Air inlet apparatus and semiconductor processing device

Abstract

The present application discloses an air inlet apparatus and a semiconductor processing device. The air inlet apparatus comprises a transition structure, and a first gas uniformizing structure and a second gas uniformizing structure that are arranged in a first direction and respectively disposed on two opposite sides of the transition structure; a transmission channel that extends in a second direction and is used for being communicated with a semiconductor processing device is arranged in the transition structure; the first gas uniformizing structure is provided with a plurality of first air inlet holes arranged in a third direction and communicated with the transmission channel; each first air inlet hole comprises a first air inlet and a first air outlet, and the first air inlet hole is inclined from the first air inlet to the first air outlet towards the direction close to a process chamber; the second gas uniformizing structure is provided with a plurality of second air inlet holes arranged in the third direction and communicated with the transmission channel; each second air inlet hole comprises a second air inlet and a second air outlet, and the second air inlet hole is inclined from the second air inlet to the second air outlet towards the direction close to the process chamber. The present application can improve the uniformity of the gas entering the process chamber.

Description

Air intake device and semiconductor processing equipment Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and in particular to an air intake device and semiconductor processing equipment. Background Art

[0002] In the silicon epitaxy process, the gas delivery method of the horizontal silicon epitaxy reactor is that the reaction gas (silicon source and hydrogen, etc.) flows from one side of the substrate to the other side in a direction parallel to the substrate surface. It is required that the rate and flow rate of the reactants and dopants transported to various parts of the substrate during the epitaxial growth process are equal, and the gas flow field maintains a uniform parallel laminar flow to avoid any fluctuations, turbulence and convection vortices, so as to meet the requirements of indicators such as thickness, resistivity and doping concentration uniformity of the epitaxially grown film.

[0003] Rapid Thermal Processing (RTP) equipment is widely used in the DRAM / 3D-NAND / Logic fields. The equipment has three main functions: in-situ oxidation, water vapor in-situ oxidation, and rapid thermal processing. The principle of in-situ oxidation and water vapor in-situ oxidation is to introduce process gases (O2, H2) to form a dense oxide film on the Si substrate surface. For larger wafers (such as 12 inches), the uniformity of the airflow field above the wafer is very high, and the uniformity of the airflow field directly affects the film quality and performance.

[0004] Figure 1 shows the gas inlet structure of a process chamber in an existing RTP or silicon epitaxial equipment system. Figure 2 is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of Figure 1. Process gas enters through inlet 10a, flows through gas-leveling holes 20a, and is directed onto inclined block 30a, where it deflects and ultimately enters the process chamber. In the current design, the gas flow rate varies significantly directly above the wafer, impacting final product quality.

[0005] Summary of the Invention

[0006] In response to the above technical problems, the present application provides an air intake device and semiconductor processing equipment, which can improve the problem in the prior art that after the gas enters the process chamber from the air intake structure, the flow rate directly above the wafer has a large difference, affecting the quality of the final product.

[0007] To solve the above technical problems, in a first aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a gas inlet device for introducing gas into a process chamber of a semiconductor processing device, the gas inlet device comprising: a transfer structure, and a first gas uniformity structure and a second gas uniformity structure arranged along a first direction and disposed on opposite sides of the transfer structure;

[0008] A transmission channel extending along the second direction and used for communicating with the semiconductor processing equipment is provided in the transfer structure;

[0009] The first gas uniformity structure is provided with a plurality of first gas inlet holes arranged along the third direction and connected to the transmission channel; the first gas inlet holes include a first gas inlet port away from the transmission channel and a first gas outlet port close to the transmission channel, and the first gas inlet holes are inclined from the first gas inlet port to the first gas outlet port toward the direction close to the process chamber;

[0010] The second gas uniformity structure is provided with a plurality of second gas inlet holes arranged along the third direction and connected to the transmission channel; the second gas inlet holes include a second gas inlet port away from the transmission channel and a second gas outlet port close to the transmission channel, and the second gas inlet holes are inclined from the second gas inlet port to the second gas outlet port toward the direction close to the process chamber;

[0011] The first direction, the second direction and the third direction are perpendicular to each other.

[0012] In some embodiments, the first gas uniformity structure includes: a first outer cavity, and a first inner cavity provided in the first outer cavity, wherein the first inner cavity has a first flow uniformity cavity extending along the third direction, and a first annular cavity extending along the third direction is formed between the first outer cavity and the first inner cavity;

[0013] The first inner cavity is provided with a plurality of first air outlet holes, and the first air outlet holes are used to connect the first uniform flow cavity and the first annular cavity;

[0014] At least one first gas delivery hole is provided on the first outer cavity, and the first gas delivery hole also passes through the first inner cavity, for introducing gas into the first uniform flow cavity;

[0015] The plurality of first air inlet holes are arranged on the first outer cavity.

[0016] In some embodiments, the first air outlet is disposed on a side of the first inner cavity away from the first air inlet.

[0017] In some embodiments, the first gas delivery hole is located at one end of the first inner cavity, and the distance between all two adjacent first gas outlet holes gradually decreases from close to the first gas delivery hole to away from the first gas delivery hole.

[0018] In some embodiments, an included angle between an extension direction of the first air inlet and the second direction is 30°-60°.

[0019] In some embodiments, the aperture of the first air inlet gradually increases from the first air inlet to the first air outlet.

[0020] In some embodiments, the second gas uniformity structure includes: a second outer cavity, and a second inner cavity provided in the second outer cavity, wherein the second inner cavity has a second flow uniformity cavity extending along the third direction, and a second annular cavity extending along the third direction is formed between the second outer cavity and the second inner cavity;

[0021] The second inner cavity is provided with a plurality of second air outlet holes, and the second air outlet holes are used to connect the second uniform flow cavity and the second annular cavity;

[0022] At least one second gas delivery hole is provided on the second outer cavity, and the second gas delivery hole also passes through the second inner cavity, for introducing gas into the second uniform flow cavity;

[0023] The plurality of second air inlet holes are arranged on the second outer cavity.

[0024] In some embodiments, all the second air outlets correspond one-to-one to all the first air outlets, and the corresponding second air outlets are centrally symmetrical with the first air outlets, and the symmetry point is the midpoint of the line connecting any corresponding second air outlet and the first air outlet.

[0025] In some embodiments, all the second air inlets correspond one-to-one to all the first air inlet holes, and the corresponding second air inlet holes are symmetrical to the first air inlet holes, and the symmetry plane is the median perpendicular plane of the line connecting any corresponding second air inlet hole and the first air inlet hole.

[0026] In some embodiments, when the first outer cavity is provided with a first gas delivery hole, and the first gas delivery hole is located on the side of the first gas uniformizing structure facing the adapter structure, the second outer cavity is provided with a first through hole at a position directly opposite the first gas delivery hole, and the second gas delivery hole is provided at an end of the second outer cavity away from the first through hole;

[0027] The transfer structure further includes a second through hole, and the second through hole is connected to the first gas transmission hole and the first through hole.

[0028] In some embodiments, the transfer structure includes a top plate, a first side plate, a bottom plate, and a second side plate connected end to end to enclose the transmission channel, the top plate and the bottom plate are arranged along the first direction, and the first side plate and the second side plate are arranged along the third direction;

[0029] The top plate is provided with a first fixing groove which penetrates the transmission channel, the bottom surface of the first air uniformity structure includes a first protrusion structure which cooperates with the first fixing groove, and the first air inlet extends from the bottom of the first flow uniformity cavity to the bottom of the first protrusion structure;

[0030] A second fixed groove that passes through the transmission channel is provided on the bottom plate, and the bottom surface of the second air uniforming structure includes a second protruding structure that cooperates with the second fixed groove. The second air uniforming structure is connected to the second fixed groove from below, and the second air inlet hole passes through the bottom of the second flow uniforming cavity to the bottom of the second protruding structure.

[0031] In some embodiments, the second through hole passes through the bottom plate, the first side plate and the top plate; or

[0032] The second through hole passes through the bottom plate, the second side plate and the top plate.

[0033] In some embodiments, the top surface of the bottom plate is parallel to the bottom surface of the first protruding structure.

[0034] In some embodiments, the transfer structure further comprises: a first mounting plate and a second mounting plate sandwiching the top plate, the first side plate, the bottom plate, and the second side plate from both ends of the transmission channel, and the transmission channel also passes through the first mounting plate and the second mounting plate at the same time;

[0035] The first mounting plate is used to connect to the process chamber, and the second mounting plate is used to connect to the transmission device.

[0036] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a semiconductor processing device, comprising a process chamber, and an air intake device as described in the above embodiments connected to the process chamber.

[0037] As described above, in the present application, after entering the first and second gas uniformity structures, the gas enters the transmission channel through the first and second gas inlets, respectively, and then flows into the process chamber. Because the first and second gas inlets are both inclined toward one side of the process chamber, the gas is ejected from the first and second gas inlets at a certain angle relative to each other, which can offset a portion of the inclined gas flow, reducing the amount of gas that is refracted and forward, and forming at least a portion of the gas flow that advances along the second direction Y. This can reduce the occurrence of eddy currents and improve the uniformity of the gas entering the process chamber. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0038] The accompanying drawings herein are incorporated into and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the present application, and together with the specification, are used to explain the principles of the present application. In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the following is a brief introduction to the drawings required for describing the embodiments. Obviously, for those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without inventive work.

[0039] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of an air intake structure of a conventional process chamber;

[0040] FIG2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of FIG1 ;

[0041] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of airflow simulation inside the process chamber of FIG1 ;

[0042] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of the distribution of air flow velocity inside the process chamber of FIG1 ;

[0043] FIG5 is a schematic structural diagram of an air intake device provided in an embodiment of the present application used in a process chamber;

[0044] FIG6 is a schematic diagram of the top view of the structure of FIG5;

[0045] FIG7 is a side view of the structure of FIG5 (the internal structure is perspective);

[0046] FIG8 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the structure along line AA in FIG5 ;

[0047] FIG9 is an enlarged structural diagram of portion D in FIG8 ;

[0048] FIG10 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the structure along line BB in FIG7;

[0049] FIG11 is a schematic structural diagram of a first gas homogenizing structure provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0050] FIG12 is a schematic structural diagram of the E direction of FIG11;

[0051] FIG13 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the structure along line FF in FIG12;

[0052] FIG14 is a schematic diagram of the airflow direction of a first air uniformity structure provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0053] FIG15 is a schematic structural diagram of a first gas homogenizing structure provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0054] FIG16 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the structure along line CC in FIG7 ;

[0055] FIG17 is a schematic structural diagram of a second gas uniformity structure provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0056] FIG18 is a schematic diagram of the structure of FIG17 in the G direction;

[0057] FIG19 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the structure along line HH in FIG18;

[0058] FIG20 is a schematic structural diagram of a switching structure provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0059] The purpose, features, and advantages of this application will be further described in conjunction with the embodiments and with reference to the accompanying drawings. The accompanying drawings illustrate specific embodiments of this application, which will be described in more detail later. These drawings and the accompanying text are not intended to limit the scope of the present application in any way, but rather to illustrate the concepts of this application for those skilled in the art by reference to specific embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0060] Exemplary embodiments will be described in detail herein, with examples illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the following description, when referring to the drawings, identical numerals in different figures represent identical or similar elements, unless otherwise indicated. The embodiments described in the following exemplary embodiments are not intended to represent all embodiments consistent with the present application. Rather, they are merely examples of apparatus and methods consistent with certain aspects of the present application, as detailed in the appended claims.

[0061] It should be noted that, in this document, the terms "include", "comprises" or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or device comprising a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also other elements not explicitly listed, or also includes elements inherent to such process, method, article or device. In the absence of further restrictions, an element defined by the sentence "comprising a ..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article or device comprising the element. In addition, components, features, and elements with the same name in different embodiments of the present application may have the same meaning or different meanings, and their specific meanings need to be determined by their explanation in the specific embodiment or further combined with the context of the specific embodiment.

[0062] It should be further understood that the terms "comprising" and "including" indicate the presence of the described features, steps, operations, elements, components, items, kinds, and / or groups, but do not exclude the presence, occurrence, or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, items, kinds, and / or groups. The terms "or", "and / or", "including at least one of the following", etc. used in this application may be interpreted as inclusive, or mean any one or any combination. For example, "including at least one of the following: A, B, C" means "any one of the following: A; B; C; A and B; A and C; B and C; A and B and C", and for another example, "A, B or C" or "A, B and / or C" means "any one of the following: A; B; C; A and B; A and C; B and C; A and B and C". Exceptions to this definition will only occur when the combination of elements, functions, steps or operations is inherently mutually exclusive in some way.

[0063] It should be understood that although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used herein to describe various information, such information should not be limited to these terms. These terms are merely used to distinguish information of the same type from one another. For example, first information could also be referred to as second information, and similarly, second information could also be referred to as first information without departing from the scope of this document. Depending on the context, as used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context indicates otherwise.

[0064] It should be understood that the terms "top", "bottom", "up", "down", "vertical", "horizontal", etc., indicating orientations or positional relationships, are based on the orientations 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 referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation on the present application.

[0065] For ease of description, the following embodiments are all described using the orthogonal space formed by the horizontal plane and the vertical direction as an example. This premise should not be understood as a limitation to the present application.

[0066] As mentioned above, in the existing design, after the gas intake structure enters the process chamber, there is a large difference in the flow rate directly above the wafer, which affects the quality of the final product. After research and analysis, the inventors found that the main reasons for the above problems are: (1) The outlet flow rate of the existing intake structure is relatively large, and the airflow entering the process chamber will undergo several refractions, which easily generates vortices and affects the uniformity of the air intake inside the chamber. Please refer to Figure 3, which is a schematic diagram of the airflow simulation inside the process chamber of Figure 1. However, since the pressure in the process chamber needs to be maintained at the target pressure during the process, the intake speed cannot be reduced by reducing the gas supply pressure; (2) The flow rate in the center of the area directly above the wafer is fast, and the flow rate on both sides is slow, resulting in poor uniformity of the airflow field on the wafer surface. Please refer to Figure 4, which is a schematic diagram of the distribution of the airflow speed inside the process chamber of Figure 1. Therefore, if the influence of any of the above two factors can be reduced, the airflow uniformity can be improved. Based on this, the present application provides an intake device and semiconductor processing equipment.

[0067] Please refer to Figures 5-9, 17, and 18 simultaneously. Figure 5 is a schematic structural diagram of an air intake device provided in an embodiment of the present application for use in a process chamber. Figure 6 is a schematic top view of the structure of Figure 5. Figure 7 is a schematic side view of the structure of Figure 5 (with the internal structure shown in perspective). Figure 8 is a schematic cross-sectional view along line AA in Figure 6. Figure 9 is an enlarged schematic structural diagram of portion D in Figure 8. Figure 17 is a schematic structural diagram of a second air homogenizing structure provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 18 is a schematic structural diagram taken along the G direction of Figure 17. The air intake device may include a transfer structure 200, a first air homogenizing structure 10, and a second air homogenizing structure 20. The first air homogenizing structure 10 and the second air homogenizing structure 20 are arranged along a first direction Z and are respectively disposed on opposite sides of the transfer structure 200.

[0068] The transfer structure 200 includes a transmission channel 201 communicating with the process chamber 300 , and the transmission channel 201 extends along the second direction Y.

[0069] The first gas uniforming structure 10 is provided with a plurality of first gas inlet holes 112 arranged along a third direction X. The first gas inlet holes 112 are connected to the transmission channel 201. The first gas inlet holes 112 include a first gas inlet port 1121 located away from the transmission channel 201 and a first gas outlet port 1122 located near the transmission channel 201. The first gas inlet holes 112 are inclined from the first gas inlet port 1121 to the first gas outlet port 1122 toward the process chamber 300. The first direction Z, the second direction Y, and the third direction X are mutually perpendicular. That is, each of the first direction Z, the second direction Y, and the third direction X is mutually perpendicular.

[0070] The second uniform air structure 20 is provided with a plurality of second air inlet holes 212 arranged along the third direction X. The second air inlet holes 212 are connected to the transmission channel 201. The second air inlet holes 212 include a second air inlet 2121 away from the transmission channel 201, and a second air outlet 2122 close to the transmission channel 201. The second air inlet holes 212 are inclined from the second air inlet 2121 to the second air outlet 2122 toward the direction close to the process chamber 300.

[0071] It should be noted that the internal structures of the first gas uniforming structure 10 and the second gas uniforming structure 20, as well as the connection method with the external gas source, can adopt conventional structures in the art and are not particularly limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0072] The working principle of the air intake device of this embodiment is as follows: after the gas enters the first air uniform structure 10 and the second air uniform structure 20, it enters the transmission channel 201 from the first air inlet 112 and the second air inlet 212 respectively, and then flows into the process chamber 300. Since the first air inlet 112 and the second air inlet 212 are both inclined toward one side of the process chamber 300, please refer to Figure 14, which is a schematic diagram of the air flow direction of a first air uniform structure provided in an embodiment of the present application. The air flow direction of the second air uniform structure 20 is no longer drawn repeatedly. The gas is ejected relative to each other at a certain inclination angle from the first air inlet 112 and the second air inlet 212, which can offset a part of the inclined ejected airflow, reduce the amount of refracted forward airflow, and form at least a part of the airflow that advances along the second direction Y (horizontal direction in the figure), thereby reducing the occurrence of vortexes and improving the uniformity of the gas entering the process chamber 300.

[0073] It should be noted that, for the sake of convenience of description, each embodiment of the present application takes the plane determined by the mutually orthogonal third direction X and second direction Y in Figure 5 as the horizontal plane, and uses this to determine the top surface, bottom surface, etc. of each structure. The definition of this orientation does not constitute a limitation on the present application.

[0074] In one embodiment, the present application provides an example of the internal structure of a first uniform air structure 10. Please refer to Figures 7 to 13 at the same time, wherein Figure 10 is a schematic diagram of the cross-sectional structure along the BB line in Figure 7, Figure 11 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a first uniform air structure provided in an embodiment of the present application, Figure 12 is a schematic diagram of the E-direction structure of Figure 11, and Figure 13 is a schematic diagram of the cross-sectional structure along the FF line in Figure 12.

[0075] The first gas uniformity structure 10 may include a first outer cavity 11 and a first inner cavity 12 connected to the first outer cavity 11. The first inner cavity 12 defines a first flow uniformity cavity 121 extending along a third direction X. A first annular cavity 111 extending along the third direction X is formed between the first outer cavity 11 and the first inner cavity 12. The first inner cavity 12 is provided with a plurality of first gas outlet holes 122, which are used to connect the first flow uniformity cavity 121 with the first annular cavity 111.

[0076] The first outer cavity 11 is provided with a plurality of first air inlet holes 112 and at least one first air delivery hole 113. The first air inlet holes 112 are used to connect the first annular cavity 111 with the transmission channel 201. The first air delivery holes 113 also extend through the first inner cavity 12 to allow gas to flow into the first uniform flow cavity 121. It should be noted that in FIG6 , the first air delivery holes 113 are provided on the top surface of the first outer cavity 11. However, the present embodiment is not limited to this and may also be provided on the bottom or side surface of the first outer cavity 11, as long as they are ultimately connected to the first uniform flow cavity 121.

[0077] The working principle of the first gas uniformity structure 10 of this embodiment is as follows: gas supplied from an external gas source can enter the first flow uniformity chamber 121 through the first gas delivery hole 113, and after being uniformized and buffered, it can flow into the first annular chamber 111 through the first gas outlet hole 122 on the first inner chamber 12. After being uniformized and buffered for a second time, it can flow into the transmission channel 201 through the first gas inlet hole 112 on the first outer chamber 11 to deliver gas to the process chamber 300. The gas uniformity and buffering effect of the first flow uniformity chamber 121 and the first annular chamber 111 can greatly reduce the speed of gas flowing out of the first gas inlet hole 112 and improve the uniformity of the gas output, thereby avoiding excessive flow velocity at the outlet of the first gas inlet hole 112 and the generation of vortices, thereby improving the uniformity of the gas entering the process chamber 300.

[0078] In some embodiments, the first gas outlet 122 is disposed on a side of the first inner cavity 12 away from the first gas inlet 112. This can increase the uniform gas path of the gas in the first annular cavity 111 to improve gas uniformity.

[0079] The embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit the specific structural form of the first uniform flow cavity 121 and the first annular cavity 111 for realizing the first uniform gas structure 10. As an example, please refer to Figure 15, which is a structural schematic diagram of a first uniform gas structure provided by the embodiment of the present application. The external shape of the first outer cavity 11 is not limited. The first outer cavity 11 may include a first part 101 and a second part 102 that are assembled and matched with each other. For example, the two parts can be formed into a whole by welding. After assembly, a cavity can be formed inside the first outer cavity 11, such as a cylindrical cavity. A pipe, namely the first inner cavity 12, is coaxially arranged in the cylindrical cavity. The first inner cavity 12 may also not be tubular, such as rectangular. The first uniform flow cavity 121 is formed in the pipe, and the through hole on the pipe wall constitutes the first air outlet 122. The part of the cylindrical cavity located outside the pipe constitutes the first annular cavity 111. The first air outlet 122 connects the first uniform flow cavity 121 and the first annular cavity 111. The first outer cavity 11 is provided with a first gas inlet 112, which can be located on the bottom surface of the first portion 101 in the state shown in FIG15 (see also FIG11 ). It is arranged in a direction opposite to the gas outlet of the first gas outlet 122 to increase the gas uniformity path. The first gas inlet 112 is used to deliver gas to the process chamber 300 through the transmission channel 201. The first outer cavity 11 is provided with at least one first gas delivery hole 113 (see also FIG11 ). The first gas delivery hole 113 also extends through the first inner cavity 12 and is used to deliver gas to the first uniform flow cavity 121.

[0080] Continuing with Figures 12 and 15 , in one embodiment, first gas delivery holes 113 are located at one end of the first inner cavity 12. The distance between adjacent first gas outlet holes 122 gradually decreases from closer to the first gas delivery hole 113 toward the further away from the first gas delivery hole 113. In other words, all first gas outlet holes 122 are arranged from sparse to dense along the X-axis shown in Figure 12 . Because airflow is relatively greater closer to the first gas delivery hole 113, this arrangement of first gas outlet holes 122 improves the uniformity of gas entering the first annular cavity 111.

[0081] In one embodiment, the angle between the extension direction of the first air inlet 112 and the film transmission direction (second direction Y) of the transmission channel 201 is 30°-60°. For example, the angle can be 30°, 45°, or 60°. Different angles can be designed according to different chamber structures.

[0082] In addition, in some embodiments, the first air inlet 112 can be a straight hole, that is, the aperture remains unchanged, as shown in Figure 9. In other embodiments, the aperture of the first air inlet 112 gradually increases from the first air inlet 1121 to the first air outlet 1122. As some examples, the inner wall of the first air inlet 112 can be a smooth curve, for example, the first air inlet 112 is trumpet-shaped, or the inner wall of the first air inlet 112 can be a gradually opening straight line. Factors affecting the gas flow rate include air pressure and the cross-sectional area of ​​the first air inlet 112. In this embodiment, as the gas flows from the first air inlet 1121 of the first air inlet 112 to the first air outlet 1122, the aperture continues to increase, thereby reducing the flow rate.

[0083] In one embodiment, the present application provides an example of the internal structure of a second gas-uniform structure 20, as shown in Figures 6-8 and 16-19. Figure 16 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along line CC in Figure 7, Figure 17 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a second gas-uniform structure 20 provided in an embodiment of the present application, Figure 18 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along line HH in Figure 17, and Figure 19 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along line HH in Figure 18. The second gas-uniform structure 20 includes a second outer cavity 21 and a second inner cavity 22 connected to the second outer cavity 21. The second inner cavity 22 includes a second flow-uniform cavity 221 extending along a third direction X, and a second annular cavity 211 extending along the third direction X is formed between the second outer cavity 21 and the second inner cavity 22. The second inner cavity 22 is provided with a plurality of second gas outlet holes 222, which are used to connect the second flow-uniform cavity 221 with the second annular cavity 211.

[0084] The second outer cavity 21 is provided with a plurality of second air inlet holes 212 and at least one second air delivery hole 213. The second air inlet holes 212 are used to connect the second annular cavity 211 with the transmission channel 201. The second air delivery holes 213 also penetrate the second inner cavity 22 and are used to pass gas into the second uniform flow cavity 221. In Figures 6 and 18, the second air delivery holes 213 are in a perspective state, please refer to Figure 19. It should be noted that the second air delivery holes 213 can also be set on the bottom surface or side surface of the second outer cavity 21, so that they can ultimately connect with the second uniform flow cavity 221. The structure of the second air inlet hole 212 can refer to the arrangement of the first air inlet hole 112 in Figure 9.

[0085] In some embodiments, referring to Figures 8, 12, and 18, all the second air inlet holes 212 correspond one-to-one to all the first air inlet holes 112, and the corresponding second air inlet holes 212 and the first air inlet holes 112 are symmetrical with each other, and the symmetry plane is the median perpendicular plane of the line connecting any corresponding second air inlet hole 212 and the first air inlet hole 112. That is, in Figure 8, after the first uniform air structure 10 is flipped 180° around the symmetry plane, all the second air inlet holes 212 coincide with all the first air inlet holes 112 one-to-one. In this embodiment, the gas injection directions of the first uniform air structure 10 and the second uniform air structure 20 are at a certain angle to the plane where the wafer is located and are directed toward the chamber side. The air flows are respectively emitted from the first uniform air structure 10 and the second uniform air structure 20, and the laminar flow surface formed after convergence is parallel to the wafer surface, thereby further enhancing the uniformity of the gas velocity and distribution, ensuring the consistency of the process results, and improving the process results.

[0086] As an example, referring to Figures 8, 12, and 18, all second air outlet holes 222 correspond one-to-one with all first air outlet holes 122, and the corresponding second air outlet holes 222 are centrally symmetrical with the first air outlet holes 122, with the symmetry point being the midpoint of the line connecting any corresponding second air outlet hole 222 and the first air outlet hole 122. That is, in Figure 8, after the first air uniforming structure 10 is rotated 180° about the symmetry point, all second air outlet holes 222 correspond one-to-one with all first air outlet holes 122.

[0087] As an example of a gas supply scheme, please continue to refer to Figures 10, 11, and 16-19. When the first gas supply hole 113 is located on the side of the first gas uniforming structure 10 facing the adapter structure 200 (i.e., the bottom), the second outer cavity 21 is provided with a first through hole 214 at a position opposite the first gas supply hole 113. The second gas supply hole 213 is provided at the end of the second outer cavity 21 away from the first through hole 214. The adapter structure 200 also includes a second through hole 41. Because the section surface in Figure 10 is an inclined surface in order to cut through the first air inlet hole 112, the second through hole 41 is not completely cut through. The second through hole 41 connects the first gas supply hole 113 and the first through hole 214. That is, when supplying gas to the first gas uniforming structure 10, the gas can pass through the first through hole 214 of the second gas uniforming structure 20 and the second through hole 41 of the adapter structure 200 from below, and then enter the first gas supply hole 113 of the first gas uniforming structure 10, and finally enter the first gas uniforming structure 10. The gas supply of the second gas uniforming structure 20 can be directly input through the second gas supply hole 213, please refer to Figure 19.

[0088] As an example of a transition structure, please refer to Figures 5-8 and 20. The transition structure 200 may include a top plate 30, a first side plate 40, a bottom plate 50, and a second side plate 60, which are connected end to end to enclose a transmission channel 201. The top plate 30 and the bottom plate 50 are arranged along a first direction Z, and the first side plate 40 and the second side plate 60 are arranged along the third direction X. The top plate 30 is provided with a first fixing groove 31 that extends through the transmission channel 201. The bottom surface of the first gas uniformizing structure 10 includes a first protruding structure 13 that cooperates with the first fixing groove 31. The first air inlet 112 of the first gas uniformizing structure 10 extends from the bottom of the first flow uniformizing chamber 121 to the bottom of the first protruding structure 13 (see Figure 11). A second fixed groove that passes through the transmission channel 201 is provided on the bottom plate 50. The bottom surface of the second gas uniforming structure 20 (refer to the top surface / bottom surface definition method of the first gas uniforming structure 10) includes a second protruding structure 23 that cooperates with the second fixed groove 51. The second gas uniforming structure 20 is connected to the second fixed groove 51 from the bottom, and the second air inlet hole 212 passes through the bottom of the second flow uniforming cavity 221 to the bottom of the second protruding structure 23.

[0089] In this embodiment, the second through hole 41 of the aforementioned embodiment can penetrate the bottom plate 50, the first side plate 40 and the top plate 30 in sequence from bottom to top; when the second through hole 41 is set on the other side, the second through hole 41 can penetrate the bottom plate 50, the second side plate 60 and the top plate 30 in sequence from bottom to top.

[0090] In some embodiments, the top surface of the bottom plate 50 (i.e., the bottom surface of the transmission channel 201) is parallel to the bottom surface of the protruding structure 121. That is, the surface of the transmission channel 201 facing the air distribution plate 10 is flat, and the inclined stopper 30a is omitted compared to the prior art in FIG1.

[0091] In one embodiment, referring to FIG8 and FIG20 , the transfer structure 200 may further include: a first mounting plate 70 and a second mounting plate 80 sandwiching the top plate 30, the first side plate 40, the bottom plate 50, and the second side plate 60 at both ends of the transfer channel 201. The transfer channel 201 also passes through the first mounting plate 70 and the second mounting plate 80. The first mounting plate 70 is used to connect to the process chamber 300, and the second mounting plate 80 is used to connect to a transfer device. The transfer device can transfer wafers to the process chamber 300 through the transfer channel 201.

[0092] It should be noted that the adapter structure 200 of the above embodiments may be an integrated structure, or may be assembled from two or more components.

[0093] The present application also provides a semiconductor processing device, which may include a process chamber 300 and a gas inlet device as described in the above embodiments. An external pipe 400 may provide uniform gas to the process chamber 300 through the gas inlet device. The semiconductor processing device may be a single-chamber semiconductor processing device, such as an RTCVD (Rapid Thermal Chemical Vapor Deposition) device or a silicon epitaxy device.

[0094] For other working principles and processes of the semiconductor processing equipment of this embodiment, please refer to the description of the air intake device in the aforementioned embodiment of this application, which will not be repeated here.

[0095] The above describes in detail the air intake device and semiconductor processing equipment provided by this application. This article uses specific examples to illustrate the principles and implementation methods of this application. It should be noted that the descriptions of each embodiment in this application have different emphases. For portions not detailed or recorded in one embodiment, please refer to the relevant descriptions of other embodiments.

[0096] The above are only preferred embodiments of the present application and do not limit the patent scope of the present application. The various technical features of the technical solution of the present application can be arbitrarily combined. In order to make the description concise, all possible combinations of the various technical features in the above embodiments are not described. Any equivalent structure or equivalent process transformation made using the contents of the description and drawings of this application, or directly or indirectly applied in other related technical fields, as long as there is no contradiction in the combination of these technical features, are also included in the patent protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A gas inlet device for introducing gas into a process chamber of a semiconductor processing device, characterized in that: The air intake device comprises: a switching structure, and a first air uniforming structure and a second air uniforming structure arranged along a first direction and respectively disposed on opposite sides of the switching structure; The transfer structure is provided with a transmission channel extending along the second direction and used for communicating with the semiconductor processing equipment; The first gas uniformity structure is provided with a plurality of first gas inlet holes arranged along the third direction and connected to the transmission channel; the first gas inlet holes include a first gas inlet port away from the transmission channel, and a first gas outlet port close to the transmission channel, and the first gas inlet holes are inclined from the first gas inlet port to the first gas outlet port toward a direction close to the process chamber; The second gas uniformity structure is provided with a plurality of second gas inlet holes arranged along the third direction and connected to the transmission channel; the second gas inlet holes include a second gas inlet port away from the transmission channel, and a second gas outlet port close to the transmission channel, and the second gas inlet holes are inclined from the second gas inlet port to the second gas outlet port toward the direction close to the process chamber; The first direction, the second direction and the third direction are perpendicular to each other.

2. The air intake device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first gas uniformity structure comprises: a first outer cavity, and a first inner cavity provided in the first outer cavity, wherein the first inner cavity has a first flow uniformity cavity extending along the third direction, and a first annular cavity extending along the third direction is formed between the first outer cavity and the first inner cavity; The first inner cavity is provided with a plurality of first air outlet holes, and the first air outlet holes are used to connect the first uniform flow cavity and the first annular cavity; At least one first gas delivery hole is provided on the first outer cavity, and the first gas delivery hole also penetrates the first inner cavity, and is used to pass gas into the first uniform flow cavity; The plurality of first air inlet holes are disposed on the first outer cavity.

3. The air intake device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The first air outlet is disposed on a side of the first inner cavity away from the first air inlet.

4. The air intake device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The first gas delivery hole is located at one end of the first inner cavity, and the distance between all two adjacent first gas outlet holes gradually decreases from the direction close to the first gas delivery hole to the direction away from the first gas delivery hole.

5. The air intake device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The included angle between the extension direction of the first air inlet hole and the second direction is 30°-60°.

6. The air intake device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The aperture of the first air inlet gradually increases from the first air inlet to the first air outlet.

7. The air intake device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that: The second gas uniformity structure comprises: a second outer cavity, and a second inner cavity provided in the second outer cavity, wherein the second inner cavity has a second uniform flow cavity extending along the third direction, and a second annular cavity extending along the third direction is formed between the second outer cavity and the second inner cavity; The second inner cavity is provided with a plurality of second air outlet holes, and the second air outlet holes are used to connect the second uniform flow cavity and the second annular cavity; The second outer cavity is provided with at least one second gas delivery hole, and the second gas delivery hole also penetrates the second inner cavity, and is used to pass gas into the second uniform flow cavity; The plurality of second air inlet holes are arranged on the second outer cavity.

8. The air intake device according to claim 7, characterized in that: All the second air outlets correspond to all the first air outlets one by one, and the corresponding second air outlets are centrally symmetrical with the first air outlets, and the symmetry point is the midpoint of the line connecting any corresponding second air outlet and the first air outlet.

9. The air intake device according to claim 7, characterized in that: All the second air inlet holes correspond to all the first air inlet holes one by one, and the corresponding second air inlet holes are symmetrical to the first air inlet holes, and the symmetry plane is the perpendicular midplane of the line connecting any corresponding second air inlet hole and the first air inlet hole.

10. The air intake device according to claim 7, characterized in that: When the first outer cavity is provided with a first gas transmission hole, and the first gas transmission hole is located on the side of the first gas uniformizing structure facing the transfer structure, the second outer cavity is provided with a first through hole at a position directly opposite to the first gas transmission hole, and the second gas transmission hole is provided at an end of the second outer cavity away from the first through hole; The transfer structure further includes a second through hole, and the second through hole is connected to the first air transmission hole and the first through hole.

11. The air intake device according to claim 10, characterized in that: The transfer structure includes a top plate, a first side plate, a bottom plate, and a second side plate which are connected end to end in sequence to enclose the transmission channel, the top plate and the bottom plate are arranged along the first direction, and the first side plate and the second side plate are arranged along the third direction; The top plate is provided with a first fixed groove which penetrates the transmission channel, the bottom surface of the first gas homogenizing structure includes a first protruding structure which cooperates with the first fixed groove, and the first gas inlet hole penetrates from the bottom of the first flow homogenizing cavity to the bottom of the first protruding structure; A second fixed groove that passes through the transmission channel is provided on the bottom plate, and the bottom surface of the second gas uniformizing structure includes a second protruding structure that cooperates with the second fixed groove. The second gas uniformizing structure is connected to the second fixed groove from below, and the second air inlet hole passes through the bottom of the second flow uniformizing cavity to the bottom of the second protruding structure.

12. The air intake device according to claim 11, characterized in that: The second through hole passes through the bottom plate, the first side plate and the top plate; or, The second through hole passes through the bottom plate, the second side plate and the top plate.

13. The air intake device according to claim 11, characterized in that: The top surface of the bottom plate is parallel to the bottom surface of the first protruding structure.

14. The air intake device according to claim 11, characterized in that: The transfer structure further includes: a first mounting plate and a second mounting plate sandwiching the top plate, the first side plate, the bottom plate and the second side plate from both ends of the transmission channel, and the transmission channel also passes through the first mounting plate and the second mounting plate at the same time; The first mounting plate is used to connect to the process chamber, and the second mounting plate is used to connect to a transmission device.

15. A semiconductor processing device, characterized in that: It comprises a process chamber, and an air intake device as described in any one of claims 1 to 14 connected to the process chamber.

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