Heat exchange system and semiconductor process equipment

Abstract

The utility model discloses a heat exchange system and semiconductor process equipment, the heat exchange system is applied to the semiconductor process equipment, and the heat exchange system comprises a heat exchange module which is arranged on a main equipment layer and is used for introducing a heat exchange medium into a temperature-controlled object of a process chamber; and the control module is arranged on the auxiliary equipment layer, is connected with the heat exchange module and is used for controlling the heat exchange module to introduce the heat exchange medium into the temperature-controlled object. The heat exchange system is a split type heat exchange system, the distance between the heat exchange module and the process cavity is greatly reduced, the heat loss of the heat exchange medium in the temperature control process can be reduced, the temperature of the heat exchange medium is closer to the ideal temperature when the heat exchange medium enters the temperature-controlled object, and therefore the temperature fluctuation of the heat exchange medium can be reduced, and the temperature control accuracy is improved. And the control module is moved outwards to the auxiliary equipment layer, and only the heat exchange module is arranged on the main equipment layer, so that the size of the heat exchange module can be increased, the heat exchange time is shortened, and the heat exchange efficiency is improved.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of semiconductor technology, and in particular to a heat exchange system and a semiconductor process equipment. BACKGROUND

[0002] The heat exchange system (Chiller) is widely used in semiconductor manufacturing process, which can be used to control the temperature of parts such as the carrier base in the process chamber, so that the process reaches the optimal temperature and improves the process effect.

[0003] In the prior art, the process chamber is arranged on the second layer (F2) equipment layer (Fab), and the heat exchange system is arranged on the first layer (F1) gray area. The two are connected through pipelines. Since the pipeline is long, the circulating medium for temperature control has a large heat loss when flowing through the pipeline. The heat exchange medium deviates from the original set temperature when entering the carrier base, and it is difficult to accurately control the temperature. The greater the environmental temperature fluctuation, the worse the temperature control effect of the heat exchange system. CONTENT OF THE INVENTION

[0004] In view of the above technical problems, the present application provides a heat exchange system and a semiconductor process equipment, which can improve the problem of inaccurate temperature control of the existing heat exchange system.

[0005] To solve the above technical problems, in a first aspect, the present application provides a heat exchange system applied to a semiconductor process equipment, comprising:

[0006] A heat exchange module is arranged on the main equipment layer to introduce heat exchange medium into the temperature-controlled object of the process chamber.

[0007] A control module is arranged on the auxiliary equipment layer and connected with the heat exchange module, and is used to control the heat exchange module to introduce the heat exchange medium into the temperature-controlled object.

[0008] Optionally, the heat exchange module comprises:

[0009] A liquid storage tank is used to store the heat exchange medium and form a circulation loop with the temperature-controlled object.

[0010] A pump unit is connected with the liquid storage tank and is used to drive the heat exchange medium to flow in the circulation loop.

[0011] A heat exchanger unit is used to exchange heat with the heat exchange medium.

[0012] The control module is electrically connected with the pump unit, and is used to control the pump unit to introduce the heat exchange medium into the temperature-controlled object.

[0013] Optionally, the pump unit comprises one of a centrifugal pump, a volumetric pump, a axial flow pump and a mixed flow pump.

[0014] Optionally, the heat exchange module is provided in plurality, for independently feeding the heat exchange medium to a plurality of temperature-controlled objects, or for independently feeding the heat exchange medium to a plurality of regions of the temperature-controlled object.

[0015] The control module comprises a control unit corresponding to each of the heat exchange modules, and the control units are configured to independently control the heat exchange modules.

[0016] Optionally, the control units are arranged in a stack.

[0017] Optionally, the auxiliary device layer is arranged below the main device layer.

[0018] In a second aspect, the embodiments of the present application further provide a semiconductor process equipment, comprising a process chamber and a heat exchange system as described in the above embodiments.

[0019] The process chamber comprises a temperature-controlled object arranged in the main device layer.

[0020] The heat exchange module is connected to the temperature-controlled object.

[0021] Optionally, the temperature-controlled object comprises a carrier pedestal, and the carrier pedestal comprises a central region and at least one edge region surrounding the central region.

[0022] The heat exchange module is provided in plurality, and is arranged corresponding to the central region and the edge region, for feeding the heat exchange medium to the central region and the edge region, respectively.

[0023] The control module is configured to control the heat exchange module to feed the heat exchange medium to the carrier pedestal.

[0024] Optionally, the temperature-controlled object further comprises an upper cover.

[0025] The semiconductor process equipment further comprises a heat exchange module corresponding to the upper cover.

[0026] The control module is further configured to control the corresponding heat exchange module to feed the heat exchange medium to the upper cover.

[0027] Optionally, the process chamber is arranged above the heat exchange module.

[0028] The heat exchange system of the present application comprises a heat exchange module and a control module. The heat exchange module is arranged in the main equipment layer and below the process chamber. The heat exchange module is a split heat exchange system. The distance between the heat exchange module and the process chamber can be shortened to within 1 meter (m), which greatly reduces the heat loss of the heat exchange medium during temperature control. The heat exchange medium is closer to the ideal temperature when entering the controlled temperature object, thereby reducing the temperature fluctuation of the heat exchange medium and improving the accuracy of temperature control. Moreover, compared with the integrated heat exchange system, the control module of the present embodiment is separately arranged in the auxiliary equipment layer, occupying less space in the auxiliary equipment layer. Furthermore, since the control module is moved to the auxiliary equipment layer, only the heat exchange module is arranged in the main equipment layer, which can make the heat exchange module have a larger volume of heat exchange unit and pump unit, thereby improving the heating / cooling capacity of the heat exchange module and the capacity of the pump unit, so as to shorten the heat exchange time and improve the heat exchange efficiency. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0029] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the present application and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the present application. In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the drawings needed to be used in the embodiment description will be briefly introduced as follows. Obviously, those skilled in the art can obtain other drawings according to these drawings without any creative effort.

[0030] Figure 1 is a structural schematic diagram of a semiconductor process equipment of related art;

[0031] Figure 2 is a structural schematic diagram of a semiconductor process equipment of related art;

[0032] Figure 3 is a structural schematic diagram of a semiconductor process equipment of related art;

[0033] Figure 4 is a structural schematic diagram of a semiconductor process equipment of related art;

[0034] Figure 5 is a structural schematic diagram of a semiconductor process equipment of related art;

[0035] Figure 6 is a structural schematic diagram of a semiconductor process equipment of related art;

[0036] The realization of the objectives, functional features, and advantages of this application will be further explained in conjunction with the embodiments and with reference to the accompanying drawings. The accompanying drawings have illustrated specific embodiments of this application, which will be described in more detail below. These drawings and textual descriptions are not intended to limit the scope of the concept in any way, but rather to illustrate the concepts of this application to those skilled in the art through reference to specific embodiments. Detailed Implementation

[0037] Exemplary embodiments will now be described in detail, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. When the following description relates to the drawings, unless otherwise indicated, the same numbers in different drawings denote the same or similar elements. The embodiments described in the following exemplary embodiments do not represent all embodiments consistent with this application. Rather, they are merely examples of apparatuses and methods consistent with some aspects of this application as detailed in the appended claims.

[0038] It should be noted that, in this document, the terms "comprising," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such a process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitations, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that includes that element. Furthermore, components, features, and elements with the same names in different embodiments of this application may have the same meaning or different meanings, the specific meaning of which must be determined by its interpretation in that specific embodiment or further in conjunction with the context of that specific embodiment.

[0039] It should be further understood that the terms "comprising" or "including" indicate the presence of the stated features, steps, operations, elements, components, items, types, and / or groups, but do not exclude the presence, occurrence, or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, items, types, and / or groups. The terms "or," "and / or," and "comprising at least one of the following," as used in this application, can be interpreted as inclusive, or mean any one or any combination thereof. For example, "comprising at least one of the following: A, B, C" means "any one of the following: A; B; C; A and B; A and C; B and C; A and B and C," and similarly, "A, B, or C" or "A, B, and / or C" means "any one of the following: A; B; C; A and B; A and C; B and C; A and B and C." Exceptions to this definition only occur when the combination of elements, functions, steps, or operations is inherently mutually exclusive in some way.

[0040] It should be understood that, although the terms first, second, third, etc. can be employed in this text to describe various information, the information should not be limited to these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one type of information from another type of information. For example, without departing from the scope of this text, the first information can also be referred to as the second information, and similarly, the second information can also be referred to as the first information. Depending on the context, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" used in this text are intended to include the plural forms, unless the context indicates the contrary.

[0041] It should be understood that the terms "top", "bottom", "upper", "lower", "vertical", "horizontal" and the like indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, only for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device referred to must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation on the present application.

[0042] For the convenience of description, in the following embodiments, the orthogonal space determined by the horizontal plane and the vertical direction is taken as an example for description, and this precondition should not be understood as a limitation on the present application.

[0043] Please refer to Figure 1 , Figure 1 is a structural schematic diagram of a semiconductor process equipment in the related art, which includes a heat exchange system 10a located in an F1 gray area 100a, and a process chamber 20a located in an F2 equipment layer 200a. The process chamber 20a includes an upper cover 21a and a supporting base 22a. The heat exchange system 10a inputs heat exchange medium to the upper cover 21a through a first input pipeline 31a, and then returns to the heat exchange system 10a through a first return pipeline 32a. On the other hand, the heat exchange system 10a inputs heat exchange medium to the supporting base 22a through a second input pipeline 41a, and then returns to the heat exchange system 10a through a second return pipeline 42a.

[0044] Since the pipeline through which the heat exchange medium flows is relatively long, the longest can reach 15m, the heat loss is large, and when the heat exchange medium enters the temperature-controlled object (the upper cover 21a and the supporting base 22a), the temperature deviation is large, it is difficult to control the temperature-controlled object near the ideal temperature, and the greater the environmental temperature fluctuation, the worse the temperature control effect of the heat exchange system. In addition, please refer to Figure 2 , Figure 2 is a structural schematic diagram of the arrangement of multiple heat exchange systems in the related art. Multiple heat exchange systems 10a control the temperature of multiple chambers. All heat exchange systems 10a are arranged side by side in the F1 gray area 100a, and the occupied area is also large.

[0045] In order to improve the above problems, please refer to Figure 3 , Figure 3is a structural schematic diagram of another semiconductor process equipment of the related art, the heat exchange system 10b and the process chamber 20b are both arranged on the F2 equipment layer 200b, the process chamber 20b includes an upper cover 21b and a supporting base 22b, two heat exchange systems 10b are taken as an example in the figure, the two heat exchange systems 10b are arranged on the sides of the process chamber 20b respectively, one of the heat exchange systems 10b inputs the heat exchange medium to the edge area 221b of the supporting base 22b through the first input pipeline 41b, and then returns to the heat exchange system 10b through the first return pipeline 42b; the other heat exchange system 10b inputs the heat exchange medium to the center area 222b of the supporting base 22b through the second input pipeline 43b, and then returns to the heat exchange system 10b through the second return pipeline 44b. Wherein, the heat exchange system 10b please refer to Figure 5 (a), including a heat exchange unit (including a liquid storage tank 111b, a pump unit 112b and a heat exchange unit 113b) 11b and a controller 12b, both are integrated.

[0046] Although this scheme can shorten the distance between the heat exchange system 10b and the process chamber 20b and reduce the heat exchange loss, the volume of the heat exchange system 10b is severely limited due to the size of the F2 equipment layer 200b space, and the heat exchange unit 11b is too small, which will cause the heating / cooling capacity of the heat exchanger to be low, and the low pump capacity will cause the flow rate of the heat exchange medium to be small, so that the heat exchange time cannot be shortened, and even if the flow path of the heat exchange medium is shortened, the purpose of quickly controlling the temperature of the supporting base 22b cannot be achieved. Based on this, the present application provides a heat exchange system and a semiconductor process equipment.

[0047] Please refer to Figure 4 , Figure 4 is a structural schematic diagram of a heat exchange system and a semiconductor process equipment provided by the embodiment of the present application, the semiconductor process equipment can include a process chamber 10 and a heat exchange system, wherein the heat exchange system includes a heat exchange module 20 and a control module 30. Compared with the integrated heat exchange system of Figure 1 and Figure 3 , the heat exchange system of the embodiment is split type, and the heat exchange system of the present application is described in combination with the semiconductor process equipment.

[0048] The semiconductor processing equipment, the process chamber 10 is arranged in the main equipment layer 100, it needs to be explained that the factory building can be divided into different floors according to the different purification degree.Such as, the process chamber 10 can be arranged in the main equipment layer 100, the main equipment layer 100 can be the clean degree with higher level requirement, to prevent wafer processing is contaminated by dust particles.Process chamber 10 includes the temperature controlled object, as some examples, the temperature controlled object can be the bearing base 11 of process chamber 10, the upper cover 12 and the like special requirements of temperature parts.Heat exchange module 20 is arranged in the main equipment layer 100, can be located in the side of process chamber 10, also can be located below process chamber 10, heat exchange module 20 is connected with the temperature controlled object, for the temperature controlled object is imported into heat exchange medium, exemplarily, the heat exchange medium can be fluoride solution.Control module 30 is arranged in the auxiliary equipment layer 200, and is connected with heat exchange module 20, such as the connection between the two through cable 301.Control module 30 is used to control heat exchange module 20 to import heat exchange medium to the temperature controlled object, the auxiliary equipment layer 200 can be located below the main equipment layer 100, also can be located above the main equipment layer 100, according to the factory building planning is designed.Auxiliary equipment layer 200 is the grey zone layer, the space of the layer can be lower than the main equipment layer 100 to the clean degree requirement.

[0049] The semiconductor processing equipment of the embodiment, heat exchange system is divided into independent two parts: heat exchange module 20 and control module 30, for split type heat exchange system, wherein, heat exchange module 20 is arranged in the main equipment layer 100, and the distance with process chamber 10 can be shortened to within 1m, greatly reduces the heat loss of heat exchange medium in the temperature control process, when heat exchange medium enters the temperature controlled object, closer to the ideal temperature, so as to reduce the temperature fluctuation of heat exchange medium, improve the accuracy of temperature control.Moreover, compared with the integrated heat exchange system 10a (whole is arranged in the auxiliary equipment layer 100a Figure 1 ), the control module 30 of the embodiment is separately arranged in the auxiliary equipment layer 200, and the space occupied is smaller.

[0050] In addition, compared with the arrangement mode of the integrated heat exchange system in the semiconductor equipment Figure 3 , under the same size, the split type heat exchange system of the embodiment, control module 30 is moved to the auxiliary equipment layer 200, only heat exchange module 20 is arranged in the main equipment layer 100, can make heat exchange module 20 have larger volume heat exchange unit and pump unit, can improve the heating / cooling capacity of heat exchange module 20 and the capacity of pump unit, so as to shorten the heat exchange time, improve the heat exchange efficiency.

[0051] As an example, please refer to Figure 5 , Figure 5is a structure comparison chart of the improved heat exchange system provided by the embodiment of the present application, wherein (a) is a one-piece structure, (b) is a split structure, the heat exchange module 20 can include: a liquid storage tank 21, a pump unit 22 and a heat exchanger unit 23. The liquid storage tank 21 is used to store the heat exchange medium, which is connected to the temperature-controlled object to form a circulating loop. The pump unit 22 is connected to the liquid storage tank 21, and is used to drive the heat exchange medium to flow in the circulating loop. Exemplarily, the pump unit 22 can include one of a centrifugal pump, a positive displacement pump, an axial flow pump and a mixed flow pump, and the heat exchanger unit 23 is used to exchange heat with the heat exchange medium. The control module 30 is electrically connected to the pump unit 22, and is used to control the pump unit 22 to input the heat exchange medium to the temperature-controlled object. The heat exchange module 20 of the embodiment can have a larger volume because the control module 30 is moved out to the auxiliary equipment layer 200. For example Figure 5 The one-piece structure is limited by the small volume of the liquid storage tank 111b, and needs to fill the liquid storage tank 111b with heat exchange medium multiple times, start the heat exchange system multiple times, and circulate the heat exchange medium. The split structure of the present application is independent of the heat exchange module 20, and the volume of the liquid storage tank 21 can be correspondingly increased, and only 1-2 times are needed to start the circulating system, the heat exchange capacity is stronger, and the heat exchange efficiency is also higher.

[0052] It should be noted that the temperature-controlled object and the heat exchange module 20 can be provided with multiple heat exchange modules 20, and one heat exchange module 20 can exchange heat with two or more temperature-controlled objects to control the two or more temperature-controlled objects at the same temperature; or two or more heat exchange modules 20 can exchange heat with one temperature-controlled object to improve the temperature control accuracy of the temperature-controlled object. The number and corresponding relationship of the temperature-controlled object and the heat exchange module 20 are not particularly limited in the embodiment of the present application.

[0053] In one embodiment, the heat exchange module 20 can be provided with multiple heat exchange modules 20 for independently inputting heat exchange medium to multiple temperature-controlled objects, or for independently inputting heat exchange medium to multiple regions of the temperature-controlled object. The heat exchange module 20 can be connected one-to-one with the temperature-controlled object, or can be connected one-to-one with multiple regions of the temperature-controlled object. The control module 30 includes a control unit 31 connected one-to-one with the multiple heat exchange modules 20, and the multiple control units 31 are used to independently control the corresponding heat exchange modules 20.

[0054] For example, please continue to refer to Figure 4The temperature-controlled object of the process chamber 10 can include a carrier base 11, which can include a center region 111 and at least one edge region 112 surrounding the center region 111 in sequence, and the heat exchange module 20 is provided in plurality and corresponds to the center region 111 and the edge region 112 to supply the heat exchange medium to the center region 111 and the edge region 112, respectively. The control module 30 is used to control the heat exchange module 20 to supply the heat exchange medium to the carrier base 11. In the figure, only the carrier base 11 includes the center region 111 and one edge region 112, and the heat exchange module 20 is correspondingly provided in two, one of which supplies the heat exchange medium to the center region 111 of the carrier base 11 through the first input pipeline 41 and then returns to the heat exchange module 20 through the first return pipeline 42, and the other supplies the heat exchange medium to the edge region 112 of the carrier base 11 through the second input pipeline 43 and then returns to the heat exchange module 20 through the second return pipeline 44. The control module 30 can independently control the two heat exchange modules 20 to supply the heat exchange medium to the center region 111 and the edge region 112, respectively.

[0055] It should be noted that the control module 30 can be a control unit that controls multiple heat exchange modules 20 to maintain different temperatures in different regions of the carrier base 11. In other embodiments, please refer to Figure 6 , Figure 6 is a structural schematic diagram of a control module provided by the embodiment of the application. The control module 30 can include multiple control units 31 arranged in sequence in layers, and the multiple control units 31 correspond to the multiple heat exchange modules 20 one by one. Each control unit 31 is used to control the corresponding heat exchange module 20 to supply the heat exchange medium to the carrier base 11, that is, one control unit 31 controls the temperature of one region of the carrier base 11. In this embodiment, the multiple control units 31 are arranged in layers, which can greatly reduce the floor area of the control units 31 in the auxiliary equipment layer 200. Compared with Figure 2 and Figure 6 , if there are four heat exchange systems in one semiconductor process equipment, the four control units 31 are arranged in layers, and the floor area can be saved by 75%. Moreover, the operator can still easily operate the interface of each control unit 31.

[0056] For another example, the temperature-controlled object of the process chamber 10 can include the upper cover 12 in addition to the carrier base 11, that is, the temperature-controlled object is provided with two, and the semiconductor process equipment also includes the heat exchange module 20 corresponding to the upper cover 12, that is, each temperature-controlled object / region that needs to be independently controlled corresponds to one heat exchange module 20. The control module 30 is also used to control the heat exchange module 20 to supply the heat exchange medium to the upper cover 12.

[0057] The embodiment of the application also provides a semiconductor process equipment, which includes a process chamber 10 and a heat exchange system as described in each of the above embodiments.

[0058] The process chamber 10, including the temperature-controlled object, is arranged in the main device layer 100. The heat exchange module 20 is connected to the temperature-controlled object.

[0059] The semiconductor process equipment of the embodiment of the present application can be a chemical vapor etching equipment, or other equipment that needs to use a heat exchange system for temperature control. The type of the semiconductor process equipment is not particularly limited in the embodiment of the present application.

[0060] For other structures, working principles and processes of the semiconductor process equipment of the embodiment, refer to the foregoing description of the heat exchange system of the embodiment of the present application, which will not be repeated here.

[0061] The heat exchange system and the semiconductor process equipment provided in the present application are described in detail above, and the principles and implementation manners of the present application are described by using specific examples. It should be noted that the description of each embodiment in the present application is focused on different aspects, and the parts not described or recorded in a certain embodiment can be referred to the relevant description of other embodiments.

[0062] The above is only the preferred embodiment of the present application, and does not limit the patent scope of the present application. Each technical feature of the technical solution of the present application can be combined arbitrarily. In order to make the description simple, each technical feature in the above embodiments is not described in all possible combinations. Any equivalent structure or equivalent flow conversion obtained by using the content of the present application and the drawings, or directly or indirectly used in other related technical fields, as long as the combination of these technical features does not exist contradictions, are also included in the patent protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A heat exchange system applied to semiconductor process equipment, characterized in that, include: The heat exchange module, located on the main equipment layer, is used to introduce heat exchange medium into the temperature-controlled object in the process chamber; A control module, located in the auxiliary equipment layer and connected to the heat exchange module, is used to control the heat exchange module to supply the heat exchange medium to the object under controlled temperature.

2. The heat exchange system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The heat exchange module includes: A liquid storage tank is used to store the heat exchange medium and to form a circulation loop with the temperature-controlled object. A pump unit, connected to the liquid storage tank, is used to drive the heat exchange medium to flow in the circulation loop; A heat exchanger unit for exchanging heat with the heat exchange medium; The control module is electrically connected to the pump unit and is used to control the pump unit to supply the heat exchange medium to the object under controlled temperature.

3. The heat exchange system according to claim 2, characterized in that, The pump unit includes one of the following: centrifugal pump, positive displacement pump, axial flow pump, and mixed flow pump.

4. The heat exchange system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The heat exchange module is provided in multiple ways, and is used to independently introduce the heat exchange medium into multiple temperature-controlled objects, or to independently introduce the heat exchange medium into multiple areas of the temperature-controlled objects. The control module includes control units connected one-to-one with the plurality of heat exchange modules, and the plurality of control units are used to independently control the heat exchange modules.

5. The heat exchange system according to claim 4, characterized in that, Multiple control units are stacked sequentially.

6. The heat exchange system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The auxiliary equipment layer is located below the main equipment layer.

7. A semiconductor process apparatus, characterized in that, It includes a process chamber and a heat exchange system as described in any one of claims 1-6; The process chamber includes a temperature-controlled object and is used to be disposed on the main equipment layer; The heat exchange module is connected to the object whose temperature is being controlled.

8. The semiconductor process equipment according to claim 7, characterized in that, The temperature-controlled object includes a support base, the support base includes a central area, and at least one edge area that surrounds the central area in sequence; Multiple heat exchange modules are provided, and each module is configured to correspond one-to-one with the central area and the edge area, for introducing heat exchange medium into the central area and the edge area respectively. The control module is used to control the heat exchange module to supply the heat exchange medium to the support base.

9. The semiconductor process equipment according to claim 7, characterized in that, The temperature-controlled object also includes an upper cover; The semiconductor process equipment also includes a heat exchange module corresponding to the upper cover; The control module is also used to control the corresponding heat exchange module to introduce the heat exchange medium into the upper cover.

10. The semiconductor process equipment according to claim 7, characterized in that, The process chamber is located above the heat exchange module.

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