A cooling device and a laser annealing equipment

Abstract

This application provides a cooling device and a laser annealing apparatus. The cooling device, disposed in a semiconductor device, includes: a support for supporting a wafer to be cooled; and multiple sensors disposed above the support. The sensors emit incident light onto the wafer surface and receive reflected light reflected back from the wafer surface, and detect the intensity of the reflected light. The cooling device and laser annealing apparatus described in this application can promptly monitor abnormal conditions such as wafer deformation and breakage, avoiding problems such as large-scale product scrap.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of semiconductor manufacturing technology, and in particular to a cooling device and a laser annealing apparatus. Background Technology

[0002] When annealing wafers using laser spike annealing equipment, the temperature of the wafer reaches several hundred degrees Celsius in the process chamber. After laser annealing, the wafer needs to be cooled, typically by transferring it to a cooling device to reduce its temperature from several hundred degrees to room temperature, for example, from 600°C to 25°C. Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of a laser annealing device. After the wafer undergoes laser annealing in the process chamber 11, it is transferred to the cooling device 13 for cooling via a robotic arm 12.

[0003] During the cooling process, wafers are prone to deformation or fragmentation due to stress. If this is not detected in time, wafers with large deformations will cause scratches on their surface when they are subsequently transferred to the wafer cassette. Particles generated by the friction between the wafer cassette and the wafer will contaminate the entire cassette. In addition, wafers that are not completely broken need to be transferred to the wafer cassette by a robotic arm and then transported by an overhead crane. The vibrations during the transfer process can cause the wafers to fall out of their slots, rendering the entire wafer cassette unusable. Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a deformed or broken wafer in a wafer box. Figure 2 1 represents contaminant particles generated when the wafer bends due to large deformation and rubs against the wafer cassette; 2 represents the structure when the wafer breaks.

[0004] To address the aforementioned issues, current methods use sensors on robotic arms to inspect wafers. However, these sensors can only detect the presence of wafers, not wafer anomalies. For example, if a wafer becomes very small or has a tiny crack, but the wafer is still in proper contact with the robotic arm or is not completely broken, the sensors on the robotic arm will not be able to detect it.

[0005] Therefore, it is necessary to improve the cooling device of laser annealing equipment to monitor abnormalities such as wafer deformation and breakage in a timely manner, so as to avoid problems such as a large number of product scraps. Utility Model Content

[0006] This application provides a cooling device to monitor abnormalities such as deformation and breakage that occur during the cooling process of wafers in a timely manner, thereby reducing wafer scrap.

[0007] This application provides a cooling device disposed in a semiconductor device, comprising: a support for supporting a wafer to be cooled; and a plurality of sensors disposed above the support, wherein the sensors emit incident light toward the surface of the wafer and receive reflected light reflected back from the surface of the wafer, and detect the intensity of the reflected light.

[0008] In some embodiments of this application, the cooling device further includes a cover plate located above the support, and the cover plate has a plurality of through holes adapted to the number of sensors, the sensors being disposed in the through holes.

[0009] In some embodiments of this application, the sensor includes a first sensor and a plurality of second sensors, the plurality of second sensors being arranged around the first sensor.

[0010] In some embodiments of this application, the first sensor is aligned with the center of the wafer, and the second sensors are uniformly distributed around the first sensor.

[0011] In some embodiments of this application, the projection of the second sensor on the wafer surface falls in an area between 100 mm and 150 mm in radius of the wafer.

[0012] In some embodiments of this application, the minimum distance between the sensor and the wafer surface is 2cm to 10cm.

[0013] In some embodiments of this application, the sensor is a reflective fiber optic sensor.

[0014] In some embodiments of this application, the cooling device further includes an alarm device, which is electrically connected to the plurality of sensors. When the sensors detect that the light intensity is less than a set value, the alarm device issues an alarm.

[0015] This application also provides a laser annealing apparatus, including a cooling chamber for housing any of the above-mentioned cooling devices.

[0016] In some embodiments of this application, the laser annealing apparatus further includes a robotic arm for transferring wafers from the annealing chamber to the cooling chamber.

[0017] The cooling device and laser annealing equipment described in this application can monitor abnormal conditions such as wafer deformation and breakage in a timely manner, avoiding problems such as a large number of product scraps. Attached Figure Description

[0018] The following accompanying drawings describe in detail the exemplary embodiments disclosed in this application. The same reference numerals denote similar structures in several views of the drawings. Those skilled in the art will understand that these embodiments are non-limiting and exemplary, and the drawings are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of this application. Other embodiments may similarly fulfill the inventive intent of this application. It should be understood that the drawings are not drawn to scale.

[0019] in:

[0020] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a laser annealing device;

[0021] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the structure of a deformed or broken wafer in a wafer box;

[0022] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the cooling device according to one embodiment of this application;

[0023] Figure 4 This is a top view of the cover plate structure of the cooling device according to one embodiment of this application;

[0024] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the cooling device in an embodiment of this application when a wafer is in an abnormal condition. Detailed Implementation

[0025] The following description provides specific application scenarios and requirements for this application, intended to enable those skilled in the art to make and use the content of this application. Various partial modifications to the disclosed embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein can be applied to other embodiments and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of this application. Therefore, this application is not limited to the embodiments shown, but rather to the widest scope consistent with the claims.

[0026] This application provides a cooling device that can monitor abnormalities such as deformation and breakage that occur during the cooling process of wafers in a timely manner, thereby reducing wafer scrap.

[0027] Reference Appendix Figure 3As shown in the embodiments of this application, a cooling device is provided in a semiconductor device, including: a support 110 for supporting a wafer 120 to be cooled; and a plurality of sensors 130 disposed above the support 110. The sensors 130 emit incident light onto the surface of the wafer 120 and receive reflected light reflected back from the surface of the wafer 120, and detect the intensity of the reflected light. The support 110 may have support pillars 111 on its surface, allowing the wafer 120 to be suspended on the support 110. In other embodiments of this application, the support pillars 111 can move away from or towards the support under the influence of electrodes, thereby moving the wafer 120 away from or towards the support. The support 110 may be disposed at the bottom of the laser annealing equipment.

[0028] In some embodiments of this application, the cooling device further includes a cover plate 140, which is located above the support 110 and also above the wafer 120, maintaining a certain distance from the wafer 120. The cover plate 140 has multiple through holes (not shown in the figure) adapted to the number of sensors 130. The sensors 130 are disposed in the through holes, and their size is adapted to the size of the through holes. The through holes penetrate the cover plate 140, and the sensors 130 pass through the through holes.

[0029] In some embodiments of this application, the sensor 130 can be a reflective fiber optic sensor, which includes a light emitting end and a light receiving end. The light emitting end is used to emit incident light, and the light receiving end is used to receive reflected light. The fiber optic end of the reflective fiber optic sensor is positioned close to the wafer 120. The incident light emitted by the light emitting end can come from a built-in or external light source, such as a light-emitting diode or a laser, and the light receiving end can be a receiving fiber optic cable.

[0030] When the sensor 130 is operating, the incident light emitted by the light emitting end strikes the surface of the wafer 120. The reflected light, after reflection from the wafer, reaches the light receiving end. When the wafer surface is in normal condition, without deformation or breakage, the intensity of the reflected light acquired by the light receiving end is the standard value. If the wafer surface is abnormal, such as due to wafer deformation, the intensity of the reflected light acquired by the light receiving end will be lower than the standard value due to an abnormal reflection angle. The intensity of the reflected light acquired by the light receiving end can be obtained through the signal receiving and processing device of the light receiving end.

[0031] In some embodiments of this application, if the wafer becomes too large or breaks, the intensity of the reflected light received by the light receiver will significantly decrease. When using the cooling device described in this embodiment to detect the wafer state, a set value for wafer state abnormality can be set. If the intensity of the reflected light received by the light receiver is lower than the set value, it is considered abnormal; if it is not lower than the set value, it is considered normal. For example, if the standard value of the light intensity is set to 5540, if the intensity of the reflected light received by the light receiver is lower than 5540, it is considered abnormal. During the wafer cooling process, multiple detections can be performed to monitor the wafer state in real time. For example, if the wafer cooling time is set to 20 seconds, multiple detections can be performed at the 1st second, the 10th second, and the 20th second.

[0032] When multiple sensors 130 perform detection simultaneously, the standard deviation between the reflected light intensities acquired by the multiple sensors is considered normal only if it is less than a set threshold. For example, when the standard value of the light intensity is 5540, the standard deviation between the reflected light intensities acquired by the multiple sensors is considered normal only if it is less than 50, and the threshold is 50.

[0033] In some embodiments of this application, the cooling device further includes an alarm device electrically connected to the plurality of sensors. When the sensors detect that the light intensity is less than a set value, the alarm device issues an alarm. Upon receiving the alarm signal, the equipment operator should immediately stop the machine and check for any abnormalities to avoid further damage.

[0034] In some embodiments of this application, the minimum distance between the sensor 130 and the wafer surface is 2cm to 10cm, for example, 5cm, 8cm, etc. The minimum distance between the sensor 130 and the wafer surface can also be the minimum distance between the end of the optical fiber of the reflective light sensor and the wafer surface.

[0035] Continue to refer to the appendix Figure 3 and attached Figure 4 As shown in some embodiments of this application, the sensor 130 includes a first sensor 131 and a plurality of second sensors 132, with the plurality of second sensors 132 arranged around the first sensor 131. The first sensor 131 and the plurality of second sensors 132 can be laser sensors with identical structure and performance, disposed in the through-hole, and their dimensions adapted to the dimensions of the through-hole. The number of first sensors 131 can be one, while the number of second sensors 132 can be two or more.

[0036] In some embodiments of this application, the first sensor 131 is aligned with the center of the wafer 120, and the second sensors 132 are evenly distributed around the first sensor 131. For example, when there are two second sensors 132, the second sensors are arranged on both sides of the first sensor 131; when there are three second sensors 132, the second sensors are also evenly distributed around the first sensor 131, with the center point of the first sensor 131 as the center, the angle between the lines connecting the center points of two adjacent second sensors 132 and the center point of the first sensor 131 is 120 degrees; when there are four second sensors 132, the second sensors 132 are symmetrically distributed relative to the center point of the first sensor 131.

[0037] In some embodiments of this application, when the first sensor 131 is aligned with the center of the wafer 120, the projection of the second sensor on the surface of the wafer falls in an area between 100mm and 150mm in radius of the wafer, such as 110mm, 120mm, 130mm, or 140mm.

[0038] The cooling device described in this application embodiment can promptly detect the state of the wafer during the cooling process and issue an alarm in a timely manner when an anomaly occurs, allowing monitoring personnel to shut down the machine promptly to investigate the anomaly and avoid greater losses. The detection device has a relatively simple structure and stable performance.

[0039] This application also provides a laser annealing apparatus, including a cooling chamber for housing any of the above-mentioned cooling devices.

[0040] In some embodiments of this application, the laser annealing apparatus further includes a robotic arm for transferring a wafer from the annealing chamber to the cooling chamber. The wafer undergoes laser annealing in the annealing chamber.

[0041] It should be noted that different embodiments may produce different beneficial effects. In different embodiments, the beneficial effects may be any one or a combination of the above, or any other possible beneficial effects.

[0042] The basic concepts have been described above. Obviously, for those skilled in the art, the detailed disclosure above is merely illustrative and does not constitute a limitation of this specification. Although not explicitly stated herein, those skilled in the art may make various modifications, improvements, and corrections to this application. Such modifications, improvements, and corrections are suggested in this specification, and therefore remain within the spirit and scope of the exemplary embodiments of this application.

[0043] It should be noted that, in the description of this application, unless otherwise expressly specified and limited, the terms "installation," "connection," "linking," and "fixing" should be interpreted broadly. For example, they can refer to a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral part; a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; a rotating connection or a sliding connection; a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium; or the internal communication of two components or the interaction between two components. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of the above terms in this application in light of the specific circumstances.

[0044] Furthermore, when the terms "first," "second," "third," etc., are used in this application specification to describe various features, these terms are only used to distinguish these features and should not be construed as indicating or implying the correlation or relative importance between features or implicitly indicating the number of features indicated.

[0045] In addition, this application specification describes exemplary embodiments by referring to idealized exemplary cross-sectional views and / or plan views and / or perspective views. Therefore, differences from the illustrated shapes are foreseeable due to factors such as manufacturing techniques and / or tolerances. Therefore, exemplary embodiments should not be construed as limited to the shapes of the regions shown herein, but should include deviations in shape caused, for example, by manufacturing processes. Thus, the regions shown in the figures are substantially schematic, and their shapes are not intended to illustrate the actual shapes of the regions of the device, nor to limit the scope of the exemplary embodiments.

[0046] Furthermore, this application uses specific terms to describe embodiments of this specification. For example, "an embodiment," "one embodiment," and / or "some embodiments" refer to a particular feature, structure, or characteristic related to at least one embodiment of this application. Therefore, it should be emphasized and noted that "an embodiment," "one embodiment," or "an alternative embodiment" mentioned twice or more in different locations in this application do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. In addition, certain features, structures, or characteristics in one or more embodiments of this application can be appropriately combined.

[0047] Similarly, it should be noted that, in order to simplify the description of the present application and thus aid in the understanding of one or more embodiments of the invention, the foregoing description of the embodiments of the present application sometimes combines multiple features into a single embodiment, drawing, or description thereof. However, this disclosure method does not imply that the subject matter of the application requires more features than those mentioned in the claims. In fact, the embodiments contain fewer features than all the features of the single embodiments disclosed above.

[0048] Finally, it should be understood that the embodiments described in this application are merely illustrative of the principles of the embodiments of this application. Other modifications may also fall within the scope of this application. Therefore, alternative configurations of the embodiments of this application are considered as examples and not limitations, and are regarded as consistent with the teachings of this application. Accordingly, the embodiments of this application are not limited to the embodiments explicitly described and illustrated in this application.

Claims

1. A cooling device disposed in a semiconductor device, characterized in that, include: Support, used to hold the wafer to be cooled; as well as Multiple sensors are disposed above the support. The sensors emit incident light onto the wafer surface and receive reflected light reflected back from the wafer surface, and detect the intensity of the reflected light. The sensors are used to detect the surface condition of the wafer to determine whether the wafer has been deformed or broken.

2. The cooling device according to claim 1, characterized in that, It also includes a cover plate located above the support, and the cover plate has multiple through holes adapted to the number of sensors, with the sensors disposed in the through holes.

3. The cooling device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The sensor includes a first sensor and a plurality of second sensors, the plurality of second sensors being arranged around the first sensor.

4. The cooling device according to claim 3, characterized in that, The first sensor is aligned with the center of the wafer, and the second sensors are evenly distributed around the first sensor.

5. The cooling device according to claim 4, characterized in that, The projection of the second sensor onto the wafer surface falls within a region with a wafer radius of 100mm to 150mm.

6. The cooling device according to claim 3, characterized in that, The minimum distance between the sensor and the wafer surface is 2cm to 10cm.

7. The cooling device according to claim 2, characterized in that, It also includes an alarm device, which is electrically connected to the plurality of sensors. When the sensors detect that the intensity of the reflected light is less than a set value, the alarm device issues an alarm.

8. The cooling device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The sensor is a reflective fiber optic sensor.

9. A laser annealing apparatus, characterized in that, It includes a cooling chamber for housing the cooling device as described in any one of claims 1 to 8.

10. The laser annealing equipment according to claim 9, characterized in that, It also includes a robotic arm for transferring wafers from the annealing chamber to the cooling chamber.

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