Semiconductor process device, and wafer position acquisition apparatus and method therefor and wafer position calibration apparatus and method therefor

Abstract

The present application belongs to semiconductor process technology. Disclosed are a semiconductor process device, and a wafer position acquisition apparatus and method therefor and a wafer position calibration apparatus and method therefor. The wafer position acquisition apparatus comprises: a bearing base, which comprises a wafer bearing surface used for bearing a wafer; a light-emitting assembly, which is located directly above the wafer bearing surface and is used for emitting an annular light beam to the wafer on the wafer bearing surface, such that an edge of the wafer falls into an irradiation range of the annular light beam; and a light detection assembly, which comprises an optical detector array distributed below the wafer bearing surface and is used for obtaining contour information of the wafer by receiving irradiation of the annular light beam, wherein the contour information is used for indicating position information of the wafer. The present technical solution can greatly reduce a wafer calibration time.

Description

Semiconductor process equipment and wafer position acquisition, calibration device and method thereof Technical Field

[0001] The present application belongs to the field of semiconductor process technology, and in particular relates to a semiconductor process equipment and a wafer position acquisition, calibration device and method thereof. Background Art

[0002] Semiconductor integrated circuits integrate many components into one chip, and the substrate that carries these chips is the wafer. Wafers are formed from single-crystal silicon rods through a multi-step process, one of which is the use of a chamfering mechanism to form a notch (i.e., a Notch, also known as a V-groove) on the wafer. The national standard stipulates that the Notch depth is 1mm and the angle is 90°. It is a concave structure with a certain angle and depth. The function of the Notch on the wafer is to identify the crystallization direction of the wafer to ensure the consistency of the direction in the entire subsequent process. Therefore, whether it is photolithography, etching or deposition, there will be a step to determine the direction of the wafer Notch to calibrate the position of the wafer and ensure the consistency of the direction of the wafer in the entire process.

[0003] In the prior art, the mainstream wafer position calibration device is based on single-point detection by laser. A simple schematic diagram is shown in Figure 1, where 1 represents the mechanical support mechanism for wafer calibration, 2 represents the laser emission component, 3 represents the laser detection component, 4 represents the motion mechanism, and 5 represents the wafer. The existing method rotates the wafer 5 through the motion mechanism 4. The laser detection component 3 obtains the position data of a single point during the rotation of the wafer 5, and then infers the shape of the wafer 5 through time and the speed of the motion mechanism 4. The center of mass position of the wafer 5 is then confirmed based on the inferred shape, and the position of the wafer 5 is then adjusted by the motion mechanism 4. Finally, the next rotation cycle is entered, and the direction of the Notch 51 of the wafer 5 is confirmed. It can be seen that the existing wafer positioning device rotates the wafer 5 through the motion mechanism 4, and then infers the shape of the wafer 5 from the position data obtained by the laser detection component 3, resulting in the accuracy of this method strongly relying on the accuracy of the time and speed information of the movement, which can easily cause errors in the calculation of the center of mass of the wafer 5, resulting in the need for the wafer 5 to rotate multiple times to continuously correct the center of mass information. At the same time, the confirmation of the center of mass of the wafer 5 and the confirmation of the Notch 51 of the wafer 5 are carried out twice, which greatly increases the wafer calibration time.

[0004] Summary of the Invention

[0005] The embodiments of the present application provide a semiconductor process equipment and a wafer position acquisition, calibration device and method thereof, aiming to solve the technical problem that the wafer position calibration device in the prior art consumes a lot of time when performing wafer position calibration.

[0006] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a wafer position acquisition device, which is applied in semiconductor process equipment. The wafer position acquisition device includes:

[0007] A carrying base, comprising a wafer carrying surface, wherein the wafer carrying surface is used to carry the wafer;

[0008] a light emitting assembly located directly above the wafer carrying surface, configured to emit an annular light beam toward the wafer on the wafer carrying surface so that the edge of the wafer falls within the irradiation range of the annular light beam;

[0009] The light detection component includes a light detector array distributed below the wafer carrying surface, and is used to obtain the contour information of the wafer by receiving the irradiation of the annular light beam, and the contour information is used to indicate the position information of the wafer.

[0010] In some embodiments, the light emitting assembly includes a collimated light source and an aconic lens, wherein the collimated light source is used to emit a collimated light beam of a predetermined diameter facing the center of the wafer supporting surface;

[0011] The axicon is located on the irradiation path of the collimated light beam, and is used to convert the collimated light beam into the annular light beam, and make the width of the annular light beam be half of the predetermined diameter.

[0012] In some embodiments, when the annular light beam falls on the plane where the wafer is located on the wafer supporting surface, the diameter of the wafer is larger than the inner ring diameter of the annular light beam and smaller than the outer ring diameter of the annular light beam.

[0013] In some embodiments, the wafer position acquisition device further includes a liftable bracket for supporting and fixing the light emitting assembly so that a vertical distance from the light emitting assembly to the wafer on the wafer supporting surface is adjustable.

[0014] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a wafer position calibration device, which is used in semiconductor process equipment. The wafer position calibration system includes a controller, a moving mechanism, and the above-mentioned wafer position acquisition device; wherein,

[0015] The controller is used to obtain the position information of the wafer according to the contour information of the wafer obtained by the wafer position acquisition device; and control the movement mechanism to operate according to the position information so that the wafer moves to the target position.

[0016] In some embodiments, the moving mechanism includes a rotating mechanism and a translating mechanism; the rotating mechanism is used to drive the supporting base to rotate; the translating mechanism is used to drive the wafer on the wafer supporting surface to translate relative to the wafer supporting surface;

[0017] The controller is used to control the rotation mechanism to drive the supporting base to rotate according to the position information to drive the wafer to rotate to the target position; and is used to control the translation mechanism to drive the wafer to translate to the target position according to the position information.

[0018] In some embodiments, the controller is configured to obtain the position information of the wafer according to the contour information of the wafer obtained by the wafer position acquisition device, including:

[0019] The controller is used to fit the outer shape curve of the wafer according to the contour information of the wafer, and determine whether the outer shape curve of the wafer is complete;

[0020] The controller is used to determine the position information of the wafer according to the outer shape curve of the wafer when it is determined that the outer shape curve of the wafer is complete.

[0021] In some embodiments, the controller is configured to determine the position information of the wafer according to the outer shape curve of the wafer, including:

[0022] The controller is used to determine the notch direction and center of mass position of the wafer according to the outer shape curve of the wafer;

[0023] The controller is used to determine the position information of the wafer according to the center of mass position of the wafer and the notch direction of the wafer.

[0024] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a semiconductor process equipment, including a process chamber and a wafer temporary storage chamber connected to the process chamber, wherein the above-mentioned wafer position acquisition device or the above-mentioned wafer position calibration device is installed in the wafer temporary storage chamber.

[0025] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a wafer position calibration method, comprising the following steps:

[0026] emitting an annular light beam toward the wafer on the wafer supporting surface so that the edge of the wafer falls within the irradiation range of the annular light beam;

[0027] receiving the irradiation of the annular light beam to detect and obtain the contour information of the wafer;

[0028] Obtaining position information of the wafer according to the outline information of the wafer;

[0029] According to the position information of the wafer, the wafer is controlled to move to a target position.

[0030] In some embodiments, the step of obtaining the position information of the wafer according to the contour information of the wafer includes:

[0031] Fitting an outer shape curve of the wafer according to the contour information of the wafer, and determining whether the outer shape curve of the wafer is complete;

[0032] When it is determined that the outer shape curve of the wafer is complete, the position information of the wafer is determined according to the outer shape curve of the wafer.

[0033] In some embodiments, the step of determining the position information of the wafer according to the outer shape curve of the wafer includes:

[0034] Determining the notch direction and center of mass position of the wafer according to the outer shape curve of the wafer;

[0035] The position information of the wafer is determined according to the center of mass position of the wafer and the notch direction of the wafer.

[0036] In some embodiments, the step of controlling the wafer to move to a target position according to the position information of the wafer includes:

[0037] According to the center of mass position of the wafer, controlling the translation of the wafer so that the center of mass position of the wafer coincides with the center point position of the wafer carrying surface;

[0038] According to the notch direction of the wafer, the wafer carrying surface is controlled to drive the wafer to rotate so that the notch direction of the wafer faces the target orientation.

[0039] In the present application, since the light emitting component of its wafer position acquisition device can emit an annular light beam to the wafer on the wafer carrying surface, and make the edge of the wafer fall into the irradiation range of the annular light beam, at the same time, the light detection component of its wafer position acquisition device includes a light detector array distributed below the wafer carrying surface, which can obtain the contour information of the wafer by receiving the irradiation of the annular light beam, and the contour information can indicate the position information of the wafer (including the notch direction and center of mass position of the wafer). In addition, the controller of its wafer position calibration device can obtain the position information of the wafer according to the contour information of the wafer, and control the movement mechanism to work according to the position information of the wafer, so that the wafer moves to the target position to achieve the position calibration of the wafer. It can be seen that in this technical solution, in the confirmation process of the entire wafer position information, only one irradiation detection is required to complete the confirmation of the entire wafer position information. At the same time, the wafer does not need to perform any movement including rotation during the confirmation process of the entire position information. It only needs to move to the target position once by the movement mechanism after the position information is confirmed. Therefore, the wafer calibration time can be greatly saved. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0040] The following detailed description of the specific embodiments of the present application in conjunction with the accompanying drawings will make the technical solutions and beneficial effects of the present application apparent.

[0041] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of the operation of a wafer position calibration device in the prior art.

[0042] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of the operation of the wafer position calibration device provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0043] FIG3 is a diagram showing the working principle of the wafer position calibration device shown in FIG2 .

[0044] FIG4 is a flowchart of a wafer position calibration method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0045] FIG. 5 is a flowchart of step S130 of the wafer position calibration method shown in FIG. 4 .

[0046] FIG. 6 is a flowchart of step S140 of the wafer position calibration method shown in FIG. 4 . DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0047] The following, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, clearly and completely describes the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some of the embodiments of the present application, not all of them. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without inventive work are within the scope of protection of this application. The following embodiments and their technical features may be combined with each other unless there is a conflict.

[0048] Semiconductor integrated circuits integrate many components into a single chip, and the substrate that carries these chips is the wafer. Wafers are formed from single-crystal silicon rods through many steps of processing, one of which is the use of a chamfering mechanism to form a notch (i.e., a Notch, also known as a V-groove) on the wafer. The national standard stipulates that the Notch depth is 1mm and the angle is 90°. It is a concave structure with a certain angle and depth. The function of the Notch on the wafer is to identify the crystallization direction of the wafer to ensure the consistency of the direction in the entire subsequent process. Therefore, whether it is photolithography, etching or deposition, there will be a step to determine the direction of the wafer Notch to calibrate the position of the wafer and ensure the consistency of the direction of the wafer in the entire process.

[0049] In the prior art, the mainstream wafer position calibration device is based on single-point detection by laser. A simple schematic diagram is shown in Figure 1, where 1 represents the mechanical support mechanism for wafer calibration, 2 represents the laser emission component, 3 represents the laser detection component, 4 represents the motion mechanism, and 5 represents the wafer. The existing method drives the wafer 5 to rotate through the motion mechanism 4. The laser detection component 3 obtains the position data of a single point during the rotation of the wafer 5, and then infers the shape of the wafer 5 through time and the speed of the motion mechanism 4. The center of mass position of the wafer 5 is then confirmed based on the inferred shape, and the position of the wafer 5 is then adjusted through the motion mechanism 4. Finally, the next rotation cycle is entered, and the direction of the Notch 51 of the wafer 5 is confirmed. It can be seen that the existing wafer positioning device rotates the wafer 5 through the motion mechanism 4, and then infers the shape of the wafer 5 from the position data obtained at the laser detection component 3, resulting in the accuracy of this method strongly relying on the accuracy of the time and speed information of the movement, which can easily cause errors in the calculation of the center of mass of the wafer 5, resulting in the need for the wafer 5 to rotate multiple times to continuously correct the center of mass information. At the same time, the confirmation of the center of mass of the wafer 5 and the confirmation of the Notch 51 of the wafer 5 are carried out twice, which greatly increases the wafer calibration time.

[0050] Based on this, it is necessary to provide a new solution for wafer position acquisition and calibration method to solve the technical problem that the prior art wafer position calibration device consumes a lot of time when performing wafer position calibration.

[0051] In one embodiment, as shown in FIG2 and FIG3, an embodiment of the present application provides a semiconductor process equipment, which includes a process chamber (not shown) and a wafer temporary storage chamber (not shown) connected to the process chamber. A wafer position calibration device or a wafer position acquisition device 100 is installed in the wafer temporary storage chamber. The wafer position calibration device may specifically include a controller (not shown), a moving mechanism (not shown), and a wafer position acquisition device 100. The wafer position acquisition device 100 may specifically include a supporting base 110, a light emitting component 120, and a light detection component 130. The supporting base 110 may specifically include a wafer supporting surface, which is used to support a wafer 200. The light emitting component 120 is located directly above the wafer supporting surface and is used to emit an annular light beam to the wafer 200 on the wafer supporting surface, so that the edge of the wafer 200 falls within the irradiation range of the annular light beam. The light detection assembly 130 may specifically include an array of light detectors distributed below the wafer carrying surface, which is used to obtain the contour information of the wafer 200 by receiving the irradiation of the annular light beam, and the contour information is used to indicate the position information of the wafer 200. The above-mentioned controller is used to obtain the position information of the wafer 200 based on the contour information of the wafer 200 obtained by the wafer position acquisition device 100; and control the movement mechanism to operate according to the position information, so that the wafer 200 moves to the target position to achieve position calibration of the wafer 200. More specifically, the position information may include the notch position of the wafer 200 (i.e., the notch direction) and the position of the wafer 200 on the wafer carrying surface; the target position may include the position to which the notch of the wafer 200 needs to be rotated and the position of the wafer 200 required on the wafer carrying surface.

[0052] It is understood that the wafer support surface on the support base 110 for supporting wafers 200 should be slightly smaller than the size of the smallest wafer, so that when a wafer 200 of any size greater than or equal to the smallest wafer is supported on the wafer support surface, the wafer support surface is fully covered. The coverage area of ​​the photodetector array should be significantly larger than the size of the wafer 200, primarily located within a certain size range below the wafer support surface. No corresponding photodetectors may be located directly below the wafer support surface. That is, the photodetector array is distributed in an area outside of the area directly below the wafer support surface. This ensures that when the edge of the wafer 200 falls within the illumination range of the annular beam, a portion of the annular beam illuminates the edge of the wafer 200, while another portion of the annular beam illuminates the photodetector array, allowing the photodetector array to detect and obtain contour information of the wafer 200. At the same time, the controller can obtain the position information of the wafer 200 based on the contour information, which can specifically include the center of mass of the wafer 200 and the notch direction of the notch 210 of the wafer 200. The detailed detection process will be further described in the method embodiment below and will not be repeated here.

[0053] Furthermore, to better implement the configuration of the photodetector array, the photodetector array can be directly distributed in a matrix or an annular array on the upper surface of the support platform 140 of the entire device. Furthermore, to minimize the measurement error of the photodetector array regarding the position information of the wafer 200, the height difference between the wafer support surface and the upper surface of the support base 110 should be as small as possible, so that the surface of the wafer 200 and the surface of the photodetector array are as close to the same level as possible. Specifically, the photodetector array can be a charge-coupled device (CCD) matrix.

[0054] Thus, in the present application, since the light emitting component 120 of the wafer position acquisition device 100 can emit an annular light beam to the wafer 200 on the wafer carrying surface, and make the edge of the wafer 200 fall into the irradiation range of the annular light beam, at the same time, the light detection component 130 of the wafer position acquisition device 100 includes a light detector array distributed below the wafer carrying surface, which can receive the irradiation of the annular light beam to obtain the contour information of the wafer, and the contour information can indicate the position information of the wafer 200 (including the notch direction and center of mass position of the wafer 200). In addition, the controller of the wafer position calibration device can obtain the position information of the wafer based on the contour information of the wafer, and drive the moving mechanism to work based on the position information of the wafer 200, so that the wafer 200 moves to the target position to achieve the position calibration of the wafer 200. It can be seen that in the present technical solution, only one irradiation detection is needed to complete the confirmation of the entire wafer position information during the entire process of confirming the wafer position information. At the same time, the wafer 200 does not need to perform any movement including rotation during the entire process of confirming the position information. It only needs to move to the target position once through the moving mechanism after the position information is confirmed. Therefore, the wafer calibration time can be greatly saved.

[0055] In some examples, as shown in Figures 2 and 3, the light emitting assembly 120 may specifically include a collimated light source 121 and an axicon 122. The collimated light source 121 is configured to emit a collimated light beam of predetermined diameter d1, such as a laser beam, directly toward the center of the wafer support surface. The axicon 122 is positioned in the path of the collimated light beam. The collimated light beam forms a Bessel beam characteristic when passing through the axicon 122, converting the collimated light beam into an annular beam with a width d2 that is half the predetermined diameter d1, i.e., d2 = d1 / 2. This is because the collimated light beam undergoes refraction and reflection as it passes through the axicon 122, causing the direction of light propagation to change. When the incident angle meets the required internal angle of the axicon 122, the light beam is reflected multiple times within the axicon 122, resulting in a small rotation. This rotation can alter the direction of the beam, which has a very narrow horizontal distribution width. As the light beam continuously reflects from the triangular plane, its trajectory gradually shifts and becomes circular, thus forming an annular light spot. This phenomenon is called beam rotation or optical vortex mode. To better emit a collimated beam and better convert the collimated beam into a desired annular beam, the collimated light source 121 can be, for example, a laser, and the aconic lens 122 can be, for example, a conical lens.

[0056] In some examples, as shown in FIG2 and FIG3, to better ensure that the edge of the wafer 200 falls within the irradiation range of the annular beam, when the annular beam falls on the plane of the wafer 200 on the wafer support surface, the diameter of the wafer 200 should be greater than the inner ring diameter d3 of the annular beam and less than the outer ring diameter d4 of the annular beam. Preferably, d4 = wafer diameter + d2 is generally preferred, that is, the edge of the wafer 200 falls into the middle of the annular beam. At this time, the width d2 of the annular beam also determines the standard value (spec value) of the calibration of the wafer calibration device 100. When the center of mass of the wafer 200 deviates from the center point of the wafer support surface of the support base 110 by more than the standard value, it is considered necessary to recalibrate the workstation before recalibrating the wafer position. That is, the standard value can be specifically equal to half the width d2 of the annular beam.

[0057] At the same time, since the outer ring diameter d4 of the annular light beam is directly proportional to the height L from the vertex angle of the axicon lens 122 to the wafer 200 (this direct proportional relationship can be derived from the law of refraction of light and the tangent theorem: assuming that the refraction angle is θ and the incident angle is π / 2-(π / 2-α)=α, then nsinα=sinθ; the tangent theorem can be obtained that d4=2Ltan(θ-α), and since n>1, θ>α, it can be obtained that the coefficient in the linear relationship between d4 and L is positive and is in direct proportional relationship. Since the base angle α of the axicon lens 122 is very small, according to the small angle approximation principle nsinα=sinθ, θ=nα can be obtained): d3=2L×tan[(n-1)α];

[0058] Among them, n is the refractive index of the conical lens 122, which is related to the material of the conical lens 122. Due to this optical characteristic, the position calibration of wafers 200 of different sizes can be achieved by adjusting the height L. At this time, the wafer position acquisition device 100 also includes a liftable bracket 150 for supporting and fixing the light emitting component 120, so that the vertical distance from the light emitting component 120 to the wafer 200 on the wafer carrying surface can be adjusted, and then by changing the above-mentioned height L, different outer ring diameters d4 of the annular light beam are formed to correspond to the position calibration of wafers 200 of different sizes. Now take the prism 122 with a refractive index n of 1.8 and an α angle of 30 degrees as an example. The laser beam diameter is 20mm, and it can be calculated using the approximate formula, tan[(1.8-1)×30 o ]=0.445, d4=300mm+10mm, L=d4 / (2×0.445)≈348mm, that is, when the diameter of the wafer 200 is 300mm, the height L needs to be adjusted to approximately 348mm.

[0059] In this way, compared with the existing wafer position calibration device which is only for the position calibration of wafers of a single size, the wafer position calibration device can be compatible with the position calibration of wafers of different sizes without changing the calibration equipment.

[0060] In some examples, the above-mentioned moving mechanism may specifically include a rotating mechanism and a translation mechanism. The rotating mechanism can be used to drive the carrier base 110 to rotate, that is, the rotating mechanism can directly act on the carrier base 110, so that its wafer carrying surface drives the wafer 200 on the wafer carrying surface to rotate, thereby making the notch direction of the wafer 200 face the target direction, and the rotating mechanism can be, for example, a motor. The translation mechanism can be used to drive the wafer 200 on the wafer carrying surface to translate relative to the wafer carrying surface, that is, the translation mechanism directly acts on the wafer 200 on the wafer carrying surface, and specifically can be a manipulator provided above the wafer carrying surface to directly grab the wafer 200 on the wafer carrying surface, so that the wafer 200 translates relative to the wafer carrying surface, thereby making the center of mass position of the wafer 200 coincide with the center point position of the wafer carrying surface. Alternatively, the power mechanism may be provided below the wafer support surface. The power mechanism may support the edge of the wafer 200 via a plurality of lifting pins to drive the wafer 200 to translate relative to the wafer support surface, thereby aligning the center of mass of the wafer 200 with the center point of the wafer support surface. Furthermore, the controller is configured to control the rotation mechanism to drive the support base 110 to rotate based on the position information (i.e., the notch direction of the wafer 200) to drive the wafer 200 to rotate to the target position (i.e., the target notch direction); and to control the translation mechanism to drive the wafer 200 to translate to the target position (i.e., the target center of mass position) based on the position information (i.e., the center of mass position of the wafer 200).

[0061] In one embodiment, the present application also separately provides a wafer position acquisition device for semiconductor process equipment. The structure and function of the wafer position acquisition device can be specifically referred to the wafer position acquisition device 100 of the above embodiment, and will not be repeated here.

[0062] In one embodiment, the present application also separately provides a wafer position calibration device for semiconductor process equipment. The structure and function of the wafer position calibration device can be specifically referred to the wafer position calibration device of the above embodiment, and will not be repeated here.

[0063] In one embodiment, as shown in FIG4 , the present application provides a wafer position calibration method, which may include the following steps:

[0064] Step S110 : emitting an annular light beam toward the wafer on the wafer supporting surface so that the edge of the wafer falls within the irradiation range of the annular light beam.

[0065] It is understandable that, as shown in FIG2 , after the wafer 200 is placed on the wafer carrying surface of the carrying base 110 , an annular light beam can be emitted to the wafer 200 through the light emitting component 120 so that the edge of the wafer 200 falls within the irradiation range of the annular light beam.

[0066] Furthermore, based on the above description, it can be seen that to better ensure that the edge of wafer 200 falls within the illumination range of the annular beam, when the annular beam falls on the plane of wafer 200, the diameter of wafer 200 should be greater than the inner ring diameter d3 of the annular beam and less than the outer ring diameter d4 of the annular beam. Preferably, d4 = wafer diameter + d2, so that the edge of wafer 200 falls within the center of the annular beam. Furthermore, because the outer ring diameter d4 of the annular beam is directly proportional to the height L from the vertex angle of the axicon 122 to the wafer 200: d3 = 2L × tan[(n-1)α]; where n is the refractive index of the axicon 122, which is related to the material of the axicon 122, this optical property allows for position calibration of wafers 200 of different sizes by adjusting the height L. At this time, the vertical distance between the light emitting component 120 and the wafer 200 on the wafer supporting surface can be adjusted through the liftable bracket 150, so as to form different outer ring diameters d4 of the annular light beam by changing the above-mentioned height L, thereby ensuring that the edges of wafers 200 of different sizes can fall within the irradiation range of the annular light beam.

[0067] Step S120: receiving the irradiation of the annular light beam to detect and obtain the contour information of the wafer.

[0068] It can be understood that, after the edge of the wafer 200 falls within the irradiation range of the annular beam through the above-described method steps, the light detection assembly 130 can receive the irradiation of the annular beam to detect and obtain the wafer's contour information. Specifically, data can be encoded in the light detector array of the light detection assembly so that the wafer's contour information can be obtained when the light detector array receives the irradiation of the annular beam.

[0069] The data encoding of the steps of this method can specifically be to form a corresponding XY coordinate system on the surface where the light detector array is located. In this way, the wafer 200 can partially block the annular light beam and form a corresponding blocked annular light spot on the light detector array. The light detector array can obtain the contour information of the wafer by detecting this blocked annular light spot. The contour information should include the coordinates of each point along the edge of the wafer 200.

[0070] Step S130: obtaining the position information of the wafer according to the outline information of the wafer.

[0071] It can be understood that after obtaining the contour information of the wafer 200 through the above method steps, the position information of the wafer 200 can be obtained by analyzing and calculating the contour information of the wafer 200. The position information may specifically include the slot direction and center of mass position of the wafer 200.

[0072] Step S140: controlling the wafer to move to a target position according to the position information of the wafer.

[0073] It can be understood that after the position information of the wafer 200 is obtained through the above-mentioned method steps, the wafer 200 can be controlled to move to the target position according to the position information of the wafer 200. This can be achieved specifically through the above-mentioned moving mechanism, that is, the wafer 200 is driven to move by the moving mechanism so that the center of mass position of the wafer 200 coincides with the center point position of the wafer supporting surface and the slot direction of the wafer 200 is facing the target direction.

[0074] In this way, in the technical solution of this embodiment, only one irradiation detection is needed to complete the confirmation of the entire wafer position information during the entire wafer position information confirmation process. At the same time, the wafer 200 does not need to perform any movement including rotation during the entire position information confirmation process. It only needs to move to the target position once through the moving mechanism after the position information is confirmed. Therefore, the wafer calibration time can be greatly saved.

[0075] In some examples, to better confirm the position information of the wafer, the process of executing the above method step of "obtaining the position information of the wafer based on the contour information of the wafer" is as follows:

[0076] Step S131: fitting the wafer's outer shape curve according to the wafer's contour information, and determining whether the wafer's outer shape curve is complete.

[0077] It can be understood that after the contour information of the wafer is obtained through the above method steps, the outer shape curve of the wafer can be fitted according to the contour information of the wafer, and it can be determined whether the outer shape curve of the wafer is complete. Based on the above statement, it can be known that when the center of mass of the wafer 200 deviates from the center point of the bearing surface of the supporting base 110 by more than the standard value, it is considered that the workstation needs to be recalibrated. Therefore, this method step can confirm whether the center of mass of the wafer 200 deviates from the center point of the wafer bearing surface of the supporting base 110 by more than the standard value by judging whether the outer shape curve of the wafer is complete. This is because when the center of mass of the wafer 200 deviates from the center point of the wafer bearing surface of the supporting base 110 by more than the standard value, part of the edge of the wafer 200 will exceed the irradiation range of the annular light beam, thereby making it impossible to obtain the complete contour information of the wafer 200, and ultimately causing the outer shape curve to be incomplete. Therefore, when it is determined that the outer shape curve of the wafer is incomplete, it is necessary to recalibrate the workstation before calibrating the wafer position.

[0078] Step S132: When it is determined that the outer shape curve of the wafer is complete, the position information of the wafer is determined according to the outer shape curve of the wafer.

[0079] It is understood that when the wafer's outer shape curve is determined to be complete through the above method steps, the wafer's position information can be determined based on the wafer's outer shape curve. The specific process is as follows: First, based on the outer shape curve of the wafer 200, the notch direction (i.e., the orientation of the notch 210) and the center of mass position (i.e., the coordinate information of the center of mass position, which can be determined by the least squares method based on the outer shape curve of the wafer 200) of the wafer 200 are determined. Then, the center of mass position of the wafer 200 and the notch direction of the wafer 200 are integrated to determine the position information of the wafer 200.

[0080] In some examples, to better control the movement of the wafer to the target position, the process of executing the above method step of "controlling the movement of the wafer to the target position according to the position information of the wafer" is as follows:

[0081] Step S141: According to the center-of-mass position of the wafer, the wafer is controlled to translate so that the center-of-mass position of the wafer coincides with the center point position of the wafer carrying surface.

[0082] It can be understood that, as shown in Figure 2, in order to move the wafer 200 to the target position, that is, to achieve position calibration of the wafer 200, it is first necessary to ensure that the center of mass position of the wafer 200 coincides with the center point position of the wafer carrying surface. At this time, the center of mass position of the wafer 200 in the position information of the wafer 200 obtained according to the above method steps can be used to control the translation of the wafer 200, specifically, the translation relative to the wafer carrying surface, until the wafer 200 is translated to the point where the center of mass position of the wafer 200 coincides with the center point position of the wafer carrying surface.

[0083] Step S142: According to the notch direction of the wafer, the wafer supporting surface is controlled to drive the wafer to rotate so that the notch direction of the wafer faces the target orientation.

[0084] It can be understood that, as shown in Figure 2, in order to move the wafer 200 to the target position, that is, to achieve the position calibration of the wafer 200, it is also necessary to ensure that the center of mass position of the wafer 200 and the center point position of the wafer carrying surface coincide with each other, and then control the rotation of the wafer 200 according to the slot direction of the wafer 200 in the position information of the wafer 200 obtained according to the above method steps. Specifically, the wafer carrying surface is controlled to drive the wafer 200 to rotate until the slot direction of the wafer 200 is facing the target orientation, and the position calibration of the wafer 200 can be completed.

[0085] Although the present application has been shown and described with respect to one or more implementations, equivalent variations and modifications will occur to those skilled in the art based on reading and understanding this specification and the accompanying drawings. The present application includes all such modifications and variations and is limited only by the scope of the appended claims. In particular, with respect to the various functions performed by the above-mentioned components, the terms used to describe such components are intended to correspond to any component (unless otherwise indicated) that performs the specified function of the component (e.g., it is functionally equivalent), even if it is not structurally equivalent to the disclosed structure that performs the function in the exemplary implementation of this specification shown herein.

[0086] That is, the above description is merely an embodiment of the present application and does not limit the patent scope of the present application. Any equivalent structural or equivalent process transformations made using the contents of the description and drawings of this application, such as the mutual combination of technical features between the various embodiments, or direct or indirect application in other related technical fields, are also included in the patent protection scope of the present application.

[0087] In addition, in the description of the present application, it should be understood that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "length", "width", "thickness", "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inside", "outside" and the like indicate positions or positional relationships based on the positions or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as limiting the present application. In addition, for structural elements with the same or similar characteristics, the present application may use the same or different reference numerals to identify them. In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the technical features indicated. Therefore, the features defined as "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more features. In the description of the present application, "multiple" means two or more, unless otherwise clearly and specifically defined.

[0088] In this application, the word "exemplary" is used to mean "serving as an example, illustration or description". Any embodiment described in this application as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as being more preferred or more advantageous than other embodiments. The above description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to implement and use the present application. In the above description, various details are listed for the purpose of explanation. It should be understood that a person of ordinary skill in the art can recognize that the present application can be implemented without using these specific details. In other embodiments, well-known structures and processes will not be elaborated in detail to avoid obscuring the description of the present application with unnecessary details. Therefore, the present application is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown, but is consistent with the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed in this application.

Claims

1. A wafer position acquisition device, used in semiconductor process equipment, characterized in that: The wafer position acquisition device comprises: A supporting base, comprising a wafer supporting surface, wherein the wafer supporting surface is used to support the wafer; A light emitting component is located directly above the wafer carrying surface and is used to emit an annular light beam to the wafer on the wafer carrying surface so that the edge of the wafer falls within the irradiation range of the annular light beam; The optical detection component includes an optical detector array distributed below the wafer carrying surface, and is used to obtain the contour information of the wafer by receiving the irradiation of the annular light beam, and the contour information is used to indicate the position information of the wafer.

2. The wafer position acquisition device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The light emitting assembly includes a collimated light source and an aconic lens, wherein: The collimated light source is used to face the center of the wafer carrying surface and emit a collimated light beam with a predetermined diameter; The axicon is located on the irradiation path of the collimated light beam, and is used for converting the collimated light beam into the annular light beam, and making the width of the annular light beam be half of the predetermined diameter.

3. The wafer position acquisition device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: When the annular light beam falls on the plane where the wafer is located on the wafer carrying surface, the diameter of the wafer is larger than the inner ring diameter of the annular light beam and smaller than the outer ring diameter of the annular light beam.

4. The wafer position acquisition device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The position acquisition device further comprises a liftable bracket for supporting and fixing the light emitting assembly, so that a vertical distance from the light emitting assembly to the wafer on the wafer carrying surface is adjustable.

5. A wafer position calibration device, used in semiconductor process equipment, characterized in that: The wafer position calibration system comprises a controller, a moving mechanism and a wafer position acquisition device as described in any one of claims 1 to 4; wherein, The controller is used to obtain the position information of the wafer according to the contour information of the wafer obtained by the wafer position acquisition device; and control the movement mechanism to operate according to the position information so that the wafer moves to the target position.

6. The wafer position calibration device according to claim 5, characterized in that: The moving mechanism includes a rotating mechanism and a translating mechanism; the rotating mechanism is used to drive the bearing base to rotate; The translation mechanism is used to drive the wafer on the wafer carrying surface to translate relative to the wafer carrying surface; The controller is used to control the rotating mechanism to drive the supporting base to rotate according to the position information so as to drive the wafer to rotate to the target position; and is used to control the translation mechanism to drive the wafer to translate to the target position according to the position information.

7. The wafer position calibration device according to claim 5, characterized in that: The controller is used to obtain the position information of the wafer according to the contour information of the wafer obtained by the wafer position acquisition device, including: The controller is used to fit the shape curve of the wafer according to the contour information of the wafer, and determine whether the shape curve of the wafer is complete; The controller is used to determine the position information of the wafer according to the outer shape curve of the wafer when it is determined that the outer shape curve of the wafer is complete.

8. The wafer position calibration device according to claim 7, characterized in that: The controller is used to determine the position information of the wafer according to the outer shape curve of the wafer, including: The controller is used to determine the notch direction and the centroid position of the wafer according to the outer shape curve of the wafer; The controller is used to determine the position information of the wafer according to the center of mass position of the wafer and the notch direction of the wafer.

9. A semiconductor process equipment, characterized in that: It comprises a process chamber and a wafer temporary storage chamber connected to the process chamber, wherein the wafer temporary storage chamber is provided with a wafer position acquisition device as described in any one of claims 1 to 4 or a wafer position calibration device as described in any one of claims 5 to 8.

10. A wafer position calibration method, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: Sending an annular light beam to the wafer on the wafer carrying surface so that the edge of the wafer falls within the irradiation range of the annular light beam; Receiving the irradiation of the annular light beam to detect and obtain the contour information of the wafer; According to the contour information of the wafer, obtaining the position information of the wafer; According to the position information of the wafer, the wafer is controlled to move to a target position.

11. The wafer position calibration method according to claim 10, characterized in that: The step of obtaining the position information of the wafer according to the contour information of the wafer comprises: Fitting an outer shape curve of the wafer according to the contour information of the wafer, and determining whether the outer shape curve of the wafer is complete; When it is determined that the outer shape curve of the wafer is complete, the position information of the wafer is determined according to the outer shape curve of the wafer.

12. The wafer position calibration method according to claim 11, characterized in that: The step of determining the position information of the wafer according to the outer shape curve of the wafer comprises: Determining the notch direction and centroid position of the wafer according to the outer shape curve of the wafer; The position information of the wafer is determined according to the centroid position of the wafer and the notch direction of the wafer.

13. The wafer position calibration method according to claim 12, characterized in that: The step of controlling the wafer to move to a target position according to the position information of the wafer comprises: According to the center of mass position of the wafer, controlling the translation of the wafer so that the center of mass position of the wafer coincides with the center point position of the wafer carrying surface; According to the notch direction of the wafer, the wafer carrying surface is controlled to drive the wafer to rotate, so that the notch direction of the wafer faces the target orientation.

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