Transition cooling mechanism and wafer processing equipment

Abstract

The utility model relates to the technical field of semiconductor processing, and discloses a transition cooling mechanism and wafer processing equipment. The transition cooling mechanism comprises a transition shell, a cooling assembly and an upper cover assembly. The transition shell is provided with a transition cavity, and an inlet of the transition cavity is connected with an outlet of the transmission cavity; the cooling assembly comprises a cooling disc, the cooling disc is arranged in the transition cavity, and the cooling disc is used for bearing a wafer; the upper cover assembly comprises a driving part and an upper cover, the upper cover is located in the transition cavity and located above the cooling disc, the driving part is connected to the top wall of the transition shell and is in driving connection with the upper cover, and the driving part is used for driving the upper cover to ascend and descend so that a closed cooling cavity used for cooling the wafer can be formed between the upper cover and the cooling disc. The transition cooling mechanism and the transmission cavity are of a split structure and can be independently machined, the size of the transmission cavity is reduced, the material requirement and the material machining amount are further reduced, the transition cooling mechanism is connected with an outlet of the transmission cavity, a transmission interface in the side wall of the transmission cavity is not occupied, and the space layout of the process cavity is facilitated.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The utility model relates to the technical field of semiconductor processing, especially to a transition cooling mechanism and wafer processing equipment. BACKGROUND

[0002] Semiconductor process includes the steps such as adhesive removal, film deposition and etching, and the process equipment of these processes is mainly divided into process cavities and transmission cavities, multiple process cavities are arranged on multiple transmission interfaces of the side wall of the transmission cavity, and the types of process cavities are set according to requirements. In the prior art, the function of cooling wafers is an independent module, which is a selected function of platform equipment, and is required in many processes; the cooling module is mainly of two conventional types, namely built-in and external. However, the built-in cooling module of the transmission cavity will result in an excessively large cavity of the transmission cavity, and the material volume and processing amount are large; and the external cooling module of the transmission cavity will occupy the transmission interface of the side wall of the transmission cavity, affecting the spatial arrangement of the process cavity.

[0003] Therefore, there is an urgent need for a transition cooling mechanism and wafer processing equipment to solve the above problems. SUMMARY

[0004] Based on the above, the purpose of the utility model is to provide a transition cooling mechanism and wafer processing equipment, which reduces the volume of the transmission cavity, thereby reducing the material requirements and material processing amount, and the transition cooling mechanism connects the outlet of the transmission cavity without occupying the transmission interface of the side wall of the transmission cavity, which is beneficial to the spatial layout of the process cavity.

[0005] To achieve the above purpose, the utility model adopts the following technical scheme:

[0006] On the one hand, a transition cooling mechanism is provided, which comprises:

[0007] A transition shell is provided with a transition cavity, and the inlet of the transition cavity is used to connect the outlet of the transmission cavity;

[0008] A cooling assembly comprises a cold plate, which is arranged in the transition cavity and is used to carry wafers;

[0009] An upper cover assembly comprises a driving component and an upper cover, the upper cover is located in the transition cavity and above the cold plate, the driving component is connected to the top wall of the transition shell and drivingly connected to the upper cover, and the driving component is used to drive the upper cover to rise and fall, so as to form a sealed cooling cavity between the upper cover and the cold plate for cooling the wafers.

[0010] As a kind of preferred technical scheme of transition cooling mechanism, the cold plate is provided with air supply channel, the cooling assembly further includes inert gas supply source, one end of the air supply channel is communicated with the closed cooling cavity, and the other end is communicated with the inert gas supply source.

[0011] As a kind of preferred technical scheme of transition cooling mechanism, the cold plate is provided with air supply channel, the cooling assembly further includes inert gas supply source, one end of the air supply channel is communicated with the closed cooling cavity, and the other end is communicated with the inert gas supply source.

[0012] As a kind of preferred technical scheme of transition cooling mechanism, the cooling assembly further includes cooling water supply component, the cooling water supply component is provided with water inlet and water outlet, the cold plate is provided with cooling channel, and the two ends of the cooling channel are communicated with the water inlet and the water outlet respectively.

[0013] As a kind of preferred technical scheme of transition cooling mechanism, the cooling assembly further includes flow sensor, and the flow sensor is used to detect the flow of cooling water in the cooling channel.

[0014] As a kind of preferred technical scheme of transition cooling mechanism, the driving component includes driving piece, the driving piece is provided with driving rod, the top wall of the transition shell is provided with avoiding hole, the driving piece is connected to the outer wall of the transition shell, the driving rod is sealed and passes through the avoiding hole and is connected to the upper cover.

[0015] As a kind of preferred technical scheme of transition cooling mechanism, the driving piece is telescopic air cylinder.

[0016] As a kind of preferred technical scheme of transition cooling mechanism, the side of the upper cover towards the cold plate is provided with recess, when the upper cover is pressed down, the cold plate can seal the opening of the recess, and the closed cooling cavity is formed between the cold plate and the groove bottom of the recess.

[0017] In another aspect, a wafer processing equipment is provided, including transmission cavity, storage cavity and the transition cooling mechanism of any one of the above schemes, and the transmission cavity, the transition cavity and the storage cavity are communicated in sequence.

[0018] As a kind of preferred technical scheme of wafer processing equipment, part of the upper cover and part of the cold plate are located in the transmission cavity.

[0019] The beneficial effects of the utility model are as follows:

[0020] The utility model provides a transition cooling mechanism and wafer processing equipment, when working, wafer in transmission cavity is transmitted to transition cavity and is placed on cold dish, then drive component drives upper cover to drop, to make upper cover and cold dish form airtight cooling cavity, wafer carries out cooling in airtight cooling cavity, after cooling, drive component drives upper cover to rise, and the wafer after cooling is taken away. In the utility model, transition cooling mechanism and transmission cavity are the split structure, and the both can be independently processed, reduce the volume of transmission cavity, and then reduce material requirement and material processing capacity, and, transition cooling mechanism connects the export of transmission cavity, does not occupy transmission interface of transmission cavity side wall, is favorable to the space layout of process cavity. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0021] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical scheme in the embodiment of the utility model, the following will be briefly introduced the drawing needed to be used in the embodiment of the utility model, and obviously, the drawing in the following description is only some embodiments of the utility model, and for ordinary skilled person in the art, under the premise of not paying creative labor, other drawings can be obtained according to the content of the embodiment of the utility model and these drawings.

[0022] Figure 1 It is the structure schematic view of transition cooling mechanism provided by the embodiment of the utility model,

[0023] Figure 2 It is the structure schematic view of transition cooling mechanism provided by the embodiment of the utility model.

[0024] The figure is marked as follows:

[0025] 1, transition shell, 11, transition cavity,

[0026] 2, cooling assembly, 21, cold dish, 22, inert gas supply source, 23, cooling water supply component,

[0027] 3, upper cover assembly, 31, drive piece, 311, drive rod, 32, upper cover, 321, recess. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] The utility model will be further explained in detail in the following combining with the drawing and embodiment.It can be understood that the specific embodiment described here is only used to explain the utility model, and not the limitation of the utility model.In addition, it needs to be explained that, in order to facilitate the description, only the part related to the utility model is shown in the drawing but not all structures.

[0029] In the description of the utility model, unless another definite provision and limitation, the term "link", "connect", "fix" should do broad sense understanding, for example, can be fixed connection, also can be detachable connection, or be integrated;Can be mechanical connection, also can be electrical connection;Can be directly connected, also can pass through the indirect connection of intermediate medium, can be two element internal communication or two element mutual action relation.For the ordinary skill in the art, the specific meaning of the above-mentioned terms in the utility model can be understood according to the specific circumstances.

[0030] In the utility model, unless another definite provision and limitation, the first feature is "on" or "under" the second feature can include the direct contact of the first and second features, can also include the contact of the first and second features not direct contact but through the contact between other features between them.Moreover, the first feature is "on", "above" and "on" the second feature includes the first feature is directly above and obliquely above the second feature, or just indicates that the horizontal height of the first feature is higher than the second feature.The first feature is "under", "below" and "under" the second feature includes the first feature is directly below and obliquely below the second feature, or just indicates that the horizontal height of the first feature is less than the second feature.

[0031] In the description of the embodiment, the orientation or position relationship of the terms "on", "under", "left", "right" and the like is based on the orientation or position relationship shown in the drawing, only for the convenience of description and simplification operation, and does not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, therefore cannot be understood as a limitation on the utility model.In addition, the terms "first", "second" are only used to distinguish in the description, and have no special meaning.

[0032] As Figure 1As shown, the embodiment provides a transition cooling mechanism, which comprises a transition housing 1, a cooling assembly 2 and an upper cover assembly 3. Specifically, the transition housing 1 is provided with a transition cavity 11, the inlet of the transition cavity 11 is used for connecting the outlet of the transmission cavity; the cooling assembly 2 comprises a cold plate 21, the cold plate 21 is arranged in the transition cavity 11 and is used for carrying the wafer; the upper cover assembly 3 comprises a driving component and an upper cover 32, the upper cover 32 is located in the transition cavity 11 and above the cold plate 21, the driving component is connected to the top wall of the transition housing 1 and is drivingly connected to the upper cover 32, and the driving component is used to drive the upper cover 32 to ascend and descend, so that a sealed cooling cavity for cooling the wafer is formed between the upper cover 32 and the cold plate 21. In operation, the wafer in the transmission cavity is transmitted into the transition cavity 11 and placed on the cold plate 21, then the driving component drives the upper cover 32 to descend, so that a sealed cooling cavity is formed between the upper cover 32 and the cold plate 21, the wafer is cooled in the sealed cooling cavity, after cooling, the driving component drives the upper cover 32 to ascend, and the cooled wafer is taken out. In the embodiment, the transition cooling mechanism and the transmission cavity are in a split structure, and can be independently processed, thereby reducing the volume of the transmission cavity, and further reducing the material requirements and the material processing amount, and moreover, the transition cooling mechanism is connected to the outlet of the transmission cavity, does not occupy the transmission interface of the side wall of the transmission cavity, and is beneficial to the spatial layout of the process cavity.

[0033] In the embodiment, the side of the upper cover 32 facing the cold plate 21 is provided with a groove 321, when the upper cover 32 is pressed down, the cold plate 21 can seal the opening of the groove 321, and a sealed cooling cavity is formed between the cold plate 21 and the groove bottom of the groove 321. Specifically, the cold plate 21 is provided with a sealing ring, when the upper cover 32 is pressed down, the end face of the groove 321 is pressed on the sealing ring, thereby realizing the sealing between the upper cover 32 and the cold plate 21, so that a sealed cooling cavity is formed between the cold plate 21 and the groove bottom of the groove 321.

[0034] In the embodiment, the transition cavity 11 and the transmission cavity are both in a vacuum environment, when the driving component drives the upper cover 32 to descend to form a sealed cooling cavity, the sealed cooling cavity is in a vacuum state, which is not conducive to the cooling of the wafer. As shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, preferably, the cold plate 21 is provided with a gas supply channel, the cooling assembly 2 further comprises an inert gas supply source 22, one end of the gas supply channel is communicated with the sealed cooling cavity, and the other end is communicated with the inert gas supply source 22. The inert gas supply source 22 can provide inert gas into the sealed cooling cavity through the gas supply channel, and the wafer is in the environment of the inert gas, which improves the cooling efficiency of the wafer relative to the vacuum environment. The inert gas can be nitrogen or argon gas.

[0035] Further, the cooling plate 21 is provided with an exhaust channel, and the cooling assembly 2 further comprises a vacuum pump, one end of the exhaust channel is communicated with the closed cooling cavity, and the other end is communicated with the vacuum pump. After the wafer is cooled, in order to prevent the inert gas in the closed cooling cavity from flowing to the transition cavity 11, the vacuum pump is used to exhaust the inert gas in the closed cooling cavity through the exhaust channel to restore the vacuum state, and then the driving component drives the upper cover 32 to rise to transfer the cooled wafer.

[0036] Further, in the embodiment, the cooling assembly 2 further comprises a cooling water supply component 23, the cooling water supply component 23 is provided with a water inlet and a water outlet, and the cooling plate 21 is provided with a cooling channel, and the two ends of the cooling channel are communicated with the water inlet and the water outlet respectively. The cooling water supply component 23 can provide circulating cooling water in the cooling channel to reduce the temperature of the cooling plate 21, thereby realizing the cooling of the wafer. In the embodiment, the two ends of the cooling channel are communicated with the water inlet and the water outlet of the cooling water supply component 23 through pipelines respectively, so as to realize the circulating flow of the cooling water.

[0037] Preferably, the cooling assembly 2 further comprises a flow sensor for detecting the flow of the cooling water in the cooling channel, and the flow of the cooling water is adjusted according to the measurement information of the flow sensor to accurately control the cooling temperature of the wafer.

[0038] Further, the driving component comprises a driving piece 31, the driving piece 31 is provided with a driving rod 311, the top wall of the transition shell 1 is provided with a avoiding hole, the driving piece 31 is connected to the outer wall of the transition shell 1, and the driving rod 311 is sealed through the avoiding hole and connected to the upper cover 32. The driving piece 31 is arranged outside the outer wall of the transition shell 1, does not occupy the space of the transition cavity 11, reduces the size of the transition shell 1, and when the driving piece 31 drives the driving rod 311 to stretch and retract, the upper cover 32 can be driven to rise and fall. In the embodiment, the driving piece 31 is a telescopic cylinder.

[0039] In the embodiment, the cooling water supply component 23, the vacuum pump and the inert gas supply source 22 are all arranged at the bottom of the cooling plate 21.

[0040] The embodiment also provides the working principle of the transition cooling mechanism, which is as follows: in the initial state, the driving component drives the upper cover 32 to rise, the cooling water continuously flows in the cooling plate 21, then the robot moves the wafer in the transfer cavity to the cooling plate 21, the driving component drives the upper cover 32 to descend to form a closed cooling cavity, the inert gas supply source 22 supplies inert gas into the closed cooling cavity, after a preset time, the wafer is cooled, then the vacuum pump is used to exhaust the vacuum, and finally the driving component drives the upper cover 32 to rise to prepare for the cooling of the next wafer.

[0041] The embodiment also provides a wafer processing device, which comprises a transmission cavity, a storage cavity and the transition cooling mechanism, and the transmission cavity, the transition cavity 11 and the storage cavity are sequentially communicated.

[0042] Preferably, the partial upper cover 32 and the partial cold plate 21 are located in the transmission cavity, the transition cooling mechanism uses part of the space of the transmission cavity, reduces the size of the transition cavity 11 without affecting the size of the transmission cavity, the transition cavity 11 is shorter, does not affect the wafer transmission between the transmission cavity and the storage cavity, and ensures that there is enough size to place the wafer.

[0043] It should be noted that the above are only preferred embodiments of the present application and the technical principles applied. Those skilled in the art will understand that the present application is not limited to the specific embodiments described herein, and those skilled in the art can make various obvious changes, re-adjustments and substitutions without departing from the scope of the present application. Therefore, although the present application has been described in more detail through the above embodiments, the present application is not limited to the above embodiments, and can include more other equivalent embodiments without departing from the concept of the present application, and the scope of the present application is determined by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A transition cooling mechanism characterized by, The application relates to a transition cooling mechanism. The transition cooling mechanism comprises a transition shell (1) provided with a transition cavity (11), an inlet of the transition cavity (11) being used for connecting an outlet of a transmission cavity; a cooling assembly (2) comprising a cold plate (21), the cold plate (21) being arranged in the transition cavity (11) and being used for carrying a wafer; and an upper cover assembly (3) comprising a driving component and an upper cover (32), the upper cover (32) being arranged in the transition cavity (11) and being arranged above the cold plate (21), the driving component being connected to a top wall of the transition shell (1) and being drivingly connected to the upper cover (32), the driving component being used for driving the upper cover (32) to ascend and descend so that a closed cooling cavity for cooling the wafer is formed between the upper cover (32) and the cold plate (21). The cold plate (21) is provided with a gas supply channel, and the cooling assembly (2) further comprises an inert gas supply source (22), one end of the gas supply channel being communicated with the closed cooling cavity and the other end being communicated with the inert gas supply source (22). The cold plate (21) is provided with a gas extraction channel, and the cooling assembly (2) further comprises a vacuum pump, one end of the gas extraction channel being communicated with the closed cooling cavity and the other end being communicated with the vacuum pump.

2. The transition cooling mechanism of claim 1, wherein, The cooling assembly (2) further comprises a cooling water supply component (23) provided with a water inlet and a water outlet, and the cold plate (21) is provided with a cooling channel, two ends of the cooling channel being respectively communicated with the water inlet and the water outlet.

3. The transition cooling mechanism of claim 2, wherein, The cooling assembly (2) further comprises a flow sensor used for detecting the flow of cooling water in the cooling channel.

4. The transition cooling mechanism of claim 1, wherein, The driving component comprises a driving piece (31) provided with a driving rod (311), a top wall of the transition shell (1) is provided with a avoiding hole, the driving piece (31) is connected to an outer wall of the transition shell (1), and the driving rod (311) is sealingly arranged in the avoiding hole and connected to the upper cover (32).

5. The transition cooling mechanism of claim 4, wherein, The driving piece (31) is a telescopic air cylinder.

6. The transition cooling mechanism of claim 1, wherein, The upper cover (32) is provided with a groove (321) on a side facing the cold plate (21), the cold plate (21) can seal an opening of the groove (321) when the upper cover (32) is pressed down, and the closed cooling cavity is formed between the cold plate (21) and a groove bottom of the groove (321).

7. The transition cooling mechanism of claim 6, wherein, The application further relates to a wafer cooling device comprising a transmission cavity, a storage cavity and the transition cooling mechanism as claimed in any one of claims 1-8, the transmission cavity, the transition cavity (11) and the storage cavity being sequentially communicated.

8. The transition cooling mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein Part of the upper cover (32) and part of the cold plate (21) are arranged in the transmission cavity.

9. A wafer processing apparatus characterized by comprising: ​ 10. The wafer processing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein ​

Images