Liquid supplementing device and ALD equipment

Abstract

The utility model provides a liquid supplementing device and ALD equipment, and the liquid supplementing device comprises a liquid storage tank which is used for storing liquid; the liquid measuring part is arranged in the liquid storage tank and is used for detecting the liquid to obtain a detection result; the input pipeline is connected to the liquid storage tank; the liquid supplementing pipeline is connected to the liquid storage tank, and the liquid storage tank is connected with the container through the liquid supplementing pipeline; the discharge pipeline is connected to the liquid storage tank; the liquid supplementing valve is arranged on the liquid supplementing pipeline; and the discharge valve is arranged on the discharge pipeline. Before the liquid is injected into the container of the ALD equipment, detection is carried out through the liquid supplementing device, the situation that the liquid is polluted by the outside world can be reduced, the detection process of the liquid supplementing device does not affect continuous use of the liquid in the container of the ALD equipment for production, in other words, pure water supplementing operation can be automatically carried out on the ALD equipment through the liquid supplementing device under the condition that the ALD equipment is not shut down, and the production efficiency is improved. And the automation degree and the production efficiency can be improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of photovoltaic manufacturing, and in particular to a liquid replenishing device and ALD equipment. Background Art

[0002] ALD (Atomic Layer Deposition) equipment is widely used in the photovoltaic industry to manufacture photovoltaic devices. At present, in the production process of photovoltaic ALD, pure water is usually required to react for coating, and the purity of pure water directly affects the accuracy of coating. Therefore, before replenishing water, the ALD equipment must first detect the conductivity of pure water to obtain the purity of pure water. When detecting the conductivity of pure water, it is usually necessary to disassemble the pipeline for easy detection. In this case, it is easy for the pure water to be contaminated by the outside world. In addition, before replenishing water, the pure water is manually tested, and then replenished after it is qualified. The whole process requires shutdown operation, which prolongs the replenishment time and affects production efficiency. Utility Model Content

[0003] In view of the above, it is necessary to provide a liquid replenishing device and ALD equipment, which can perform liquid replenishing operations without stopping the machine, thereby improving the degree of automation and production efficiency.

[0004] The first aspect of the present application provides a liquid replenishing device, which is applied to ALD equipment. The liquid replenishing device includes: a liquid storage tank, which is used to store liquid; a liquid measuring part, which is used to detect whether the purity of the liquid in the liquid storage tank is qualified; an input pipeline, which is connected to the liquid storage tank, and is used to input liquid into the liquid storage tank; a liquid replenishing pipeline, which is connected to the liquid storage tank, and the liquid storage tank is connected to the container of the ALD equipment through the liquid replenishing pipeline; a discharge pipeline, which is connected to the liquid storage tank, and is used to discharge the liquid in the liquid storage tank; a liquid replenishing valve, which is arranged on the liquid replenishing pipeline, and is used to open the liquid replenishing pipeline to transport qualified liquid to the container, and close the liquid replenishing pipeline to block unqualified liquid from being transported to the container.

[0005] Through the liquid replenishment device provided by the present application, in actual use, pure water and other liquids required for production enter through the input pipeline and are stored in the liquid storage tank. The liquid measuring part can automatically detect the liquid in the liquid storage tank. If the detection result is qualified, the liquid replenishment valve of the liquid replenishment pipeline opens and allows the liquid storage tank to inject liquid into the container of the ALD device through the liquid replenishment pipeline; if the detection result is unqualified, the liquid storage tank discharges the liquid through the discharge pipeline, and the liquid replenishment valve is closed at this time. Therefore, before the liquid is injected into the container of the ALD device, the liquid replenishment device is used for detection, which can reduce the situation where the liquid is contaminated by the outside world. In addition, the detection process of the liquid replenishment device does not affect the continuous use of the liquid in the container of the ALD device for production. In other words, the liquid replenishment device can automatically replenish the ALD device with pure water without stopping the machine, which can improve the degree of automation and production efficiency.

[0006] In some embodiments, the fluid replenishing device further includes a discharge valve disposed on the discharge pipeline, the discharge valve being used to: open the discharge pipeline to discharge unqualified liquid from the liquid storage tank, and close the discharge pipeline to block qualified liquid from being discharged from the liquid storage tank.

[0007] In some embodiments, the fluid replenishment device further comprises an input valve, which is disposed in the input pipeline and configured to allow liquid to be input into the liquid storage tank through the input pipeline when opened or to block liquid from being input into the liquid storage tank through the input pipeline when closed.

[0008] In some embodiments, the fluid replenishment device further includes a gas supply pipeline, which is connected to the liquid storage tank and is used to input gas into the liquid storage tank.

[0009] In some embodiments, the gas pipeline is connected to the input pipeline, and the input valve is located between the gas pipeline and the liquid storage tank, so that the input valve can allow or block the gas pipeline from inputting gas to the liquid storage tank.

[0010] In some embodiments, the discharge pipeline is connected to the bottom of the liquid storage tank, and the bottom of the liquid storage tank is inclined downward toward a direction close to the discharge pipeline.

[0011] In some embodiments, the discharge pipeline includes a front section, a middle section and a rear section connected in sequence, the front section is connected to the liquid storage tank, the rear section is provided with a discharge valve, and the height of the front section and the height of the rear section are both greater than the height of the middle section. The front section is vertically arranged, the middle section is curved with the convex portion arranged downward, and the rear section is inclined downward in a direction away from the discharge valve.

[0012] In some embodiments, the liquid measuring portion is used to detect the conductivity of the liquid.

[0013] In some embodiments, the fluid infusion device further comprises a VCR joint, which is arranged at least one of the connection between the input valve and the input pipeline, the connection between the fluid infusion valve and the fluid infusion pipeline, and the connection between the discharge valve and the discharge pipeline.

[0014] The second aspect of the present application provides an ALD device, the ALD device having a reaction chamber, a container and any one of the refilling devices provided in the first aspect of the present application, the container is used to store liquid and introduce a reaction gas source into the reaction chamber, and the refilling device is used to replenish the liquid into the container. In the second aspect of the present application, before the liquid is injected into the container of the ALD device, it is detected by the refilling device, which can reduce the situation where the liquid is contaminated by the outside world. Moreover, the detection process of the refilling device does not affect the continuous use of the liquid in the container of the ALD device for production. In other words, the refilling device can automatically replenish the ALD device with pure water without stopping the machine, which can improve the degree of automation and production efficiency. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the working principle of the ALD device of an embodiment of the present application.

[0016] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the fluid replenishment device according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0017] Figure 3 This application Figure 2 A partial enlarged view of area A.

[0018] Main component symbols

[0019] Fluid replenishment device 1

[0020] Liquid storage tank 11

[0021] Input line 12

[0022] Fluid supply line 13

[0023] Discharge line 14

[0024] First paragraph 141

[0025] Middle section 142

[0026] Back 143

[0027] Liquid measuring part 15

[0028] Input valve 16

[0029] Fluid filling valve 17

[0030] Discharge valve 18

[0031] Gas pipeline 19

[0032] VCR connector 21

[0033] First VCR connector 21a

[0034] Second VCR connector 21b

[0035] The third VCR connector 21c

[0036] Fourth VCR connector 21d

[0037] Fifth VCR connector 21e

[0038] Sixth VCR connector 21f

[0039] ALD equipment 3

[0040] Container 31

[0041] The following specific implementation methods will further illustrate the present application in conjunction with the above-mentioned drawings. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0042] In the description of the embodiments of the present application, when an element is considered to be "connected" to another element, it may be directly connected to the other element or there may be a centrally disposed element at the same time. When an element is considered to be "disposed on" another element, it may be directly disposed on the other element or there may be a centrally disposed element at the same time. In the present application, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "installed", "connected", "connected", "fixed" and the like should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it may be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it may be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it may be directly connected, or it may be indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, or it may be internal communication between the two elements. For those of ordinary skill in the art, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present application can be understood according to the specific circumstances.

[0043] Reference to "embodiments" herein means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in conjunction with the embodiments may be included in at least one embodiment of the present application. The appearance of the phrase in various locations in the specification does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, nor is it an independent or alternative embodiment that is mutually exclusive with other embodiments. It is explicitly and implicitly understood by those skilled in the art that the embodiments described herein may be combined with other embodiments.

[0044] ALD (Atomic Layer Deposition) is a thin film preparation technology that can deposit high-precision, pinhole-free, and highly conformal nano-thin films on substrates of various sizes and shapes through atomic-level growth layer by layer. It is suitable for the development of the latest and cutting-edge products. For example, ALD equipment has been widely used in the photovoltaic industry to manufacture photovoltaic devices.

[0045] The existing mainstream production process of photovoltaic ALD requires the use of pure water for reaction to coat the film, and the purity of pure water directly affects the accuracy of coating. Therefore, before replenishing water, the ALD equipment must first test the conductivity of pure water to obtain the purity of pure water. In addition, in order to improve the purity of pure water, the photovoltaic industry has high requirements for pipeline purity, pressure resistance and air tightness.

[0046] In the related technology, ALD equipment is usually equipped with a container for storing a large amount of pure water (also called a pure water storage tank), and the container is connected to a refill pipe (also called a water refill pipe) and a discharge pipe (also called a drainage pipe). The refill pipe can replenish pure water to the container when the pure water in the container is used up, and the discharge pipe discharges unqualified pure water from the container when it detects that the conductivity of the pure water in the container or the refill pipe is unqualified.

[0047] In the above-mentioned related technologies, when testing pure water online, it is usually necessary to disassemble the pipes or containers so that the pure water can be tested using a manual pure water tester. In this case, the pure water is easily contaminated by the outside world, so the traditional online pure water testing method is difficult to meet the production requirements of the photovoltaic industry. In addition, before refilling, the pure water in the ALD equipment container is manually tested online, and refilling is performed after it is qualified. The whole process requires shutdown (i.e., stopping the ALD equipment operation), which prolongs the refilling time and production time, greatly affecting the production efficiency.

[0048] To this end, the embodiments of the present application provide a liquid replenishing device and an ALD device, which can perform liquid replenishing operations without stopping the machine, thereby improving the degree of automation and production efficiency.

[0049] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the liquid replenishing device 1 according to an embodiment of the present application being applied to the ALD equipment 3 for liquid replenishment.

[0050] The present application first provides a liquid replenishing device 1, which is a device used to replenish liquid in an ALD device 3, wherein the liquid is the liquid required for ALD production, and the present application specifically refers to pure water. Figure 1 The ALD device 3 of the present application has a container 31 and a liquid replenishing device 1, wherein the container 31 can be used to store pure water so as to use the pure water for reaction to form a film. The liquid replenishing device 1 can replenish liquid to the container 31, and the process of replenishing liquid includes: inputting liquid, testing liquid, replenishing qualified liquid to the container 31, and discharging unqualified liquid. Testing liquid specifically tests the conductivity of the liquid, more specifically the conductivity of pure water.

[0051] Figure 2 It is a schematic structural diagram of the fluid replenishment device 1 according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0052] In this application, please refer to Figure 1 and Figure 2 The liquid replenishing device 1 includes: a liquid storage tank 11, a liquid measuring part 15, an input pipeline 12, a liquid replenishing pipeline 13, a discharge pipeline 14, and a liquid replenishing valve 17. The liquid storage tank 11 can be used to store liquid, the liquid measuring part 15 can be arranged in the liquid storage tank 11 and used to detect the purity of the liquid, the input pipeline 12 can be connected to the liquid storage tank 11 and used to input liquid into the liquid storage tank 11, the liquid replenishing pipeline 13 can be connected to the liquid storage tank 11, the liquid storage tank 11 is connected to the container 31 through the liquid replenishing pipeline 13, the discharge pipeline 14 can be connected to the liquid storage tank 11, and the liquid replenishing valve 17 can be arranged in the liquid replenishing pipeline 13.

[0053] In this embodiment, the liquid replenishing valve 17 is used to open the liquid replenishing pipeline 13 to deliver qualified liquid to the container 31 , and to close the liquid replenishing pipeline 13 to block unqualified liquid from being delivered to the container 31 .

[0054] It can be understood that the opening and closing of the refill valve 17 can be achieved by manual or automatic control, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this. In some embodiments, the refill valve 17 and the liquid measuring part 15 are both connected to a controller signal, and a known control logic is preset in the controller to control the opening and closing of the refill valve 17. The known control logic is: when a signal sent by the liquid measuring part 15 is received, the refill valve 17 is controlled to open, and when another signal sent by the liquid measuring part 15 is received, the refill valve 17 is controlled to close. In some other embodiments, the liquid measuring part 15 is not connected to the controller, and when the liquid measuring part 15 indicates that the liquid is qualified, the refill valve 17 is opened manually, and when the liquid measuring part 15 indicates that the liquid is unqualified, the refill valve 17 is closed manually.

[0055] In the actual use of the liquid replenishment device 1 provided by the present application, pure water and other liquids required for production enter and are stored in the liquid storage tank 11 through the input pipeline 12, and the liquid measuring part 15 can automatically detect the liquid in the liquid storage tank 11. If the detection result is qualified, the liquid replenishment valve 17 of the liquid replenishment pipeline 13 opens and allows the liquid storage tank 11 to inject liquid into the container 31 of the ALD device 3 through the liquid replenishment pipeline 13; if the detection result is unqualified, the liquid storage tank 11 discharges the liquid through the discharge pipeline 14, and the liquid replenishment valve 17 is closed at this time. Therefore, before the liquid is injected into the container 31 of the ALD device 3, the liquid replenishment device 1 performs the detection, which can reduce the liquid from being contaminated by the outside world. In addition, the detection process of the liquid replenishment device 1 does not affect the continuous use of the liquid in the container 31 of the ALD device 3 for production. In other words, the liquid replenishment device 1 can be used to replenish the ALD device 3 with pure water without stopping the machine, which can improve the degree of automation and production efficiency.

[0056] In some embodiments, see Figure 2 The liquid infusion device 1 further includes a discharge valve 18, which can be disposed on the discharge pipeline 14. The discharge valve 18 is used to open the discharge pipeline 14 to discharge unqualified liquid from the liquid storage tank 11, and to close the discharge pipeline 14 to block qualified liquid from being discharged from the liquid storage tank 11. This can facilitate the discharge or storage of liquid in the liquid storage tank 11, while enhancing the air tightness of the liquid infusion device 1.

[0057] In some embodiments, see Figure 2 The liquid replenishing device 1 further includes an input valve 16, which is disposed on the input pipeline 12 and configured to allow liquid to be input into the liquid storage tank 11 through the input pipeline 12 when opened or to block liquid from being input into the liquid storage tank 11 through the input pipeline 12 when closed. This makes it easy to control the flow rate of liquid input into the liquid storage tank 11.

[0058] In some embodiments, see Figure 2The fluid replenishing device 1 also includes a gas pipeline 19, which is connected to the liquid storage tank 11 and is used to input gas into the liquid storage tank 11. In this way, the liquid can be discharged or the inside of the fluid replenishing device 1 can be purged and cleaned by supplying gas to the liquid storage tank 11. For example, the input gas can be clean nitrogen. When there is still unqualified liquid in the liquid storage tank 11, clean nitrogen can be input through the gas pipeline 19 to discharge the unqualified liquid from the discharge pipeline 14, thereby emptying the liquid storage tank 11 to facilitate the next input of liquid; when the liquid storage tank 11 has been emptied, clean nitrogen can be input through the gas pipeline 19 to purge the inside of the liquid storage tank 11, and the remaining liquid after the purge can be discharged from the discharge pipeline 14 or the input pipeline 12.

[0059] In some embodiments, see Figure 2 , the gas pipeline 19 is connected to the input pipeline 12, and the input valve 16 is located between the gas pipeline 19 and the liquid storage tank 11, so that the input valve 16 can allow or block the gas pipeline 19 from inputting gas into the liquid storage tank 11. The gas pipeline 19 is connected to the input pipeline 12 to ensure that the gas can be purged from the input pipeline 12 when the gas pipeline 19 is used for gas transmission, thereby improving the cleaning effect. The input valve 16 is located between the gas pipeline 19 and the liquid storage tank 11, so that the gas pipeline 19 and the input pipeline 12 can share a valve, thereby reducing the need for additional valves and reducing costs.

[0060] Figure 3 This application Figure 2 An enlarged view of the A region in the fluid replacement device 1 of the embodiment.

[0061] In some embodiments, see Figure 3 , the discharge pipeline 14 is connected to the bottom of the liquid storage tank 11. Thus, the unqualified liquid in the liquid storage tank 11 can be easily discharged by gravity.

[0062] In some embodiments, see Figure 3 The bottom of the liquid storage tank 11 is tilted downward toward the direction close to the discharge pipeline 14. The bottom of the liquid storage tank 11 is approximately funnel-shaped, which can facilitate the discharge of unqualified liquid in the liquid storage tank 11.

[0063] In some embodiments, see Figure 3The discharge pipeline 14 includes a front section 141, a middle section 142 and a rear section 143 which are connected in sequence. The front section 141 is connected to the liquid storage tank 11, and the rear section 143 is provided with a discharge valve 18. Moreover, the height of the front section 141 and the height of the rear section 143 are both greater than the height of the middle section 142. In this case, when the unqualified liquid in the liquid storage tank 11 is discharged through the discharge pipeline 14, part of the liquid can be reserved in the middle section 142, thereby reducing the situation where external pollution sources enter the liquid storage tank 11 through the discharge pipeline 14, and improving the airtightness and cleanliness of the liquid storage tank 11.

[0064] In some embodiments, see Figure 3 , the front section 141 is vertically arranged, the middle section 142 is curved with the convex portion arranged downward, and the rear section 143 is inclined downward in a direction away from the discharge valve 18. In this case, the front section 141 is vertically arranged to facilitate the liquid to flow out of the liquid storage tank 11 smoothly, the middle section 142 is curved with the convex portion arranged downward to reserve part of the liquid, and the rear section 143 is inclined downward in a direction away from the discharge valve 18 to make room for the discharge pipeline 14, thereby improving space utilization.

[0065] In some embodiments, the liquid measuring unit 15 is used to detect the conductivity of the liquid, specifically the conductivity of pure water. The liquid measuring unit 15 can be disposed in the liquid storage tank 11, specifically, the electrode or sensor used by the liquid measuring unit 15 to detect the conductivity is disposed in the liquid storage tank 11, thereby being able to detect the conductivity of the liquid in the liquid storage tank 11.

[0066] In some embodiments, see Figure 2 The refill device 1 also includes a VCR connector 21 (Vacuum Coupling Radius Seal). The VCR connector 21 can be arranged at the connection between the input valve 16 and the input pipeline 12, such as the first VCR connector 21a and the second VCR connector 21b. The VCR connector 21 can also be arranged at the connection between the refill valve 17 and the refill pipeline 13, such as the third VCR connector 21c and the fourth VCR connector 21d. The VCR connector 21 can also be arranged in the connection between the discharge valve 18 and the discharge pipeline 14, such as the fifth VCR connector 21e and the sixth VCR connector 21f. The multiple VCR connectors 21 can enhance the air tightness of the connection between the input valve 16 and the input pipeline 12, or enhance the air tightness of the connection between the refill valve 17 and the refill pipeline 13, or enhance the air tightness of the connection between the discharge valve 18 and the discharge pipeline 14, thereby improving the air tightness and cleanliness of the liquid storage tank 11.

[0067] See also Figure 1According to a second aspect of the present application, there is provided an ALD device 3, wherein the ALD device 3 has a reaction chamber, a container 31 and a liquid replenishing device 1 in any of the aforementioned embodiments, wherein the container 31 is used to store liquid and introduce a reaction gas source into the reaction chamber, and the liquid replenishing device 1 is used to replenish liquid into the container 31. Before the liquid is injected into the container 31 of the ALD device 3, detection is performed by the liquid replenishing device 1, which can reduce the contamination of the liquid by the outside world. Moreover, the detection process of the liquid replenishing device 1 does not affect the continuous use of the liquid in the container 31 of the ALD device 3 for production. In other words, the liquid replenishing device 1 can be used to replenish the ALD device 3 without stopping the machine, which can improve the degree of automation and production efficiency.

[0068] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solution of the present application and are not intended to limit it. Although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the preferred embodiments, a person of ordinary skill in the art should understand that the technical solution of the present application may be modified or replaced by equivalents without departing from the spirit and scope of the technical solution of the present application.

Claims

1. A liquid replenishing device, applied to ALD equipment, characterized in that: The fluid replenishment device comprises: A liquid storage tank for storing liquid; A liquid measuring unit, used to detect whether the purity of the liquid in the liquid storage tank is qualified; An input pipeline, connected to the liquid storage tank, for inputting liquid into the liquid storage tank; A liquid replenishing pipeline connected to the liquid storage tank, wherein the liquid storage tank is connected to the container of the ALD device through the liquid replenishing pipeline; A discharge pipeline, connected to the liquid storage tank, for discharging the liquid in the liquid storage tank; The liquid replenishing valve is arranged on the liquid replenishing pipeline, and is used to open the liquid replenishing pipeline to deliver qualified liquid to the container, and close the liquid replenishing pipeline to block unqualified liquid from being delivered to the container.

2. The fluid replenishing device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The liquid replenishing device also includes a discharge valve arranged on the discharge pipeline, and the discharge valve is used to open the discharge pipeline to discharge unqualified liquid from the liquid storage tank, and close the discharge pipeline to block qualified liquid from being discharged from the liquid storage tank.

3. The fluid replenishing device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The fluid replenishing device further comprises an input valve, which is arranged on the input pipeline and is used for: When it is opened, the liquid is allowed to be input into the liquid storage tank through the input pipeline, or when it is closed, the liquid is blocked from being input into the liquid storage tank through the input pipeline.

4. The fluid replenishing device according to claim 3, characterized in that: The fluid replenishing device also includes a gas supply pipeline, which is connected to the liquid storage tank and is used to input gas into the liquid storage tank.

5. The fluid replenishing device according to claim 4, characterized in that: The gas pipeline is connected to the input pipeline, and the input valve is located between the gas pipeline and the liquid storage tank, so that the input valve can allow or block the gas pipeline from inputting gas to the liquid storage tank.

6. The fluid replenishing device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The discharge pipeline is connected to the bottom of the liquid storage tank, and the bottom of the liquid storage tank is tilted downward toward a direction close to the discharge pipeline.

7. The fluid replenishing device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The discharge pipeline includes a front section, a middle section and a rear section connected in sequence, the front section is connected to the liquid storage tank, the rear section is provided with the discharge valve, and the height of the front section and the height of the rear section are both greater than the height of the middle section, the front section is vertically arranged, the middle section is curved with a convex portion arranged downward, and the rear section is inclined downward in a direction away from the discharge valve.

8. The fluid replenishing device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The liquid measuring part is used to detect the conductivity of the liquid.

9. The fluid replenishing device according to claim 5, characterized in that: The fluid replenishment device further includes a VCR joint, which is arranged at at least one of a connection between the input valve and the input pipeline, a connection between the fluid replenishment valve and the fluid replenishment pipeline, and a connection between the discharge valve and the discharge pipeline.

10. An ALD device, characterized in that: The ALD equipment comprises a reaction chamber, a container and a liquid replenishing device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the container is used to store liquid and to introduce a reaction gas source into the reaction chamber, and the liquid replenishing device is used to replenish liquid into the container.

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