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

Gas inlet device and semiconductor processing equipment TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, in particular to a gas inlet device and a semiconductor processing equipment. BACKGROUND

[0002] In a silicon epitaxy process, the gas delivery mode of a 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 surface of the substrate. It is required that the rates and flows of the reactants and dopants transported to each part of the substrate during epitaxial growth are equal, and the gas flow field remains uniform and parallel laminar flow, avoiding any fluctuations, turbulence and convective vortex, so as to meet the requirements of the thickness, resistivity and doping concentration uniformity of the epitaxial growth film.

[0003] Rapid thermal processing (RTP) equipment is widely used in the fields of DRAM / 3D-NAND / Logic. The main functions of the equipment include in-situ oxidation, water vapor in-situ oxidation, rapid thermal processing, etc. The principle of in-situ oxidation and water vapor in-situ oxidation is to pass process gas (O2, H2) to form a dense oxide film on the surface of the Si substrate. For a wafer of a larger size (such as 12 inches), the uniformity of the gas flow field above the wafer is required to be very high, and the uniformity of the gas flow field directly affects the film formation quality and performance.

[0004] An existing gas inlet structure of a process chamber of an RTP equipment or a silicon epitaxy equipment is shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 1. Process gas enters from a gas inlet 10a, flows through a uniform gas hole 20a, and is directly blown onto an inclined block 30a to change direction, and finally enters the inside of the process chamber. In the current design, there is a large difference in the flow rate of the gas directly above the wafer, which affects the quality of the final product.

[0005] SUMMARY

[0006] To solve the above technical problems, the present application provides a gas inlet device and a semiconductor processing equipment, which can improve the problem that the flow rate of the gas from the gas inlet structure into the process chamber is greatly different directly above the wafer in the prior art, affecting the quality of the final product.

[0007] To solve the above technical problems, in a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a gas inlet device for passing gas into a process chamber of a semiconductor processing equipment, the gas inlet device comprising: an adapter structure, and a first uniform gas structure and a second uniform gas structure arranged in a first direction and respectively arranged on opposite sides of the adapter structure.

[0008] The adapter structure is provided with a transmission channel extending along a second direction and used for communicating with the semiconductor processing equipment;

[0009] The first gas uniformizing structure is provided with a plurality of first gas inlets arranged along a third direction and in communication with the transmission channel; the first gas inlets include first gas inlets away from the transmission channel and first gas outlets close to the transmission channel, and the first gas inlets are inclined from the first gas inlets to the first gas outlets towards the direction close to the process chamber;

[0010] The second gas uniformizing structure is provided with a plurality of second gas inlets arranged along the third direction and in communication with the transmission channel; the second gas inlets include second gas inlets away from the transmission channel and second gas outlets close to the transmission channel, and the second gas inlets are inclined from the second gas inlets to the second gas outlets towards 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 uniformizing structure includes a first outer cavity and a first inner cavity arranged in the first outer cavity, and the first inner cavity has a first flow uniformizing cavity extending along the third direction; the first outer cavity and the first inner cavity form a first annular cavity extending along the third direction;

[0013] The first inner cavity is provided with a plurality of first gas outlets for communicating the first flow uniformizing cavity and the first annular cavity;

[0014] The first outer cavity is provided with at least one first gas inlet, and the first gas inlet penetrates the first inner cavity and is used for introducing gas into the first flow uniformizing cavity;

[0015] The plurality of first gas inlets are arranged on the first outer cavity.

[0016] In some embodiments, the first gas outlets are arranged on a side of the first inner cavity away from the first gas inlets.

[0017] In some embodiments, the first gas inlet is located at one end of the first inner cavity, and the distance between any two adjacent first gas outlets gradually decreases from the direction close to the first gas inlet to the direction away from the first gas inlet.

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

[0019] In some embodiments, the first inlet hole gradually increases in size from the first inlet to the first outlet.

[0020] In some embodiments, the second uniform gas structure comprises a second outer cavity and a second inner cavity arranged in the second outer cavity, the second inner cavity having a second flow uniformity cavity extending along the third direction, and the second outer cavity and the second inner cavity form a second annular cavity extending along the third direction.

[0021] The second inner cavity is provided with a plurality of second outlet holes for connecting the second flow uniformity cavity and the second annular cavity.

[0022] The second outer cavity is provided with at least one second gas inlet hole, which simultaneously penetrates the second inner cavity, for introducing gas into the second flow uniformity cavity.

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

[0024] In some embodiments, all the second outlet holes and all the first outlet holes correspond one-to-one, and the corresponding second outlet hole and the first outlet hole are centrally symmetric, and the symmetric point is the midpoint of the line connecting any corresponding second outlet hole and the first outlet hole.

[0025] In some embodiments, all the second inlet holes and all the first inlet holes correspond one-to-one, and the corresponding second inlet hole and the first inlet hole are symmetric to each other, and the symmetric surface is the vertical plane of the line connecting any corresponding second inlet hole and the first inlet hole.

[0026] In some embodiments, when the first outer cavity is provided with a first gas inlet hole, and the first gas inlet hole is located on the side of the first uniform gas structure facing the adapter structure, the first through hole is arranged at the position of the second outer cavity opposite to the first gas inlet hole, and the second gas inlet hole is arranged at the end of the second outer cavity away from the first through hole.

[0027] The adapter structure further comprises a second through hole, and the second through hole connects the first gas inlet hole and the first through hole.

[0028] In some embodiments, the adapter structure comprises a top plate, a first side plate, a bottom plate and a second side plate connected 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.

[0029] The top plate is provided with a first fixed slot through the transmission channel, the bottom surface of the first uniform gas structure includes a first protruding structure matched with the first fixed slot, and the first gas inlet hole is penetrated from the bottom of the first uniform flow cavity to the bottom of the first protruding structure.

[0030] The bottom plate is provided with a second fixed slot through the transmission channel, the bottom surface of the second uniform gas structure includes a second protruding structure matched with the second fixed slot, the second uniform gas structure is connected with the second fixed slot from below, and the second gas inlet hole is penetrated from the bottom of the second uniform flow cavity to the bottom of the second protruding structure.

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

[0032] The second through hole penetrates 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 adapter 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 penetrates the first mounting plate and the second mounting plate at the same time;

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

[0036] In a second aspect, the embodiments of the present application provide a semiconductor processing equipment, including a process chamber and a gas inlet device as described in the above embodiments connected with the process chamber.

[0037] As described above, according to the present application, after the gas enters the first uniform gas structure and the second uniform gas structure, the gas enters the transmission channel from the first gas inlet hole and the second gas inlet hole respectively, and then flows into the process chamber. Since the first gas inlet hole and the second gas inlet hole are both inclined to one side of the process chamber, the gas is ejected at a certain inclination angle from the first gas inlet hole and the second gas inlet hole, and a part of the inclined gas flow can be offset by each other, the gas flow before refraction is reduced, and at least part of the gas flow is formed along the second direction Y, so that the occurrence of vortex can be reduced, and the uniformity of the gas entering the process chamber is improved. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0038] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and constitute part of the specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the present application and, together with the description, further serve to explain the principles of the application. In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the drawings needed to be used in the following embodiment description will be briefly introduced. Obviously, for those of ordinary skill in the art, other drawings can also be obtained without creative labor.

[0039] Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a gas inlet structure of a prior art process chamber;

[0040] Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a cross section of Fig. 1;

[0041] Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a gas flow simulation inside the process chamber of Fig. 1;

[0042] Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a distribution of gas flow velocity inside the process chamber of Fig. 1;

[0043] Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a structure of an application of a gas inlet device provided by an embodiment of the present application in a process chamber;

[0044] Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a top view of Fig. 5;

[0045] Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of a side view of Fig. 5 (the internal structure is in perspective);

[0046] Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of a cross section along line A-A of Fig. 5;

[0047] Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of an enlarged structure of part D of Fig. 8;

[0048] Fig. 10 is a schematic diagram of a cross section along line B-B of Fig. 7;

[0049] Fig. 11 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a first gas uniformizing structure provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0050] Fig. 12 is a schematic diagram of an E direction of Fig. 11;

[0051] Fig. 13 is a schematic diagram of a cross section along line F-F of Fig. 12;

[0052] Fig. 14 is a schematic diagram of a gas flow direction of a first gas uniformizing structure provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0053] Fig. 15 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a first gas uniformizing structure provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0054] Fig. 16 is a schematic diagram of a cross section along line C-C of Fig. 7;

[0055] Fig. 17 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a second gas uniformizing structure provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0056] Fig. 18 is a schematic diagram of the G-direction structure of Fig. 17;

[0057] Fig. 19 is a schematic diagram of the cross-sectional structure along the line H-H of Fig. 18;

[0058] Fig. 20 is a schematic diagram of a switching structure according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0059] The purposes, features, and advantages of the present application will be further illustrated in conjunction with the embodiments, with reference to the accompanying drawings. The above-described figures have shown the specific embodiments of the present application, and more detailed descriptions will be given hereinafter. These figures and descriptions are not intended to limit the scope of the present application in any way, but to illustrate the present application to those skilled in the art by referring to specific embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0060] The exemplary embodiments will be described in detail herein with reference to the attached drawings. The following description is made with reference to the accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals refer to like elements, and the term "exemplary" is used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." The following description is not intended to limit the scope of the present application in any way, but rather to provide an example embodiment of the application.

[0061] It should be noted that, in this document, the terms "comprises", "comprising", or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements, but can also include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitation, an element preceded by "comprises... a" does not, without more constraints, foreclose the existence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises the element. In addition, components, features, elements, or steps with the same name in different embodiments of the present application can have the same or different meanings, and the specific meaning of each component, feature, element, or step should be determined in conjunction with its explanation in the specific embodiment or further in conjunction with the context in the specific embodiment.

[0062] It will be further understood that the terms "comprises" and / or "comprising," "includes" and / or "including" when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, steps, operations, elements, components, items, and / or groups but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, items, and / or groups thereof. As used herein the term "and / or," "and / or," "one or more of the following," and / or similar phrases, can be interpreted to include one or more of the items in the following list: A, B, and C; A, B, or C; A or B; A or C; B or C; and B. The exception to this definition is when two or more items are listed using "only one of the following" or "one of the following items is selected." In such cases, the phrase "only one of the following" or "one of the following items is selected" will only be interpreted in the limited manner in which those specific phrases are defined.

[0063] It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, third, etc. can be used herein to describe various information, these terms are not intended to denote a temporal or chronological order. These terms are merely used to distinguish one piece of information from another. For example, a first piece of information can be termed a second piece of information, and similarly, a second piece of information can be termed a first piece of information without departing from the scope of this document. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

[0064] It will be understood that the terms "top," "bottom," "upper," "lower," "vertical," "horizontal," and the like are intended to indicate an orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, and are used for convenience of description and simplification of description only, and do not indicate or imply that the device referred to must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and therefore should not be construed as limiting the present application.

[0065] For ease of description, in the following embodiments, an orthogonal space formed by a horizontal plane and a vertical direction is taken as an example for description, and this precondition should not be construed as limiting the present application.

[0066] As described above, in the prior design, there is a large difference in the flow rate of the gas inlet structure above the wafer after entering the process chamber, which affects the quality of the final product. The inventors have found that the main reason for the above problem is that: (1) the air outlet flow rate of the existing gas inlet structure is large, and the gas flow entering the process chamber will pass through several refractions and easily produce vortexes to affect the uniformity of the gas inlet in the chamber, please refer to FIG. 3, which is a schematic diagram of the gas flow simulation inside the process chamber of FIG. 1. And because the pressure in the process chamber needs to be maintained at the target pressure during the process, the gas inlet speed cannot be reduced by reducing the gas supply pressure; (2) the flow rate is fast in the center of the wafer above the wafer, and the flow rate is slow on both sides, resulting in poor uniformity of the gas flow field on the wafer surface, please refer to FIG. 4, which is a schematic diagram of the distribution of the gas flow rate inside the process chamber of FIG. 1. Therefore, reducing the influence of any of the above two factors can improve the uniformity of the gas flow. Based on this, the present application provides a gas inlet device and a semiconductor processing equipment.

[0067] Please refer to FIGS. 5-9, 17 and 18 at the same time, FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the application embodiment of a gas inlet device in the process chamber, FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of the structure of FIG. 5 from the top, FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of the structure of FIG. 5 from the side (the internal structure is perspective), FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the section along the A-A line in FIG. 6, FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the enlarged portion D in FIG. 8, FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a second gas uniformizing structure provided by the application embodiment, and FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram of the structure of G in FIG. 17. The gas inlet device can include an adapter structure 200, a first gas uniformizing structure 10 and a second gas uniformizing structure 20, the first gas uniformizing structure 10 and the second gas uniformizing structure 20 are arranged along a first direction Z and are respectively arranged on opposite sides of the adapter structure 200.

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

[0069] The first gas uniformizing structure 10 is provided with a plurality of first gas inlets 112 arranged along a third direction X, and the first gas inlets 112 are in communication with the transmission channel 201; the first gas inlets 112 include a first gas inlet 1121 away from the transmission channel 201 and a first gas outlet 1122 close to the transmission channel 201, and the first gas inlets 112 are inclined from the first gas inlet 1121 to the first gas outlet 1122 to the direction close to the process chamber 300. The first direction Z, the second direction Y and the third direction X are perpendicular to each other, that is, each two of the first direction Z, the second direction Y and the third direction X are perpendicular to each other.

[0070] The second uniform gas structure 20 is provided with a plurality of second gas inlets 212 arranged along the third direction X, the second gas inlets 212 are communicated with the transmission channel 201, the second gas inlets 212 include second gas inlets 2121 away from the transmission channel 201, and second gas outlets 2122 close to the transmission channel 201, the second gas inlets 212 are inclined from the second gas inlets 2121 to the second gas outlets 2122 to the direction close to the process chamber 300.

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

[0072] The working principle of the gas inlet device of the embodiment is as follows: after the gas enters the first uniform gas structure 10 and the second uniform gas structure 20, the gas enters the transmission channel 201 from the first gas inlets 112 and the second gas inlets 212 respectively, and then flows into the process chamber 300. Since the first gas inlets 112 and the second gas inlets 212 are both inclined to one side of the process chamber 300, please refer to FIG. 14, which is a schematic diagram of the gas flow direction of the first uniform gas structure provided by the embodiment of the present application, and the gas flow direction of the second uniform gas structure 20 is not repeated. The gas is ejected from the first gas inlets 112 and the second gas inlets 212 at a certain inclination angle, which can offset a part of the inclined gas flow, reduce the gas flow before refraction, and at least form a part of the gas flow along the second direction Y (horizontal direction in the figure), thereby reducing the occurrence of vortex and improving the uniformity of the gas entering the process chamber 300.

[0073] It should be noted that, for the convenience of description, the plane determined by the third direction X and the second direction Y perpendicular to each other in FIG. 5 is taken as the horizontal plane, and the top surface, bottom surface and the like of each structure are determined by the horizontal plane, and the definition of the 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 the first uniform gas structure 10, please refer to FIGS. 7-13 at the same time, wherein FIG. 10 is a sectional structure schematic diagram along the B-B line in FIG. 7, FIG. 11 is a structure schematic diagram of the first uniform gas structure provided by the embodiment of the present application, FIG. 12 is an E-direction structure schematic diagram of FIG. 11, and FIG. 13 is a sectional structure schematic diagram along the F-F line in FIG. 12.

[0075] The first uniform gas structure 10 can include a first outer cavity 11 and a first inner cavity 12 connected with the first outer cavity 11. The first inner cavity 12 has a first uniform flow cavity 121 extending along the third direction X, and the first outer cavity 11 and the first inner cavity 12 form a first annular cavity 111 extending along the third direction X. The first inner cavity 12 is provided with a plurality of first gas outlets 122 for connecting the first uniform flow cavity 121 and the first annular cavity 111.

[0076] The first outer cavity 11 is provided with a plurality of first gas inlets 112 and at least one first gas inlet 113. The first gas inlets 112 are used to connect the first annular cavity 111 and the transmission channel 201, and the first gas inlet 113 penetrates the first inner cavity 12 and is used to introduce gas into the first uniform flow cavity 121. It should be noted that in FIG. 6, the first gas inlet 113 is arranged on the top surface of the first outer cavity 11, but the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto, and the first gas inlet 113 can also be arranged on the bottom surface or the side surface of the first outer cavity 11, and finally can be connected with the first uniform flow cavity 121.

[0077] The working principle of the first uniform gas structure 10 of the embodiment is as follows: the gas supplied by the external gas source can enter the first uniform flow cavity 121 from the first gas inlet 113, be uniformly distributed and buffered, and then flow into the first annular cavity 111 through the first gas outlet 122 on the first inner cavity 12, be uniformly distributed and buffered again, and then flow into the transmission channel 201 through the first gas inlet 112 on the first outer cavity 11, so as to transport the gas to the process chamber 300. Through the uniform gas distribution and buffering of the first uniform flow cavity 121 and the first annular cavity 111, the velocity of the gas flowing out of the first gas inlet 112 can be greatly reduced, and the uniformity of the gas outlet can be improved, so that the vortex generated by the too large flow velocity of the air outlet of the first gas inlet 112 can be avoided, and the uniformity of the gas entering the process chamber 300 can be improved.

[0078] In some embodiments, the first gas outlet 122 is arranged on the side of the first inner cavity 12 away from the first gas inlet 112. The uniform gas distribution path of the gas in the first annular cavity 111 can be increased, so as to improve the uniformity of the gas.

[0079] The specific structure of the first uniform flow cavity 121 and the first annular cavity 111 of the first uniform gas structure 10 is not particularly limited in the embodiments of the present application. As an example, refer to FIG. 15, which is a structural schematic diagram of a first uniform gas structure according to an embodiment of the present application. The external shape of the first outer cavity 11 is not limited, and the first outer cavity 11 can include a first part 101 and a second part 102 assembled together, for example, the two parts can be welded to form a whole, and the interior of the first outer cavity 11 can form a cavity, such as a cylindrical cavity, after assembly. A pipe, i.e., a first inner cavity 12, is coaxially arranged in the cylindrical cavity. The first inner cavity 12 can also not be tubular, such as rectangular, etc. The pipe forms the first uniform flow cavity 121, the through holes on the pipe wall form the first gas outlet hole 122, and the part of the cylindrical cavity outside the pipe forms the first annular cavity 111. The first gas outlet hole 122 communicates the first uniform flow cavity 121 and the first annular cavity 111. The first outer cavity 11 is provided with a first gas inlet hole 112, which can be arranged on the bottom surface of the first part 101 in the state shown in FIG. 15 (see also FIG. 11), and is opposite to the gas outlet direction of the first gas outlet hole 122, so as to increase the uniform gas path. The first gas inlet hole 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 FIG. 11), which penetrates the first inner cavity 12 and is used to deliver gas to the first uniform flow cavity 121.

[0080] Please continue to refer to FIG. 12 and FIG. 15. In an embodiment, the first gas delivery hole 113 is located at one end of the first inner cavity 12, and the distance between all adjacent two first gas outlet holes 122 gradually decreases from the position close to the first gas delivery hole 113 to the position away from the first gas delivery hole 113, i.e., all the first gas outlet holes 122 are arranged from sparse to dense along the X direction shown in FIG. 12. Since the gas flow is relatively larger at the position closer to the first gas delivery hole 113, the first gas outlet hole 122 can improve the uniformity of the gas entering the first annular cavity 111 by the above arrangement.

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

[0082] In some embodiments, the first gas inlet hole 112 can be a straight hole, i.e., the hole diameter remains unchanged, as shown in FIG. 9. In other embodiments, the hole diameter of the first gas inlet hole 112 gradually increases from the first gas inlet 1121 to the first gas outlet 1122. As some examples, the inner wall of the first gas inlet hole 112 can be a smooth curve, such as a horn shape. The inner wall of the first gas inlet hole 112 can also be a straight line that gradually opens. Factors that affect the gas flow rate include the gas pressure and the cross-sectional area of the first gas inlet hole 112. In this embodiment, as the gas flows from the first gas inlet 1121 to the first gas outlet 1122 of the first gas inlet hole 112, the hole diameter continuously increases, thereby reducing the flow rate.

[0083] In one embodiment, the present application provides an example of the internal structure of the second uniform gas structure 20. Please refer to FIGS. 6-8 and FIGS. 16-19. FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional structure diagram along line C-C in FIG. 7. FIG. 17 is a structure diagram of the second uniform gas structure 20 according to an embodiment of the present application. FIG. 18 is a G-direction structure diagram of FIG. 17. FIG. 19 is a cross-sectional structure diagram along line H-H in FIG. 18. The second uniform gas 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 has a second uniform flow cavity 221 extending in the third direction X. The second outer cavity 21 and the second inner cavity 22 form a second annular cavity 211 extending in the third direction X. The second inner cavity 22 is provided with a plurality of second gas outlet holes 222 for connecting the second uniform flow cavity 221 and the second annular cavity 211.

[0084] The second outer cavity 21 is provided with a plurality of second gas inlet holes 212 and at least one second gas inlet hole 213. The second gas inlet hole 212 is used to connect the second annular cavity 211 and the transmission channel 201. The second gas inlet hole 213 penetrates the second inner cavity 22 and is used to introduce gas into the second uniform flow cavity 221. In FIGS. 6 and 18, the second gas inlet hole 213 is in a perspective state. Please refer to FIG. 19. It should be noted that the second gas inlet hole 213 can also be arranged on the bottom surface or the side surface of the second outer cavity 21, and finally can be connected to the second uniform flow cavity 221. The structure of the second gas inlet hole 212 can refer to the arrangement of the first gas inlet hole 112 in FIG. 9.

[0085] In some embodiments, referring to FIG. 8, FIG. 12 and FIG. 18, all the second inlet holes 212 correspond to all the first inlet holes 112 one by one, and the corresponding second inlet holes 212 and the first inlet holes 112 are mutually symmetrical, and the symmetry plane is the midline of the line connecting any corresponding second inlet hole 212 and the first inlet hole 112. That is, in FIG. 8, after the first uniform gas structure 10 is flipped 180° around the symmetry plane, all the second inlet holes 212 correspond to all the first inlet holes 112 one by one. In this embodiment, the gas injection directions of the first uniform gas structure 10 and the second uniform gas structure 20 are both at a certain angle with the plane where the wafer is located and are directed towards the side of the chamber. The gas flows out from the first uniform gas structure 10 and the second uniform gas structure 20 respectively, and the laminar flow surface formed after the gas flows converge is parallel to the surface of the wafer, 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 FIG. 8, FIG. 12 and FIG. 18, all the second outlet holes 222 correspond to all the first outlet holes 122 one by one, and the corresponding second outlet holes 222 and the first outlet holes 122 are centrally symmetrical, and the symmetry point is the midpoint of the line connecting any corresponding second outlet hole 222 and the first outlet hole 122. That is, in FIG. 8, after the first uniform gas structure 10 is rotated 180° around the symmetry point, all the second outlet holes 222 correspond to all the first outlet holes 122 one by one.

[0087] As an example of a gas supply scheme, referring to FIG. 10, FIG. 11 and FIG. 16-19, when the first gas inlet hole 113 is located on the side (i.e. the bottom) of the first uniform gas structure 10 facing the adapter structure 200, the first through hole 214 is arranged at the position of the second outer cavity 21 opposite to the first gas inlet hole 113, and the second gas inlet hole 213 is arranged at the end of the second outer cavity 21 away from the first through hole 214. The adapter structure 200 further comprises a second through hole 41. In FIG. 10, the second through hole 41 cannot be completely cut open due to the cutting surface being inclined. The second through hole 41 connects the first gas inlet hole 113 and the first through hole 214. That is, when supplying gas to the first uniform gas structure 10, the gas can pass through the first through hole 214 of the second uniform gas structure 20 and the second through hole 41 of the adapter structure 200 in turn from below, and then enter the first gas inlet hole 113 of the first uniform gas structure 10, and finally enter the first uniform gas structure 10. The gas supply of the second uniform gas structure 20 can be directly input through the second gas inlet hole 213, referring to FIG. 19.

[0088] As an example of the adapter structure, please refer to FIG. 5-8 and FIG. 20, the adapter structure 200 can include a top plate 30, a first side plate 40, a bottom plate 50 and a second side plate 60 connected in sequence to enclose a transmission channel 201, the top plate 30 and the bottom plate 50 are arranged along the 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 fixed slot 31 penetrating the transmission channel 201, the bottom surface of the first uniform gas structure 10 includes a first protruding structure 13 matched with the first fixed slot 31, and the first gas inlet hole 112 of the first uniform gas structure 10 penetrates from the bottom of the first uniform flow cavity 121 to the bottom of the first protruding structure 13 (please refer to FIG. 11). The bottom plate 50 is provided with a second fixed slot penetrating the transmission channel 201, the bottom surface (refer to the definition of the top / bottom surface of the first uniform gas structure 10) of the second uniform gas structure 20 includes a second protruding structure 23 matched with the second fixed slot 51, and the second uniform gas structure 20 is connected with the second fixed slot 51 from below, and the second gas inlet hole 212 penetrates from the bottom of the second uniform flow cavity 221 to the bottom of the second protruding structure 23.

[0089] In the embodiment, the second through hole 41 of the foregoing 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 arranged 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 opposite to the uniform gas plate 10 of the transmission channel 201 is a plane, which eliminates the setting of the inclined stop block 30a in the prior art in FIG. 1.

[0091] In one embodiment, please continue to refer to FIG. 8 and FIG. 20, the adapter structure 200 can 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 from both ends of the transmission channel 201, and the transmission channel 201 also penetrates the first mounting plate 70 and the second mounting plate 80. The first mounting plate 70 is used to connect the process chamber 300, and the second mounting plate 80 is used to connect the transmission device, and the transmission device can transmit the wafer to the process chamber 300 through the transmission channel 201.

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

[0093] The embodiments of the present application also provide a semiconductor processing apparatus, which can include a process chamber 300 and the gas inlet device as described in the above embodiments. The external pipeline 400 can provide uniform gas to the process chamber 300 through the gas inlet device. The semiconductor processing apparatus can be a single chamber semiconductor processing apparatus, such as an RTCVD (Rapid Thermal CVD) apparatus and a silicon epitaxy apparatus.

[0094] For other working principles and processes of the semiconductor processing apparatus of the embodiments, refer to the above descriptions of the gas inlet device of the embodiments of the present application, which will not be repeated here.

[0095] The above describes the gas inlet device and the semiconductor processing apparatus provided by the present application in detail, and the principles and implementation manners of the present application are described by using specific examples. It should be noted that the descriptions of the embodiments of the present application are each focused on a certain aspect, and the parts not described or recorded in detail in an embodiment can be referred to the relevant descriptions of other embodiments.

[0096] The above is only the preferred embodiments of the present application, and does not limit the patent scope of the present application, and each technical feature of the technical solutions of the present application can be combined arbitrarily. In order to make the description simple, each technical feature in the above embodiments is not described in all possible combinations, and any equivalent structure or equivalent flow conversion obtained by using the content of the present application and the drawings, or directly or indirectly applied in other related technical fields, as long as the combination of these technical features does not exist contradictions, 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 includes: a transition structure, and a first air uniformity structure and a second air uniformity structure arranged along a first direction and respectively provided on opposite sides of the transition structure; A transmission channel extending along the second direction and used for communicating with the semiconductor processing equipment is provided in the transfer structure; 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; 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 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; 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 passes through the first inner cavity, for introducing gas into the first uniform flow cavity; The plurality of first air inlet holes are arranged on the first outer cavity.

3. The air intake device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The first air outlet is arranged 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 extending direction of the first air inlet 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 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; 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; 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; 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 symmetrical 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 uniformity structure facing the transfer structure, the second outer cavity is provided with a first through hole at a position directly opposite 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 gas 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 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; 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; 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.

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, wherein the transmission channel also passes through the first mounting plate and the second mounting plate; 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.

15. A semiconductor processing device, characterized in that: The invention comprises a process chamber, and an air inlet device according to any one of claims 1 to 14 connected to the process chamber.

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