Backside gas inlet assembly for thermal annealing equipment and thermal annealing equipment

Abstract

This application provides a back-side air intake assembly for a thermal annealing apparatus and the thermal annealing apparatus itself, comprising: a reflector for reflecting radiation energy emitted by the wafer to the back side of the wafer; an air intake assembly, made of transparent material and disposed on the reflector, having an air intake cavity and an air outlet, the air outlet communicating with the air intake cavity; inert gas entering the air intake cavity disperses within the air intake cavity and flows through the air outlet to the back side of the wafer. When using the above-mentioned assembly to ventilate the back side of the wafer, the inert gas first flows into the air intake cavity and diffuses to reduce the air pressure and flow rate, blowing towards the wafer with lower air pressure and flow rate, preventing wafer displacement; after diffusing in the air intake cavity, the inert gas enters the air outlet, thus more evenly sweeping the back side of the wafer, allowing the wafer to be cooled more uniformly.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] This application relates to the field of semiconductor equipment technology, specifically to a back-side air intake assembly for a thermal annealing equipment and a thermal annealing equipment. [Previous Technology]

[0002] With the rapid and iterative operation of integrated circuit technology, the requirements for wafer manufacturing processes are becoming increasingly stringent. This leads to the need for better rapid thermal annealing (RTA) during wafer manufacturing, which requires a faster heating rate and a shorter high-temperature range (the high-temperature range is T-50, which is the time taken for the peak temperature in the rapid thermal annealing process to be reduced by 50°C. This time includes both the time taken to rise from 50°C to the peak temperature and the time taken to drop from the peak temperature to 50°C. It is a key parameter for evaluating the rapid thermal annealing process). Currently, introducing helium (He) into the back space of the wafer to cool the back side of the wafer (i.e., back helium inlet) is one of the main ways to improve T-50.

[0003] However, the existing helium intake components do not have an ideal back helium intake effect, and they have the following problems: First, the pressure and flow rate of helium blown towards the back of the wafer are relatively large, which can easily blow the wafer and cause it to shift, affecting the stability of the process; Second, the helium intake in the back side space is uneven, resulting in poor cooling effect. [Summary of the Invention]

[0004] In view of this, this application provides a back-side air intake assembly for a thermal annealing apparatus, which can prevent the wafer from being blown off course and can also improve the cooling effect on the wafer. In addition, this application also provides a thermal annealing apparatus.

[0005] To achieve the above objectives, this application provides the following technical solution: A back-side air intake assembly for a thermal annealing equipment, used to ventilate the back side of a wafer located in a reaction chamber, comprising: a reflector plate for reflecting the radiation energy emitted by the wafer to the back side of the wafer; an air intake assembly made of transparent material and disposed on the reflector plate, having an air intake cavity and an air outlet, the air outlet communicating with the air intake cavity; wherein, after the inert gas entering the air intake cavity is dispersed in the air intake cavity, it flows to the back side of the wafer through the air outlet.

[0006] In some embodiments, in the back-side air intake assembly for the above-mentioned thermal annealing equipment, the air outlet is provided with a plurality of outlets and is respectively used to guide the inert gas to different parts of the back side of the wafer; and the air intake cavity is provided with a flow guiding structure for guiding the inert gas to each of the outlets.

[0007] In some embodiments, in the above-described back air intake assembly for the hot annealing equipment, the air intake cavity has multiple and is isolated from each other, each air intake cavity has an air intake channel, and multiple air outlets are provided, and each air intake cavity is connected to the air outlets distributed in the area where the air intake cavity is located.

[0008] In some embodiments, the air intake assembly for the back side of the thermal annealing equipment described above has an air outlet surface facing the back side of the wafer; and the air outlet is provided in multiple ways, and all the air outlets are arranged in multiple straight lines on the air outlet surface, and the multiple straight lines are evenly distributed on the air outlet surface.

[0009] In some embodiments, the air intake assembly for the back side of the hot annealing equipment described above includes: a first plate covering the reflector plate and having an air intake channel; a second plate stacked on the first plate and having the air outlet; wherein the first plate and / or the second plate have grooves formed thereon, and the first plate and the second plate are stacked and fitted together to close the grooves to form the air intake cavity.

[0010] In some embodiments, in the above-described back-side air intake assembly for the hot annealing equipment, the groove is formed on the surface of the second plate facing the first plate; a flow guiding structure is provided in the air intake cavity, the flow guiding structure includes an arc-shaped ridge located in the groove and protruding relative to the bottom wall of the groove, a plurality of the ridges forming a flow guiding ring with a radial opening, and the flow guiding ring having a plurality of concentrically arranged ridges.

[0011] In some embodiments, in the above-described back-side air intake assembly for a hot annealing apparatus, the groove is formed on the surface of the second plate facing the first plate, and a protruding ring is provided on the bottom wall of the groove relative to the bottom wall. The protruding ring abuts against the first plate to isolate the inner and outer groove cavities of the protruding ring, thereby forming a plurality of air intake cavities.

[0012] In some embodiments, in the above-described back air intake assembly for the hot annealing equipment, a plurality of concentric convex rings are provided in the groove to form a plurality of circular and annular air intake cavities.

[0013] In some embodiments, in the above-described back-side air intake assembly for the hot annealing equipment, each of the air intake cavities is provided with the air intake channel, and: the circular air intake cavity is a central air intake cavity located in the central region of the second plate, and the air intake channel of the central air intake cavity is located at the center of the central air intake cavity; the annular plurality of air intake cavities include an intermediate air intake cavity and an outer air intake cavity that surround the central air intake cavity and are sequentially nested therein, the air intake channel provided in the outer air intake cavity is provided near the outer edge of the outer air intake cavity; the air intake channel provided in the intermediate air intake cavity is provided near the inner edge of the intermediate air intake cavity.

[0014] In some embodiments, in the above-described back air intake assembly for hot annealing equipment, at least one of the air intake cavities has a plurality of air intake channels, and the plurality of air intake channels communicating with the same air intake cavity are symmetrically arranged about the center of the convex ring.

[0015] In some embodiments, in the above-described back air intake assembly for the hot annealing equipment, the air intake channel protrudes from the first plate in a direction away from the second plate and passes through the reflector.

[0016] In some embodiments, the air supply pipeline for supplying the inert gas in the above-mentioned back air intake assembly for the hot annealing equipment includes multiple branch pipelines connected to different air intake channels, and each branch pipeline is provided with a flow controller.

[0017] In some embodiments, in the above-mentioned back-side air intake assembly for the hot annealing equipment, the surface of the second plate facing away from the first plate is the air outlet surface. Multiple air outlets are provided, and all the air outlets are arranged in multiple straight lines on the air outlet surface. All the multiple straight lines pass through the center of the air outlet surface, and the included angle between any two adjacent straight lines is equal.

[0018] As another technical solution, a hot annealing device includes the above-mentioned back air intake assembly for hot annealing devices.

[0019] In some embodiments, the above-mentioned thermal annealing equipment further includes: a reaction chamber; a support structure disposed in the reaction chamber, having a support surface for supporting the wafer and capable of driving the wafer to rotate; a heating light source disposed above the support structure for providing the heat required by the wafer; a quartz light-transmitting plate disposed between the heating light source and the support structure to isolate the heating light source and the support structure and allow the heat generated by the heating light source to pass through; a support structure for supporting the back-side air intake assembly and placing the top surface of the back-side air intake assembly below the support surface supporting the wafer; and a temperature measuring instrument disposed on the support structure and / or the back-side air intake assembly for detecting the temperature of the wafer.

[0020] The back-side air intake assembly for thermal annealing equipment provided in this application adds a dedicated air intake assembly for air intake to the back side of the wafer on the reflector plate. The air intake assembly has an air intake cavity and an air outlet communicating with the air intake cavity. In the process of the inert gas flowing to the back side of the wafer, it first enters the air intake cavity and disperses in the air intake cavity to reduce the air pressure and flow rate. Then the inert gas is blown to the back side of the wafer through the air outlet. Since the inert gas is dispersed by the air intake before being blown to the back side of the wafer, the back side of the wafer can be cooled more uniformly. At the same time, since the air pressure and flow rate of the inert gas blown out of the air outlet are reduced in the air intake cavity, the wafer can be prevented from being blown away by the inert gas and thus shifting.

Implementation Method

[0022] The technical solutions of the embodiments of this application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of this application, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of this application, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0023] In related technologies, as shown in Figure 1, the thermal annealing equipment includes a supporting structure 01, a heating light source 02, a quartz light-transmitting plate 04, a base 05, a thermometer 06, a reflector 07, etc. The light spot emitted by the heating light source 02 shines on the wafer 03 through the quartz light-transmitting plate 04. The reflector 07 is connected to the base 05. The reflector 07 is used to reflect the radiation energy emitted from the back side of the wafer 03. As shown in Figure 2, an outlet 08 is provided on the surface of the reflector 07 facing the wafer 03. Inert gas (e.g., helium) enters the reaction chamber through the outlet 08 from the back side of the reflector 07 (the surface facing away from the wafer 03). The inert gas entering the reaction chamber flows through the back side of the wafer 03 to improve the cooling rate of the wafer 03.

[0024] However, in the related technology, the outlet angle of the gas outlet 08 arranged along the radial direction of the reflector 07 is fixed. After helium is discharged from the outlet 08, the high pressure at the front end of the helium or the large flow rate will directly cause the wafer 03 to shift, triggering an Out of Pocket (OOP) alarm for the wafer 03 station, which directly affects the stability of the product process. At the same time, as shown in Figure 2, in the related technology, helium is supplied to the wafer 03 using the reflector 07. Since the outlet 08 is not uniformly arranged on the reflector 07, it cannot stably achieve uniform cooling of the wafer 03. Moreover, when the back helium flow rate exceeds 1.5 slm, the cooling rate no longer increases, which cannot meet the requirements of the advanced process for a shorter high temperature range (T-50). In addition, in the related technologies, the hot annealing equipment has a degassing treatment mode and a thin film growth mode. During the degassing treatment mode, the coating on the surface of the reflector 07 may peel off or be eroded. During the thin film growth mode, the coating on the surface of the reflector 07 will also be affected, resulting in a significant decrease in the reflectivity of the reflector 07 and a significant shortening of its service life.

[0025] Based on the above, this application provides a back-side air intake assembly, which can be applied in a thermal annealing equipment to achieve rapid thermal annealing of wafer 3.

[0026] To facilitate the explanation of the back-side air intake assembly, the main structure of the thermal annealing equipment is first described in this embodiment: As shown in Figure 3, the thermal annealing equipment includes a reaction chamber, a support structure 1, a heating light source 2, a quartz light-transmitting plate 4, a support structure 5, a temperature measuring instrument 6, and a back-side air intake assembly. The heating light source 2 is located in the top space of the reaction chamber and can be composed of multiple halogen infrared heating lamps. The quartz light-transmitting plate 4 is located between the heating light source 2 and the support structure 1. It is used to isolate the heating light source 2 to prevent it from being affected by the process gas during the process. The quartz light-transmitting plate 4 also allows the heat generated by the heating light source 2 to pass through, providing the wafer 3 with the heat required for the process. The support structure 1 is the placement and support structure for the wafer 3, and it has the function of supporting the wafer 3. The support structure 1 forms a bearing surface, thereby creating a placement position for wafer 3 in the reaction chamber. The manufacturing process of wafer 3 is completed under the horizontal support of the support structure 1. In order to meet the process requirements, the support structure 1 can also drive wafer 3 to rotate at high speed around its own center while supporting wafer 3. The support structure 1 specifically includes a magnetic levitation rotor and a bracket set on the magnetic levitation rotor. The support structure 5 is set in the bottom space of the reaction chamber to support the back-side air intake assembly. That is, the back-side air intake assembly is set on the support structure 5, and the top surface of the back-side air intake assembly (i.e., the air intake surface described later) is located below the bearing surface of the support structure 1, so that the back-side air intake assembly is located below wafer 3 and can blow air onto the back side of wafer 3. The temperature measuring instrument 6 is set on the support structure 5 and / or the back-side air intake assembly to detect the temperature of wafer 3.

[0027] Based on the above structure, as shown in Figures 3-7, the back-side air intake assembly provided in this application embodiment includes a reflector 8 and an air intake assembly. The reflector 8 is disposed on the support structure 5 and located on the back side of the wafer 3. The reflector 8 is also disposed facing the back side of the wafer 3 to reflect the radiation energy (heat) emitted by the wafer 3 to the back side of the wafer 3. To improve the reflection effect, the reflector 8 can be disposed parallel to the wafer 3. The air intake assembly is disposed on the reflector 8 and is specifically used to guide inert gas to the back side of the wafer 3. When the wafer 3 is thermally annealed in the thermal annealing equipment, the inert gas guided to the back side of the wafer 3 is helium (i.e., back helium ventilation). When the back-side air intake assembly is used for other types of semiconductor devices, the inert gas can also be other gases, such as argon. The air intake assembly has an air intake cavity 11 and multiple air outlets 12, and all the air outlets 12 are connected to the air intake cavity 11. When the air outlets 12 are provided, The projections of at least a portion of the vent holes 12 are evenly distributed on the back side of the wafer 3. That is, the inert gas flowing out from at least a portion of the vent holes 12 is evenly blown toward the back side of the wafer 3. In order to maximize the effect of uniform blowing, all the vent holes 12 are opened within the distribution range of the wafer 3, so that the projections of all the vent holes 12 are evenly distributed on the back side of the wafer 3. In some embodiments, when the reflector 8 is set parallel to the wafer 3, the air intake component set on the reflector 8 is also set parallel to the wafer 3. At this time, all the vent holes 12 are evenly distributed on the air intake component (when the air intake component and the wafer 3 are not parallel, in order to ensure that the projections of the vent holes 12 are evenly distributed on the wafer 3, the opening position of the vent holes 12 on the air intake component will have different spacing due to the tilt of the air intake component), and the inert gas blown out from each vent hole 12 is blown vertically toward the back side of the wafer 3. In the above structure, the air intake component is placed on the reflector plate 8. In order to reduce the impact of the air intake component on the heat reflection effect of the reflector plate 8, the material of the air intake component is a transparent material that has little or no impact on heat radiation, such as quartz, alumina, boron nitride, yttrium aluminum garnet, etc.

[0028] When the back-side air intake assembly described above is used to ventilate the back side of the wafer 3, the inert gas will first flow into the air intake cavity 11. Since the air intake cavity 11 has a larger space than the inert gas supply pipe 7, the inert gas will diffuse in the air intake cavity 11 to reduce the pressure and flow rate of the inert gas. This allows the inert gas to be blown toward the wafer 3 at a lower pressure and flow rate, avoiding the wafer 3 from shifting due to excessive pressure and flow rate, thus improving the stability of the process and reducing the risk of wafer 3 being scrapped. After the inert gas diffuses in the air intake cavity 11, it will enter each air outlet 12 more evenly. Since each air outlet 12 is evenly arranged relative to the wafer 3, the inert gas blown toward the back side of the wafer 3 through all the air outlets 12 will more evenly sweep the entire back side of the wafer 3, so that the wafer 3 can be cooled more evenly during rapid thermal annealing, thus improving the cooling effect of the wafer 3.

[0029] Furthermore, in the back-side air intake assembly provided in this application, a flow guiding structure is provided in the air intake cavity 11 for guiding inert gas to each air outlet 12. Because the air intake cavity 11 has a relatively large space, and the inert gas needs to diffuse in the air intake cavity 11, in order to improve the diffusion effect of the inert gas and make the air intake cavity 11 act like a diffuser, a flow guiding structure is provided in the air intake cavity 11, so that the inert gas can flow better to each air outlet 12 located at different positions, further improving the air intake uniformity. In addition, by providing a flow guiding structure, the disorderly diffused inert gas can be blocked to a certain extent, so that it flows in an orderly manner according to the flow guiding direction of the flow guiding structure, thereby reducing the flow rate of the inert gas and further reducing the occurrence of wafer 3 being blown off-center and scrapped.

[0030] In some embodiments, the intake chamber 11 may be multiple, and the multiple intake chambers 11 are isolated from each other. Each intake chamber 11 has an intake channel 16, through which inert gas enters the intake chamber 11. Each intake chamber 11 is connected to an outlet 12 distributed in the region of the intake chamber 11. If the intake cavity 11 is set to be a large space, when the inert gas diffuses in this space, on the one hand, it takes a long time to achieve full diffusion (i.e., to fill the intake cavity 11), and on the other hand, there will be deviations in the gas pressure and gas release time in the vents 12 of different areas. In order to improve these situations, a large space can be divided into multiple smaller spaces that are isolated from each other. That is, there are multiple smaller intake cavities 11 in the intake assembly, and each of them is connected to the vents 12 of different areas. In this way, the inert gas can enter these small intake cavities 11 at the same time and diffuse rapidly in each small intake cavity 11. At the same time, air is blown to different parts of the back side of the wafer 3 through the vents 12 that are connected to different small intake cavities 11, thereby achieving rapid air intake and further improving the uniformity of air intake. In addition, by setting up multiple small air intake cavities 11 and setting up an air intake channel 16 for each air intake cavity 11, the air intake channels 16 can be distributed more dispersedly on the reflector plate 8, which will not affect the setting of the temperature measuring instrument 6 on the reflector plate 8, and make the structural layout of the rear air intake assembly more reasonable.

[0031] The air intake assembly has an air outlet surface 13 facing the back side of the wafer 3 (this air outlet surface 13 is the surface of the second plate 10 facing away from the first plate 9, as described later). In some embodiments, as shown in FIG6, all the air outlet holes 12 can be arranged in multiple straight lines on the air outlet surface 13, and the multiple straight lines are evenly distributed on the air outlet surface 13. In some examples, the air outlet surface 13 of the air intake assembly is set parallel to the back side of the wafer 3, and the air outlet holes 12 are distributed in a straight line arrangement on the air outlet surface 13, and the multiple straight lines are evenly distributed on the air outlet surface 13, which can make the air outlet holes 12 evenly distributed on the air outlet surface 13, thereby improving the air intake uniformity. Specifically, when the air outlet holes 12 are arranged in a straight line, the multiple straight lines on the air outlet surface 13 can also be arranged in various ways, such as the multiple straight lines arranged in a star pattern or in a grid pattern. In addition, when the air outlet holes 12 are evenly arranged, they can also not be arranged in a straight line, such as in a circular arrangement or an array arrangement.

[0032] In some embodiments, the air intake component is made of transparent quartz. The use of quartz for the air intake component is advantageous because it does not affect the heat reflection effect of the reflector 8. Even with the addition of the air intake component, the normal operation of the reflector 8 can be guaranteed, avoiding any impact on the wafer 3 manufacturing process. Furthermore, quartz is more suitable for the working environment of the thermal annealing equipment, allowing the air intake component to function better. Additionally, the material of the air intake component can be the same as that of some components in the reaction chamber (such as the quartz light-transmitting plate 4), thus enabling the use of the same maintenance methods and facilitating equipment maintenance.

[0033] As shown in Figures 4-6, in some embodiments, the air intake assembly includes: a first plate 9 and a second plate 10. The first plate 9 covers the reflector plate 8 and is provided with an air intake channel 16; the second plate 10 is stacked on the first plate 9 and is provided with an air outlet 12; wherein, the first plate 9 and / or the second plate 10 are provided with grooves, and the first plate 9 and the second plate 10 are stacked and fitted together to close the grooves, thereby forming an air intake cavity 11. In this structure, the air intake assembly mainly includes two circular plate-shaped components, the first plate 9 and the second plate 10, and the air intake cavity 11 is formed by the stacking of these two plate-shaped components. This not only facilitates manufacturing but also enables disassembly and assembly, making maintenance convenient. The first plate 9 and the second plate 10 can be connected by a snap-fit ​​structure, a plug-in structure, or they can be glued together, or even naturally abutted by their own weight. In the specific configuration, since the first plate 9, which is located on the reflector 8, is below the second plate 10, and the inert gas needs to be introduced from below the reaction chamber, the air intake channel 16 for introducing the inert gas is located on the first plate 9. The air intake cavity 11 is formed by slotting the first plate 9 and / or the second plate 10. Specifically, the slot can be formed only on the first plate 9, only on the second plate 10, or on both the first plate 9 and the second plate 10. Furthermore, to optimize the structure, the thickness of the bottom wall and top wall of the air intake cavity 11 formed by the first plate 9 and the second plate 10 can both be 1mm-2mm. Taking the slot formed on the second plate 10 as an example, the top wall of the air intake cavity 11 is the part of the second plate 10 located at the bottom of the slot, and the bottom wall of the air intake cavity 11 is the first plate 9 itself. The distance between the top and bottom walls of the air intake cavity 11 is 2 ± 0.2 mm, and the distance between the second plate 10 and the back surface of the wafer 3 supported by the support structure 1 is maintained at 2 mm-4 mm. The selection of these numerical ranges ensures that a continuous and stable purge airflow is formed on the back surface of the wafer 3, and if the wafer 3 is deformed, the distance will prevent interference with the second plate 10, allowing the manufacturing process to be completed smoothly.

[0034] In addition, in the above structure, covering the reflector plate 8 with the first plate 9 can also protect the reflector plate 8. Specifically, after the thermal annealing equipment has been working for a period of time, it needs to be degassed, that is, the residual gas or volatile substances in the reaction chamber need to be removed. This can cause the coating on the surface of the reflector plate 8 to peel off or be eroded. In addition, the thermal annealing equipment can also perform thin film growth under normal pressure. If the reaction chamber is used for silicon oxide thin film growth, it will also affect the coating on the surface of the reflector plate 8, which will significantly reduce the reflection efficiency of the reflector plate 8 and shorten its service life. By covering the reflector plate 8 with the first plate 9, this application can protect the coating on the reflector plate 8, so that the coating is no longer affected during degasing or thin film growth, avoiding the coating peeling off or being eroded. This can extend the service life of the reflector plate 8, which is beneficial to equipment maintenance and can improve the working efficiency of the reaction chamber.

[0035] As shown in Figures 4 and 5, the groove is formed on the surface of the second plate 10 facing the first plate 9. The flow guiding structure includes a protruding strip 14 located in the groove and protruding relative to the bottom wall of the groove. In a specific configuration, the groove is formed on the second plate 10, and the first plate 9 below is used to close the groove to form an air intake cavity 11 by inverting the groove. At the same time, the protruding strip 14 is set in the groove. Specifically, the protruding strip 14 protrudes from the bottom wall of the groove to form a flow guiding wall. The protruding strip 14 can also be a component of the second plate 10, that is, the protruding strip 14 and the bottom wall of the groove are an integral structure. That is, when the groove is formed, no cutting is performed at the location of the protruding strip 14, but a solid part is reserved. In some embodiments, the width of the protruding strip 14 can be set to 2mm-3mm. By setting this flow-guiding structure, the inert gas can be guided and depressurized in sections, making the intake assembly act as a diffuser. This effectively reduces the intake pressure, prevents the wafer 3 from being blown off course by the high-pressure airflow, and improves product yield. In addition, the protrusion 14 can also be protruding on the first plate 9 and extending into the groove, thus also serving the purpose of flow guidance and pressure relief.

[0036] Further, as shown in Figures 4 and 5, based on the groove formed on the surface of the second plate 10 facing the first plate 9, a protruding ring 15 is also provided on the bottom wall of the groove. The protruding ring 15 abuts against the first plate 9 to isolate the inner and outer groove cavities of the protruding ring 15, thereby forming multiple air intake cavities 11. The protruding ring 15 can be formed in the same way as the protruding strip 14 described above, and its width can be set to 1mm-2mm. By setting a convex ring 15 to divide the groove cavity into multiple air intake chambers 11, multi-path diffusion and purging of inert gas can be achieved. This not only improves the air intake efficiency, but also enhances the dispersion effect because multiple air intake chambers 11 can all play a dispersing role. Therefore, while avoiding wafer 3 offset and ensuring uniform air intake, the total air intake pressure and total air flow can also be increased, thereby improving the cooling effect on the back of wafer 3. In addition, the air pressure and flow rate can be adjusted in different zones for different air intake chambers 11 to meet the diverse cooling needs of different areas on the back of wafer 3, thereby significantly improving the adjustment effect of T-50.

[0037] In some embodiments, as shown in Figures 4 and 5, multiple concentric convex rings 15 are provided in the groove to form multiple circular and annular air intake cavities 11. Further, in some embodiments, the center of the convex ring 15 and the center of the groove are at the same position. By concentrically arranging multiple convex rings 15, the air intake cavity 11 located in the central region is a circular cavity, while the other cavities surrounding the circular cavity are annular cavities. Compared with the method of multiple circular cavities being independently distributed in the groove, this not only makes fuller use of the groove space, but also makes the distribution of the air intake cavities 11 more standardized and reasonable. Furthermore, during the cooling process of the wafer 3, the wafer 3 often experiences faster heat dissipation at the edges and slower heat dissipation at the center. By concentrically arranging multiple convex rings 15 to form multiple circular and annular cavities, the heat dissipation situation that often occurs in the wafer 3 can be more specifically addressed and adjusted, better achieving cooling compensation in the radial regions of the wafer 3 and further improving cooling uniformity.

[0038] In the direction from the inside out, the radii of the multiple concentric convex rings 15 increase in equal increments, thereby radially dividing the space inside the groove, so that the space of each air intake cavity 11 changes regularly, thereby improving the accuracy of the proportion of inert gas distribution and achieving more uniform air intake. Specifically, as shown in Figures 4 and 5, for example, two convex rings 15 are provided to achieve radial trisection of the space inside the groove. The inner convex ring 15 of the two convex rings 15 separates the circular central air intake cavity 17. The outer convex ring 15 of the two convex rings 15 and the inner convex ring 15 separate the annular middle air intake cavity 18. The outer convex ring 15 and the side wall 19 of the groove (this side wall 19 is located at the circumferential edge of the circular second plate 10 and forms an annular side wall) separate the annular outer air intake cavity 20. Alternatively, the radii of the multiple convex rings 15 may not increase sequentially in an arithmetic manner, meaning the space of each air intake cavity 11 may no longer change regularly. Instead, the flow controller 22 described later may be used to make the air intake volume of each air intake cavity 11 different, so as to achieve the purpose of uniformly blowing the wafer 3.

[0039] Based on the multiple concentrically arranged convex rings 15 dividing and forming multiple circular and annular air intake cavities 11, each air intake cavity 11 is also provided with an air intake channel 16, and as shown in Figure 5: the circular air intake cavity 11 is the central air intake cavity 17 located in the central region of the second plate 10. This central air intake cavity 17 is formed by the innermost convex ring 15 among the multiple convex rings 15 in the central region of the second plate 10, and an air intake channel is provided in this central air intake cavity 17. When channel 16 is used, the air intake channel 16 of the central air intake cavity 17 is located at the center of the central air intake cavity 17. This position is close to the air outlets 12 connected to the central air intake cavity 17, so that the airflow path of the low temperature inert gas through the air intake channel 16, the central air intake cavity 17 and the air outlets 12 in sequence is shorter, so that it can be blown to the center of the wafer 3 more quickly. Since the temperature at the center of the wafer 3 is higher during the heating process, the wafer 3 can be cooled better.

[0040] The annular plurality of air intake cavities 11 include a middle air intake cavity 18 and an outer air intake cavity 20 that surround the central air intake cavity 17 and are nested therein. According to the position of the annular air intake cavities 11, the outer air intake cavity 20 is the largest diameter air intake cavity located at the circumferential edge of the second plate 10, while the middle air intake cavity 18 is the air intake cavity located between the central air intake cavity 17 and the outer air intake cavity 20. The air intake channel 16 provided in the outer air intake cavity 20 is located near the outer edge of the outer air intake cavity 20 (this outer edge refers to the larger diameter circumferential edge of the two circumferential edges of the annular structure). The outer air intake cavity 20 has a larger space, allowing for more thorough cooling of the wafer's edge areas via the air intake channel 16. The air intake channel 16 in the middle air intake cavity 18 is positioned close to its inner edge (the smaller of the two circumferential edges of the annular structure). This allows the air intake channel 16 to be as close as possible to the high-temperature region at the center of the wafer 3, resulting in a more complete distribution of inert gas in and around the center of the wafer 3. This further enhances cooling of the center and surrounding areas, ensuring better temperature uniformity across the wafer 3. It should be noted that in the above embodiment, there is only one middle air intake cavity 18. However, this embodiment is not limited to this; in practical applications, multiple middle air intake cavities 18 can be arranged concentrically, each with its own air intake channel 16.

[0041] Based on the multiple air intake cavities 11, in the embodiment shown in FIG4, each air intake cavity 11 has an air intake channel 16. However, this application is not limited to this. In another embodiment shown in FIG5, this application also makes at least one air intake cavity 11 have multiple air intake channels 16. That is, all air intake cavities 11 may have multiple air intake channels 16, or some air intake cavities 11 may have multiple air intake channels 16, while the remaining air intake cavities 11 have one air intake channel 16. Moreover, the multiple air intake channels 16 communicating with the same air intake cavity 11 are symmetrically arranged about the center of the convex ring 15. This allows the inert gas to enter each air intake cavity 11 more evenly, which is beneficial to the rapid and uniform diffusion of the inert gas in each air intake cavity 11. As shown in Figures 5 and 7, a total of 5-10 air intake channels 16 can be configured to ensure good and uniform air intake. As shown in Figure 5, there are two air intake channels 16 located in the outer air intake cavity 20 and two air intake channels 16 located in the middle air intake cavity 18. Furthermore, the line connecting the two air intake channels 16 in the outer air intake cavity 20 can pass through the center of the groove, and the line connecting the two air intake channels 16 in the middle air intake cavity 18 can also pass through the center of the groove, but forms an angle with the line connecting the two air intake channels 16 in the outer air intake cavity 20. There is one air intake channel 16 in the central air intake cavity 17, located at the center of the groove. Alternatively, the air intake channel 16 in the central air intake cavity 17 can also be configured as in the middle air intake cavity 18 and the outer air intake cavity 20, with two channels connected by a line passing through the center of the groove and forming an angle with the other two connecting lines. Specifically, the inner diameter of the air intake channel 16 is 4mm-6mm.

[0042] In addition, when the intake cavity 11 is only one with a large space, multiple intake channels 16 can be provided, and the connecting parts of these intake channels 16 and the intake cavity 11 are evenly distributed relative to the intake cavity 11.

[0043] As shown in Figures 4 and 7, the air intake channel 16 protrudes from the first plate 9 in a direction away from the second plate 10 and passes through the reflector 8. The air intake channel 16 is vertically positioned on the surface of the first plate 9 facing away from the second plate 10. Since the reflector 8 is located below the first plate 9, the air intake channel 16 passes through the reflector 8. To improve the stability of the air intake assembly on the reflector 8, the air intake channel 16 is connected to the reflector 8 when passing through it. For example, the tubular air intake channel 16 is press-fitted with through holes 24 on the reflector 8 through which the air intake channel 16 passes (the number and distribution of through holes 24 on the reflector 8 are the same as the number and distribution of air intake channels 16 on the first plate 9), or a positioning structure is provided between the air intake channel 16 and the reflector 8.

[0044] When multiple air intake chambers 11 are provided, the air supply line 7 for supplying inert gas includes multiple branch lines 21 connected to different air intake channels 16, and each branch line 21 is provided with a flow controller 22. As shown in FIG4, corresponding to the central air intake chamber 17, the middle air intake chamber 18 and the outer air intake chamber 20, the air supply line 7 includes three branch lines 21 connected to their respective air intake channels 16, and each of these three branch lines 21 is provided with a flow controller 22 to adjust and distribute the air intake volume of the three air intake chambers 11, so that the air intake assembly can cool the back side of the wafer 3 in a targeted manner according to the heat dissipation of the wafer 3, thereby improving the working performance of the back side air intake assembly provided in this application.

[0045] As shown in Figure 6, the surface of the second plate 10 facing away from the first plate 9 is the air outlet surface 13. The multiple straight lines formed by the air outlet holes 12 on the air outlet surface 13 all pass through the center of the air outlet surface 13, and the included angle between any two adjacent straight lines is equal, so that the air outlet holes 12 are distributed in a straight line from the center of the second plate 10 to the edge. In specific settings, for example, two straight lines can be arranged in a cross shape, or four straight lines can be arranged in a star shape, etc.

[0046] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 5, the spacing between any two adjacent vent holes 12 on each straight line is the same, and the spacing between all vent holes on all straight lines is the same, so that all vent holes 12 are distributed on multiple concentric circles surrounding the center of the vent surface 13. By setting it in this way, the vent holes 12 can be more evenly distributed, thereby achieving more uniform blowing on the back side of the wafer 3. Specifically, the diameter of the vent holes 12 can be 2mm-3mm, and 5-10 vent holes can be set on each straight line within the radius of the second plate 10, for a total of 40-80 vent holes. 7 vent holes can be set on each straight line within the radius of the second plate 10, for a total of 56 (7*8=56) vent holes. In related technologies, the T-50 has a narrow debugging window and a bottleneck in cooling rate, making it unable to stably and uniformly cool wafer 3. The cooling rate stops increasing when the helium flow rate exceeds 1.5 slm, failing to meet the requirements of shorter high-temperature ranges (T-50) in advanced processes. In this application, by setting the inlet cavity 11 as described above, and uniformly distributing the outlet holes 12 and selecting the aforementioned quantity, the requirements of T-50 are better met, solving the problem of slow cooling rate.

[0047] When all the vent holes 12 are distributed on multiple concentric circles surrounding the center of the vent surface 13, as shown in Figure 5, multiple arc-shaped protrusions 14 form a guide ring with radial openings 23. The guide ring has multiple concentrically arranged rings, and each guide ring at least surrounds multiple vent holes 12 located on the same circle. All the guide rings form a guide structure. Making the protrusions 14 arc-shaped and distributed in a ring shape avoids dead zones, enabling better guidance of the inert gas and resulting in better uniform gas dispersion. The radial openings 23 serve as channels for the inert gas to diffuse radially between the guide rings. In addition, the protrusion 14 can be configured with other structures, such as making the protrusion 14 straight, with two protrusions 14 as a group, and the extension direction of each group is the same as the extension direction of each straight line formed by the arrangement of the air outlets 12. The two protrusions 14 in the same group are respectively set on both sides of a straight line, thereby forming a radially extending guide gap. Each air outlet 12 located on a straight line is located in this gap, that is, the guide structure is also cross-shaped or star-shaped, which can also achieve a good guide effect.

[0048] Based on the above-mentioned back-side air intake assembly, this application also provides a hot annealing device, which includes the above-mentioned back-side air intake assembly for hot annealing device. The beneficial effects of the back-side air intake assembly on the hot annealing device are described above and will not be repeated here.

[0049] The basic principles of this application have been described above with reference to specific embodiments. However, it should be noted that the advantages, benefits, and effects mentioned in this application are merely examples and not limitations, and should not be considered as essential features of each embodiment of this application. In addition, the specific details disclosed above are only for illustrative and facilitative purposes, and are not limitations. The above details do not limit this application from having to adopt the above specific details for implementation.

[0050] The block diagrams of devices, apparatuses, devices, and systems involved in this application are merely illustrative examples and are not intended to require or imply that they must be connected, arranged, or configured in the manner shown in the block diagrams. As those skilled in the art will recognize, these devices, apparatuses, devices, and systems can be connected, arranged, and configured in any manner. Words such as “comprising,” “including,” “having,” etc., are open-ended terms meaning “including but not limited to,” and are used interchangeably with them. The terms “or” and “and” as used herein refer to the terms “and / or,” and are used interchangeably with them unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The term “such as” as used herein refers to the phrase “such as but not limited to,” and is used interchangeably with it.

[0051] It should also be noted that in the apparatus, equipment and methods of this application, each component or step can be disassembled and / or recombined. These disassemblies and / or recombinations should be considered as equivalent solutions of this application.

[0052] The above description of the disclosed aspects is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use this application. Various modifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein can be applied to other aspects without departing from the scope of this application. Therefore, this application is not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein, but rather to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

[0053] It should be understood that the qualifying terms “first,” “second,” “third,” “fourth,” “fifth,” and “sixth” used in the description of the embodiments of this application are only used to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions and cannot be used to limit the scope of protection of this application.

[0054] The above description has been given for purposes of illustration and description. Furthermore, this description is not intended to limit the embodiments of this application to the forms disclosed herein. Although numerous exemplary aspects and embodiments have been discussed above, those skilled in the art will recognize certain variations, modifications, alterations, additions, and sub-combinations thereof. [Simplified Explanation of the Diagram]

[0021] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application or related technologies, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or related technologies will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only embodiments of this application. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on the provided drawings without creative effort. Figure 1 is a structural schematic diagram of some components of a hot annealing equipment in related technologies; Figure 2 is a top view of a reflector in related technologies; Figure 3 is a structural schematic diagram of some components of a hot annealing equipment provided in the embodiments of this application; Figure 4 is a structural schematic diagram of the cooperation between the first plate, the second plate, and the gas supply pipeline; Figure 5 is a structural schematic diagram of the protrusions and protrusion rings provided on the second plate; Figure 6 is a structural schematic diagram of the distribution of air outlets on the air outlet surface of the second plate; Figure 7 is a structural schematic diagram of the distribution of through holes on the reflector.

Claims

1. A back-side air intake assembly for a thermal annealing apparatus for supplying air to the back side of a wafer located in a reaction chamber, comprising: Reflector Used to reflect the radiant energy emitted by the wafer to the back side of the wafer; The air intake assembly is made of transparent material and is disposed on the reflector plate. It has an air intake cavity and an air outlet, and the air outlet is connected to the air intake cavity. The inert gas entering the air intake cavity is dispersed in the air intake cavity and then flows to the back side of the wafer through the air outlet.

2. The back-side air intake assembly for a hot annealing apparatus as described in claim 1, wherein, The gas outlet is provided with multiple outlets, each used to guide the inert gas to different parts of the back side of the wafer; and the gas inlet cavity is provided with a flow guiding structure for guiding the inert gas to each outlet.

3. The back-side air intake assembly for a hot annealing apparatus as described in claim 1, wherein, The air intake cavity has multiple and isolated from each other. Each air intake cavity has an air intake channel. Furthermore, there are multiple air outlets. Each air intake cavity is connected to an air outlet distributed in the area where the air intake cavity is located.

4. The back-side air intake assembly for a hot annealing apparatus as described in claim 1, wherein, The air intake assembly has an air outlet surface facing the back side of the wafer; and the air outlet is provided in multiple ways, and all the air outlets are arranged in multiple straight lines on the air outlet surface, and the multiple straight lines are evenly distributed on the air outlet surface.

5. The back-side air intake assembly for a hot annealing apparatus as described in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein, The air intake assembly includes: a first plate covering the reflector and having an air intake channel; and a second plate stacked on the first plate and having an air outlet; wherein the first plate and / or the second plate have grooves formed thereon, and the first plate and the second plate are stacked and fitted together to close the grooves to form the air intake cavity.

6. The back-side air intake assembly for a hot annealing apparatus as described in claim 5, wherein, The groove is formed on the surface of the second plate facing the first plate; the air intake cavity is provided with a flow guiding structure, which includes an arc-shaped ridge located in the groove and protruding relative to the bottom wall of the groove, and a plurality of the ridges form a flow guiding ring with a radial opening, and the flow guiding ring has a plurality of concentrically arranged ridges.

7. The back-side air intake assembly for a hot annealing apparatus as described in claim 5, wherein, The groove is formed on the surface of the second plate facing the first plate. A protruding ring is provided on the bottom wall of the groove relative to the bottom wall. The protruding ring abuts against the first plate and isolates the inner and outer grooves of the protruding ring to form a plurality of air intake cavities.

8. The back-side air intake assembly for a hot annealing apparatus as described in claim 7, wherein, Multiple concentric convex rings are provided in the groove to form a circular air intake cavity and multiple annular air intake cavities.

9. The back-side air intake assembly for a hot annealing apparatus as described in claim 8, wherein, Each of the intake cavities is provided with an intake channel, and: the circular intake cavity is a central intake cavity located in the central region of the second plate, and the intake channel of the central intake cavity is located at the center of the central intake cavity; the annular plurality of intake cavities include an intermediate intake cavity and an outer intake cavity that surround the central intake cavity and are sequentially nested therein, the intake channel of the outer intake cavity is located near the outer edge of the outer intake cavity; the intake channel of the intermediate intake cavity is located near the inner edge of the intermediate intake cavity.

10. The back-side air intake assembly for a hot annealing apparatus as described in claim 7, wherein, At least one of the intake chambers has a plurality of intake channels, and the plurality of intake channels communicating with the same intake chamber are symmetrically arranged about the center of the convex ring.

11. The back-side air intake assembly for a hot annealing apparatus as described in claim 8, wherein, The gas supply line for supplying the inert gas includes multiple branch lines connected to different inlet channels, and each branch line is equipped with a flow controller.

12. The back-side air intake assembly for a hot annealing apparatus as described in claim 5, wherein, The air intake channel protrudes from the first plate in a direction away from the second plate and passes through the reflector.

13. The back-side air intake assembly for a hot annealing apparatus as described in claim 5, wherein, The surface of the second plate facing away from the first plate is an air outlet surface. Multiple air outlets are provided, and all the air outlets are arranged in multiple straight lines on the air outlet surface. All the multiple straight lines pass through the center of the air outlet surface, and the included angle between any two adjacent straight lines is equal.

14. A hot annealing apparatus comprising a back-side air intake assembly for a hot annealing apparatus as described in any one of claims 1 to 13.

15. The heat annealing apparatus as described in claim 14, further comprising: Reaction chamber; The support structure is disposed in the reaction chamber, has a support surface for supporting the wafer, and is capable of driving the wafer to rotate; A heating light source, positioned above the support structure, is used to provide the heat required by the wafer; a quartz light-transmitting plate, positioned between the heating light source and the support structure, is used to isolate the heating light source and the support structure, and to allow the heat generated by the heating light source to pass through; a support structure is used to support the back-side air intake assembly, and to position the top surface of the back-side air intake assembly below the support surface that supports the wafer; and a temperature measuring instrument, positioned on the support structure and / or the back-side air intake assembly, is used to detect the temperature of the wafer.

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