Wafer purging device and wafer bearing device

Abstract

The utility model relates to the technical field of semiconductor detection, in particular to a wafer purging device and a wafer bearing device. Comprising a purging component, the purging component can generate clean air in a first direction and a second direction, and through performing clean air purging cleaning on a wafer and a sensor in two directions, surface cleaning is realized, and a positive pressure environment can be formed in a detection area through the generated clean air, so that the detection precision is improved. And the problem of detection interference caused by suspended particulate matters is avoided. The device is simple and compact in structure and has the mechanical design advantage of high integration level.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of semiconductor detection technology, and more particularly to a wafer purging device and a wafer carrying device. Background Art

[0002] In the process of semiconductor manufacturing, each step of wafer processing requires inspection and quality determination. Due to the high precision requirements of the inspection, the environment will also have a greater impact on the inspection. In particular, the attachment of suspended particles in the environment to the wafer surface will cause misjudgment. Utility Model Content

[0003] The purpose of the present application is to provide a wafer purging device and a wafer carrying device, which can clean the detection area and the detector simultaneously, avoid misjudgment of the optical detection system caused by environmental suspended particles, and greatly improve the accuracy of the equipment.

[0004] The embodiments of the present application can be implemented as follows:

[0005] In a first aspect, the present invention provides a wafer cleaning device disposed between a wafer and a sensor, including a purging component that can generate cleaning air in a first direction and a second direction, the first direction facing the wafer surface, and the second direction facing the sensor surface; and the area of the cleaning air can cover the wafer and the sensor surface respectively.

[0006] In some specific implementation manners, the power of the cleaning air can at least contact the wafer surface and the sensor surface, and form two positive pressure environments in the wafer placement area and the sensor placement area.

[0007] In some specific implementation manners, the purging component includes a wind plate disposed between the wafer and the sensor; the wind plate is connected to an external air source through an interface.

[0008] In some specific implementation manners, the wind plate is provided with a channel for the sensor to obtain optical information.

[0009] In some specific implementation manners, the area of the channel is at least not less than the area of the sensor receiving surface.

[0010] In some specific implementation manners, the wind plate is provided with a first air outlet and a second air outlet; the first air outlet is opened towards the wafer surface, and the second air outlet is opened towards the sensor surface.

[0011] In some specific implementation manners, the second air outlet is opened at the edge position of the channel and is arranged at an angle with the sensor surface.

[0012] In some specific implementation manners, an air passage communicating with the first air outlet and the second air outlet respectively is formed inside the air plate.

[0013] In some specific implementation manners, the air plate is connected to the external air source through a cleaning component, and the cleaning component includes a filter cotton for filtering the external air source.

[0014] In some specific implementation manners, the filter cotton is arranged inside the interface, and a cover plate is further arranged inside the interface for fixing the filter cotton.

[0015] In a second aspect, a wafer carrying device is provided, including: the wafer cleaning device according to any one of the above; further including a carrying platform for placing a wafer and capable of moving along a plane and circumferentially; the wafer cleaning device is arranged between the carrying platform and the sensor and has a channel for the sensor to obtain optical information.

[0016] In some specific implementation manners, the wafer cleaning device is fixedly connected through a fixing frame, and the fixing frame and the sensor can move synchronously.

[0017] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the embodiments of the present application include, for example: the wafer carrying device provided by the embodiments of the present application can blow and clean the wafer and the sensor respectively in two directions with clean air, not only achieving surface cleaning, but also forming a positive pressure environment in the detection area by the generated clean air, avoiding the detection interference problem caused by suspended particulate matter. This device has a simple and compact structure and has the advantages of a highly integrated mechanical design.

[0018] Other features and advantages of the present disclosure will be described in the following description, or some features and advantages can be inferred from the description or determined without doubt, or can be learned by implementing the above technologies of the present disclosure.

[0019] To make the above objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure more obvious and understandable, the following specific preferred embodiments are given in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and are described in detail as follows. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] In order to more clearly illustrate the specific implementation manners of the present application or the technical solutions in the prior art, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for the description of the specific implementation manners or the prior art. Obviously, the following drawings are some implementation manners of the present application. For those of ordinary skill in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative efforts.

[0021] Figure 1 It is a schematic structural diagram of the wafer carrying device provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0022] Figure 2 Schematic diagram of the airway structure provided by the embodiment of the present application.

[0023] Icon:

[0024] 10 - Wafer carrier device;

[0025] 11 - Wafer cleaning device; 12 - Fixing frame; 13 - Sensor;

[0026] 111 - First air outlet; 112 - Second air outlet; 113 - Channel; 114 - Air plate; 115 - Interface; 116 - Airway. Detailed implementation manners

[0027] To make the objectives, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention clearer, the technical solutions of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Apparently, the described embodiments are some but not all of the embodiments of the present invention. All other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0028] Therefore, the detailed description of the embodiments of the present application provided in the accompanying drawings is not intended to limit the scope of the present application claimed, but merely represents selected embodiments of the present application. All other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present application without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present application.

[0029] It should be noted that like reference numerals and letters denote similar items in the following drawings. Therefore, once an item is defined in one drawing, it does not need to be further defined and explained in subsequent drawings.

[0030] The wafer carrier device provided by the embodiment of the present application is applied to the detection scenario of semiconductor products, specifically the optical detection scenario of wafers. In this scenario, the detection method is to scan the surface of the wafer along a specific path by laser, obtain the optical information of each position on the surface of the wafer, and determine whether there are defects on the surface of the wafer based on this optical information. Among them, when the laser scans, the wafer is in a rotational motion state. The wafer is a silicon wafer, including patterned wafers and non-patterned wafers. The non-patterned wafers are formed by slicing silicon rods, and the patterned wafers are wafers with circuit structures realized on the non-patterned wafers based on circuit printing technology. Whether it is a patterned wafer or a non-patterned wafer, tiny particles will be generated during the processing. Among them, the above particles can adhere to the surface of the wafer or be suspended in the detection space.

[0031] When performing optical inspection on a wafer, since tiny particles suspended in space will cause optical errors such as refraction of the emitted inspection light, and misjudgment of inspection will also occur because tiny particles adhere to the wafer surface.

[0032] Therefore, in view of the above technical background, a wafer carrying device 10 is provided, which can purge and isolate the particles on the surface of the placed wafer and in the inspection space.

[0033] It should be noted that the solution in this embodiment is not only applicable to wafer products, but also can include other semiconductor products, including but not limited to unpackaged chips, packaged chips, and the surfaces of precision instruments. Using the same technical solution in the above products also falls within the protection scope of the embodiments of this application.

[0034] Among them, the "wafer" in this embodiment generally refers to a substrate formed of semiconductor or non-semiconductor materials. Examples include (but are not limited to) single crystal silicon, gallium arsenide, gallium nitride, and indium phosphide. Such substrates can usually be found and / or processed in semiconductor manufacturing facilities. In some cases, the wafer may only include the substrate (i.e., a bare die). Alternatively, the wafer may include one or more different material layers formed on the substrate. One or more layers formed on the wafer may be "patterned" or "unpatterned". For example, the wafer may include multiple bare dies with repeatable pattern features.

[0035] For the structure of the wafer carrying device of this embodiment, please refer to Figure 1 , the wafer carrying device 10 includes a carrying platform and a wafer cleaning device 11.

[0036] Among them, the carrying platform is used to place the wafer and drive the wafer to move along the plane and circumferentially according to the inspection logic, where the plane movement includes any one of lateral movement / longitudinal movement / lateral and longitudinal synchronous movement, and the circumferential movement is rotational movement. Its movement mode is determined based on the wafer inspection logic and is realized by applying external force to the corresponding direction through an external power component, which will not be elaborated in this embodiment.

[0037] The wafer cleaning device is arranged between the carrying platform and the sensor 13, where the sensor is a component for obtaining the scattered light or reflected light on the wafer surface, and the scattered light or reflected light is based on the optical information generated by the light source projecting inspection light onto the wafer surface. It is realized based on the setting of the light source and will not be elaborated in this embodiment either, including but not limited to oblique incidence and normal incidence, and its positional relationship is configured above the wafer, and optionally, it can be above or below the wafer cleaning device.

[0038] Among them, in order for the wafer cleaning device to collect the optical information reflected or scattered by the sensor, a channel 113 is provided. The channel can avoid occlusion, so as to enable the optical sensor to receive the scattered or reflected optical signal. Moreover, the opening of the channel has corresponding requirements. The opening area should not be less than the receiving surface area of the sensor, so that the sensor is not blocked by the wafer cleaning device.

[0039] In this embodiment, for the cleaning logic of the wafer cleaning device, by applying external clean air to the wafer surface and the sensor receiving surface, the particles attached to the wafer surface and the sensor receiving surface are purged, and two positive pressure environments are formed in the area of the wafer surface relative to the wafer cleaning device and the area of the sensor relative to the wafer cleaning device. Through the positive pressure environment, external particles cannot enter the above two areas during operation, thus avoiding the influence caused by non-contact particles during detection.

[0040] In the prior art, for the cleanliness control of wafer detection, it is mainly achieved by purging the surface. In this embodiment, the formed positive pressure environment can not only purge the surface, but also eliminate the pollution in the space.

[0041] Specifically, please continue to refer to Figure 1 , for the wafer cleaning device in this embodiment, it includes a purging component and a cleaning component, wherein the cleaning component is used to connect the purging component with an external air source.

[0042] Among them, the purging component can generate clean air in the first direction and the second direction. The first direction faces the wafer surface, and the second direction faces the sensor surface, and the area of the clean air can respectively cover the wafer and the sensor surface.

[0043] Specifically, the purging component can be two separate air blowing pipes facing different devices, respectively realizing the purging of two different surfaces and spaces, as long as it can generate clean air with sufficient pressure and area.

[0044] However, in this embodiment, for the machine equipment in the wafer detection scenario, the integrated structure is convenient for the execution of the detection logic and the integrity of the machine structure. Therefore, the purging component is preferably selected as an integrated structure.

[0045] For the purging component with the preferably selected integrated structure, its main structure is preferably selected as a plate-like structure. That is, in this embodiment, the main structure of the purging component is configured as a wind plate 114, and the purging operation is carried out by introducing a wind source with a required pressure into the wind plate.

[0046] Among them, the wind plate is arranged between the wafer and the sensor and is connected to the external air source through the cleaning component.

[0047] A channel for the sensor to obtain optical information is provided on the air plate, and the area of the channel is at least not less than the area of the sensor receiving surface.

[0048] In this embodiment, a first air outlet 111 and a second air outlet 112 are formed on the air plate. The first air outlet and the second air outlet are each composed of multiple sub-air outlets. The first air outlet and the second air outlet have different orientations. The orientation of the first air outlet is towards the surface of the wafer, and the orientation of the second air outlet is towards the surface of the sensor. That is, the first air outlet is used to blow the contamination on the surface of the wafer and form a positive pressure environment between the surface of the wafer and the air plate; the second air outlet is used to blow the contamination on the surface of the sensor receiving surface and form a positive pressure environment between the sensor receiving surface and the air plate.

[0049] Among them, the first air outlet is opened at the edge position of the air plate, that is, the first air outlet is opened at the four border positions of the air plate to form a first air wall with a surface area similar to that of the air plate. The first air wall forms a positive pressure environment between the wafer and the bottom surface of the air plate.

[0050] For the opening position of the second air outlet, it is set at the edge position of the channel.

[0051] Moreover, in order to achieve full contact between the clean air of the second air outlet and the sensor receiving surface, the second air outlet is arranged at an angle with the sensor receiving surface.

[0052] Of course, the air outlet angle of the clean air of the first air outlet can also be set to be inclined relative to the surface of the wafer, which can be implemented in any other embodiment, and the angle is not described in this embodiment.

[0053] The clean air from the first air outlet and the second air outlet can remove the contamination on the surface of the wafer and the surface of the sensor receiving surface, and can also form a positive pressure environment in the wafer detection area and the sensor detection area, avoiding the technical defect that the contamination outside the above two areas enters the area and interferes with the detection result.

[0054] Refer to Figure 2 , in this embodiment, the first air outlet and the second air outlet are respectively connected to an air duct 116, and the air duct is connected to an external air source. The air duct includes a main air duct and two branch air ducts connected to the main air duct. The two branch air ducts are respectively connected to multiple first air outlets and multiple second air outlets. The main air duct transports the external air source to the two branch air ducts respectively, and then the two branch air ducts perform blowing operations through the multiple first air outlets and the multiple second air outlets respectively.

[0055] Among them, the two ends of the main air duct are respectively connected to the first branch air duct and the second branch air duct.

[0056] In this embodiment, in order to avoid the pollution of the external air source itself, a cleaning component is provided at the connection position between the air duct and the external air source. The external air source is filtered by the cleaning component, reducing the risk of introducing pollution from the external air source.

[0057] Among them, the cleaning component includes a series of flexible materials with filtering effects such as filter cotton. In this embodiment, filter cotton is preferentially selected, and other materials will not be enumerated.

[0058] The filter cotton is arranged in the interface 115 connected to the air plate and is fixed by a cover plate. After being filtered by the filter cotton, the external air source imports the interface and then conveys the clean air to the first sub-air duct and the second sub-air duct through the main air duct. Then, the clean air is blown to the surface of the wafer and the surface of the sensor receiving surface through multiple first air outlets and multiple second air outlets, and a corresponding positive pressure environment is formed during the propagation process, thereby realizing the cleaning of the pollution on the surface of the wafer and the surface of the sensor receiving surface and the formation of a positive pressure environment.

[0059] In this embodiment, the sensors include but are not limited to optical sensors such as cameras and CCD sensors.

[0060] Finally, please refer to Figure 1 Describe the working process of the wafer carrier device. When the carrier table carries the wafer to be detected and moves towards the detection area, due to the action of clean air in the first direction and the second direction, there are always two positive pressure sealing environments in the detection area. When the wafer enters the detection area, it will pass through the air wall in the detection area, which is equivalent to cleaning the surface of the wafer once by this air wall. After the position to be detected of the wafer enters the detection area, the entire detection area is in a positive pressure sealed space, and this space prevents suspended particles from entering, so that no suspended particles will adhere to the sensor receiving surface and the wafer.

[0061] Please refer to Figure 1 , regarding that the wafer cleaning device is fixedly connected through the fixing frame 12, and the fixing frame and the sensor can move synchronously, so that when the sensor scans or obtains optical information through multiple paths, the corresponding channels can move followingly to avoid occlusion.

[0062] The wafer carrier device provided by the embodiment of the present application can blow and clean clean air to the wafer and the sensor respectively in two directions, not only realizing surface cleaning, but also forming a positive pressure environment in the detection area through the generated clean air, avoiding the detection interference problem caused by suspended particles. This device has a simple and compact structure and has the advantages of a highly integrated mechanical design.

[0063] In the description of the present application, it should be noted that the orientation or positional relationship indicated by terms such as "center", "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "inner", "outer", etc. is based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, or the orientation or positional relationship in which the product of this application is customarily placed during use. It is only for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be construed as a limitation to the present application. In addition, terms such as "first", "second", "third", etc. are only used for distinguishing descriptions and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0064] In addition, terms such as "horizontal", "vertical", "overhanging", etc. do not mean that the components are required to be absolutely horizontal or overhanging, but can be slightly inclined. For example, "horizontal" only means that its direction is more horizontal relative to "vertical", and does not mean that the structure must be completely horizontal, but can be slightly inclined.

[0065] In the description of the present application, it should also be noted that unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "set", "installed", "connected", "coupled" should be understood in a broad sense. For example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can be directly connected or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, and it can be the communication inside 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 specific circumstances.

[0066] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, rather than to limit them; although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments, or perform equivalent replacements on some or all of the technical features; and these modifications or replacements do not make the essence of the corresponding technical solutions deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. A wafer cleaning device, characterized in that: The device is disposed between the wafer and the sensor, and includes a purge component, wherein the purge component can generate clean air in a first direction and a second direction, wherein the first direction faces the surface of the wafer, and the second direction faces the surface of the sensor; And the area of ​​clean air can cover the wafer and the sensor surface respectively.

2. The wafer cleaning device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The power of the clean air can at least contact the wafer surface and the sensor surface, and form two positive pressure environments in the wafer placement area and the sensor placement area.

3. The wafer cleaning device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The purge component includes a wind plate, which is arranged between the wafer and the sensor; the wind plate is connected to an external wind source through an interface.

4. The wafer cleaning device according to claim 3, characterized in that: The wind plate is provided with a channel for the sensor to acquire optical information.

5. The wafer cleaning device according to claim 4, characterized in that: The area of ​​the channel is at least not less than the area of ​​the sensor receiving surface.

6. The wafer cleaning device according to claim 4, characterized in that: The wind plate is provided with a first air outlet and a second air outlet; the first air outlet is opened toward the surface of the wafer, and the second air outlet is opened toward the surface of the sensor.

7. The wafer cleaning device according to claim 6, characterized in that: The second air outlet is opened at the edge of the channel and is arranged at an angle to the sensor surface.

8. The wafer cleaning device according to claim 7, characterized in that: The air plate is provided with air passages connected to the first air outlet and the second air outlet respectively.

9. The wafer cleaning device according to claim 3, characterized in that: The wind plate is connected to the external wind source through a cleaning component, and the cleaning component includes filter cotton for filtering the external wind source.

10. The wafer cleaning device according to claim 9, characterized in that: The filter cotton is arranged in the interface, and a cover plate is also arranged in the interface for fixing the filter cotton.

11. A wafer carrying device, characterized in that: include: A wafer cleaning device based on any one of claims 1-10; further comprising a carrier platform for placing the wafer and capable of moving along a plane and in a circumferential direction.

12. The wafer carrying device according to claim 11, characterized in that: The wafer cleaning device is fixedly connected via a fixing frame, and the fixing frame and the sensor can move synchronously.

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