Electrostatic elimination apparatus and semiconductor process device

Abstract

The present application relates to the technical field of semiconductor processing, and discloses an electrostatic elimination apparatus and a semiconductor process device. The electrostatic elimination apparatus comprises a power supply and an electrostatic elimination execution unit; the electrostatic elimination execution unit comprises a first electrode, a second electrode, and an insulating housing; the insulating housing is provided with a plasma cavity, an inlet, and an outlet; the inlet and the outlet are both communicated with the plasma cavity; the inlet is used for allowing gas to enter the plasma cavity, and the outlet is used for discharging plasma in the plasma cavity; one of the first electrode and the second electrode is electrically connected to the power supply, and the other of the first electrode and the second electrode is electrically connected to a grounding negative electrode; and the first electrode and the second electrode are used for ionizing the gas entering the plasma cavity into plasma. In the solution, the gas generates more charged particles in the whole plasma cavity in a larger area and a larger range, and due to the restriction of the insulting housing, the plasma can only be discharged from the outlet, so that high directivity is achieved, more positive and negative ions act on surfaces of wafers, and the electrostatic elimination capability is enhanced.

Description

Static elimination equipment and semiconductor process equipment Technical Field

[0001] The present application belongs to the field of semiconductor processing technology, and specifically relates to an electrostatic elimination device and semiconductor process equipment. Background Art

[0002] Semiconductor process equipment is specialized equipment used to produce and process semiconductor products (such as wafers). Due to the unique nature of these products, semiconductor process equipment has stringent requirements for its internal gas environment. Due to the numerous microstructures within these products, they are extremely sensitive to particles in the atmosphere. Furthermore, since semiconductor products are commonly composed of a variety of materials, including metals and non-metals, the process of transferring wafers through semiconductor process equipment often results in a significant accumulation of static electricity on the wafer surface. Excessive potential accumulation can cause static electricity to discharge from the wafer surface, potentially damaging the wafer. Therefore, static electricity on the wafer surface must be promptly eliminated.

[0003] At present, the static elimination device used in semiconductor process equipment mainly includes a discharge needle and a high-voltage power supply connected to the discharge needle. During operation, the high-voltage power supply supplies power to the discharge needle. Due to the characteristics of tip discharge, the gas will be ionized at the tip of the discharge needle. The positive and negative charges generated at the tip of the needle will neutralize the static electricity on the surface of the wafer, thereby achieving the effect of eliminating static electricity.

[0004] However, existing static eliminators can only generate positive and negative ions at the needle tip, and the generated area and range are small. Moreover, the generated positive and negative ions will diffuse to the surrounding area with the gas, with poor directionality. The positive and negative ions cannot fully act on the wafer surface, resulting in poor static elimination effect of the static eliminator. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The purpose of the embodiments of the present application is to provide an electrostatic eliminator and semiconductor process equipment, which can solve the problem of poor static elimination effect of electrostatic eliminators in related technologies.

[0006] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a static elimination device, comprising a power supply and a static elimination generating unit, wherein the static elimination generating unit comprises a first electrode, a second electrode, and an insulating housing.

[0007] The insulating housing is provided with a plasma chamber, an inlet and an outlet, the inlet and the outlet are both communicated with the plasma chamber, the inlet is used for allowing gas to enter the plasma chamber, and the outlet is used for allowing plasma in the plasma chamber to be discharged;

[0008] One of the first electrode and the second electrode is used to be electrically connected to the power supply, and the other is used to be electrically connected to the grounded negative electrode. The first electrode and the second electrode are used to ionize the gas entering the plasma chamber into the plasma.

[0009] In the second aspect, an embodiment of the present application also provides a semiconductor process equipment, including a process chamber, a microenvironment chamber and the above-mentioned electrostatic elimination device, wherein the process chamber is located above the microenvironment chamber, and the outlet of the electrostatic elimination device is located in the microenvironment chamber, and the outlet can be directed toward a wafer located in the microenvironment chamber.

[0010] In the static elimination device provided in the embodiment of the present application, the destatic generating unit includes a first electrode, a second electrode and an insulating shell, the insulating shell is provided with a plasma chamber, an inlet and an outlet connected to the plasma chamber, the inlet is used to supply gas to enter the plasma chamber, the outlet is used to discharge the plasma in the plasma chamber, one of the first electrode and the second electrode is electrically connected to the power supply, and the other is electrically connected to the grounded negative electrode, the power supply provides a high-voltage positive electrode for generating plasma for the destatic generating unit, and an electric field can be generated in the plasma chamber through the first electrode and the second electrode. After the gas enters the plasma chamber through the inlet, it is ionized into plasma by the electric field, and the plasma is blown from the outlet to the wafer surface through the drainage guiding effect of the insulating shell, and the ions in the plasma can eliminate the electrostatic potential difference on the wafer surface, thereby realizing the removal of static electricity on the wafer surface.

[0011] In this way, the gas generates more charged particles in the entire plasma chamber. Compared with the method of using a discharge needle, the generated area and range are larger, and due to the restriction of the insulating shell, the plasma can only be discharged from the outlet and will not diffuse to the surrounding area. It has high directionality and more positive and negative ions act on the wafer surface, which enhances the destaticization ability and effectively improves the wafer yield and process performance. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of the connection relationship between the static elimination device and the fan disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

[0013] FIG2 is a cross-sectional view of a destaticizing unit disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

[0014] FIG3 is a schematic diagram showing the positional relationship between the anti-static generating unit, the filter module, and the fan disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

[0015] FIG4 is an exploded view of the anti-static generating unit disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

[0016] FIG5 is a schematic diagram showing the positional relationship between the static elimination device and the wafer disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

[0017] FIG6 is a perspective view of a semiconductor process equipment disclosed in an embodiment of the present application.

[0018] Explanation of the accompanying drawings: 100-process chamber; 200-microenvironment chamber; 300-control cabinet; 400-wafer; 500-plasma beam; 600-static eliminator; 700-gas delivery device; 610-desstatic generation unit; 620-power supply; 630-filter module; 640-ground negative electrode; 611-insulating shell; 612-insulating outer shell; 6121-wall; 613-insulating medium pipe; 614-first electrode; 615-second electrode; 6151-electrode unit; 616-insulating plug; 617-plasma chamber; 6171-inlet; 6172-outlet; 618-installation space. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0019] The following will be combined with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present application to clearly describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the embodiments described are part of the embodiments of the present application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0020] The terms "first," "second," and the like in the specification and claims of this application are used to distinguish similar objects, and are not used to describe a specific order or precedence. It should be understood that the terms used in this manner are interchangeable where appropriate, so that the embodiments of this application can be implemented in an order other than that illustrated or described herein, and that the objects distinguished by "first," "second," and the like are generally of the same type, and do not limit the number of objects; for example, the first object can be one or more. In addition, the term "and / or" in the specification and claims refers to at least one of the connected objects, and the character " / " generally indicates that the objects connected are in an "or" relationship.

[0021] The following describes in detail the electrostatic elimination device and semiconductor process equipment provided in the embodiments of the present application through specific embodiments and their application scenarios in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0022] 1-6 , an embodiment of the present application provides an electrostatic elimination device 600, which may include a power supply 620 and a destaticization generating unit 610. The destaticization generating unit 610 may include a first electrode 614, a second electrode 615, and an insulating shell 611. The insulating shell 611 may be provided with a plasma chamber 617, an inlet 6171, and an outlet 6172. Both the inlet 6171 and the outlet 6172 are connected to the plasma chamber 617. The inlet 6171 may be used to supply gas to enter the plasma chamber 617, and the outlet 6172 may be used to discharge the plasma in the plasma chamber 617 described below. One of the first electrode 614 and the second electrode 615 may be used to be electrically connected to the power supply 620, and the other may be used to be electrically connected to the grounded negative electrode 640. In addition, the first electrode 614 and the second electrode 615 may be used to ionize the gas entering the plasma chamber 617 into plasma.

[0023] Here, the power supply 620 may be a high voltage power supply.

[0024] In some embodiments, the outlet 6172 may face the surface of the wafer 400 so that the plasma can flow toward the surface of the wafer 400, thereby eliminating static electricity on the surface of the wafer 400. Of course, the outlet 6172 may also face the surface of other objects to eliminate static electricity on their surfaces.

[0025] The power supply 620 provides a high-voltage positive electrode for generating plasma for the anti-static generating unit 610. An electric field can be generated in the plasma chamber 617 through the first electrode 614 and the second electrode 615. After the gas enters the plasma chamber 617 through the inlet 6171, it is ionized into plasma by the electric field and blown toward the surface of the wafer 400 through the drainage and guiding effect of the insulating shell 611. The ions in the plasma can eliminate the electrostatic potential difference on the surface of the wafer 400, thereby achieving the removal of static electricity on the surface of the wafer 400.

[0026] In this way, the gas generates more charged particles in the entire plasma chamber 617. Compared with the method of using a discharge needle, the generated area and range are larger, and due to the restriction of the insulating shell 611, the plasma can only be discharged from the outlet 6172 and will not diffuse to the surrounding area. It has high directionality, and more positive and negative ions act on the surface of the wafer 400, thereby enhancing the destaticization ability and effectively improving the yield and process performance of the wafer 400.

[0027] In some embodiments, gas can be delivered through the gas delivery device 700 so that the gas enters the plasma chamber 617 through the inlet 6171. In one embodiment, the inlet 6171 can be used to communicate with the gas delivery device 700, and in this case, the gas delivery device 700 can be a fan; in another embodiment, the gas delivery device 700 can be connected to the space where the wafer 400 is located, thereby applying suction to allow the gas to enter the plasma chamber 617 through the inlet 6171, and in this case, the gas delivery device 700 can be an exhaust pump.

[0028] Of course, the gas delivery device 700 can also be other types of delivery devices. When the gas delivery device 700 is a blower, the blower blows the gas into the filter module 630 described below through its internal fan to provide a gas source.

[0029] In some embodiments, the first electrode 614 can be disposed at the first end of the insulating housing 611, the second electrode 615 can be disposed at the second end of the insulating housing 611, and the plasma chamber 617 can be located between the first electrode 614 and the second electrode 615. In this way, the entire plasma chamber 617 can be located in the electric field formed by the first electrode 614 and the second electrode 615, thereby facilitating improved gas ionization. Of course, at least one of the first electrode 614 and the second electrode 615 can also be disposed in the middle region of the insulating housing 611 or at any other location between the first end and the second end.

[0030] In some embodiments, the insulating housing 611 may include an insulating dielectric tube 613, a plasma cavity 617 may be disposed within the insulating dielectric tube 613, and one of the first electrode 614 and the second electrode 615 may be disposed within the insulating dielectric tube 613, while the other may be disposed outside the insulating dielectric tube 613. In this manner, the insulating dielectric tube 613 may form both the plasma cavity 617 and a barrier medium between the first electrode 614 and the second electrode 615. This allows the insulating dielectric tube 613 to limit the free growth of current during discharge between the first electrode 614 and the second electrode 615, thereby preventing spark discharge or arc discharge between the electrodes and maintaining a moderate discharge power density.

[0031] It should be noted that since one of the first electrode 614 and the second electrode 615 is located inside the insulating medium tube 613 and the other is located outside the insulating medium tube 613, but the first electrode 614 and the second electrode 615 are both near the insulating medium tube 613, this can ensure that the radial distance between the first electrode 614 and the second electrode 615 is not too far, so as to ensure that an electric field can be formed between the first electrode 614 and the second electrode 615.

[0032] Here, the first electrode 614 may be disposed in the insulating medium tube 613 , and the second electrode 615 may be disposed on the outer surface of the insulating medium tube 613 .

[0033] In other embodiments, the first electrode 614 and the second electrode 615 are both disposed in the plasma chamber 617 , or the first electrode 614 and the second electrode 615 are both disposed on the outer surface of the insulating medium tube 613 , and there is no insulating medium between the first electrode 614 and the second electrode 615 .

[0034] It should be noted that the first electrode 614 and the second electrode 615 are spaced apart, that is, there is a certain distance between them, rather than being completely overlapped, to ensure that an electric field that can ionize the gas to form plasma can be formed between the first electrode 614 and the second electrode 615.

[0035] In some embodiments, the insulating medium tube 613 may be a glass tube.

[0036] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG2 , the insulating housing 611 may further include an insulating outer shell 612. The insulating outer shell 612 may be positioned over the insulating medium tube 613, and an installation space 618 may be provided between the insulating outer shell 612 and the insulating medium tube 613 for mounting the first electrode 614 or the second electrode 615. In this manner, the insulating outer shell 612 protects the insulating medium tube 613 and also protects and secures the first electrode 614 or the second electrode 615. The combination of the insulating outer shell 612 and the insulating medium tube 613 allows both the first electrode 614 and the second electrode 615 to be located within the insulating housing 611. This ensures that the radial distance between the first electrode 614 and the second electrode 615 is not too great, thereby ensuring that an electric field can be formed between the first electrode 614 and the second electrode 615.

[0037] In other embodiments, the insulating shell 611 may only include the insulating medium tube 613, and the first electrode 614 or the second electrode 615 may be fixedly disposed on the outer wall of the insulating medium tube 613, so that the first electrode 614 or the second electrode 615 is easily impacted by external objects.

[0038] In some embodiments, the first electrode 614 can be disposed within the insulating medium tube 613. The first electrode 614 can be sealed and connected to the insulating medium tube 613. The first electrode 614 can be a tubular structure, and the inner cavity of the first electrode 614 can form an inlet 6171. In this case, the first electrode 614 can also serve as an air inlet pipe. Here, the second electrode 615 is disposed outside the insulating medium tube 613, specifically, it can be located within the installation space 618 described above. This ensures that all gas entering the plasma chamber 617 passes through the electric field formed by the first and second electrodes 614, 615, thereby enhancing the ionization effect and generating more charged particles. Of course, if the first electrode 614 is disposed outside the insulating medium tube 613 and the second electrode 615 is disposed within the insulating medium tube 613, an additional air inlet pipe can be provided at the first end of the insulating medium tube 613, with at least a portion of the air inlet pipe located within the insulating medium tube 613 and connected to the plasma chamber 617 to guide gas into the plasma chamber 617.

[0039] Here, the first electrode 614 may be a metal tube.

[0040] In other embodiments, the first electrode 614 is disposed in the insulating medium tube 613 and connected to the inner wall of the insulating medium tube 613. The first electrode 614 can be a block structure and has no inner cavity. In this way, an inlet 6171 needs to be provided on the insulating medium tube 613. The inlet 6171 is located upstream of the first electrode 614, resulting in that the gas may not be able to pass through the electric field formed by the first electrode 614 and the second electrode 615.

[0041] In some embodiments, the first electrode 614 can be sealed and connected to the insulating medium tube 613 through an insulating plug 616. In this way, the sealing between the first electrode 614 and the insulating medium tube 613 can be improved, preventing gas from entering the plasma chamber 617 from between the first electrode 614 and the insulating medium tube 613 and being easily ionized.

[0042] Specifically, the insulating plug 616 may be an annular structure, the outer wall of the insulating plug 616 is sealed and connected to the insulating medium tube 613 , and the inner wall of the insulating plug 616 is sealed and connected to the first electrode 614 .

[0043] In some embodiments, the first electrode 614 is coaxially disposed with the insulating medium tube 613. This can make the air intake more uniform.

[0044] In some embodiments, the second electrode 615 can be arranged in a circle within the installation space 618. This can make the electric field formed between the first electrode 614 and the second electrode 615 more uniform, which is beneficial to improving the ionization effect of the gas, thereby generating more charged particles in the gas.

[0045] In other embodiments, the second electrode 615 may not be arranged in a circle within the installation space 618, and the second electrode 615 is only arranged on one side of the installation space 618. In this way, the electric field formed between the first electrode 614 and the second electrode 615 is only distributed on one side of the plasma cavity 617. After the gas enters the plasma cavity 617, only part of the gas passes through the electric field, and part of the gas is directly discharged from the outlet 6172 of the plasma cavity 617 without passing through the electric field, resulting in poor gas ionization effect.

[0046] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG4 , the second electrode 615 may include a plurality of electrode units 6151, which may be spaced apart circumferentially around the mounting space 618. This allows for a uniform distribution of the electric field formed between the first electrode 614 and the second electrode 615. Furthermore, the space between adjacent electrode units 6151 facilitates the placement of other components and reduces the overall weight and cost of the second electrode 615.

[0047] Of course, the second electrode 615 may also be configured as a closed annular structure, and the shape of the second electrode 615 may match the shape of the installation space 618 .

[0048] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG1 , the static eliminator 600 may include multiple static eliminator units 610 , thereby improving the static eliminator 600's static eliminator effect. Furthermore, as shown in FIG4 , the insulating housing 612 may be a polyhedron structure. The insulating housing 612 may include multiple walls 6121 connected end to end, with the walls 6121 of one adjacent static eliminator unit 610 aligned with the walls 6121 of another adjacent static eliminator unit 610. Since the insulating housing 612 is configured as a polyhedron structure, multiple static eliminator units 610 can be aligned with each other, thereby improving space utilization and facilitating expansion of the number of static eliminator units 610.

[0049] Here, the insulating shell 612 may be a hexahedral structure, and may include six walls 6121 connected end to end. Of course, the specific number of walls 6121 included in each insulating shell 612 may also be other options, and the present embodiment does not limit this.

[0050] In other embodiments, the static eliminator 600 may include only one static eliminator generating unit 610 , or the static eliminator 600 may include multiple static eliminator generating units 610 , and the insulating housings 612 of the static eliminator generating units 610 are arranged at intervals.

[0051] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG4 , the insulating medium tube 613 can be cylindrical, and the outer circumference of the insulating medium tube 613 can be as close as possible to the wall surface 6121. That is, the outer circumference of the insulating medium tube 613 can contact the wall surface 6121, or there is a small gap between the two. This can maximize the volume of the insulating medium tube 613, improve space utilization, and help increase the volume of the plasma chamber 617, allowing more gas to enter the plasma chamber 617.

[0052] In other embodiments, the insulating medium tube 613 can be a polyhedral structure. Since an installation space 618 for installing the first electrode 614 or the second electrode 615 needs to be reserved between the insulating medium tube 613 and the insulating shell 612, the insulating medium tube 613 cannot fit into the inner surface of the wall 6121 of the insulating shell 612, thereby failing to maximize the volume of the insulating medium tube 613 and thus failing to effectively improve space utilization.

[0053] In some embodiments, the connection between two adjacent walls 6121 of the insulating housing 612 can correspond to at least one electrode cell 6151, that is, the electrode cell 6151 can be arranged at the connection between adjacent walls 6121. The electrode cell 6151 has a bent surface and an arcuate surface arranged in opposite directions. The bent surface can be aligned with the two adjacent walls 6121, and the arcuate surface can be aligned with the outer circumferential surface of the insulating medium tube 613. In this way, compared to the method in which the rectangular electrode cell 6151 is in line contact with the wall 6121 and the insulating medium tube 613, the electrode cell 6151 is in surface contact with the wall 6121 and the insulating medium tube 613 respectively, effectively improving the stability of the electrode cell 6151. At the same time, under the same spatial conditions, the size of the electrode cell 6151 can be set as large as possible, thereby forming a more stable electric field.

[0054] Here, the second electrode 615 may include six electrode units 6151 .

[0055] In other embodiments, the electrode unit 6151 may be a rectangular structure, with two opposing edges of the electrode unit 6151 connected to two adjacent walls 6121, respectively, and the center of the electrode unit 6151 in line contact with the insulating medium tube 613. In this case, the electrode unit 6151 cannot be closely connected to the walls 6121 and the insulating medium tube 613, resulting in poor stability of the electrode unit 6151, and the electrode unit 6151 may easily fall out from between the insulating medium tube 613 and the insulating housing 612.

[0056] Alternatively, the electrode unit 6151 may be a sheet-like structure, and an electrode unit 6151 may be provided between each wall surface 6121 and the insulating medium tube 613 .

[0057] In some embodiments, the static elimination device 600 may include multiple static elimination generating units 610, each of which is arranged in parallel. That is, each of the static elimination generating units 610 is electrically connected to the power supply 620 via multiple electrical connection structures. In this way, each of the static elimination generating units 610 can operate independently. When one of the static elimination generating units 610 fails, the operation of the remaining static elimination generating units 610 will not be affected. Moreover, only the failed static elimination generating unit 610 can be replaced or repaired without replacing the entire unit.

[0058] Here, the first electrodes 614 of each anti-static generating unit 610 are arranged in parallel, and the second electrodes 615 of each anti-static generating unit 610 are arranged in parallel. Specifically, the power supply 620 electrically connects the wires to the first electrodes 614 of each anti-static generating unit 610 in parallel, and the grounded negative electrode 640 electrically connects the wires to the second electrodes 615 of each anti-static generating unit 610 in parallel.

[0059] In other embodiments, multiple anti-static generating units 610 are connected in series, so that when one of the anti-static generating units 610 fails, all the anti-static generating units 610 cannot work.

[0060] In some embodiments, the plurality of anti-static generating units 610 may be arranged in an array, and the plurality of anti-static generating units 610 may be arranged on the same plane, which is beneficial for reducing the thickness of the static eliminator 600 .

[0061] It should be noted that the array direction and the horizontal direction may form an acute angle, a right angle, or an obtuse angle, and each anti-static generating unit 610 may be arranged in a linear array, a rectangular array, a circular array, or an array of other irregular shapes. In addition, two adjacent anti-static generating units 610 may be spaced apart or in contact with each other.

[0062] Of course, the multiple anti-static generating units 610 may not be arranged in an array. For example, the multiple anti-static generating units 610 may be arranged one by one along the length direction thereof.

[0063] In some embodiments, as shown in Figures 1 and 3, the static elimination device 600 may further include a filter module 630. The filter module 630 may be provided with an air inlet and an air outlet connected to the air inlet. The inlet 6171 of the static elimination generating unit 610 may be connected to the air outlet. In this way, the filter module 630 can filter the gas to remove particles in the gas, thereby ensuring that the gas entering the plasma chamber 617 is pure and preventing particles in the gas from negatively impacting the surface of the wafer 400.

[0064] In this embodiment, the filter module 630 is disposed between the gas delivery device 700 and the anti-static generating unit 610. In this way, it can be ensured that the gas entering the anti-static generating unit is filtered by the filter module 630.

[0065] Here, the filter module 630 can be made of PTFE (Polytetrafluoroethylene) material. Since PTFE material is resistant to acid, alkali, and various organic solvents, it is almost insoluble in all solvents and is not easily corroded by other substances. Therefore, the service life of the filter module 630 can be extended.

[0066] Of course, in other embodiments, the static eliminator 600 may not include the filter module 630 , but particles in the gas may have a negative impact on the surface of the wafer 400 .

[0067] In some embodiments, the static elimination device 600 may include multiple static elimination generating units 610, and the filter module 630 may have multiple air outlets, with the inlet 6171 of each static elimination generating unit 610 correspondingly connected to each air outlet. This ensures that the gas filtered by the filter module 630 enters each plasma chamber 617 evenly, and the airflow entering each plasma chamber 617 is not affected by other airflows.

[0068] In other embodiments, the filter module 630 may have only one air outlet, and the air outlet of the filter module 630 needs to be set large enough to ensure that the inlets 6171 of all the anti-static generating units 610 are connected to the air outlet, and there may be mutual interference between the airflows of each anti-static generating unit 610.

[0069] In some embodiments, the anti-static generating unit 610 can be connected to the filter module 630 via a snap. Specifically, the insulating housing 612 of the anti-static generating unit 610 is connected to the filter module 630 via a snap. In this way, the anti-static generating unit 610 and the filter module 630 can be detachably connected. When a certain anti-static generating unit 610 fails or is damaged, the anti-static generating unit 610 can be removed from the filter module 630.

[0070] An embodiment of the present application provides an electrostatic elimination device 600, in which gas is filtered by a filter module 630 and then enters the plasma cavity 617 of an insulating medium tube 613 through the inner cavity of a first electrode 614. Since the first electrode 614 is electrically connected to a power supply 620 and the second electrode 615 is electrically connected to a grounded negative electrode 640, an electric field is generated in the plasma cavity 617 of the insulating medium tube 613. After the gas enters the electric field area, it is ionized into plasma, forming a large number of positively and negatively charged plasma beams 500. During the continuous operation of the gas delivery device 700, gas carrying a large number of charged particles (i.e., positively and negatively charged particles) continuously flows out of the insulating medium tube 613. Due to the drainage and guiding function of the insulating medium tube 613, the gas is blown toward the wafer 400. These charged particles will neutralize the static charge on the surface of the wafer 400, thereby achieving the function of eliminating static electricity.

[0071] Based on the electrostatic eliminator 600 disclosed in the present application, an embodiment of the present application also provides a semiconductor process equipment, including a process chamber 100, a microenvironment chamber 200 and the electrostatic eliminator 600. The process chamber 100 can be located above the microenvironment chamber 200, the outlet 6172 of the electrostatic eliminator 600 can be located in the microenvironment chamber 200, and the outlet 6172 of the destatic generating unit 610 of the electrostatic eliminator 600 can be facing the wafer 400 in the microenvironment chamber 200.

[0072] Here, the semiconductor process equipment may be a vertical furnace.

[0073] The beneficial effects achieved by the semiconductor process equipment provided in the embodiment of the present application are consistent with the beneficial effects achieved by the electrostatic eliminator 600 provided in the embodiment of the present application, and will not be repeated here.

[0074] Here, the process chamber 100 is used to process the wafer 400. The process chamber 100 is set above the micro-environment chamber 200 to facilitate the transfer of the wafer 400 between the process chamber 100 and the micro-environment chamber 200, which is beneficial to reducing the impact of the external environment on the wafer 400 during the processing of the wafer 400.

[0075] In some embodiments, the semiconductor process equipment may further include a control cabinet 300 . The control cabinet 300 may be disposed close to the mini-environment chamber 200 , and the power supply 620 of the static eliminator 600 may be disposed in the control cabinet 300 .

[0076] Multiple wafers 400 can be stacked in the microenvironment chamber 200. Since the microenvironment chamber 200 needs to control the number of internal gas particles and at the same time ensure that there is no excessive electrostatic potential accumulation on the surface of the wafer 400, the use of an electrostatic eliminator 600 can meet the needs of filtering the gas in the microenvironment chamber 200, and the static electricity on the surface of the wafer 400 can be removed through the anti-static generating unit 610.

[0077] Furthermore, the static eliminator 600 can cover all wafers within the microenvironment chamber 200. This ensures that the static eliminator generating unit 610 of the static eliminator 600 can perform a static eliminator operation on each wafer 400, thereby improving the static eliminator efficiency. Furthermore, by using the static eliminator 600 to perform a static eliminator operation on the wafers 400, the static eliminator 600 can be installed as a whole during installation, eliminating the need to install individual static eliminator components. This effectively reduces installation time and reduces the risk of wafer 400 being scrapped, thereby improving the process performance of semiconductor processing equipment.

[0078] The wafers in the microenvironment chamber 200 are placed on a wafer boat, which extends in a vertical direction. The static elimination device 600 can be arranged in a vertical direction, and the outlets 6172 of the multiple static elimination generating units 610 of the static elimination device 600 are all facing the wafer 400. In this way, the vertical space of the microenvironment chamber 200 can be effectively utilized.

[0079] In actual test experiments, the static dissipation time can be used to judge the static elimination effect of the static elimination device 600. Before the static elimination test, the voltage on the surface of the wafer 400 is increased to 1000V, and then the static elimination device 600 is used to perform the static elimination operation. The voltage on the surface of the wafer 400 is continuously observed by a detection device (such as a voltmeter or a voltage sensor), and the time for the voltage on the surface of the wafer 400 to drop from 1000V to 35V is recorded. This time is the static dissipation time. The static elimination time of the static elimination operation on the surface of the wafer 400 using the static elimination device 600 provided in the embodiment of the present application is within 3s. Therefore, the static elimination device 600 provided in the embodiment of the present application can eliminate static electricity in a shorter time, and the static elimination effect is good.

[0080] The embodiments of the present application are described above in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, but the present application is not limited to the above-mentioned specific implementation methods. The above-mentioned specific implementation methods are merely illustrative and not restrictive. Under the guidance of this application, ordinary technicians in this field can also make many forms without departing from the purpose of this application and the scope of protection of the claims, all of which are within the protection of this application.

Claims

1. A static eliminator, characterized in that: It includes a power supply and an anti-static generating unit, wherein the anti-static generating unit includes a first electrode, a second electrode and an insulating shell. The insulating housing is provided with a plasma chamber, an inlet and an outlet, the inlet and the outlet are both communicated with the plasma chamber, the inlet is used for allowing gas to enter the plasma chamber, and the outlet is used for allowing plasma in the plasma chamber to be discharged; One of the first electrode and the second electrode is used to be electrically connected to the power supply, and the other is used to be electrically connected to the grounded negative electrode. The first electrode and the second electrode are used to ionize the gas entering the plasma chamber into the plasma.

2. The static eliminator according to claim 1, wherein: The insulating shell includes an insulating medium tube, the plasma chamber is arranged in the insulating medium tube, one of the first electrode and the second electrode is arranged in the insulating medium tube, and the other is arranged outside the insulating medium tube.

3. The static eliminator according to claim 2, wherein: The insulating shell further includes an insulating outer shell, which is sleeved outside the insulating medium tube, and an installation space for installing the first electrode or the second electrode is reserved between the insulating outer shell and the insulating medium tube.

4. The static eliminator according to claim 2, wherein: The first electrode is disposed in the insulating medium tube and is sealed to the insulating medium tube. The first electrode is a tubular structure, and the inner cavity of the first electrode forms the inlet.

5. The static eliminator according to claim 3, characterized in that The second electrode ring is arranged in the installation space.

6. The static eliminator according to claim 5, characterized in that The second electrode includes a plurality of electrode units, and the plurality of electrode units are distributed at intervals along the circumference of the installation space.

7. The static eliminator according to claim 6, characterized in that The insulating shell has a polyhedral structure, the insulating medium tube has a cylindrical structure, the connection between two adjacent walls of the insulating shell corresponds to at least one of the electrode units, and the electrode unit has a bent surface and a curved surface arranged in opposite directions, the bent surface is in contact with the two adjacent walls of the insulating shell, and the curved surface is in contact with the outer circumferential surface of the insulating medium tube.

8. The static eliminator according to claim 1, wherein: The first electrode is disposed at a first end portion of the insulating shell, and the second electrode is disposed at a second end portion of the insulating shell.

9. The static eliminator according to claim 1, wherein: The static elimination device includes a plurality of static elimination generating units, and each of the static elimination generating units is arranged in parallel.

10. The static eliminator according to claim 9, characterized in that The static elimination device further includes a filter module, which is provided with an air inlet and an air outlet connected to the air inlet, and the inlet of each of the static elimination generating units is connected to the air outlet in a one-to-one correspondence.

11. A semiconductor process equipment, characterized in that: It comprises a process chamber, a microenvironment chamber and the electrostatic eliminator according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the process chamber is located above the microenvironment chamber, the outlet of the electrostatic eliminator is located in the microenvironment chamber, and the outlet can be directed toward the wafer located in the microenvironment chamber.

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