Semiconductor manufacturing apparatus

Abstract

The application provides a semiconductor manufacturing equipment, which comprises an etching chamber, a vacuum buffer chamber and a vacuum transmission chamber. The vacuum buffer chamber is used for temporarily storing a wafer. The vacuum buffer chamber comprises a temperature control unit, and the temperature control unit comprises a heating structure used for heating the wafer. The vacuum transmission chamber is in communication with the etching chamber and the vacuum buffer chamber respectively, and the vacuum transmission chamber is provided with a conveying device used for conveying the wafer. The vacuum buffer chamber in the embodiment provides a vacuum environment for the wafer, so that the wafer is prevented from being polluted by impurity particles in an atmospheric environment or eroded by water vapor when being temporarily stored in the vacuum buffer chamber, and the risk of abnormal wafer surface is avoided. Meanwhile, the heating structure in the temperature control unit can preheat the wafer, so that the heating time of the wafer in the etching chamber is saved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of semiconductor manufacturing technology, and more specifically to a semiconductor manufacturing device. Background Technology

[0002] Semiconductor manufacturing equipment includes an etching chamber and a buffer chamber. Wafers are temporarily stored in the buffer chamber before entering the etching chamber. After the wafer is moved from the buffer chamber to the etching chamber, it needs to be heated. This heating process is time-consuming, which reduces the production rate. Utility Model Content

[0003] This application provides a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, including:

[0004] Etching chamber;

[0005] A vacuum buffer chamber is used to temporarily store wafers; the vacuum buffer chamber includes a temperature control unit, which includes a heating structure for heating the wafers;

[0006] A vacuum transmission chamber is connected to the etching chamber and the vacuum buffer chamber respectively. The vacuum transmission chamber is equipped with a transmission device for transporting wafers.

[0007] In some embodiments, the etching chamber and the vacuum buffer chamber are both arranged adjacent to the vacuum transmission chamber.

[0008] In some embodiments, the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus includes a plurality of etching chambers and a plurality of vacuum buffer chambers, the plurality of etching chambers and the plurality of vacuum buffer chambers being arranged circumferentially along the vacuum transmission chamber.

[0009] In some embodiments, the semiconductor manufacturing equipment includes a plurality of etching chambers and a plurality of vacuum buffer chambers, wherein the etching chambers and the vacuum buffer chambers are arranged in a one-to-one correspondence, and the vacuum buffer chambers are configured to store wafers to be processed in their corresponding etching chambers, and wafers that have been processed in their corresponding etching chambers and then removed.

[0010] In some embodiments, the vacuum buffer chamber of the semiconductor manufacturing equipment includes a first vacuum buffer chamber and a second vacuum buffer chamber, which are stacked in the vertical direction.

[0011] In some embodiments, the temperature control unit further includes a temperature detection module for detecting the temperature of the wafer.

[0012] In some embodiments, the temperature control unit further includes a control module connected to the heating structure and the temperature detection module, for controlling the working state of the heating structure based on the temperature data from the temperature detection module.

[0013] In some embodiments, the heating structure includes at least one of a heating plate and a heating coil.

[0014] In some embodiments,

[0015] The heating structure is disposed on the wall of the vacuum buffer chamber;

[0016] And / or, the vacuum buffer chamber is provided with a support portion for supporting the wafer, and the heating structure is disposed on the support portion.

[0017] The beneficial effects of this application include:

[0018] In this embodiment, the vacuum buffer chamber provides a vacuum environment for the wafer, preventing surface abnormalities caused by contamination from atmospheric particles or moisture erosion when the wafer is temporarily stored in the vacuum buffer chamber. Simultaneously, the heating structure of the temperature control unit within the vacuum buffer chamber heats the wafer to be processed, ensuring its temperature reaches or approaches the temperature required for processing in the etching chamber. This effectively shortens the heating time required after the wafer is moved to the etching chamber, contributing to increased production speed.

[0019] Additional aspects and advantages of this application will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and will become apparent from the description or may be learned by practice of this application. Attached Figure Description

[0020] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with this application and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of this application.

[0021] Figure 1 The diagram shown is a schematic representation of the structure of semiconductor manufacturing equipment in related technologies;

[0022] Figure 2 The diagram shown is a schematic representation of the structure of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus provided in an exemplary embodiment of this application.

[0023] Figure 3 The diagram shown is a schematic diagram of the structure of a vacuum buffer chamber provided in an exemplary embodiment of this application.

[0024] In the diagram: 10-Etching chamber; 20-Vacuum buffer chamber; 20a-First vacuum buffer chamber; 20b-Second vacuum buffer chamber; 21-Temperature control unit; 211-Heating structure; 212-Temperature detection module; 213-Control module; 22-Carrier part; 30-Vacuum transfer chamber; 31-Transfer device; 40-Pre-vacuum chamber; 50-Equipment front-end module; 51-Aligner; 60-Loading platform; 70-Wafer. Detailed Implementation

[0025] Before the wafer is etched in the etching chamber of the etching machine, it is pre-placed on a buffer chamber, such as... Figure 1 As shown, since the buffer chamber 20 in the related technology is located inside the chamber of the front-end module 50 of the equipment and is exposed to the atmospheric environment, the risk of wafer surface contamination leading to abnormalities increases. In addition, since the temperature inside the etching chamber 10 is usually higher than the temperature inside the buffer chamber 20, the wafer needs to be heated after being moved from the buffer chamber 20 to the etching chamber 10. The heating process takes a long time, resulting in a decrease in production rate.

[0026] The semiconductor manufacturing equipment provided in this application is intended to solve or improve the above-mentioned technical problems.

[0027] The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus in the embodiments of this application will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Unless otherwise specified, the features in the following embodiments may complement or combine with each other.

[0028] This application provides a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, such as... Figure 2 and Figure 3 As shown, the semiconductor manufacturing equipment includes an etching chamber 10, a vacuum buffer chamber 20, and a vacuum transfer chamber 30. The vacuum buffer chamber 20 is used to temporarily store wafers and includes a temperature control unit 21. The temperature control unit 21 includes a heating structure 211, which is used to heat the wafers. The vacuum transfer chamber 30 is connected to the etching chamber 10 and the vacuum buffer chamber 20, and is equipped with a transfer device 31 for transferring wafers.

[0029] In this embodiment, the vacuum buffer chamber 20 provides a vacuum environment for the wafer, avoiding the risk of surface abnormalities caused by contamination from atmospheric particles or erosion from moisture when the wafer is temporarily stored in the vacuum buffer chamber 20. Simultaneously, the heating structure 211 of the temperature control unit 21 located within the vacuum buffer chamber 20 can heat the wafer to be processed within the chamber, ensuring its temperature reaches or approaches the temperature required for processing in the etching chamber 10. This effectively shortens the heating time required after the wafer moves to the etching chamber 10, contributing to increased production speed.

[0030] In some embodiments, the conveying device 31 includes a robotic arm with a wafer fork.

[0031] In some embodiments, the etching chamber 10 and the vacuum buffer chamber 20 are both arranged adjacent to the vacuum transmission chamber 30.

[0032] In this embodiment, the conveying device 31 in the vacuum transmission chamber 30 can directly grab the wafer to be processed in the vacuum buffer chamber 20 and move it directly into the etching chamber 10, or directly grab the wafer that has been processed in the etching chamber 10 and move it directly into the vacuum buffer chamber 20. There is no need to transfer through other chambers in between. Therefore, the transmission efficiency can be improved and the risk of wafer contamination can be reduced.

[0033] In some embodiments, the semiconductor manufacturing equipment further includes a pre-vacuum chamber 40, one side of which is adjacent to and connected to the vacuum transfer chamber, and the other side of which is connected to the chamber of the equipment front-end module 50. The pre-vacuum chamber 40 is used to evacuate the environment in which the wafer is located. In this embodiment, the vacuum buffer chamber 20 is directly connected to the vacuum transfer chamber 30. Compared to related technologies where the vacuum buffer chamber 20 is located in the chamber of the equipment front-end module 50, this embodiment allows the wafer to be pre-placed in the vacuum buffer chamber 20, eliminating the need to pass through the pre-vacuum chamber 40 before being transferred to the etching chamber 10. The pre-vacuum chamber 40 can utilize idle time, such as the etching time of the previous batch of wafers, to pre-evacuate the wafers, thereby saving time spent on pre-vacuuming during wafer transfer.

[0034] In some embodiments, an aligner 51 is also provided in the cavity of the device front-end module 50 to ensure that the wafer is in the correct position and orientation.

[0035] In some embodiments, the semiconductor manufacturing equipment further includes a loading stage 60 for placing wafers to be processed or processed wafers.

[0036] In some embodiments, such as Figure 2 As shown, the semiconductor manufacturing equipment includes multiple etching chambers 10 and multiple vacuum buffer chambers 20, which are arranged circumferentially along the vacuum transfer chamber 30. This arrangement allows for communication between the etching chambers 10 and vacuum buffer chambers 20 and the vacuum transfer chamber 30, even when the number of etching chambers 10 and vacuum buffer chambers 20 is large. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the conveying device 31 in the vacuum transfer chamber 30 only needs to adjust its direction during the transfer process to grasp and place wafers in different chambers, thereby facilitating faster wafer transfer rates.

[0037] In some embodiments, the semiconductor manufacturing equipment includes a plurality of etching chambers 10 and a plurality of vacuum buffer chambers 20, wherein the etching chambers 10 and the vacuum buffer chambers 20 are arranged in a one-to-one correspondence, and the vacuum buffer chambers 20 are configured to store wafers to be processed in their corresponding etching chambers 10 and wafers that have been processed in their corresponding etching chambers 10 and then removed.

[0038] In this embodiment, wafers can be moved from each vacuum buffer chamber 20 to its corresponding etching chamber 10. This ensures that wafers of the same type are placed in the same vacuum buffer chamber 20 and subsequently moved to the same etching chamber 10 for processing, preventing wafers from being moved to mismatched etching chambers 10 and reducing the probability of equipment malfunction.

[0039] In some embodiments, the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus includes four etching chambers 10, which are arranged sequentially along the circumference of the vacuum transfer chamber 30. The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus also includes four vacuum buffer chambers 20, which are arranged sequentially along the circumference of the vacuum transfer chamber 30 (not shown in the figure). It should be noted that the number of etching chambers and vacuum buffer chambers can also be set to three, five, six, etc.

[0040] In some embodiments, each etching chamber 10 and each vacuum buffer chamber 20 are alternately arranged around the periphery of the vacuum transmission chamber 30 (not shown in the figure), and each etching chamber 10 is arranged adjacent to the corresponding vacuum buffer chamber 20.

[0041] In some embodiments, such as Figure 3 As shown, the first vacuum buffer chamber 20a and the second vacuum buffer chamber 20b in the vacuum buffer chamber 20 are stacked in the vertical direction. In this embodiment, when the vacuum buffer chamber 20 is arranged adjacent to the etching chamber 10, the vertical space is sufficient to accommodate the two vacuum buffer chambers. Therefore, the space occupied by the vacuum buffer chamber 20 in the horizontal direction can be reduced, which facilitates the improvement of the integration of semiconductor manufacturing equipment.

[0042] In some embodiments, the vacuum buffer chamber 20 is provided with a plurality of support portions 22, each support portion 22 being used to support a corresponding temporarily stored wafer 70.

[0043] In some embodiments, the temperature control unit 21 further includes a temperature detection module 212, which is used to detect the temperature of the wafer. In this embodiment, the temperature data provided by the temperature detection module 212 can be used to control the opening and closing of the heating structure 211 to achieve temperature control of the wafer 70.

[0044] In some embodiments, the temperature control unit 21 further includes a control module 213, which is connected to the heating structure 211 and the temperature detection module 212, and is used to control the working state of the heating structure 211 according to the temperature data of the temperature detection module 212.

[0045] In this embodiment, a control module 213 is added to coordinate and control the temperature detection module 212 and the heating structure 211, which can realize automated temperature control without manual adjustment and improve the automation level of the equipment.

[0046] In some embodiments, the heating structure 211 includes at least one of a heating plate and a heating coil.

[0047] In some embodiments, the heating structure 211 is disposed on the wall of the vacuum buffer chamber 20. In some examples, the heating structure 211 is attached to the inner or outer wall of the vacuum buffer chamber 20. In other examples, the heating structure 211 is embedded within the wall of the vacuum buffer chamber 20.

[0048] In some embodiments, the vacuum buffer chamber 20 is provided with a support portion 22 for supporting the wafer 70, and a heating structure 211 is disposed on the support portion 22.

[0049] In other examples, the temperature regulating unit 21 further includes a cooling structure (not shown) for cooling the wafer 70; the vacuum buffer chamber 20 is provided with a support portion 22 for supporting the wafer 70, and the cooling structure includes a refrigerant channel provided in the support portion 22.

[0050] It should be noted that 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 technical features indicated. Therefore, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of that feature. In the description of this application, unless otherwise stated, "a plurality of" means two or more.

Claims

1. A semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, characterized in that, include: Etching chamber; A vacuum buffer chamber is used to temporarily store wafers; the vacuum buffer chamber includes a temperature control unit, which includes a heating structure for heating the wafers; A vacuum transmission chamber is connected to the etching chamber and the vacuum buffer chamber respectively. The vacuum transmission chamber is equipped with a transmission device for transmitting wafers.

2. The semiconductor manufacturing equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that, The etching chamber and the vacuum buffer chamber are both located adjacent to the vacuum transmission chamber.

3. The semiconductor manufacturing equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that, The semiconductor manufacturing equipment includes a plurality of etching chambers and a plurality of vacuum buffer chambers, which are arranged circumferentially along the vacuum transmission chamber.

4. The semiconductor manufacturing equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that, The semiconductor manufacturing equipment includes multiple etching chambers and multiple vacuum buffer chambers, with each etching chamber and vacuum buffer chamber corresponding to the other. The vacuum buffer chamber is configured to store wafers to be processed in their corresponding etching chambers, as well as wafers that have been processed in their corresponding etching chambers and then removed.

5. The semiconductor manufacturing equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that, The vacuum buffer chamber of the semiconductor manufacturing equipment includes a first vacuum buffer chamber and a second vacuum buffer chamber, which are stacked in the vertical direction.

6. The semiconductor manufacturing equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that, The temperature control unit also includes a temperature detection module for detecting the temperature of the wafer.

7. The semiconductor manufacturing equipment according to claim 6, characterized in that, The temperature control unit further includes a control module, which is connected to the heating structure and the temperature detection module, and is used to control the working state of the heating structure based on the temperature data detected by the temperature detection module.

8. The semiconductor manufacturing equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that, The heating structure includes at least one of a heating plate and a heating coil.

9. The semiconductor manufacturing equipment according to claim 8, characterized in that, The heating structure is disposed on the wall of the vacuum buffer chamber; And / or, the vacuum buffer chamber is provided with a support portion for supporting the wafer, and the heating structure is disposed on the support portion.

10. The semiconductor manufacturing equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that, The temperature control unit also includes a cooling structure for cooling the wafer; the vacuum buffer chamber is provided with a support portion for supporting the wafer, and the cooling structure includes a refrigerant channel provided in the support portion.

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