Sputtering equipment
By opening a ventilation channel in the shielding ring of the sputtering equipment and delivering clean gas, the damage problem caused by adhesion between the substrate and the shielding ring is solved, the cleaning and position stability of the substrate are achieved, and the stability and accuracy of the sputtering process are improved.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202422509682.0
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Utility models(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2024-10-16
- Publication Date
- 2025-09-16
- Estimated Expiration
- 2034-10-16
AI Technical Summary
Existing sputtering equipment can easily cause adhesion between the substrate and the shielding ring during the sputtering process, resulting in damage to the substrate, such as scratches or position shifts on the wafer.
A ventilation channel is opened in the shielding ring of the sputtering equipment and connected to the shielding ring through a hollow support column to transport cleaning gas to clean the substrate and prevent the shielding ring from sticking to the substrate.
It effectively avoids adhesion between the substrate and the shielding ring, prevents damage to the substrate, and improves process stability and sputtering accuracy.
Smart Images
Figure CN223342802U_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The embodiments of the present application relate to the field of semiconductor manufacturing, and specifically to a sputtering device. Background Art
[0002] In the field of semiconductor device manufacturing, physical vapor deposition (PVD) is a commonly used process, usually used to form thin films on the surface of substrates. Sputtering, as a method of physical vapor deposition, uses high-energy ions to impact a solid material (target material), and the sputtered target atoms or molecules are deposited on the substrate to form a thin film. In this process, shielding rings are required in the sputtering equipment to protect specific areas of the substrate (such as a wafer) from the effects of target material deposition and to prevent contamination.
[0003] However, during the sputtering process, target material will also be deposited on the surface of the shield ring, causing the substrate to adhere to the shield ring and potentially damaging the substrate. In other words, existing sputtering equipment may cause substrate damage during the sputtering process. Utility Model Content
[0004] To solve the above technical problems, the present invention provides a sputtering device, comprising:
[0005] The shielding ring is provided with a ventilation channel, the ventilation channel is annular in structure, and at least one air outlet is provided on the side wall of the ventilation channel;
[0006] A hollow support column, after the hollow support column rises, one end port thereof is connected to the ventilation channel for delivering clean gas to the ventilation channel, and the other end port is connected to an external clean gas supply source.
[0007] The sputtering equipment provided in the embodiment of the present application opens a ventilation channel in the shielding ring of the sputtering equipment, so that after the hollow support column rises, it is connected to the ventilation channel, so that the cleaning gas can enter the sputtering equipment to clean the sputtering equipment, thereby avoiding metal accumulation at the edge of the shielding ring after a long period of sputtering, causing the edge of the shielding ring to slightly contact with the wafer after sputtering, resulting in the wafer sticking phenomenon under high temperature state after sputtering is completed, and thus avoiding the position of the sputtered wafer on the support foot after the base is lowered, causing fragments or scratches when the wafer is taken out. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present application or the technical solutions in the prior art, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art. Obviously, the drawings described below are merely embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on the provided drawings without any creative work.
[0009] Figure 1 It is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of a sputtering device provided in an embodiment of the present application.
[0010] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of a shielding ring in a sputtering device provided in an embodiment of the present application.
[0011] Figure 3 This is another schematic diagram of a shielding ring in a sputtering device provided in an embodiment of the present application.
[0012] Figure 4 This is another schematic diagram of a shielding ring in a sputtering device provided in an embodiment of the present application.
[0013] Figure 5 This is another schematic diagram of a shielding ring in a sputtering device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0014] As described in the background, existing sputtering equipment can damage the substrate during the sputtering process. To address this issue, the present application proposes a sputtering device that provides a ventilation channel in a shielding ring of the sputtering device. This channel connects the hollow support column to the ventilation channel after it is raised, allowing clean gas to enter the sputtering device and clean the substrate, thereby preventing damage to the substrate caused by adhesion between the substrate and the shielding ring.
[0015] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of this application to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application. Obviously, the embodiments described are only part of the embodiments of this application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in this application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making creative efforts are within the scope of protection of this application.
[0016] Figure 1 : is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of a sputtering device provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 1 As shown, the sputtering equipment includes:
[0017] The shielding ring 1 is provided with a ventilation channel 13, which is an annular structure, and has at least one air outlet 14 on its side wall;
[0018] The hollow support column 2 , after the hollow support column 2 rises, one end port thereof is connected to the ventilation channel 13 for delivering clean gas to the ventilation channel 13 , and the other end port is connected to an external clean gas source.
[0019] The shield ring 1 is used to shield a specific portion of a substrate during a sputtering process performed by the sputtering apparatus. In some embodiments, the substrate is a wafer, and the shield ring 1 shields a circular portion of the top surface of the wafer away from the center. The size of the wafer is not limited, for example, it can be 8 inches, 12 inches, etc.
[0020] When the sputtering device is performing a sputtering process on a substrate, the hollow support column 2 drives the base 3 of the sputtering device to rise, so that the substrate carried on the base 3 is in contact with the shielding ring 1, a target material is set in the space at the top of the shielding ring 1, and the target material atoms or molecules are deposited on the substrate. After the sputtering process is completed, since one end port of the hollow support column 2 is connected to the ventilation channel 13 and the other end port is connected to the external cleaning gas source, the cleaning gas can enter the sputtering device, clean the substrate through the air outlet 14, and blow the part of the substrate that is adhered to the shielding ring 1 away from the surface of the substrate to avoid damage to the substrate caused by adhesion between the substrate and the shielding ring 1. For example, when the substrate is a wafer, part of the edge of the wafer after sputtering may be adhered to the shielding ring 1, and the clean gas ejected from the air outlet 14 blows the part of the wafer that is adhered to the shielding ring 1 away from the surface of the wafer. Specifically, the target material can be a metal, such as copper, tungsten or cobalt.
[0021] Furthermore, adhesion between the substrate and the blocking ring 1 may cause the position of the substrate on the base 3 to shift, thereby causing damage to the substrate during the process of removing the substrate, such as scratches or scrapes on the wafer.
[0022] In some embodiments, the cleaning gas is used not only to clean the substrate but also to cool the substrate to improve process stability. In some specific embodiments, the cleaning gas is an inert gas, such as argon (Ar); and the external cleaning gas source can be an air pump, a high-pressure gas tank, or the like.
[0023] In some embodiments, as Figure 1 As shown, the blocking ring 1 includes:
[0024] The ventilation portion 11 is provided with the ventilation channel 13 and an air outlet (not shown);
[0025] The shielding portion 12 is an annular structure and is fixedly connected to the top of the ventilation portion 11 .
[0026] in, Figure 1In the figure, the shielding ring 1 is located below the plane indicated by AA', and the portion parallel to the shielding ring 1 is the ventilation portion 11, and the shielding ring 1 is located above the plane indicated by AA', and the portion parallel to the shielding ring is the shielding portion 12; the ventilation channel 13 and the air outlet 14 provided in the ventilation portion 11 provide channels for conveying and circulating the clean gas, so that the clean gas can clean the substrate through the ventilation portion 11 to avoid damage to the substrate. The shielding portion 12 is used to shield a specific area of the substrate during the sputtering process. In some specific embodiments, the cross-section of the shielding portion 12 is trapezoidal, and the width of the top is smaller than the width of the bottom. Setting the cross-section of the shielding portion 12 to a trapezoid can reduce the height of the shielding portion 12 shielding the substrate, thereby improving the accuracy of the sputtering process.
[0027] In some specific embodiments, the shielding portion and the ventilation portion are an integrated structure. The integrated shielding portion 12 and ventilation portion 11 can improve the strength of the shielding ring 1, thereby improving the stability of the sputtering process.
[0028] Figure 2 Schematic diagram of a shielding ring in a sputtering device provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 2 As shown, when looking from the ventilation portion 11 toward the shielding portion 12 , the portion where the ventilation channel 13 communicates with the hollow support column 2 can be seen.
[0029] Figure 3 This is another schematic diagram of a shielding ring in a sputtering device provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 3 As shown, when looking from the shielding portion 12 toward the ventilation portion 11 , the ventilation channel 13 cannot be seen.
[0030] In some embodiments, the number of the air outlets is twelve, and the twelve air outlets are evenly spaced and distributed on the side walls of the ventilation channel. Figure 3 The schematic diagram of the plane perpendicular to the shielding ring 1 and looking at the shielding ring 1 is shown in FIG. Figure 4 As shown, the air outlet 14 is opened on the side wall of the ventilation channel 13, and is used to lead the clean gas out of the ventilation channel 13 to clean the substrate. The distribution of the air outlet 14 is as shown in FIG. Figure 5 As shown, the twelve air outlets 14 are evenly spaced on the sidewalls of the ventilation channel 13 , which can improve the cleaning effect of the cleaning gas on the sputtered substrate.
[0031] In some specific embodiments, the width of the air outlet is 3 to 7 cm, for example, 3 cm, 4.5 cm, 6 cm, 7 cm, etc.
[0032] It can be seen that the sputtering equipment provided in the present application opens a ventilation channel 13 in the shielding ring 1 of the sputtering equipment, so that after the hollow support column 2 rises, it is connected to the ventilation channel 13, so that the cleaning gas can enter the sputtering equipment to clean the substrate, thereby avoiding metal accumulation at the edge of the shielding ring 1 after a long period of sputtering, causing the edge of the shielding ring 1 to slightly contact the sputtered wafer, resulting in the wafer sticking phenomenon under the high temperature state after sputtering is completed, and thus avoiding the position of the sputtered wafer on the support foot after the base 3 descends, causing fragments or scratches when taking the wafer.
[0033] The present application also provides a wafer processing method, which is applied to the sputtering device described in the above embodiment, and the method includes:
[0034] providing a sputtered wafer;
[0035] The cleaning gas is passed through the shielding ring of the sputtering device and ejected from the air outlet of the ventilation channel to clean the wafer after sputtering.
[0036] The sputtered wafer is a substrate after the sputtering process in the sputtering equipment. Since the sputtering process may cause the shield ring to adhere to the wafer, a cleaning gas is ejected through the air outlet holes in the shield ring to clean the wafer and blow away the adhesion between the wafer and the shield ring to avoid damage to the substrate caused by adhesion between the substrate and the shield ring.
[0037] It can be seen that the sputtering equipment provided in the embodiment of the present application opens a ventilation channel in the shielding ring of the sputtering equipment, so that after the hollow support column rises, it is connected to the ventilation channel, so that the cleaning gas can enter the sputtering equipment to clean the sputtering equipment, thereby avoiding metal accumulation at the edge of the shielding ring after a long period of sputtering, causing the edge of the shielding ring to slightly contact the wafer after sputtering, resulting in the wafer sticking phenomenon under the high temperature state after sputtering is completed, and thus avoiding the position of the sputtered wafer on the support foot after the base is lowered, causing fragments or scratches when the wafer is taken out.
[0038] Although the present application is disclosed as above, the present application is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art may make various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present application. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present application shall be based on the scope defined by the claims.
Claims
1. A sputtering device, characterized in that: include: The shielding ring is provided with a ventilation channel, the ventilation channel is annular in structure, and at least one air outlet is provided on the side wall of the ventilation channel; A hollow support column, after the hollow support column rises, one end port thereof is connected to the ventilation channel for delivering clean gas to the ventilation channel, and the other end port is connected to an external clean gas supply source.
2. The sputtering device according to claim 1, wherein The blocking ring comprises: A ventilation part, wherein the ventilation channel and the air outlet are provided in the ventilation part; The shielding portion is an annular structure and is fixedly connected to the top of the ventilation portion.
3. The sputtering device according to claim 2, wherein: The shielding portion and the ventilation portion are an integrated structure.
4. The sputtering device according to claim 1, wherein The number of the air outlets is twelve, and the twelve air outlets are evenly distributed on the side wall of the ventilation channel.
5. The sputtering device according to claim 4, wherein The width of the air outlet is 3 to 7 cm.
6. The sputtering device according to claim 1, wherein The cleaning gas is argon.