face the cooling chamber. The device is used for multiplexing the time occupied by the wafer cooling of the furnace tube, so that the production efficiency is improved.

Description

Technical Field

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

[0002] In the integrated circuit process, many steps must be carried out in a high temperature environment, such as the thermal diffusion process for doping ions, the thermal oxidation process for growing oxide layers, and the annealing process for eliminating defects. The above-mentioned heat treatment method generally places the wafer in a boat and sends it into a furnace for reaction, and then takes it out after the reaction is completed. Taking the high-temperature thermal annealing process as an example, it actually takes about ten hours from the start of production to the end of production, mainly due to the slow cooling process of the wafer in the machine and the long loading and unloading of the wafer. If the production time can be reduced, it is bound to bring higher production benefits. For this reason, in order to improve the operating efficiency of the furnace machine, the prior art pre-stores the second batch of wafers in the machine during the operation of the first batch of wafers to reuse the wafer handling time, but the time occupied by the wafer cooling is still large, which seriously restricts the overall production time, resulting in high production costs. Utility Model Content

[0003] The utility model aims to provide a semiconductor processing device, which is used to reuse the time taken for cooling down wafers out of a furnace tube, thereby improving production efficiency and reducing production costs.

[0004] The utility model provides a semiconductor processing device, comprising: a furnace tube, a control system, and a loading unit provided in the loading area below the furnace tube, wherein: the loading unit comprises a first supporting assembly and a second supporting assembly, the first supporting assembly and the second supporting assembly are arranged at intervals at both ends of the rotating device, the first supporting assembly is used to carry a first wafer boat, and the second supporting assembly is used to carry a second wafer boat; the control system is electrically connected to the rotating device, and is used to control the rotation of the rotating device, so that the first supporting assembly and the second supporting assembly are alternately arranged in the cooling room and the heating chamber, and the rotating device is arranged between the cooling room and the heating chamber. A liftable heat insulation board is provided between the first supporting assembly and the second supporting assembly, and one end of the liftable heat insulation board is movably arranged on the outside of the furnace tube; a plurality of cold air outlets are provided on the liftable heat insulation board, and the air outlet direction of the cold air outlet is toward the cooling room.

[0005] In a possible embodiment, the plurality of cold air outlets are arranged in a matrix on the liftable heat insulation plate.

[0006] In another possible embodiment, a position sensor and a temperature sensor are fixed to the bottom of the cooling chamber; the control system and the position sensor are electrically connected, as well as the control system and the temperature sensor, and the control system is used to control the liftable insulation board to move between the first supporting assembly and the second supporting assembly when it is detected that the temperature of the cooling chamber is higher than a first set temperature and the crystal boat is in place in the cooling chamber.

[0007] In a possible embodiment, the control system is further used to control the cold air outlet to stop blowing air when the temperature sensor detects that the temperature is lower than a second set temperature, and the second set temperature is lower than the first set temperature.

[0008] In another possible embodiment, the liftable heat insulation plate is composed of two flat plates, the two flat plates are at an obtuse angle to each other, and the blowing directions of the cold air outlets in the two flat plates intersect and are at an acute angle. In this embodiment, the cooling effect of the wafer boat is enhanced by setting the obtuse angle and the acute angle of the air outlet direction.

[0009] In another possible embodiment, the shape of the liftable heat insulation board is a flat board or a C-shaped arc board.

[0010] In other possible embodiments, the liftable heat-insulating board includes a multi-layer structure, and the material of at least one middle layer in the multi-layer structure is a heat-insulating material.

[0011] In another possible embodiment, the width of the liftable heat insulation board is greater than the diameter of the first supporting assembly and greater than the diameter of the second supporting assembly. In this embodiment, the liftable heat insulation board has a large width, which ensures the isolation effect. At the same time, when the two wafer boats exchange positions, the liftable heat insulation board is lifted and does not rotate, which saves space.

[0012] In another possible embodiment, a screw system is provided between the liftable heat insulation board and the outer side of the furnace tube, the screw system is used to control the displacement of the liftable heat insulation board, and the control system is electrically connected to the screw system.

[0013] The beneficial effect of the semiconductor processing device provided by the utility model is that, compared with the prior art, when a wafer boat carried by a supporting component completes heating, another supporting component can complete the loading of wafers. After one wafer boat completes the heating treatment, the rotating device exchanges the positions of the two wafer boats by rotation, so that the wafers that have completed the heating treatment are moved to the cooling chamber for cooling, and the wafer boat carried by the other supporting component can be promptly sent to the furnace tube for simultaneous heating, so that the heating process and the cooling process can be processed in parallel, and the wafer cooling waiting time is reused, so that efficiency can be improved and cost can be reduced. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the structure of a semiconductor processing machine provided by the prior art;

[0015] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the equipment structure of a semiconductor processing machine provided by the utility model;

[0016] Figure 3 Several structural schematic diagrams of the liftable heat insulation board provided by the utility model;

[0017] Figure 4 A schematic cross-sectional view of a multi-layered liftable heat insulation board provided by the utility model;

[0018] FIG. 5A to FIG. 5E This is a schematic diagram of the various working stages of semiconductor processing provided by the utility model. Explanation of the markings in the figure:

[0019] Furnace tube 10; discharge pipe 201; support assembly 30; wafer boat 40; base 301; base 302; wafer storage box 50;

[0020] Loading unit 200; first supporting assembly 201; second supporting assembly 202; rotating device 203;

[0021] The base 2011 of the first supporting component; the base 2012 of the first supporting component; the base 2021 of the second supporting component; the base 2022 of the second supporting component;

[0022] Position sensor 60 ; Temperature sensor 70 . DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] Figure 1 The figure shows the equipment components of a conventional semiconductor processing machine, wherein the gas source is a furnace tube 10 that supplies reaction gas, and the waste gas after the reaction is discharged through an exhaust pipeline 20 . Figure 1In the embodiment, a pedestal 30 is provided at the bottom of the loading area below the furnace tube 10. The pedestal 30 includes a cap 301 and a pedestal 302. The pedestal 30 is used to carry a wafer boat 40. In addition, after the wafer boat 40 is heated and taken out of the furnace tube 10, the cold air system blows out nitrogen (N2) to cool the heated wafer boat 40. In addition, a plurality of wafer buffers 50 are provided in the wafer storage system. The wafer buffers 50 are used to store wafers to be heated. During the heating process of the wafer boat 40, another wafer boat to be heated is prepared in the machine at the same time, so that the wafer handling time can be fully reused, but the wafer boat 40 still needs to wait for a long time to cool down. It is necessary to wait until the temperature drops to the required temperature, for example, from 800 degrees Celsius to 22 degrees Celsius (usually the ambient temperature of the FAB clean room is 22+ / -2 degrees Celsius) before replacing the wafer, which takes a lot of time and seriously restricts the overall production time, resulting in high production costs. To solve this problem, the utility model uses dual wafer boats to carry wafers, and the dual wafer boat operation method can shorten the overall production time.

[0024] In order to make the purpose, technical solution and advantages of the utility model clearer, the technical solution in the embodiment of the utility model will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the drawings of the utility model. Obviously, the described embodiment is a part of the embodiment of the utility model, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the utility model, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making creative work are within the scope of protection of the utility model. Unless otherwise defined, the technical terms or scientific terms used herein should be understood by people with general skills in the field to which the utility model belongs. "Including" and similar words used in this article mean that the elements or objects appearing before the word include the elements or objects listed after the word and their equivalents, without excluding other elements or objects.

[0025] like Figure 2 As shown, the semiconductor processing device provided by the utility model includes: a furnace tube 10, a control system (not shown in the figure), and a loading unit 200 is provided in the loading area below the furnace tube 10, wherein:

[0026] The loading unit 200 includes a first supporting assembly 201, a second supporting assembly 202 and a rotating device 203. The first supporting assembly 201 and the second supporting assembly 202 are both fixed on the rotating device 203. The first supporting assembly 201 includes a base (cap) 2011 and a pedestal (pedestal) 2012, which are used to carry the first wafer boat A. The second supporting assembly 202 includes a base (cap) 2021 and a pedestal (pedestal) 2022, which are used to carry the second wafer boat B. The control system is electrically connected to the rotating device 203, and is used to control the rotation of the rotating device, so that the first supporting assembly 201 and the second supporting assembly 202 are alternately arranged in the cooling room R2 and the heating chamber R1. As can be seen from the figure, the rotating device 203 is arranged between the cooling room R2 and the heating chamber R1. That is to say, the rotating device 203 is used to rotate the first wafer boat A in the furnace tube 10 after completing the heating operation, thereby exchanging the positions of the first wafer boat A and the second wafer boat B, so that the first wafer boat A rotates to the cooling chamber R2, and the second wafer boat B rotates to the heating chamber R1 under the furnace tube.

[0027] In addition, a liftable heat insulation board 300 is provided between the first supporting assembly 201 and the second supporting assembly 202, and one end of the liftable heat insulation board 300 is movably arranged on the outside of the furnace tube 10. When the liftable heat insulation board 300 is located between the first supporting assembly 201 and the second supporting assembly 202, it is used to block the heat transfer between the first wafer boat A and the second wafer boat B. In addition, a plurality of cold air ports are provided on the liftable heat insulation board 300, and the plurality of cold air ports are connected to the nitrogen (N2) supply port, and the outlet direction of the cold air ports is toward the first wafer boat A in the cooling room R2. Optionally, the plurality of cold air ports are arranged in a matrix on the liftable heat insulation board 300. In a possible embodiment, the width of the liftable heat insulation board 300 is greater than the diameter of the first supporting assembly 201, and greater than the diameter of the second supporting assembly 202. In this embodiment, the width of the liftable heat insulation board is large, which ensures the isolation effect. At the same time, when the two wafer boats exchange positions, the liftable heat insulation board is lifted and does not participate in the rotation, which saves space. In addition, a screw system is arranged between the liftable heat insulation board 300 and the outer side of the furnace tube 10, and the control system is electrically connected to the screw system. The liftable heat insulation board 300 can be movably arranged on the outer side of the furnace tube 10 through the screw system to achieve up and down movement along the side of the furnace tube 10, that is, the screw system is used to control the displacement of the liftable heat insulation board 300.

[0028] In a possible embodiment, Figure 3 As shown in (a) of FIG. 1 , the shape of the liftable heat insulation board 300 is a flat board. Figure 3As shown in (b) of FIG. 1 , the shape of the liftable heat insulation board is a C-shaped arc board, so that the cold wind wraps around the crystal boat to achieve rapid cooling. Alternatively, as Figure 3 As shown in (c), the liftable heat insulation board is composed of two flat plates, the angle α between the two flat plates is an obtuse angle, and the blowing directions of the cold air outlets in the two flat plates intersect and the angle β between them is an acute angle. Figure 3 The two flat plates shown in (c) are arranged with the blowing directions crossing at an acute angle, which can ensure that the cold air wraps around the crystal boat and the gases blown in the two directions interfere with each other less, so that the heat of the crystal boat is likely to be carried away by the cold air to a direction away from the liftable insulation board 300.

[0029] In another possible embodiment, the liftable heat insulation board 300 comprises a multi-layer structure, and the material of at least one middle layer in the multi-layer structure is a heat insulation material. Figure 4 As shown, the liftable heat insulation board 300 includes four layers, namely L1, L2, L3 and L4, wherein L2 and L3 are heat insulation materials. When the liftable heat insulation board 300 is lowered between the two first supporting components 201 and the second supporting components 202, the heat transfer between the two wafer boats can be effectively isolated.

[0030] In a possible embodiment, Figure 2As shown, a position sensor 60 and a temperature sensor 70 are fixed to the bottom of the cooling room, the position sensor 60 is used to detect whether there is a wafer boat in the cooling room R2, and the temperature sensor 70 is used to detect the temperature of the cooling room R2. The control system is electrically connected to the position sensor 60, and the control system is electrically connected to the temperature sensor 70. When the control system detects that the temperature of the cooling room R2 is higher than the first set temperature and the wafer boat is in place in the cooling room R2, the control system is electrically connected to the position sensor 60 and the temperature sensor 70 by wire or wireless means, receives signals from the position sensor 60 and the temperature sensor 70, and controls other mechanical actions in response to the signals, such as controlling the movement of the lead screw system (for example, the lead screw system includes a motor and a lead screw, and the control system sends a signal to the motor to drive the lead screw to rotate), thereby controlling the liftable heat insulation board 300 to move between the first supporting assembly and the second supporting assembly. The control system also controls whether the cold air outlet blows cold air (for example, the specific structure can be that an air supply valve is set in the air inlet pipeline connected to the cold air outlet, and the opening and closing of the air supply valve is controlled by the control system), for example, the cold air outlet of the liftable heat insulation board 300 blows cold air to the crystal boat in the cooling room R2, thereby cooling the crystal boat. Here, the cooling gas can be nitrogen gas for cooling supplied by the factory area. The control system is also used to control the cold air outlet to stop blowing (i.e., close the air supply valve in the air supply pipeline in the cold air outlet) when the temperature sensor 70 detects that the temperature is lower than the second set temperature (usually from the first set temperature, such as about 800 degrees Celsius, to the second set temperature, such as the room temperature of the clean room of about 22 degrees Celsius). After that, the control system can control the liftable heat insulation board 300 to rise to the specified position (i.e., control the motor), and after completing the preparation work for another crystal boat to be heated, control the rotating device to rotate, thereby rotating the crystal boat to be heated into the heating chamber.

[0031] Based on the above semiconductor processing device, this embodiment provides a semiconductor processing method, which specifically includes the following steps:

[0032] In step 1, the first wafer boat A on the first supporting assembly 201 is first sent into the furnace tube 10 for heating treatment. The first supporting assembly 201 is in a stationary state (i.e., in the heating chamber R1). At the same time, the second supporting assembly 202 carries the second wafer boat B, i.e., the wafers are loaded into the second supporting assembly 202 (e.g., by a robot arm). At this time, the heat insulation board 300 can be raised and lowered between the two supporting assemblies, such as Figure 5A shown.

[0033] Step 2, after the first wafer boat A completes the heating treatment, the first wafer boat A is moved from the furnace tube 10 to the first supporting assembly 201, wherein the first supporting assembly 201 and the second supporting assembly 202 are at the same horizontal position, and the control system controls the liftable heat insulation board 300 to rise to a specified position, such as Figure 5B shown.

[0034] Step 3: The control system controls the rotating device 203 to rotate 180°, thereby exchanging the positions of the first wafer boat A and the second wafer boat B. The first wafer boat A is replaced to the cooling chamber R2, and the second wafer boat B is replaced to the heating chamber R1. Figure 5C shown.

[0035] Step 4, the control system obtains the detection results of the temperature sensor 70 and the position sensor 60, and the temperature and position in the detection results meet the conditions. After detecting that the first supporting assembly 201 carrying the first wafer boat A reaches the position of the cooling chamber R2, the control system controls the liftable insulation board 300 to fall, thereby isolating the first wafer boat A and the second wafer boat B. The control system controls the cold air (that is, the control system controls the air supply valve to open) to blow out nitrogen through the cold air port set on one side of the liftable insulation board 300 to cool the first wafer boat A. Figure 5D shown.

[0036] Step 5: The control system moves the second wafer boat B from the second supporting assembly 202 into the furnace tube 10 for heating treatment. Figure 5E shown.

[0037] Step 6: When the temperature sensor 70 detects that the first wafer boat A is cooled below a preset temperature, for example, below the ambient temperature of the FAB clean room by 22 degrees Celsius, the control system stops blowing cold air.

[0038] Step 7: During the heating process of the second wafer boat B, the cooled wafers of the first wafer boat A are removed, and the emptied first wafer boat A is filled with another batch of wafers for standby use.

[0039] It should be understood that the above steps 1 to 7 will be repeatedly executed in subsequent time periods until the heating process of all batches of wafers is completed.

[0040] Although the embodiments of the present invention are described in detail above, it is obvious to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to these embodiments. However, it should be understood that such modifications and variations are within the scope and spirit of the present invention as described in the claims. Moreover, the present invention described herein may have other embodiments and may be implemented or realized in a variety of ways.

Claims

1. A semiconductor processing device, characterized in that: include: A furnace tube, a control system, and a loading unit is provided in the loading area below the furnace tube, wherein: The loading unit comprises a first supporting assembly, a second supporting assembly and a rotating device, wherein the first supporting assembly and the second supporting assembly are spaced apart at two ends of the rotating device, the first supporting assembly is used to carry the first wafer boat, and the second supporting assembly is used to carry the second wafer boat; The control system is electrically connected to the rotating device, and is used to control the rotating device to rotate, so that the first supporting assembly and the second supporting assembly are alternately arranged in the cooling room and the room to be heated, and the rotating device is arranged between the cooling room and the room to be heated; A liftable heat insulation board is provided between the first supporting assembly and the second supporting assembly, and one end of the liftable heat insulation board is movably arranged on the outer side of the furnace tube; a plurality of cold air outlets are provided on the liftable heat insulation board, and the air outlet direction of the cold air outlet is toward the cooling chamber.

2. The semiconductor processing device according to claim 1, characterized in that The plurality of cold air outlets are arranged in a matrix on the liftable heat insulation board.

3. The semiconductor processing device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The plurality of cold air ports are communicated with the nitrogen supply port.

4. The semiconductor processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: A position sensor and a temperature sensor are fixed at the bottom of the cooling chamber; The control system is electrically connected to the position sensor and to the temperature sensor. The control system is used to control the liftable insulation board to move between the first supporting assembly and the second supporting assembly when it is detected that the temperature of the cooling chamber is higher than the first set temperature and the crystal boat is in place in the cooling chamber.

5. The semiconductor processing device according to claim 4, characterized in that: The control system is also used to control the cold air outlet to stop blowing air when the temperature sensor detects that the temperature is lower than a second set temperature, and the second set temperature is lower than the first set temperature.

6. The semiconductor processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The liftable heat insulation board is composed of two flat plates, the two flat plates form an obtuse angle with each other, and the blowing directions of the cold air outlets in the two flat plates intersect and form an acute angle.

7. The semiconductor processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The shape of the liftable heat insulation board is a flat board or a C-shaped arc board.

8. The semiconductor processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The liftable heat-insulating board comprises a multi-layer structure, and the material of at least one middle layer in the multi-layer structure is a heat-insulating material.

9. The semiconductor processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The width of the liftable heat insulation board is greater than the diameter of the first supporting component and greater than the diameter of the second supporting component.

10. The semiconductor processing device according to claim 4, characterized in that: A screw system is provided between the liftable heat insulation board and the outer side of the furnace tube, the screw system is used to control the displacement of the liftable heat insulation board, and the control system is electrically connected to the screw system.

Images