Wafer transmission system for semiconductor multi-chip manufacturing process thin film deposition technology

Abstract

The utility model belongs to the technical field of semiconductor thin film deposition, and discloses a wafer transmission system for a semiconductor multi-chip manufacturing process thin film deposition process, which comprises a wafer loading chamber, a vacuum transmission chamber and a manipulator, at least one group of wafer placing racks is arranged in the wafer loading chamber, each group comprises two wafer placing racks which are arranged left and right, and the vacuum transmission chamber is communicated with the manipulator. The wafer placing frame is provided with at least one wafer placing layer, the wafer loading chamber is provided with a wafer outlet, the vacuum transmission chamber is provided with a wafer transmission inlet, and the wafer outlet and the wafer transmission inlet are controlled to be on and off through a vacuum transmission valve. A wafer transmission outlet communicated with an inner cavity of the thin film deposition equipment is formed in at least one of the other walls of the vacuum transmission cavity except the wall where the wafer transmission inlet is located, the manipulator is fixed in the vacuum transmission cavity and comprises a base and two mechanical arms, and the two mechanical arms can rotate, ascend and descend and horizontally stretch and retract relative to the base respectively. The mechanical arm is in a U shape and is provided with two mechanical fingers arranged left and right.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model relates to the field of semiconductor thin film deposition technology, and more specifically, to a wafer transport system for semiconductor multi-wafer thin film deposition processes. Background Technology

[0002] In the semiconductor thin film deposition process, wafers need to be transferred from the wafer loading chamber to the thin film deposition equipment for thin film deposition. Wafers that have completed the deposition process also need to be removed from the thin film deposition equipment in a timely manner and placed into the next wafer to be processed. However, most current equipment can only pick up one wafer at a time, which is inefficient for thin film deposition in multi-wafer semiconductor processes. Utility Model Content

[0003] To address the shortcomings of existing technologies, this utility model innovatively provides a wafer transfer system for semiconductor multi-wafer thin film deposition processes. Each robotic arm can transfer two wafers at a time, and the two robotic arms work together to remove two wafers that have completed the process from the thin film deposition equipment and immediately insert two wafers to be processed, thereby improving production efficiency.

[0004] To achieve the aforementioned technical objectives, this utility model discloses a wafer transport system for semiconductor multi-wafer thin film deposition processes, comprising a wafer loading chamber, a vacuum transport chamber, and a robotic arm.

[0005] The wafer loading chamber is provided with at least one set of wafer racks, each set of wafer racks including two wafer racks arranged side by side, each wafer rack having at least one wafer placement layer, and a wafer outlet is provided on the wall of the wafer loading chamber facing the wafer racks.

[0006] The vacuum transfer chamber is provided with a wafer transfer inlet at the position corresponding to the wafer exit. The wafer exit and the wafer transfer inlet are controlled to be switched on and off by a vacuum transfer valve. At least one wall of the vacuum transfer chamber other than the wall where the wafer transfer inlet is located is provided with a wafer transfer outlet that communicates with the inner cavity of the thin film deposition equipment.

[0007] The robotic arm is fixed in the vacuum transmission chamber. The robotic arm includes a base and two robotic arms mounted on the base. The two robotic arms can rotate, lift, and extend horizontally relative to the base, respectively. The robotic arms are U-shaped and have two robotic fingers arranged on the left and right.

[0008] Furthermore, a partition is provided in the wafer loading chamber, which divides the inner cavity of the wafer loading chamber into an upper cavity and a lower cavity, and at least one set of wafer placement racks are respectively provided in the upper cavity and the lower cavity.

[0009] Furthermore, the wafer placement rack includes left and right arranged columns and one or more vertically arranged support plates fixed on the columns. The support plates on the two columns are arranged opposite each other and have a preset distance. The two opposite support plates on the left and right form a wafer placement layer.

[0010] Furthermore, there is a height difference between the same wafer placement layers of the two wafer placement racks in each group.

[0011] Furthermore, the mechanical finger is forked.

[0012] Furthermore, the upper surface of the mechanical finger is provided with a limiting structure, which is a groove.

[0013] Furthermore, the upper surface of the mechanical finger is provided with a limiting structure, which includes 3 to 4 limiting protrusions arranged in a polygonal pattern, and the wafer is limited within the space enclosed by the limiting protrusions.

[0014] Furthermore, the surface of the limiting boss that contacts the wafer is an inclined surface.

[0015] Furthermore, it also includes a support platform, on which the wafer loading chamber and the vacuum transfer chamber are fixed.

[0016] Furthermore, the bottom of the support platform is fixed with leveling casters.

[0017] The beneficial effects of this utility model are as follows:

[0018] This invention relates to a wafer transport system for semiconductor multi-wafer thin film deposition processes. Each robotic arm can transport two wafers at a time, and the two robotic arms work together to remove two wafers that have completed the process from the thin film deposition equipment and immediately place two wafers to be processed, thereby improving production efficiency. Attached Figure Description

[0019] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the wafer transport system for semiconductor multi-wafer thin film deposition process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0020] Figure 2 This is a top view of a wafer transport system for semiconductor multi-wafer thin film deposition process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0021] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the robotic arm according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0022] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the mechanical finger after picking up the wafer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0023] Figure 5This is a side view of the mechanical finger after picking up a wafer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0024] Figure 6 This is a left longitudinal sectional view of the wafer loading chamber according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0025] In the picture,

[0026] 1. Wafer loading chamber; 11. Wafer outlet; 12. Separator; 13. Upper cavity; 14. Lower cavity; 2. Vacuum transfer chamber; 21. Wafer transfer inlet; 22. Wafer transfer outlet; 3. Robotic arm; 31. Base; 32. Robotic arm; 321. Robotic finger; 4. Wafer placement rack; 41. Column; 42. Support plate; 5. Vacuum transfer valve; 6. Support platform; 7. Leveling casters; 8. Atmospheric transfer valve; 9. Wafer; 10. Limiting structure; 101. Limiting boss. Detailed Implementation

[0027] The wafer transport system for semiconductor multi-wafer thin film deposition process provided by this utility model will be explained and described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0028] This embodiment specifically discloses a wafer transport system for semiconductor multi-wafer thin film deposition processes, such as... Figure 1 and 2 As shown, the system includes a wafer loading chamber 1, a vacuum transfer chamber 2, and a robotic arm 3. The wafer loading chamber 1 contains at least one set of wafer racks 4. Each set of wafer racks 4 includes two wafer racks arranged horizontally, meaning the number of wafer racks 4 is even. Each wafer rack 4 has at least one wafer placement layer, with one wafer placed on each layer. Each set of wafer racks 4 has two wafers arranged horizontally on the same wafer placement layer. When multiple sets of wafer racks 4 are provided, they can be arranged horizontally in a row to avoid front-to-back obstruction and to ensure proper wafer loading and unloading. A wafer outlet 11 is provided on the wall of the wafer loading chamber 1 facing the wafer racks 4. An atmospheric inlet is provided on one of the walls of the wafer loading chamber 1 other than the wall where the wafer outlet 11 is located. Preferably, the wafer outlet 11 and the atmospheric outlet are located on two opposite walls. The atmospheric inlet of the wafer loading chamber 1 is connected to an atmospheric transmission device, and the connection between the wafer loading chamber 1 and the atmospheric transmission device is controlled by an atmospheric transmission valve 8.

[0029] A wafer transfer inlet 21 is provided on the vacuum transfer chamber 2 at the position corresponding to the wafer outlet 11. The wafer outlet 11 and the wafer transfer inlet 21 are controlled to open and close by a vacuum transfer valve 5. At least one wall of the vacuum transfer chamber 2, excluding the wall where the wafer transfer inlet 21 is located, is provided with a wafer transfer outlet 22 that communicates with the inner cavity of the thin film deposition equipment. The number of wafer transfer outlets 22 is set according to the number of thin film deposition equipment. To increase the number of wafers stored, multiple wafer loading chambers 1 can be provided. Correspondingly, the vacuum transfer chamber 2 is provided with the same number of wafer transfer inlets 21 as the wafer loading chamber 1. All wafer transfer inlets 21 can be located on the same side of the vacuum transfer chamber 2. Preferably, all wafer transfer inlets 21 are located on different sides of the vacuum transfer chamber 2. The vacuum transfer chamber 2 is provided with the same number of wafer transfer outlets 22 as the thin film deposition equipment, and all wafer transfer outlets 22 are located on different sides of the vacuum transfer chamber 2. Therefore, the cross-section of the vacuum transfer chamber 2 can be configured as quadrilateral, pentagon, hexagon, or even more polygonal to accommodate the wafer loading chamber 1 and the thin film deposition equipment. When there are multiple wafer transfer inlets 21, they are distributed on different sides of the vacuum transfer chamber 2; when there are multiple wafer transfer outlets 22, they are also distributed on different sides of the vacuum transfer chamber 2. The specific shape of the vacuum transfer chamber 2 is set according to the number of wafer loading chambers 1 and the thin film deposition equipment.

[0030] like Figure 1 and 2 As shown, the robotic arm 3 is fixed inside the vacuum transmission chamber 2, as... Figure 2 and 3 As shown, the robotic arm 3 includes a base 31 and two robotic arms 32 mounted on the base 31. The two robotic arms 32 can rotate, lift, and extend horizontally relative to the base 31, respectively. The robotic arms 32 achieve these movements through corresponding mechanisms. The robotic arm 3 can be any robotic arm commonly used in the art capable of lifting, rotating, and extending horizontally; this application does not impose any special limitations. Figure 2 and 3 As shown, the robotic arm 32 is U-shaped and has two robotic fingers 321 arranged horizontally. Each robotic finger 321 picks up one wafer, and the two robotic fingers 321 can simultaneously pick up two wafers arranged horizontally on each wafer placement rack 4, improving transfer efficiency. The two robotic arms 32 can be arranged vertically. One of the two robotic arms 32 can be used to pick up a wafer from the wafer loading chamber 1 and place it into the thin film deposition equipment, while the other can be used to pick up a wafer that has completed the thin film deposition process from the thin film deposition equipment. The two robotic arms 32 work together to pick up the wafer that has completed the thin film deposition process from the thin film deposition equipment and immediately place two wafers to be processed, greatly improving wafer transfer efficiency.

[0031] The mechanical finger 321 of this application can pick up wafers by gripping, clamping, or forking, and the specific picking and placing method is determined according to the type of mechanical hand 3.

[0032] Optional, such as Figure 2 and 3 As shown, the mechanical finger 321 is fork-shaped and can directly pick up and drop wafers from the wafer placement rack 4 or the thin film deposition equipment.

[0033] In some embodiments, a limiting structure 10 is provided on the upper surface of the robotic finger 321, and the limiting structure 10 is a groove. The depth of the groove is greater than the thickness of the wafer 9. The groove can extend outside the robotic finger 321 along the width direction, that is, the two ends of the groove along the width direction of the robotic finger 321 are open. The two groove walls along the length direction of the robotic finger 321 can be arc-shaped to match the shape of the wafer. After the robotic finger 321 picks up the wafer, the wafer is placed in the groove on the upper surface of the robotic finger 321, which prevents the wafer from slipping off the upper surface of the robotic finger 321 during the movement of the robotic arm 32.

[0034] In some embodiments, the limiting structure 10 includes 3 to 4 limiting protrusions 101 arranged in a polygonal pattern, and the wafer 9 is limited within the space enclosed by the limiting protrusions 101. When the limiting structure 10 includes 3 limiting protrusions 101, the 3 limiting protrusions 101 are arranged in a triangular pattern. If the mechanical finger 321 is forked, two limiting protrusions 101 can be respectively provided on the two forks, and the remaining limiting protrusion 101 is provided at the intersection of the two forks. After the mechanical finger 321 forks the wafer 9, the wafer 9 is located within the space enclosed by the 3 limiting protrusions 101; Figure 3 and 4 As shown, when the limiting structure 10 includes four limiting protrusions 101, the four limiting protrusions 101 are arranged in a quadrilateral shape, which can be a rectangle, square, trapezoid, or an irregular quadrilateral. For example... Figure 3 and 4 As shown, two limiting protrusions 101 are respectively provided on the two forks of the mechanical finger 321, and the other two limiting protrusions 101 are provided on the part where the forks of the mechanical finger 321 intersect and are arranged along the width direction of the mechanical finger 321. The height of the limiting protrusions 101 is greater than the thickness of the wafer 9. After the mechanical finger 321 loads the wafer 9, the limiting protrusions 101 surround the wafer 9 to prevent the wafer 9 from slipping off the upper surface of the mechanical finger 321 during the movement of the mechanical arm 32.

[0035] The surface of the limiting boss 101 that contacts the wafer can be a vertical surface, an inclined surface, or an arc-shaped surface.

[0036] Preferably, such as Figure 3-5As shown, the surface of the limiting boss 101 that contacts the wafer 9 is an inclined surface. The inclined surface of the limiting boss 101 extends from top to bottom toward the center of the space enclosed by the limiting boss 101. After the mechanical finger 321 forks the wafer, the wafer 9 is located at the waist of the inclined surface of the limiting boss 101, which prevents the wafer from slipping off the upper surface of the mechanical finger 321 during the movement of the mechanical arm 32. At the same time, the bottom of the wafer is suspended and does not contact the upper surface of the mechanical finger 321, which prevents the mechanical finger 321 from rubbing and scratching the wafer.

[0037] To increase the number of wafers placed in wafer loading chamber 1, such as Figure 1 and 6 As shown, a partition 12 is provided inside the wafer loading chamber 1. The partition 12 is horizontally arranged and divides the inner cavity of the wafer loading chamber 1 into an upper cavity 13 and a lower cavity 14. At least one set of wafer placement racks 4 are respectively provided in the upper cavity 13 and the lower cavity 14. The partition divides the wafer outlet 11 into upper and lower parts, that is, wafer outlets 11 are provided on the walls of both the upper cavity 13 and the lower cavity 14. The robot arm 3 can first pick up the wafers in one cavity, and after the wafers in that cavity are used up, it can pick up the wafers in the other cavity. Figure 6 Both the upper cavity 13 and the lower cavity 14 shown are equipped with a set of wafer racks 4. Each wafer rack 4 has 3 wafer placement layers, which can realize the storage of a total of 12 wafers.

[0038] This application allows for different wafer storage capacities to be set in the wafer device chamber to adapt to the transmission requirements of different types of thin film deposition equipment.

[0039] Furthermore, such as Figure 6 As shown, the wafer placement rack 4 includes left-right arranged columns 41 and one or more vertically arranged support plates 42 fixed on the columns 41. The support plates 42 on the two columns 41 are arranged opposite each other and have a preset distance. The two opposite support plates 42 are of the same height, forming a wafer placement layer for supporting and placing a wafer. There is a preset distance between the two opposite support plates 42, which is larger than the width of the robotic arm 32, so that the robotic fingers 321 can reach into the distance to pick up the wafer.

[0040] Preferably, there is a height difference between the same wafer placement layers of the two wafer placement racks 4 in each group of wafer placement racks 4. That is, there is a height difference between the two wafers being picked up at the same time, and this height difference is set according to actual needs. Since there may be a positional offset between the wafer and the robotic finger 321, the two robotic fingers 321 sense the relative position with the wafer through corresponding sensors, and then control the picking of the corresponding wafer. This can realize the separate position correction and picking and placing of the two robotic fingers 321, so as to realize the function of the robotic arm 32 extending to pick up or place two wafers at a time, thereby saving overall space and improving efficiency.

[0041] In some embodiments, the wafer transport system for semiconductor multi-wafer thin-film deposition processes of this application further includes a support platform 6. The wafer loading chamber 1 and the vacuum transport chamber 2 are fixed on the support platform 6. The wafer loading chamber 1 and the vacuum transport chamber 2 can be fixed on the support platform 6 by support columns, so that the wafer outlet 11 and the wafer transport inlet 21 are aligned. The wafer loading chamber 1 and the vacuum transport chamber 2 are integrated into a whole by the support platform 6, which facilitates movement.

[0042] Optionally, the bottom of the support platform 6 is fixed with leveling casters 7 to achieve leveling of the entire wafer transport system, improve the wafer loading and unloading accuracy, the alignment accuracy between the wafer loading chamber 1 and the atmospheric transport device, and the alignment accuracy between the vacuum transport chamber 2 and the thin film deposition equipment, thereby improving the wafer transport efficiency and the efficiency and quality of the thin film deposition process.

[0043] The wafer transport system of this application operates as follows:

[0044] One of the robotic arms 32 moves within the vacuum transfer chamber 2 to a position where it docks with the wafer loading chamber 1 (i.e., at the wafer transfer inlet 21). The vacuum transfer valve 5 opens, and the two robotic fingers 321 of the robotic arm 32 extend into the wafer loading chamber 1 to pick up two wafers arranged horizontally on either side of a set of wafer racks 4, ready for processing. Then, the robotic arm 32 retracts into the vacuum transfer chamber 2, and the vacuum transfer valve 5 closes. Both robotic arms 32 then rotate within the vacuum transfer chamber 2 to a position where they dock with the thin film deposition equipment (i.e., at the wafer loading inlet 21). At the wafer transfer outlet 22, another robotic arm 32 removes the completed wafer from the thin film deposition equipment. The robotic arm 32, carrying two wafers awaiting processing, then places them back into the thin film deposition equipment. The robotic arm 32, carrying the two completed wafers, moves within the vacuum transfer chamber 2 to the wafer transfer inlet 21. The vacuum transfer valve 5 opens, and the robotic arm 32 places the completed wafers onto an empty wafer placement layer on the wafer placement rack 4 within the wafer loading chamber 1. One robotic arm can simultaneously transfer two wafers, and the two completed wafers and the two wafers awaiting processing are transferred almost simultaneously, reducing the idle time of the thin film deposition equipment and significantly improving production efficiency.

[0045] This application utilizes two U-shaped robotic arms 32 to simultaneously pick up two wafers, and can pick up two wafers that have completed the process from the thin film deposition equipment at one time and immediately place two wafers to be processed, thereby improving the overall transmission efficiency and solving the problem that the current transmission equipment is not efficient enough to transmit one wafer at a time.

[0046] In the description of this utility model, it should be understood that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "transverse", "length", "width", "thickness", "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", "clockwise", "counterclockwise", "axial", "radial", "circumferential", etc., indicating the orientation or positional relationship are based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing this utility model and simplifying the description, and are not intended to indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be construed as a limitation of this utility model.

[0047] In this utility model, unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, the terms "installation," "connection," "joining," and "fixing," etc., should be interpreted broadly. For example, they can refer to a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral part; they can refer to a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; they can refer to a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium; they can refer to the internal communication of two components or the interaction between two components, unless otherwise explicitly limited. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of the above terms in this utility model according to the specific circumstances.

[0048] In the description of this specification, the references to terms such as "this embodiment," "an embodiment," "some embodiments," "example," "specific example," or "some examples," etc., indicate that a specific feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with that embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of the present invention. In this specification, the illustrative expressions of the above terms do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in a suitable manner in any at least one embodiment or example. Moreover, without contradiction, those skilled in the art can combine and integrate the different embodiments or examples described in this specification, as well as the features of different embodiments or examples.

[0049] Furthermore, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the number of indicated technical features. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one of that feature. In the description of this utility model, "a plurality of" means at least two, such as two, three, etc., unless otherwise explicitly specified.

[0050] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present utility model and is not intended to limit the present utility model. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions and simple improvements made on the substantive content of the present utility model should be included within the protection scope of the present utility model.

Claims

1. A wafer transport system for semiconductor multi-wafer thin film deposition processes, characterized in that, It includes a wafer loading chamber (1), a vacuum transfer chamber (2), and a robotic arm (3). The wafer loading chamber (1) is provided with at least one set of wafer racks (4), each set of wafer racks (4) includes two wafer racks (4) arranged left and right, each wafer rack (4) is provided with at least one wafer placement layer, and a wafer outlet (11) is opened on the wall of the wafer loading chamber (1) facing the wafer racks (4). The vacuum transfer chamber (2) is provided with a wafer transfer inlet (21) at the position corresponding to the wafer outlet (11). The wafer outlet (11) and the wafer transfer inlet (21) are controlled to open and close by a vacuum transfer valve (5). At least one wall of the vacuum transfer chamber (2), excluding the wall where the wafer transfer inlet (21) is located, is provided with a wafer transfer outlet (22) that communicates with the inner cavity of the thin film deposition equipment. The robotic arm (3) is fixed inside the vacuum transmission chamber (2). The robotic arm (3) includes a base (31) and two robotic arms (32) mounted on the base (31). The two robotic arms (32) can rotate, lift, and extend horizontally relative to the base (31). The robotic arms (32) are U-shaped and have two robotic fingers (321) arranged on the left and right.

2. The wafer transport system for semiconductor multi-wafer thin film deposition process according to claim 1, characterized in that, The wafer loading chamber (1) is provided with a partition (12), which divides the inner cavity of the wafer loading chamber (1) into an upper cavity (13) and a lower cavity (14). At least one set of wafer placement racks (4) are respectively provided in the upper cavity (13) and the lower cavity (14).

3. The wafer transport system for semiconductor multi-wafer thin film deposition process according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The wafer placement rack (4) includes left and right columns (41) and one or more vertically arranged support plates (42) fixed on the columns (41). The support plates (42) on the two columns (41) are arranged opposite each other and have a preset distance. The two support plates (42) that are opposite each other on the left and right form a wafer placement layer.

4. The wafer transport system for semiconductor multi-wafer thin film deposition process according to claim 3, characterized in that, There is a height difference between the same layer of wafer placement in each set of wafer placement racks (4).

5. The wafer transport system for semiconductor multi-wafer thin film deposition process according to claim 1, characterized in that, The mechanical finger (321) is forked.

6. The wafer transport system for semiconductor multi-wafer thin film deposition process according to claim 1 or 5, characterized in that, The upper surface of the mechanical finger (321) is provided with a limiting structure (10), which is a groove.

7. The wafer transport system for semiconductor multi-wafer thin film deposition process according to claim 1 or 5, characterized in that, The upper surface of the mechanical finger (321) is provided with a limiting structure (10), which includes 3 to 4 limiting bosses (101) arranged in a polygonal pattern, and the wafer is limited within the space enclosed by the limiting bosses (101).

8. The wafer transport system for semiconductor multi-wafer thin film deposition process according to claim 7, characterized in that, The surface of the limiting boss (101) that contacts the wafer is an inclined surface.

9. The wafer transport system for semiconductor multi-wafer thin film deposition process according to claim 1, characterized in that, It also includes a support platform (6), on which the wafer loading chamber (1) and the vacuum transfer chamber (2) are fixed.

10. The wafer transport system for semiconductor multi-wafer thin film deposition process according to claim 9, characterized in that, The bottom of the support platform (6) is fixed with leveling casters (7).

Images