Process tank for semiconductor cleaning equipment and semiconductor cleaning equipment

Abstract

The utility model provides a process tank for semiconductor cleaning equipment and the semiconductor cleaning equipment, and the process tank comprises a tank body which is provided with a containing cavity; the groove cover is suitable for being installed on the groove body, a loading opening communicated with the containing cavity is formed in the groove cover, and the loading opening is configured to allow the semiconductor device to enter and exit from the containing cavity; the cover plate can move relative to the loading opening so as to open or close the loading opening; the tank cover is provided with the first end and the second end which are oppositely arranged, and the first end is higher than the second end in the height direction of the process tank, so that different cleaning solutions dripping from the tank cover naturally flow to the second end and are discharged under the action of gravity, and the situation of cross contamination of the different cleaning solutions is prevented.

Description

[0001] Explanation on claiming priority: This application claims priority based on the patent application filed in China on June 27, 2024 with application number 202421486422X and patent name "A process tank for semiconductor cleaning equipment and semiconductor cleaning equipment". Technical Field

[0002] The present application relates to the field of semiconductor technology, and in particular to a process tank for semiconductor cleaning equipment and semiconductor cleaning equipment. Background Art

[0003] During the semiconductor cleaning process, wafers may be left with residues such as polishing fluid, abrasive particles, and remnants of the polished material layer during the CMP (Chemical Mechanical Polishing) process. These contaminants have different chemical properties and affinities, requiring different cleaning solutions to specifically remove them. For example, organic solvents may be used to remove organic matter, while acidic or alkaline solutions may be used to remove inorganic salts and oxides. This results in the robot gripping wafers and transferring them between cleaning tanks filled with different cleaning solutions. This can cause the different cleaning solutions to drip onto the outside of the process tanks as the wafers are transferred. If these solutions are not removed promptly and effectively, cross-contamination may occur and may also affect the cleaning results of the next batch, further impacting the yield and performance of semiconductor devices. Utility Model Content

[0004] In view of this, the present invention provides a process tank for semiconductor cleaning equipment to solve at least one problem in the background technology, including:

[0005] The tank body has a receiving cavity;

[0006] a slot cover adapted to be mounted on the slot body, the slot cover being provided with a loading port communicating with the accommodating cavity, the loading port being configured to allow semiconductor devices to enter and exit the accommodating cavity;

[0007] a cover plate movable relative to the loading port to open or close the loading port;

[0008] The tank cover has a first end and a second end that are arranged opposite to each other, and in the height direction of the process tank, the first end is higher than the second end.

[0009] Optionally, in the process tank for semiconductor cleaning equipment, the tank cover is further provided with a focusing tank surrounding the loading port, and the focusing tank has a liquid discharge port provided near the second end.

[0010] Optionally, in the process tank for the semiconductor cleaning equipment, the orthographic projection of the tank cover on the tank body can cover the tank body.

[0011] Optionally, in the process tank for semiconductor cleaning equipment, a connecting line between the first end and the second end forms an angle with a horizontal plane, and the angle ranges from 10° to 30°.

[0012] Optionally, in the process tank for the semiconductor cleaning equipment, at least a portion of the tank cover is made of a transparent material plate.

[0013] Optionally, in the process tank for the semiconductor cleaning equipment, the tank cover includes a cover body and a support portion detachably connected to the cover body, and the first end of the support portion is higher than the second end.

[0014] Optionally, the process tank for the above-mentioned semiconductor cleaning equipment also includes a drive assembly connected to the cover plate, and the drive assembly includes a first drive assembly arranged near the first end and a second drive assembly arranged near the second end, and the first drive assembly and the second drive assembly move synchronously to drive the cover plate to move.

[0015] Optionally, in the process tank for semiconductor cleaning equipment, the first driving assembly includes a first mounting plate mounted on the tank body, a driving cylinder mounted on the first mounting plate, and a first connecting member connecting the driving cylinder and the cover plate;

[0016] The second driving assembly includes a second mounting plate mounted on the trough body, a linear bearing mounted on the second mounting plate, and a second connecting member connecting the linear bearing and the cover plate.

[0017] The present application also provides a semiconductor cleaning device, which includes at least a plurality of process tanks, and the process tanks are any of the process tanks described above.

[0018] Optionally, the above-mentioned semiconductor cleaning equipment further includes a mounting frame, and several process tanks are mounted on the mounting frame, and several confluence troughs corresponding to the process tanks are provided on the mounting frame, and the confluence troughs are close to the second end, and an outlet is provided on the confluence trough.

[0019] The beneficial effects of this application are:

[0020] The present application sets the first end of the slot cover to be higher than the second end, that is, the slot cover is in an inclined state from one end to the other end when it is located on the slot body, so that different cleaning liquids dripping on the slot cover can naturally flow to the second end and be discharged under the action of gravity, thereby preventing cross-contamination of different cleaning liquids; and the slot cover is provided with a loading port for semiconductor devices to enter and exit, and a cover plate is provided that can move relative to the loading port to open or close the loading port, thereby preventing particles or other cleaning liquids and some volatile gases from entering the slot body from the loading port when the semiconductor devices are cleaned in the slot body or when the semiconductor devices are not cleaned, thereby preventing the cleaning liquid from being contaminated.

[0021] Additional aspects and advantages of the present application will be given in part in the description below, and in part will become apparent from the description below, or will be learned through practice of the present application. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a portion of the structure of a semiconductor cleaning device shown in an embodiment of the present application;

[0023] Figure 2 This is a schematic structural diagram of a process tank for semiconductor cleaning equipment shown in an embodiment of the present application;

[0024] Figure 3 for Figure 2 A cross-sectional view of the process tank is shown;

[0025] Figure 4 for Figure 2 The working tank is shown as a schematic diagram of the partial structure breakdown;

[0026] Figure 5 for Figure 2 The structural diagram of the process tank cover shown in FIG.

[0027] Figure 6 for Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the process tank structure from another direction is shown.

[0028] Reference numerals:

[0029] 10-mounting frame, 101-merging trough, 102-discharge outlet;

[0030] 1- tank body, 11- receiving cavity;

[0031] 2-slot cover, 21-loading port, 22-first end, 23-second end, 24-flow collecting groove, 241-drain port, 25-cover body, 26-support portion, 27-seal;

[0032] 3-cover plate;

[0033] 4-first driving assembly, 41-first mounting plate, 42-driving cylinder, 43-first connecting member;

[0034] 5-second driving assembly, 51-second mounting plate, 52-linear bearing, 53-second connecting piece. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0035] The exemplary embodiments disclosed in the present application will be described in more detail below. In the description below, a large number of specific details are given in order to provide a more thorough understanding of the present application. However, it is obvious to those skilled in the art that the present application can be implemented without one or more of these details. In other examples, in order to avoid confusion with the present application, some technical features well known in the art are not described; that is, all features of the actual embodiments are not described here, and well-known functions and structures are not described in detail.

[0036] It should be understood that when an element or layer is referred to as being "on," "adjacent to," "connected to," or "coupled to" another element or layer, it may be directly on, adjacent to, connected to, or coupled to the other element or layer, or there may be intervening elements or layers. Conversely, when an element is referred to as being "directly on," "directly adjacent to," "directly connected to," or "directly coupled to" another element or layer, there may be no intervening elements or layers. It should be understood that although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used to describe various elements, components, regions, layers, and / or parts, these elements, components, regions, layers, and / or parts should not be limited by these terms. These terms are merely used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer, or part from another element, component, region, layer, or part. Therefore, without departing from the teachings of the present application, the first element, component, region, layer, or part discussed below may be represented as a second element, component, region, layer, or part. And when the second element, component, region, layer, or part is discussed, it does not necessarily mean that the first element, component, region, layer, or part is present in the present application.

[0037] Spatially relative terms such as "below," "beneath," "beneath," "beneath," "above," "upper," etc., may be used herein for convenience to describe the relationship of one element or feature to other elements or features shown in the figures. It will be understood that the spatially relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use and operation in addition to the orientations depicted in the figures.

[0038] The purpose of the terms used herein is only to describe specific embodiments and is not intended to limit the present application. When used herein, the singular forms "a", "an", and "the" are intended to include the plural forms, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It should also be understood that the terms "comprising" and / or "including", when used in this specification, determine the presence of the features, integers, steps, operations, elements and / or parts, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, parts and / or groups. When used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of the relevant listed items.

[0039] In order to fully understand the present application, detailed steps and detailed structures will be presented in the following description to illustrate the technical solution of the present application. The preferred embodiments of the present application are described in detail below. However, in addition to these detailed descriptions, the present application may also have other implementation methods.

[0040] A semiconductor cleaning device involved in an embodiment of the present application is used to clean semiconductor devices, for example, the semiconductor devices are wafers. The semiconductor cleaning device includes a loading unit, a cleaning unit, a transfer robot, a drying unit, and an unloading unit. Among them, the loading unit includes a loading trough, and the loading trough is filled with pure water. A number of wafers are placed in a wafer container and then placed in the loading trough to keep the surface of the wafer moist. The cleaning unit includes a number of process tanks, and in this embodiment, the number of process tanks are arranged along a first preset direction. Different cleaning liquids are stored in the number of process tanks, and the transfer robot clamps the wafers in the loading trough and places the wafers into different process tanks in turn to remove different residues on the surface of the wafer; the wafers that have completed cleaning are transferred to the drying unit by the transfer robot for drying, and then unloaded through the unloading unit.

[0041] During the wafer cleaning process, since the cleaning liquids in different process tanks are different, when the transfer robot clamps the wafers and transfers them between different process tanks for cleaning, the cleaning liquids in different process tanks will be carried out of the process tank along with the wafer surface, and the cleaning liquid attached to the wafer surface will drip on the outside of the process tank, resulting in a large amount of different cleaning liquids accumulating outside the process tank. If they cannot be discharged in a timely and effective manner, it will not only cause cross-contamination, but may also affect the cleaning effect of the next batch, and thus affect the yield and performance of semiconductor devices.

[0042] In order to solve the above problems, the present application also discloses a process tank for semiconductor cleaning equipment, which can discharge different cleaning liquids retained outside the process tank in a timely manner.

[0043] In an alternative embodiment, reference Figure 2 and Figure 3The process tank includes a tank body 1 having a receiving cavity 11 and a tank cover 2 suitable for installation on the tank body 1. The tank cover 2 is provided with a loading port 21 communicating with the receiving cavity 11, and the loading port 21 is configured to allow semiconductor devices to enter and exit the receiving cavity 11. The tank cover 2 has a first end 22 and a second end 23 that are arranged opposite to each other. In the height direction of the process tank, the first end 22 is arranged higher than the second end 23. That is, when the tank cover 2 is located on the tank body 1, it is in a tilted state from one end to the other end, so that different cleaning liquids dripping on the tank cover 2 can naturally flow to the second end 23 under the action of gravity and be discharged, thereby preventing cross-contamination of different cleaning liquids.

[0044] In an optional embodiment, a connecting line between the first end 22 and the second end 23 forms an angle with a horizontal plane, and the angle ranges from 10° to 30°.

[0045] In an alternative embodiment, reference Figure 2 and Figure 4 As shown, the tank cover 2 is further provided with a collecting groove 24 disposed around the loading port 21, and the collecting groove 24 has a liquid discharge port 241 disposed near the second end 23. By providing the collecting groove 24 disposed around the loading port 21, a portion of the liquid flowing toward the loading port 21 on the tank cover 2 can be intercepted by the collecting groove 24 disposed around the loading port 21, and then falls into the collecting groove 24 and is discharged from the liquid discharge port 241 after being gathered.

[0046] In an optional embodiment, the orthographic projection of the tank cover 2 on the tank body 1 can cover the tank body 1. The purpose is to prevent the cleaning liquid on the tank cover 2 from flowing from the tank cover 2 to the step formed between the tank cover 2 and the tank body 1 when the orthographic projection of the tank cover 2 on the tank body 1 cannot cover the tank body 1, thereby increasing the risk of liquid flowing into the tank body 1 through the gap between the tank cover 2 and the tank body 1 at the step.

[0047] In an optional embodiment, at least part of the tank cover 2 is a transparent plate, so that the staff can observe the cleaning status of the wafers in the tank body 1 through the transparent plate tank cover 2. Furthermore, the entire tank body 1 can also be provided with a transparent structure.

[0048] In an alternative embodiment, reference Figure 5As shown, the slot cover 2 includes a cover body 25 and a support portion 26 detachably connected to the cover body 25. The first end 22 of the support portion 26 is higher than the second end 23, so that the first end 22 of the entire slot cover 2 is higher than the second end 23. The advantage of this arrangement is that, since at least part of the slot cover 2 is a transparent material plate, the slot cover 2 is separately provided with the cover body 25 and the support portion 26. When the support portion 26 is processed, it can prevent debris generated during processing from adhering to the slot cover 2, thereby making it impossible for the staff to observe the wafer cleaning situation in the slot body 1 through the slot cover 2 made of the transparent material plate. That is, in this embodiment, the slot cover 2 is divided into two parts, and after the support portion 26 is processed, the support portion 26 is connected to the cover body 25 by fasteners, which can better meet the needs of the staff to observe the wafer cleaning situation in the slot body 1 through the transparent material plate.

[0049] In order to ensure the sealing between the tank cover 2 and the tank body 1 , a sealing member 27 is further provided between the tank cover 2 and the tank body 1 .

[0050] In an alternative embodiment, reference Figure 2 and Figure 4 As shown, the process tank also includes a cover plate 3, which can move relative to the loading port 21 to open or close the loading port 21, thereby preventing particles or other cleaning liquids and some volatile gases from entering the tank body 1 from the loading port 21 when the wafer is cleaned in the tank body 1 or when the wafer is not cleaned, causing contamination of the cleaning liquid.

[0051] In an alternative embodiment, reference Figure 4 and Figure 6 As shown, the process tank also includes a driving assembly connected to the cover plate 3, and the driving assembly includes a first driving assembly 4 arranged near the first end 22 and a second driving assembly 5 arranged near the second end 23. The first driving assembly 4 and the second driving assembly 5 move synchronously to drive the cover plate 3 to move.

[0052] In an optional embodiment, the first driving component 4 includes a first mounting plate 41 mounted on the trough body 1, a driving cylinder 42 mounted on the first mounting plate 41, and a first connecting member 43 connecting the driving cylinder 42 and the cover plate 3; the second driving component 5 includes a second mounting plate 51 mounted on the trough body 1, a linear bearing 52 mounted on the second mounting plate 51, and a second connecting member 53 connecting the linear bearing 52 and the cover plate 3.

[0053] The drive cylinder 42 is activated to drive the first connecting member 43 to move. Simultaneously, the second connecting member 53 moves under the action of the linear bearing 52, thereby achieving simultaneous movement of both ends of the cover plate 3. The provision of the linear bearing 52 allows the first drive assembly 4 and the second drive assembly 5 to move the cover plate 3 more smoothly, eliminating the jamming that would occur if the first drive assembly 4 and the second drive assembly 5 both included the drive cylinder 42 and were out of sync.

[0054] In an alternative embodiment, reference Figure 1 As shown, the cleaning equipment also includes a mounting frame 10, on which several process tanks are mounted. The mounting frame 10 is provided with several confluence troughs 101 corresponding to the process tanks. Each confluence trough 101 is provided with a drain port 102, so that liquid on the tank cover 2 can flow into the confluence trough 101 and be discharged from the drain port 102. In this embodiment, the confluence trough 101 is provided near the second end 23, and the confluence troughs 101 are interconnected, further enabling timely discharge of the liquid.

[0055] It should be understood that the above embodiments are exemplary and are not intended to encompass all possible implementations of the claims. Various modifications and variations may be made to the above embodiments without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Similarly, the various technical features of the above embodiments may be arbitrarily combined to form additional embodiments of the present application that may not be explicitly described. Therefore, the above embodiments merely illustrate several implementations of the present application and do not limit the scope of protection of the patent application.

Claims

1. A process tank for semiconductor cleaning equipment, characterized in that: include: The tank body has a receiving cavity; a slot cover adapted to be mounted on the slot body, the slot cover being provided with a loading port communicating with the accommodating cavity, the loading port being configured to allow semiconductor devices to enter and exit the accommodating cavity; a cover plate movable relative to the loading port to open or close the loading port; The tank cover has a first end and a second end that are arranged opposite to each other, and in the height direction of the process tank, the first end is higher than the second end.

2. The process tank for semiconductor cleaning equipment according to claim 1, wherein: The tank cover is further provided with a flow collecting groove surrounding the loading port, and the flow collecting groove has a liquid discharge port arranged near the second end.

3. The process tank for semiconductor cleaning equipment according to claim 1, wherein: The orthographic projection of the trough cover on the trough body can cover the trough body.

4. The process tank for semiconductor cleaning equipment according to claim 1, wherein: A connecting line between the first end and the second end forms an angle with a horizontal plane, and the angle ranges from 10° to 30°.

5. The process tank for semiconductor cleaning equipment according to claim 2, wherein: At least a portion of the slot cover is made of a transparent material plate.

6. The process tank for semiconductor cleaning equipment according to claim 5, wherein: The slot cover comprises a cover body and a support portion detachably connected to the cover body, wherein a first end of the support portion is higher than the second end.

7. The process tank for semiconductor cleaning equipment according to claim 1, wherein: The process tank also includes a drive assembly connected to the cover plate, and the drive assembly includes a first drive assembly arranged near the first end and a second drive assembly arranged near the second end. The first drive assembly and the second drive assembly move synchronously to drive the cover plate to move.

8. The process tank for semiconductor cleaning equipment according to claim 7, wherein: The first driving assembly includes a first mounting plate mounted on the trough body, a driving cylinder mounted on the first mounting plate, and a first connecting member connecting the driving cylinder and the cover plate; The second driving assembly includes a second mounting plate mounted on the trough body, a linear bearing mounted on the second mounting plate, and a second connecting member connecting the linear bearing and the cover plate.

9. A semiconductor cleaning device, characterized in that: The method comprises at least a plurality of process tanks, wherein the process tanks are the process tanks according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

10. The semiconductor cleaning equipment according to claim 9, characterized in that The cleaning equipment also includes a mounting frame, and several process tanks are mounted on the mounting frame. The mounting frame is provided with several confluence tanks corresponding to the process tanks. The confluence tanks are close to the second end and are provided with discharge outlets.

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