Wafer separation device and wafer separation method

Abstract

The present invention relates to the technical field of semiconductor equipment and discloses a wafer separation device and a wafer separation method. [Solution] This application belongs to the technical field of semiconductor equipment and discloses a wafer separation device and a wafer separation method. The wafer separation device includes a mounting bracket, a mounting assembly, a separation assembly, a clamping assembly, and a drive assembly. When the separation assembly blows air onto the wafer group, high-pressure air flows on both sides of the wafer group, reducing the air pressure on both sides of the wafer group. According to Bernoulli's principle, the two wafers in the wafer group are respectively subjected to outward forces, so that the wafer group is separated into a donor wafer and an SOI wafer.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] This application claims priority from a Chinese patent application bearing application number 202310519917.1, filed with the China Patent Office on May 10, 2023, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] The present application relates to the technical field of semiconductor equipment, for example, to a wafer separation apparatus and a wafer separation method. [Background technology]

[0003] SOI (Silicon-On-Insulator) technology uses a special oxidation reaction on a silicon wafer to form an oxide layer between the silicon layer and the silicon wafer, ultimately creating a thin silicon layer / silicon dioxide insulating layer / silicon substrate structure. SOI semiconductors have strong radiation resistance, high speed, strong heat dissipation capacity, and low production costs.

[0004] Currently, for wafer groups produced using SOI technology, mechanical separation is mainly used to separate donor wafers (in this application, the donor wafer refers to a silicon substrate structure, i.e., a silicon substrate wafer) and SOI wafers. Separating wafers through mechanical contact can damage the wafer edge, generate particle contamination, affect product yield, and easily increase production costs. In addition, the separation machine has a complex structure, requires high adjustment and testing precision, and is relatively difficult to maintain.

[0005] Therefore, there is an urgent need for a wafer separation device and a wafer separation method that can solve the above problems. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The present application provides a wafer separation apparatus configured to separate a group of wafers into donor wafers and SOI wafers.

[0007] In a first aspect, the present application provides: configured to separate the wafer groups; A mounting bracket and a mounting assembly attached to the mounting bracket, the mounting assembly including a support comb holder having a plurality of vertically extending parallel slots for storing the wafer groups awaiting separation; a separation assembly including an air knife configured to separate the group of separable wafers into a donor wafer and an SOI wafer, and an air pipe having one end connected to the air knife and the other end connected to an air source; a clamping assembly including a first gripper capable of clamping or releasing the donor wafer and a second gripper capable of clamping or releasing the donor wafer and the SOI wafer; a drive assembly attached to the mounting bracket and configured to drive the clamping assembly to clamp or release the donor wafer and the SOI wafer relative to the clamping assembly, and further configured to drive the placement assembly to move the wafer group to an exhaust port of the air knife. A wafer separation device is provided.

[0008] The present application further provides a wafer separation method for separating a group of wafers into donor wafers and SOI wafers.

[0009] In a second aspect, the wafer separation method includes: S1: placing a group of wafers awaiting separation on a support comb holder, and driving a mounting assembly with a drive assembly to move the group of wafers to an outlet of an air knife; By controlling the high-pressure gas to be transported to the air knife outlet through the air pipe and sprayed out, the high-pressure air flows on both sides of the wafer group, reducing the air pressure on both sides of the wafer group, and according to Bernoulli's principle, an outward force is applied to both sides of the wafer group, separating it into a donor wafer and an SOI wafer (S2).

[0010] As a preferred technical aspect of the wafer separation method, the wafer separation device includes a first cassette, and the wafer separation method includes: S3: driving a first gripper by the drive assembly to clamp the donor wafer in the first gripper, and driving a second gripper to simultaneously lift the donor wafer and the SOI wafer; The method further includes (S4) in which the donor wafer and the SOI wafer are moved above the first cassette by the simultaneous clamping of the first gripper and the second gripper, and the drive assembly controls the first cassette to move upward and approach the SOI wafer, releasing the donor wafer and the SOI wafer from the second gripper, so that the donor wafer is clamped by the first gripper and the SOI wafer falls into the first cassette. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] 1 is a structural schematic diagram of a wafer separation device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] 1 is a structural schematic diagram of a clamping comb-shaped holder according to Example 1 of the present application. [Figure 3] 1 is a structural schematic diagram of a lifting comb holder according to Example 1 of the present application. [Figure 4] 1 is a flowchart of a wafer separation method according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 5] 10 is a flowchart of a wafer separation method according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[0012] 1. Mounting assembly, 11. Support comb holder, 12. Quartz boat, 2. Separation assembly, 21. Air knife, 22. Air pipe, 23. On-off valve, 24. Air flow control valve, 3. Clamping assembly, 31. First gripper, 311. Clamping comb holder, 3111. Retraction groove, 3112. Clamping groove, 32. Second gripper, 321. Lifting comb holder, 3211. Lifting groove, 4···First cassette, 5···Second cassette. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0013] The present invention will be described in detail below in conjunction with the drawings and examples.

[0014] In the description of this application, unless otherwise clearly specified or limited, the terms "connected," "connected," and "fixed" should be understood in a broad sense, and may refer to, for example, a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or integration, a mechanical connection, an electrical connection, a direct connection, an indirect connection via an intermediate medium, internal communication between two elements, or an interaction between two elements. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of the above terms in this application according to the specific circumstances.

[0015] In this application, unless otherwise expressly specified or limited, a first feature being "above" or "below" a second feature may include direct contact between the first and second features, or may include contact between the first and second features through another feature between them, rather than direct contact. Furthermore, a first feature being "above," "above," and "on the upper surface" of a second feature may include the first feature being directly above and diagonally above the second feature, or may simply indicate that the horizontal height of the first feature is higher than that of the second feature. A first feature being "below," "below," and "on the lower surface" of a second feature may include the first feature being directly below and diagonally below the second feature, or may simply indicate that the horizontal height of the first feature is lower than that of the second feature.

[0016] In the description of the present embodiment, the terms "upper," "lower," "right," and other orientations and positional relationships are based on the orientations and positional relationships shown in the drawings and are merely for the purpose of facilitating the description and simplifying the operation. They do not indicate or imply that the described devices or elements must have a specific orientation, be configured and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as limiting the present application. In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are merely used for distinction in the description and do not have any special meaning.

[0017] Example 1 As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, this embodiment provides a wafer separation apparatus configured to separate a group of wafers, the wafer separation apparatus comprising a mounting bracket, a loading assembly 1, a separating assembly 2, a clamping assembly 3, and a drive assembly, the loading assembly 1 comprising a support comb holder 11 having a plurality of vertically arranged parallel slots capable of storing the group of wafers to be separated, and mounted on the mounting bracket, the separating assembly 2 comprising an air knife 21 and an air pipe 22, one end of the air pipe 22 being connected to the air knife 21 and the other end being connected to an air source, the air knife 21 being adapted to separate a wafer capable of being separated into a donor wafer (in this application, the donor wafer is a silicon substrate structure, i.e., a silicon substrate wafer) and an SOI wafer, The clamping assembly is configured to separate the wafer groups, the clamping assembly having a first gripper 31 and a second gripper 32, the first gripper 31 being capable of clamping or releasing the donor wafer, and the second gripper 32 being capable of clamping or releasing the donor wafer and the SOI wafer, the drive assembly being attached to the mounting bracket and configured to drive the clamping assembly 3 to clamp or release the donor wafer and the SOI wafer relative to the clamping assembly 3, and further configured to drive the loading assembly 1 to move the wafer group to the exhaust port of the air knife 21, illustratively the loading assembly 1 further having a quartz boat 12, and the drive assembly driving and moving the support comb holder 11 to move the wafer group close to the exhaust port of the air knife 21.The slot width of the support comb holder 11 is greater than the thickness of the wafer group, facilitating separation of the wafer group. When the air knife 21 blows air onto the wafer group, high-pressure air flows along both sides of the wafer group, reducing the air pressure on both sides of the wafer group. According to Bernoulli's principle, the two wafers in the wafer group are subjected to outward forces, separating the wafer group into donor wafers and SOI wafers. This separation effect is excellent, avoiding damage caused by mechanical clamping and separation. Multiple wafer groups can be separated simultaneously, effectively improving work efficiency. The clamping assembly 3 can be operated to selectively clamp, transport, or release the donor wafers and SOI wafers, thereby separating and collecting the donor wafers and SOI wafers. The wafer separation device of this embodiment utilizes Bernoulli's principle to separate the donor wafers and SOI wafers using atmospheric pressure, thereby avoiding damage to the products caused by mechanical clamping. It also allows multiple wafer groups to be separated simultaneously, improving work efficiency. After the wafer group to be separated is placed in the loading assembly, the drive assembly drives the loading assembly to move the wafer group to the exhaust port of the air knife. Using Bernoulli's principle, the air knife blows a high-speed airflow around the wafer group, reducing the pressure on both sides of the wafer group, allowing the donor wafer and SOI wafer to be separated from each other by the action of atmospheric pressure. This avoids damage to the product caused by mechanical clamping and allows multiple wafer groups to be separated simultaneously, improving work efficiency.

[0018] In this embodiment, the separation assembly 2 further includes an on-off valve 23 and an air flow control valve 24. The on-off valve 23 is attached to the air pipe 22 and configured to control the opening or closing of the air source. The air flow control valve 24 is configured to adjust the magnitude of the air flow in the air pipe 22 and adjust the blowing amount of the air knife 21, thereby achieving a better separation effect. Illustratively, a filter is attached within the air flow control valve 24 and configured to purify the high-pressure gas in the air pipe 22, thereby preventing impurities mixed in the high-pressure gas from damaging the wafer group.

[0019] 1 and 2, the first gripper 31 preferably includes two symmetrically arranged clamping comb holders 311 that can approach or separate from each other, and the clamping comb holders 311 are provided with a shunt groove 3111 and a clamping groove 3112 spaced apart from each other. When the two clamping comb holders 311 approach each other, the clamping groove 3112 is configured to clamp the donor wafer, and the shunt groove 3111 is configured to shunt the SOI wafer. By providing the shunt groove 3111 and the clamping groove 3112 in the clamping comb holder 311, the first gripper 31 can selectively clamp the donor wafer while shunting the SOI wafer during the clamping process, thereby achieving the purpose of sorting the donor wafer and the SOI wafer after separation and reducing mechanical damage to the clamped SOI wafer that would affect product yield.

[0020] Preferably, as shown in Figures 1 and 3, the second gripper 32 has two symmetrically arranged lifting comb holders 321 that can approach or separate from each other, and the lifting comb holders 321 are provided with lifting grooves 3211 that are configured to lift the donor wafer and the SOI wafer when the two lifting comb holders 321 are approaching each other. When the separated donor wafer and the SOI wafer are transferred from the support assembly, the second gripper 32 needs to operate to lift the donor wafer and the SOI wafer. Compared to clamping the SOI wafer with a machine, lifting can reduce mechanical damage to the SOI wafer and increase product yield.

[0021] In this embodiment, the wafer separation device includes a first cassette 4 configured to store SOI wafers, and a first gripper 31 and a second gripper 32 are capable of moving the SOI wafers and the donor wafers above the first cassette 4. After the donor wafer and the SOI wafer are separated, the drive assembly drives the first gripper 31 to clamp the donor wafer and the second gripper 32 to simultaneously lift the donor wafer and the SOI wafer. The second gripper 32 lifts the donor wafer and the SOI wafer and moves them above the first cassette 4. The drive assembly controls the first cassette 4 to move upward to approach the SOI wafer, releasing the donor wafer and the SOI wafer from the second gripper 32. The donor wafer is clamped by the first gripper 31, and the SOI wafer falls into the first cassette 4. Without mechanically clamping the SOI wafer, the SOI wafer is transferred from the loading assembly 1 to the first cassette 4, and the donor wafer mixed therein is sorted out. In this way, damage to the SOI wafer is minimized and operation efficiency is high.

[0022] Preferably, the wafer separation apparatus of this embodiment further includes a second cassette 5 configured to store donor wafers, and the first gripper 31 is capable of moving the donor wafer above the second cassette 5. The drive assembly drives the first gripper 31 to clamp the donor wafer, and when the second gripper 32 is in a non-clamping state, the first gripper 31 clamps the donor wafer and moves it above the second cassette 5. The drive assembly controls the second cassette 5 to move upward and approach the donor wafer, releasing the donor wafer from the first gripper 31, and the donor wafer falls into the second cassette 5, which facilitates recycling of subsequent donor wafers and reduces production costs.

[0023] As shown in FIG. 4, one wafer separation method of this embodiment is applied to the above-mentioned wafer separation device, and includes:

[0024] In S1, a group of wafers waiting to be separated is placed on the support comb holder 11, and the drive assembly drives the placement assembly 1 to move the group of wafers to the air outlet of the air knife 21.

[0025] In S2, high-pressure gas is transported to the outlet of the air knife 21 via the air pipe 22 and is controlled to be ejected, so that the high-pressure air flows on both sides of the wafer group, reducing the air pressure on both sides of the wafer group. According to Bernoulli's principle, an outward force is applied to both sides of the wafer group, separating it into a donor wafer and an SOI wafer.

[0026] Using Bernoulli's principle, the air knife 21 blows a high-speed airflow around the outside of the wafer group, reducing the pressure on both sides of the wafer group and allowing the donor wafer and SOI wafer to be separated from each other by the action of atmospheric pressure. This avoids damage to the products that would be caused by mechanical clamping, and allows the separation process to be performed on multiple wafer groups simultaneously, improving work efficiency.

[0027] Illustratively, the wafer separating device includes a first cassette 4, and the wafer separating method further includes:

[0028] In S3, the drive assembly drives the first gripper 31 to clamp the donor wafer, and drives the second gripper 32 to simultaneously lift up the donor wafer and the SOI wafer.

[0029] In S4, the donor wafer and SOI wafer are simultaneously clamped by the first gripper 31 and the second gripper 32 and moved above the first cassette 4, and the drive assembly controls the first cassette 4 to move upward and approach the SOI wafer, releasing the donor wafer and SOI wafer from the second gripper 32, so that the donor wafer is clamped by the first gripper 31 and the SOI wafer falls into the first cassette 4.

[0030] Without mechanically clamping the SOI wafer, the SOI wafer is transferred from the mounting assembly 1 into the first cassette 4 and the donor wafers mixed therein are selected, thus causing little damage to the SOI wafer and achieving high operational efficiency.

[0031] Preferably, the wafer separating device includes the first cassette 4 and further includes a second cassette 5, in which case the wafer separating method further includes:

[0032] In S5, the first gripper 31 clamps the donor wafer above the second cassette 5, and the drive assembly controls the second cassette 5 to move upward and approach the donor wafer, releasing the donor wafer from the first gripper 31 and causing the donor wafer to fall into the second cassette 5.

[0033] The first gripper 31 steers the donor wafer into the second cassette 5, which facilitates recycling for subsequent donor wafers and reduces production costs.

[0034] Example 2 Compared with the wafer separation apparatus in Example 1, the wafer separation apparatus in this example does not include a first cassette 4, but only includes a second cassette 5, and other structures are completely the same as those in Example 1. As shown in Figure 5, after completing steps S1 and S2, the wafer separation method in Example 2 further includes the following:

[0035] In S6, the drive assembly drives the first gripper 31 to clamp the donor wafer.

[0036] In S7, the first gripper 31 clamps the donor wafer and moves it above the second cassette 5, and the drive assembly controls the second cassette 5 to move upward and approach the donor wafer, releasing the donor wafer from the first gripper 31, and the donor wafer falls into the second cassette 5.

[0037] The donor wafer mixed in the SOI wafer is selected without contacting the SOI wafer, and the SOI wafer is left in the mounting assembly 1, thereby avoiding damage to the SOI wafer and ensuring the yield of the separation operation.

[0038] The wafer separation method according to the present application is applied to the wafer separation apparatus described above. First, a group of wafers to be separated is placed on a support comb holder. The drive assembly drives the loading assembly to move the group of wafers to the air knife outlet. High-pressure gas is then transported through an air pipe to the air knife outlet and ejected, causing the high-pressure air to flow around both sides of the wafer group, reducing the air pressure on both sides of the wafer group. According to Bernoulli's principle, an outward force is applied to both sides of the wafer group, separating the wafers into a donor wafer and an SOI wafer. The drive assembly drives the first gripper to clamp the donor wafer and the second gripper to simultaneously clamp the donor wafer and the SOI wafer. This wafer separation method avoids mechanical damage to products when separating the wafers using a mechanical structure. The provision of the first and second grippers allows the donor wafer and the SOI wafer to be selectively clamped, transferred, or released, thereby improving work efficiency.

Claims

1. configured to separate the wafer groups; A mounting bracket and a mounting assembly (1) attached to the mounting bracket, the mounting assembly (1) comprising a support comb-like holder (11) having a plurality of vertically arranged parallel slots in which the wafer groups can be stored awaiting separation; a separation assembly (2) including an air knife (21) configured to separate the group of separable wafers into donor wafers and SOI wafers, and an air pipe (22) having one end connected to the air knife (21) and the other end connected to an air source; a clamping assembly (3) including a first gripper (31) capable of clamping or releasing the donor wafer and a second gripper (32) capable of clamping or releasing the donor wafer and the SOI wafer; a drive assembly attached to the mounting bracket and configured to drive the clamping assembly (3) to clamp or release the donor wafer and the SOI wafer relative to the clamping assembly (3), and further configured to drive the placement assembly (1) to move the wafer group to an exhaust port of the air knife (21). Wafer separation device.

2. The first gripper (31) has two symmetrically arranged clamping comb holders (311) that can approach or separate from each other, and the clamping comb holders (311) have an escape groove (3111) and a clamping groove (3112) spaced apart, and when the two clamping comb holders (311) are approaching each other, the clamping groove (3112) is configured to clamp the donor wafer, and the escape groove (3111) is configured to escape the SOI wafer.

2. The wafer separation device according to claim 1.

3. the second gripper (32) comprises two symmetrically arranged lifting comb holders (321) that can approach or separate from each other, the lifting comb holders (321) are provided with lifting grooves (3211), and when the two lifting comb holders (321) are approaching each other, the lifting grooves (3211) are configured to lift the donor wafer and the SOI wafer; 2. The wafer separation device according to claim 1.

4. The wafer transport system further includes a first cassette (4) configured to store an SOI wafer, and the first gripper (31) and the second gripper (32) are capable of moving the SOI wafer above the first cassette (4).

2. The wafer separation device according to claim 1.

5. a second cassette (5) configured to store a donor wafer, the first gripper (31) being capable of moving the donor wafer above the second cassette (5); 2. The wafer separation device according to claim 1.

6. The separation assembly (2) further comprises an on-off valve (23) configured to control the opening and closing of the air source, and an air flow control valve (24) configured to adjust the magnitude of the air flow in the air pipe (22).

2. The wafer separation device according to claim 1.

7. The wafer separation device according to any one of claims 1 to 6 is applied to the wafer separation device, S1: placing a group of wafers to be separated on a support comb holder (11), and driving a mounting assembly (1) by a drive assembly to move the group of wafers to an outlet of an air knife (21); (S2) controlling the high-pressure gas to be transported to the outlet of the air knife (21) through the air pipe (22) and sprayed out, so that the high-pressure air flows on both sides of the wafer group, reducing the air pressure on both sides of the wafer group, and applying an outward force to both sides of the wafer group according to Bernoulli's principle, thereby separating the wafer group into the donor wafer and the SOI wafer; Wafer separation method.

8. The wafer separation device includes a first cassette (4), The wafer separation method includes: S3: driving a first gripper (31) by the drive assembly to clamp the donor wafer in the first gripper (31), and driving a second gripper (32) to simultaneously lift the donor wafer and the SOI wafer; (S4) wherein the donor wafer and the SOI wafer are moved above the first cassette (4) while being simultaneously held by the first gripper (31) and the second gripper (32), and the drive assembly controls the first cassette (4) to move upward and approach the SOI wafer, releasing the donor wafer and the SOI wafer from the second gripper (32), and the donor wafer is held by the first gripper (31), and the SOI wafer falls into the first cassette (4).

8. The wafer separation method according to claim 7.

9. The wafer separation device further comprises a second cassette (5), The wafer separation method includes: and (S5) controlling the second cassette (5) to move upward and approach the donor wafer by the first gripper (31), and releasing the donor wafer from the first gripper (31), so that the donor wafer falls into the second cassette (5).

9. The wafer separation method according to claim 8.

10. The wafer separation device includes a second cassette (5), The wafer separation method includes: S6: driving a first gripper (31) by the drive assembly to clamp the donor wafer with the first gripper (31); (S7) in which the first gripper (31) grips the donor wafer and moves it above the second cassette (5), and the drive assembly controls the second cassette (5) to move upward and approach the donor wafer, releasing the donor wafer from the first gripper (31), and the donor wafer falls into the second cassette (5).

8. The wafer separation method according to claim 7.

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