Real-time temperature control feedback target material cooling system and sputtering equipment

Abstract

The utility model provides a real-time temperature control feedback target material cooling system and sputtering equipment. The system comprises a target material fixing part, a cooling device and a temperature control feedback device, the target material fixing part is used for mounting a target material, and a cooling cavity is formed in the target material fixing part; the cooling device communicates with the cooling cavity and is used for providing cooling liquid for the cooling cavity so as to cool the target material; the temperature control feedback device comprises a temperature sensor and a signal processor, and the temperature sensor is arranged at the liquid outlet of the cooling cavity and used for monitoring the temperature of the cooling liquid and feeding the temperature back to the cooling device through the signal processor. The temperature sensor is arranged at the liquid outlet, the problems of time delay and error of temperature monitoring and temperature control feedback caused by the fact that cooling liquid flows in a backflow pipeline are solved, and real-time temperature monitoring and quick response are achieved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of semiconductor equipment, and in particular to a target cooling system and sputtering equipment with real-time temperature control feedback. Background Technology

[0002] Sputtering is a physical vapor deposition process that can be used to prepare various materials such as metals, semiconductors, and insulators. It offers advantages such as simple equipment, ease of control, large coating area, and strong adhesion. However, during the process, the sputtering target generates significant heat due to sputtering electron flow, thermal radiation, or prolonged operation. This heat accumulation can lead to increased target temperature, potentially causing phase transitions and stress concentration in the material's crystal lattice, resulting in unstable product quality.

[0003] To ensure process stability, a matching target cooling system is required. In existing sputtering equipment, the target is mounted on a fixed component, which forms a cooling chamber. Existing target cooling systems mainly rely on a chiller to circulate coolant into the cooling chamber. The circulating flow of the coolant continuously removes the heat generated by the target, thereby ensuring the stability of the target temperature and the normal operation of the process.

[0004] The current cooling system's temperature control feedback mechanism is based on adjusting the temperature of the recirculating coolant. It only has a temperature detector inside the chiller. However, the coolant needs to travel a certain distance to reach the chiller during the recirculation process, which causes a large difference between the temperature detected by the temperature detector inside the chiller and the temperature of the coolant in the cooling chamber. This results in slow and inaccurate temperature control feedback from the chiller.

[0005] It should be noted that the above introduction to the technical background is only for the purpose of providing a clear and complete explanation of the technical solutions of this application and facilitating understanding by those skilled in the art. It should not be assumed that these technical solutions are known to those skilled in the art simply because they have been described in the background section of this application. Utility Model Content

[0006] To address all or part of the problems in the prior art, this invention provides a target cooling system and sputtering equipment with real-time temperature control feedback, enabling rapid response to target temperature and reducing the lag time in temperature detection.

[0007] To achieve the above objectives, in a first aspect, the present invention provides a target material cooling system with real-time temperature control feedback, comprising a target material fixing part, a cooling device and a temperature control feedback device;

[0008] The target fixing part is used to install the target, and a cooling cavity is provided in the target fixing part;

[0009] The cooling device is connected to the cooling chamber and is used to provide coolant to the cooling chamber to cool the target material;

[0010] The temperature control feedback device includes a temperature sensor and a signal processor. The temperature sensor is located at the outlet of the cooling chamber and is used to monitor the temperature of the coolant and feed it back to the cooling device through the signal processor.

[0011] This application avoids the delay and error problems in temperature monitoring and temperature control feedback caused by the long-distance flow of coolant in the return pipe by setting the temperature sensor at the outlet of the cooling chamber, thus realizing real-time temperature monitoring and rapid response.

[0012] The temperature sensor is installed inside the pipe at the liquid outlet, and the temperature sensor is a contact sensor. Using a contact sensor and installing it inside the pipe can improve the accuracy of temperature monitoring.

[0013] The signal processor is communicatively connected to both the temperature sensor and the cooling device. The signal processor receives temperature information from the temperature sensor and feeds it back to the cooling device in real time. This allows for the real-time feedback of temperature information to the cooling device.

[0014] The cooling device is configured to adjust the temperature and flow rate of the supplied coolant based on temperature information received from the signal processor, thereby ensuring sufficient cooling of the target material. It can rapidly adjust the coolant according to temperature control information, ensuring effective target material cooling and improving process stability.

[0015] The cooling device is a chiller. It uses commonly used equipment in the semiconductor processing field, has good equipment compatibility, and is easy to modify.

[0016] The cooling chamber has a liquid inlet and a liquid outlet. The liquid inlet is connected to the chiller through a liquid inlet pipe, and the liquid outlet is connected to the chiller through a return pipe.

[0017] It also includes a second temperature sensor disposed at the liquid inlet, which is communicatively connected to the signal processor. By adding a second temperature sensor, the inlet and outlet temperatures of the cooling chamber can be obtained simultaneously, allowing for better control of the temperature conditions inside the cooling chamber.

[0018] The lower surface of the target fixing part is formed with a mounting groove for mounting the target, and the back side of the mounting groove is formed with a hollow cavity serving as a cooling chamber.

[0019] The target fixing part includes a cooling chamber base and a target back plate. The cooling chamber base and the target back plate are connected to form a sealed hollow chamber to form the cooling chamber. The cooling chamber base and the target back plate are fitted together to form a mounting groove for mounting the target.

[0020] On the other hand, the present invention also provides a sputtering device, including a target cooling system as described in any of the first aspects.

[0021] Compared with the prior art, the main advantages of this utility model are: by placing the temperature sensor at the liquid outlet, the delay and error problems in temperature monitoring and temperature control feedback caused by the long-distance flow of coolant in the return pipeline can be avoided, ensuring the consistency between the monitored temperature and the actual temperature of the cooling chamber as much as possible, realizing real-time temperature monitoring, and quickly feeding the temperature information back to the cooling device to achieve rapid response to the target material temperature and reduce the lag time of temperature detection. Attached Figure Description

[0022] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the specific embodiments of this utility model, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of this utility model. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0023] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the target cooling system in Example 1. Detailed Implementation

[0024] The foregoing and other technical contents, features, and effects of this utility model will be clearly presented in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings. The directional terms mentioned in the following embodiments, such as up, down, left, right, front, or back, are only for reference to the accompanying drawings. Therefore, the directional terms used are for illustrative purposes and not for limiting the scope of this utility model.

[0025] Example 1:

[0026] In existing sputtering equipment (such as AMAT Endure2), the temperature control feedback mechanism of the cooling system is based on the temperature of the recirculating coolant. It only has a temperature detector inside the chiller. However, the coolant needs to travel a certain distance during its recirculation to reach the chiller, resulting in a significant difference between the temperature detected by the temperature detector inside the chiller and the temperature of the coolant in the cooling chamber. This leads to slow and inaccurate temperature control feedback from the chiller. Therefore, in this embodiment, an improvement is made using the AMAT Endure2 sputtering equipment as an example to solve the problems of slow and inaccurate temperature control feedback.

[0027] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the target cooling system in Embodiment 1. This embodiment provides a target cooling system with real-time temperature control feedback, which can be used for target cooling in sputtering equipment.

[0028] refer to Figure 1 As shown, a target fixing part 1 is provided in the process chamber of the sputtering equipment. The target fixing part 1 is used to install the target 3, and a cooling chamber 12 is provided in the target fixing part 1. The target 3 is cooled by introducing a cooling medium into the cooling chamber 12. In order to better install the target 3, a mounting groove for installing the target 3 is formed on the lower surface of the target fixing part 1, and the back of the mounting groove is the hollow chamber that serves as the cooling chamber 12. Specifically, the target fixing part 1 includes two parts: a cooling chamber base 10 and a target back plate 11. The cooling chamber base 10 and the target back plate 11 are connected to form a sealed hollow chamber to form the cooling chamber 12, and the mounting groove is formed by the cooperation of the cooling chamber base 10 and the target back plate 11.

[0029] refer to Figure 1 The cooling system also includes a cooling device 2, which is connected to the cooling chamber 12 and continuously supplies coolant to the cooling chamber 12 to cool the target material 3. Specifically, the cooling device 2 is a chiller, and an outlet 13 and an inlet 14 are formed on the cooling chamber base 10, which are connected to the interior of the cooling chamber 12. The inlet 13 is connected to the chiller through an inlet pipe, and the outlet is connected to the chiller through a return pipe.

[0030] refer to Figure 1 The cooling system also includes a temperature control feedback device, which includes a temperature sensor 4 ( Figure 1 The location of temperature sensor 4 is shown (the installation method of temperature sensor 4 is not limited), and a signal processor (not shown in the figure) is also shown. Temperature sensor 4 is located at the outlet 13 of cooling chamber 12 to monitor the temperature of coolant and feed it back to cooling device 2 via the signal processor. The signal processor is communicatively connected to both temperature sensor 4 and cooling device 2. The signal processor receives temperature information from temperature sensor 4 and feeds it back to cooling device 2 in real time. When cooling device 2 receives the feedback temperature information, it adjusts the temperature and flow rate of the supplied coolant to ensure sufficient cooling of target material 3. Placing temperature sensor 4 at outlet 13 avoids delays and errors in temperature monitoring and temperature control feedback caused by long-distance flow of coolant in the return pipeline, ensuring consistency between the monitored temperature and the actual temperature of cooling chamber 12, enabling real-time temperature monitoring, and rapidly feeding the temperature information back to the chiller to achieve a fast response to target material temperature and reduce temperature detection lag time.

[0031] In this embodiment, the temperature sensor 13 is a contact sensor, which is placed directly inside the return pipe at the outlet 13 and is in direct contact with the coolant, thus enabling more accurate temperature monitoring.

[0032] In other embodiments, a second temperature sensor (not shown in the figure) can be added at the liquid inlet 14. The second temperature sensor is communicatively connected to the signal processor. By adding the second temperature sensor, the inlet temperature and outlet temperature of the cooling chamber 12 can be obtained simultaneously, thus better controlling the temperature conditions inside the cooling chamber 12.

[0033] Example 2:

[0034] This application also provides a sputtering apparatus in which the target cooling system described in Embodiment 1 is used for target cooling in the sputtering apparatus.

[0035] The common English terms or letters used in this invention for the purpose of clarity are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to be limiting or specific. They should not be used to limit the scope of protection of this invention based on their possible Chinese translations or specific letters.

[0036] It should also be noted that in this article, relational terms such as “first” and “second” are used only to distinguish one entity or operation from another, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations.

Claims

1. A target material cooling system with real-time temperature control feedback, characterized in that, Includes a target fixing part, a cooling device, and a temperature control feedback device; The target fixing part is used to install the target, and a cooling cavity is provided in the target fixing part; The cooling device is connected to the cooling chamber and is used to provide coolant to the cooling chamber to cool the target material; The temperature control feedback device includes a temperature sensor and a signal processor. The temperature sensor is located at the outlet of the cooling chamber and is used to monitor the temperature of the coolant and feed it back to the cooling device through the signal processor.

2. The target material cooling system with real-time temperature control feedback according to claim 1, characterized in that, The temperature sensor is installed inside the pipe at the liquid outlet, and the temperature sensor is a contact sensor.

3. The target material cooling system with real-time temperature control feedback according to claim 1, characterized in that, The signal processor is communicatively connected to both the temperature sensor and the cooling device. The signal processor receives temperature information from the temperature sensor and feeds it back to the cooling device in real time.

4. The target material cooling system with real-time temperature control feedback according to claim 3, characterized in that, The cooling device is configured to adjust the temperature and flow rate of the provided coolant based on the temperature information received from the signal processor, so as to ensure sufficient cooling of the target material.

5. The target material cooling system with real-time temperature control feedback according to claim 1, characterized in that, The cooling device is a chiller.

6. The target material cooling system with real-time temperature control feedback according to claim 5, characterized in that, The cooling chamber has a liquid inlet and a liquid outlet. The liquid inlet is connected to the chiller through a liquid inlet pipe, and the liquid outlet is connected to the chiller through a return pipe.

7. The target material cooling system with real-time temperature control feedback according to claim 6, characterized in that, It also includes a second temperature sensor disposed at the liquid inlet, the second temperature sensor being communicatively connected to the signal processor.

8. The target material cooling system with real-time temperature control feedback according to claim 1, characterized in that, The lower surface of the target fixing part is formed with a mounting groove for mounting the target, and the back side of the mounting groove is formed with a hollow cavity serving as a cooling chamber.

9. A target material cooling system with real-time temperature control feedback according to claim 8, characterized in that, The target fixing part includes a cooling chamber base and a target back plate. The cooling chamber base and the target back plate are connected to form a sealed hollow chamber to form the cooling chamber. The cooling chamber base and the target back plate are fitted together to form a mounting groove for mounting the target.

10. A sputtering apparatus, characterized in that, Includes the target cooling system as described in any one of claims 1-9.

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