Modular atomic layer deposition process equipment
Through the modularly designed atomic layer deposition equipment, the complex equipment structure is solved, and the operation efficiency and maintenance convenience of the equipment are improved.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202421912821.8
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Utility models(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2024-08-08
- Publication Date
- 2025-08-29
- Estimated Expiration
- 2034-08-08
AI Technical Summary
The existing atomic layer deposition equipment has complex structures, which makes it difficult to repair.
It adopts a modular design, including process carrier, transmission carrier, process cavity, atomic layer deposition module and transfer vehicle, to realize the modularization and warehousing of process cavity, and to move the carrier between different carriers through the transfer vehicle to perform multiple processes.
The equipment structure is simplified, the equipment's productivity is improved, the waiting time between processes is reduced, and the equipment's flexibility and maintenance convenience are enhanced.
Smart Images
Figure CN223280933U_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The utility model relates to an atomic layer deposition process equipment, in particular to a modular atomic layer deposition process equipment. Background Art
[0002] Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is a process that deposits a substance onto a workpiece surface layer by layer in the form of a single atomic film. Precursors are sequentially introduced into a reaction chamber, where they react with the substrate surface to form a single thin film. Layers are then deposited and stacked layer by layer to form a thin film. Furthermore, ALD technology can utilize plasma as an aid, freeing it from the temperature constraints of the precursor reaction and enabling the growth of highly dense, low-impurity films at low temperatures, meeting the demands of miniaturized semiconductor devices.
[0003] Today's ALD processes are complex, requiring different thin films to be deposited sequentially on the same substrate using varying conditions or parameters. For example, one substrate may first undergo plasma-assisted ALD, then undergo ALD with a different precursor, and finally undergo ALD again with a different gas. Consequently, each ALD process chamber requires multiple hardware components, resulting in complex equipment and difficult maintenance.
[0004] Therefore, how to simplify multi-process atomic layer deposition equipment is an urgent problem that technicians in this field want to solve. Utility Model Content
[0005] The main purpose of the present invention is to solve the problem of complex structure of the conventional multi-process atomic layer deposition process chamber.
[0006] To achieve the above-mentioned objectives, the present invention discloses a modular atomic layer deposition process equipment, comprising a process carrier, a transfer carrier, a process chamber, one or more atomic layer deposition modules and a transfer carrier. The process carrier comprises a plurality of rack units arranged on a plane, each rack unit comprising a plurality of first racks arranged along a height direction and a plurality of first placement spaces respectively defined by the first racks. The transfer carrier comprises a plurality of second racks and a plurality of second placement spaces respectively defined by the second racks. The process chamber is used to place a substrate to be subjected to atomic layer deposition, and the process chamber can be movably placed in any of the first placement spaces on the process carrier or any of the second placement spaces on the transfer carrier. The atomic layer deposition module is detachably coupled to the process chamber located in the first placement space, so that the process chamber can perform an atomic layer deposition process on the substrate. The transfer carrier transfers the process chamber between the first placement space and the second placement space. After the atomic layer deposition process is completed in the first placement space of the process carrier, the process chamber is transferred by the transfer carrier to the second placement space of the transfer carrier.
[0007] In one embodiment, the atomic layer deposition module includes a plasma unit, a heating unit, a gas unit, a precursor unit, a vacuum unit, or a combination thereof.
[0008] In one embodiment, the atomic layer deposition module is fixed relative to the process chamber placed on the process carrier, and the atomic layer deposition module is selectively coupled to the process chamber.
[0009] In one embodiment, the system further includes one or more connectors, through which the atomic layer deposition module is detachably coupled to the process chamber.
[0010] In one embodiment, the system further includes a pick-and-place unit configured to pick-and-place the substrate in the process chamber of the transfer carrier.
[0011] To achieve the above-mentioned objectives, the present invention also discloses a modular atomic layer deposition process equipment, comprising a process carrier, a transfer carrier, a process chamber, a plurality of atomic layer deposition modules and a transfer carrier. The process carrier comprises a plurality of frame units arranged on a plane, each frame unit comprising a plurality of first frames arranged along a height direction and a plurality of first placement spaces respectively defined by the first frames. The transfer carrier comprises a plurality of second frames and a plurality of second placement spaces respectively defined by the second frames. The process chamber is used to place a substrate to be subjected to atomic layer deposition, and the process chamber can be movably placed in any of the first placement spaces on the process carrier or any of the second placement spaces on the transfer carrier. The atomic layer deposition module comprises a plasma unit, a heating unit, a gas unit, a precursor unit and a vacuum unit, which are selectively and detachably coupled to the process chamber located in the first placement space, so that the process chamber can perform an atomic layer deposition process on the substrate. The transfer carrier transfers the process chamber between the first placement space and the second placement space, wherein the process chamber is transferred to the second placement space of the transfer carrier by the transfer carrier after the atomic layer deposition process is completed in the first placement space of the process carrier.
[0012] In one embodiment, the atomic layer deposition module is fixed relative to the process chamber placed on the process carrier.
[0013] In one embodiment, the system further includes one or more connectors, through which the atomic layer deposition module is detachably coupled to the process chamber.
[0014] In one embodiment, the system further includes a pick-and-place unit configured to pick-and-place the substrate in the process chamber of the transfer carrier. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0015] Figure 1 , is a schematic diagram of an atomic layer deposition process equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[0016]
Explanation of symbols
[0017] 1: Atomic layer deposition process equipment
[0018] 10: Process chamber
[0019] 10a: Chamber
[0020] 11: Connector
[0021] 11a: First joint
[0022] 11b: Second connector
[0023] 11c: Third connector
[0024] 12: Carrier
[0025] 20: Process carrier
[0026] 20a: Shelf unit
[0027] 21, 21a, 21b, 21c, 21d, 21e: First frame
[0028] 22: First placement space
[0029] 23: Module placement space
[0030] 30: Transport carrier
[0031] 31: Second frame
[0032] 32: Second placement space
[0033] 40: Moving Vehicles
[0034] 50: Pick and place unit
[0035] 60: Atomic Layer Deposition Module
[0036] 60a: Plasma unit
[0037] 60b: Heating unit
[0038] 60c: Gas unit
[0039] 60d: Precursor unit
[0040] 60e: Vacuum unit
[0041] 70: Vacuum breaking unit
[0042] S: Substrate DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0043] The terms used herein are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the present invention. Unless the context indicates otherwise, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" used herein may also include plural forms.
[0044] Directional terms used herein, such as up, down, left, right, front, back, and their derivatives or synonyms, refer to the orientation of elements in the drawings and are not intended to limit the present invention unless the context clearly states otherwise.
[0045] See Figure 1The present invention discloses a modular atomic layer deposition process apparatus 1, specifically a warehouse-type atomic layer deposition process apparatus capable of performing multiple processes. The atomic layer deposition process apparatus 1 includes one or more process chambers 10, a process carrier 20, a transfer carrier 30, a transport carrier 40, a pick-and-place unit 50, one or more atomic layer deposition modules 60, and a vacuum breaker unit 70. In this embodiment, the process carrier 20 and the transfer carrier 30 are arranged side by side on the ground. In other examples, the process carrier 20 and the transfer carrier 30 can be arranged in other ways according to factory space or process requirements.
[0046] The process carrier 20 is used to carry the process chamber 10, so that the process chamber 10 is coupled to the atomic layer deposition module 60 to perform atomic layer deposition; and the transfer carrier 30 is used to carry the process chamber 10 that is to be subjected to atomic layer deposition or has completed atomic layer deposition, that is, the process chamber 10 placed on the transfer carrier 30 does not undergo atomic layer deposition.
[0047] The process chamber 10 is movable and can be moved by the transport carrier 40 and placed on the process carrier 20 or the transfer carrier 30. The process chamber 10 has a chamber 10a and includes multiple connectors (or pipes) 11 and a carrier 12 located in the chamber 10a. The carrier 12 is used to place a substrate S. The process chamber 10 can be coupled to the atomic layer deposition module 60 through multiple connectors 11.
[0048] The process carrier 20 is fixed or immovable, and includes a plurality of rack units 20a arranged on a plane (such as the ground). Each of the rack units 20a includes a plurality of first racks 21. The first racks 21 are arranged along the height direction and each includes a first placement space 22 and a plurality of module placement spaces 23.
[0049] The transfer carriage 30 is fixed or immovable and may be adjacent to the process carriage 20. The transfer carriage 30 includes a plurality of second frames 31, each of which includes a second placement space 32. The second frames 31 are arranged along a height direction and define the second placement space 32. The second placement space 32 is used to temporarily place the process chamber 10. The transfer carrier 40 can transfer the process chamber 10 to the first placement space 22 or the second placement space 32, and the pick-and-place unit 50 can pick up, place, or move the substrate S within the process chamber 10. In this example, the pick-and-place unit 50 is disposed on one side of the transfer carriage 30 and is used to transfer the substrate S before or after processing.
[0050] The atomic layer deposition module 60 can be fixedly disposed on the process carrier 20 or disposed adjacent to the process carrier 20, as long as the atomic layer deposition module 60 can be coupled to the process chamber 10 on the process carrier 20. In one example, the atomic layer deposition module 60 is selectively disposed in the module placement space 23 of the process carrier 20 and coupled to the process chamber 10. In other words, some of the module placement spaces 23 are equipped with the atomic layer deposition module 60, while some of the module placement spaces 23 are not equipped with the atomic layer deposition module 60, depending on the needs or applications, as described in detail below.
[0051] The ALD module 60 refers to modules or units required for performing an ALD process, including but not limited to a plasma unit 60 a , a heating unit 60 b , a gas unit 60 c , a precursor unit 60 d , and a vacuum unit 60 e .
[0052] The plasma unit 60a can provide, for example, microwave plasma, radio frequency plasma, inductively coupled plasma, etc. to the process chamber 10. The heating unit 60b can heat the process chamber 10 to provide a high-temperature environment. The gas unit 60c can provide gases required for atomic layer deposition to the process chamber 10, such as inert gases (such as nitrogen and argon) for removing chemical gases or byproducts. The precursor unit 60d can provide liquid, solid, or gaseous precursors according to different processes. The aforementioned units may be connected to a single process chamber 10 in multiple forms, for example, more than two precursor units 60d may be connected to a single process chamber 10 to alternately provide different precursors (such as organometallic raw materials and oxidants). The vacuum unit 60e evacuates the process chamber 10. It is understood that the modules and units are configured to provide the hardware required for performing the atomic layer deposition process in the process chamber 10, including but not limited to the aforementioned.
[0053] In one example, an atomic layer deposition process can be performed on the first frame 21 of a single process carrier 20 . The first frame 21 can be defined according to the configured modules and units. For example, when the module placement space 23 of the first frame 21a is connected with the plasma unit 60a and other modules and units (such as the gas unit 60c, the precursor unit 60d and the vacuum unit 60e), the first frame 21a can be regarded as a plasma-assisted atomic layer deposition process equipment, and when the process chamber 10 is moved to the first frame 21a, the plasma-assisted atomic layer deposition process can be performed on the first frame 21a; or if the module placement space 23 of the first frame 21b is connected with the heating unit 60b and other modules and units (such as the gas unit 60c, the precursor unit 60d and the vacuum unit 60e), the first frame 21b can be regarded as a heated atomic layer deposition process equipment, and when the process chamber 10 is moved to the first frame 21b, the heated atomic layer deposition process can be performed on the first frame 21b. Alternatively, if the module placement space 23 of the first frame 21 c does not have any modules or units assembled therein, the first frame 21 c may be defined as a temporary storage space.
[0054] In another example, the atomic layer deposition process can be performed on the first frame 21 of the multiple process carriers 20. For example, the module placement space 23 of the first frame 21d is only equipped with the plasma unit 60a and the vacuum unit 60e, while the other first frame 21e is equipped with the gas unit 60c, the precursor unit 60d, and the vacuum unit 60e. In this way, when the process chamber 10 is moved to the first frame 21c, the RF and gas required to generate plasma can be provided to the first frame 21d first, and then the process chamber 10 can be moved to the first frame 21e to perform the deposition step.
[0055] The vacuum breaking unit 70 can be fixedly mounted on or adjacent to the transfer carrier 30, as long as the vacuum breaking unit 70 can be coupled to the process chamber 10 of the transfer carrier 30 for vacuum breaking. Depending on different process requirements, the vacuum breaking unit 70 can also be coupled to the process chamber 10 of the process carrier 20.
[0056] In one example, the multiple joints 11 of the process chamber 10 can be divided into a first joint 11a, a second joint 11b and a third joint 11c, and the first joint 11a, the second joint 11b and the third joint 11c are respectively coupled to different process units (such as the plasma unit 60a, the heating unit 60b, the gas unit 60c, the precursor unit 60d, the vacuum unit 60e and the vacuum breaking unit 70).
[0057] In one example, the process chamber 10 is first placed on any of the second frames 31 of the transfer carrier 30, the pick-and-place unit 50 places the substrate S to be processed on the carrier 12 of the process chamber 10, and then the transfer carrier 40 moves the process chamber 10 from the second frame 31 of the transfer carrier 30 to one of the first frames 21 of the process carrier 20. Next, the process chamber 10 is coupled to the plasma unit 60a, the gas unit 60c, the precursor unit 60d or the vacuum unit 60e via the connector 11 (e.g., the first connector 11a of the process chamber 10 on the first frame 21a is coupled to the plasma unit 60a, the second connector 11b is coupled to the gas unit 60c, and the third connector 11c is coupled to the precursor unit 60d). The precursor unit 60d provides a precursor to the chamber 10a in the process chamber 10. The plasma unit 60a applies a radio frequency (RF) power to the chamber 10a in the process chamber 10 to generate plasma to decompose the precursor in the chamber 10a. After the single-layer deposition of the substrate S is completed, an inert gas is introduced into the gas unit 60c to blow away excess atoms, and then the deposition continues alternately. During operation, the process chamber 10 can be interchangeably transferred between different first racks 21 via the transfer carrier 40 to perform multiple atomic layer depositions, or temporarily placed on the second rack 31 of the transfer carrier 30 when transferred between multiple first racks 21 .
[0058] After deposition is completed, the transfer carrier 40 moves the process chamber 10 back to the first placement space 22. The first joint 11a of the process chamber 10 is coupled to the vacuum breaking unit 70 to break the vacuum of the chamber 10a and the pick-and-place unit 50 takes out the processed substrate S, completing the atomic layer deposition process of the substrate S.
[0059] The atomic layer deposition process equipment of the present invention adopts a modular and warehousing-based architecture, dividing the carriers placed in the process chamber into transfer carriers that do not perform deposition and process carriers that are used for deposition. In conjunction with process scheduling, the utilization rate of the equipment can be improved, equipment idleness can be reduced, and waiting time between processes can be shortened. On the other hand, the atomic layer deposition module is also modularly and detachably connected to the process chamber, which allows for more flexible arrangement and solves the problem of complex structure.
Claims
1. A modular atomic layer deposition process equipment, characterized in that: include: A process carrier, comprising a plurality of rack units arranged on a plane, each rack unit comprising a plurality of first racks arranged along a height direction and a plurality of first placement spaces defined by the first racks; A transport carrier, comprising a plurality of second frames and a plurality of second placement spaces respectively defined by the second frames; a process chamber for placing a substrate to be subjected to atomic layer deposition, wherein the process chamber is movably placed in any of the first placement spaces on the process carrier or any of the second placement spaces on the transfer carrier; One or more atomic layer deposition modules are detachably coupled to the process chamber located in the first placement space, so that the process chamber performs an atomic layer deposition process on the substrate; as well as a transfer carrier for transferring the process chamber between the first placement space and the second placement space; After the atomic layer deposition process is completed in the first placement space of the process carrier, the process chamber is transferred by the transfer carrier to the second placement space of the transfer carrier.
2. The modular atomic layer deposition process equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that: The atomic layer deposition module includes a plasma unit, a heating unit, a gas unit, a precursor unit, a vacuum unit or a combination thereof.
3. The modular atomic layer deposition process equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that: The atomic layer deposition module is fixed relative to the process chamber placed on the process carrier, and the atomic layer deposition module is selectively coupled to the process chamber.
4. The modular atomic layer deposition process equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that: The device further comprises one or more connectors, through which the atomic layer deposition module is detachably coupled to the process chamber.
5. The modular atomic layer deposition process equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that: The invention also includes a pick-and-place unit configured to pick-and-place the substrate in the process chamber of the transfer carrier.
6. A modular atomic layer deposition process equipment, characterized in that: include: A process carrier, comprising a plurality of rack units arranged on a plane, each rack unit comprising a plurality of first racks arranged along a height direction and a plurality of first placement spaces defined by the first racks; A transport carrier, comprising a plurality of second frames and a plurality of second placement spaces respectively defined by the second frames; a process chamber for placing a substrate to be subjected to atomic layer deposition, wherein the process chamber is movably placed in any of the first placement spaces on the process carrier or any of the second placement spaces on the transfer carrier; A plurality of atomic layer deposition modules, including a plasma unit, a heating unit, a gas unit, a precursor unit, and a vacuum unit, are selectively and detachably coupled to the process chamber located in the first placement space, so that the process chamber performs an atomic layer deposition process on the substrate; as well as a transfer carrier for transferring the process chamber between the first placement space and the second placement space; After the atomic layer deposition process is completed in the first placement space of the process carrier, the process chamber is transferred by the transfer carrier to the second placement space of the transfer carrier.
7. The modular atomic layer deposition process equipment according to claim 6, characterized in that: The atomic layer deposition module is fixed relative to the process chamber placed on the process carrier.
8. The modular atomic layer deposition process equipment according to claim 6, characterized in that: The device further comprises one or more connectors, through which the atomic layer deposition module is detachably coupled to the process chamber.
9. The modular atomic layer deposition process equipment according to claim 6, characterized in that: The invention also includes a pick-and-place unit configured to pick-and-place the substrate in the process chamber of the transfer carrier.