CN117144322A - Cavity cover structure, semiconductor process equipment and use method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The application provides a cavity cover structure, semiconductor process equipment and a use method thereof. According to the application, the observation window comprising the annular structure and the protruding part is arranged, so that the strength of the cavity cover structure is ensured, the observable range is enlarged, and the observation dead angle is reduced; meanwhile, by means of the arrangement of the protruding parts in the observation window, the dynamic whole process of the wafer conveying structure is observed in real time without dead angles, and fault investigation is facilitated; in addition, the telescopic and rotary tracking imaging structure is matched with the wide-angle camera, so that the observation range in the semiconductor process equipment is further enlarged.

Description

Cavity cover structure, semiconductor process equipment and use method thereof

Technical Field

The application belongs to the technical field of semiconductor integrated circuit manufacturing, and particularly relates to a cavity cover structure, semiconductor process equipment and a using method thereof.

Background

In the prior art, the integrated circuit magnetron sputtering machine adopts the configuration of a transmission cavity processing process cavity. The process chambers are suspended at several locations laterally from the transfer chamber, the transfer chamber having a robot at the center for transferring wafers from one process chamber to another, wherein the robot may involve a series of movements and displacements. A transparent observation window is arranged on the conveying cavity cover at a position close to the process cavity so as to observe the position of the wafer, the operation of the mechanical arm and whether the abnormality exists in the cavity.

However, as the conveying cavity cover has a certain thickness and prevents a certain strength required by the cavity cover, the observation window cannot be provided with an excessively large area, so that the view angle of the observation window is limited, an observation dead zone is generated, and part of positions cannot be monitored; meanwhile, as the different positions are far away from each other, the observer can monitor the different positions by changing the azimuth, and the observation is inconvenient; in addition, in the process of moving the mechanical arm, because of the observation dead angle, the observer can only capture partial static images and can not monitor the whole dynamic movement process, so that the problem of abnormality in the movement is easily missed.

Therefore, a cavity cover structure capable of expanding the viewing angle range of the observation window, reducing the observation dead angle and improving the observation efficiency and convenience on the premise of ensuring the strength of the cavity cover is needed.

It should be noted in the prior art that the foregoing description of the technical solution of the present application is provided for the sake of clarity and completeness and for understanding by a person skilled in the art, and it is not considered that the foregoing technical solution is well known to a person skilled in the art merely because the solutions are described in the background section of the application.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above drawbacks of the prior art, an object of the present application is to provide a cavity cover structure, a semiconductor process apparatus and a method for using the same, which are used for solving the problems of limited cavity cover observation range and low observation efficiency of the semiconductor process apparatus in the prior art.

In order to achieve the above object, the present application provides a cavity cover structure, in which an observation window is embedded, the observation window is a transparent guide groove structure in the shape of a boat disk including an annular structure and a protruding portion, and the protruding portion is disposed on an outer ring of the annular structure and extends outward in a radial direction of the annular structure.

Optionally, the transparent guide slot structure is perpendicular to the cavity cover structure and passes through the cross section of cavity cover structure central point is the I-shaped stromatolite that the three-layer transparent layer adds the constitution, and the three-layer transparent layer is lower transparent layer, middle transparent layer and upper transparent layer from bottom to top in proper order, lower transparent layer with the upper transparent layer is followed the length of annular structure radial direction is all greater than the middle transparent layer is followed the length of annular structure radial direction, upper transparent layer central authorities are provided with logical groove, logical groove shows the surface of middle transparent layer.

The application also provides semiconductor process equipment comprising any one of the cavity cover structures, and the semiconductor process equipment further comprises: a transfer chamber, a process chamber, a wafer transfer structure, and a tracking imaging structure;

the cavity cover structure is arranged on the conveying cavity to form a sealed cavity;

the conveying cavity is used as a conveying space for conveying the wafer to the process cavity; the process cavity is arranged on the side surface of the conveying cavity and is used for carrying out a preparation process; the wafer conveying structure is arranged in the conveying cavity and is used for conveying the wafer; the tracking imaging structure is arranged above the cavity cover structure and is used for observing the conveying cavity, the process chamber, the wafer and the wafer conveying structure through the observation window.

Optionally, a gate valve is arranged between the process cavity and the conveying cavity; when the wafer conveying structure needs to convey the wafer to the process cavity, the gate valve is opened to enable the wafer conveying structure to enter the process cavity from the conveying cavity; when the wafer conveying structure does not need to convey the wafer to the process cavity, the gate valve is closed to isolate the conveying cavity from the process cavity.

Optionally, the wafer conveying structure includes a wafer carrying table, a conveying arm and a conveying control motor, the wafer is placed on the wafer carrying table, and the conveying control motor controls the wafer carrying table through the conveying arm so that the wafer is conveyed to a preset position.

Optionally, the tracking imaging structure includes a wide-angle camera, a lens control lever, and a lens control motor, and the lens control motor controls the movement of the wide-angle camera through the lens control lever.

Optionally, the wide-angle camera has a viewing angle greater than 90 ° such that the wide-angle camera can view the process chamber through the viewing window.

Optionally, the lens control rod may extend and retract along a radial direction of the annular structure of the observation window, and the lens control rod may perform a rotational motion with the lens control motor as an axis.

Optionally, an electric connection mechanism is disposed between the lens control lever and the wide-angle camera, and the lens control lever can control the wide-angle camera to perform rotational movement by using the electric connection mechanism as an origin.

The application also provides a use method of the semiconductor process equipment, which is carried out by adopting any one of the semiconductor process equipment, and comprises the following steps:

the wafer conveying structure is used for taking out a wafer in one process chamber from the other process chamber, and conveying the wafer into the other process chamber;

the tracking imaging structure tracks the movement of the wafer transfer structure, and images and/or dynamic pictures of the wafer, the wafer transfer structure, the process chamber and the transfer chamber are acquired to check the operation condition in the semiconductor process equipment.

As described above, the cavity cover structure, the semiconductor process equipment and the use method thereof of the application have the following beneficial effects:

according to the application, the observation window comprising the annular structure and the protruding part is arranged, so that the strength of the cavity cover structure is ensured, the observable range is enlarged, and the observation dead angle is reduced;

the application realizes the real-time observation of the dynamic whole process of the wafer conveying structure without dead angles by utilizing the arrangement of the protruding parts in the observation window, thereby facilitating the fault investigation;

the application further expands the observation range in the semiconductor process equipment by matching with a telescopic and rotary tracking imaging structure and a wide-angle camera.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural view of a cavity cover structure according to an embodiment of the application.

Fig. 2 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of a transparent channel structure in an alternative example of an embodiment of the application.

Fig. 3 is a schematic top view of a structure with a cavity cover of a semiconductor processing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the application.

Fig. 4 is a schematic top view illustrating an inner portion of a semiconductor processing apparatus without a chamber cover according to a second embodiment of the application.

Fig. 5 is a schematic side sectional view of a semiconductor processing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram showing an internal side cross-sectional view of a prior art semiconductor processing apparatus.

Fig. 7 is a schematic top view of a prior art semiconductor processing apparatus.

Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of an external side view of a prior art semiconductor processing apparatus.

Fig. 9 is a schematic side view of a tracking imaging structure according to a second embodiment of the application.

Fig. 10 is a schematic top view of a tracking imaging structure according to a second embodiment of the application.

Description of element reference numerals

10. A cavity cover structure; 11. an observation window; 111. a ring structure; 112. a protruding portion; 12. a transparent guide channel structure; 121. a lower transparent layer; 122. a middle transparent layer; 123. an upper transparent layer; 124. a through groove; 125. a seal ring;

21. a transfer chamber; 22. a process chamber; 23. a wafer transfer structure; 231. a wafer carrier; 232. a transfer arm; 233. a transmission control motor; 24. tracking the imaging structure; 241. a wide angle camera; 242. a lens control lever; 243. a lens control motor; 25. a wafer;

31. an existing observation device; 32. an existing viewing window.

Detailed Description

Other advantages and effects of the present application will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following disclosure, which describes the embodiments of the present application with reference to specific examples. The application may be practiced or carried out in other embodiments that depart from the specific details, and the details of the present description may be modified or varied from the spirit and scope of the present application.

As described in detail in the embodiments of the present application, the schematic drawings showing the structure of the apparatus are not partially enlarged to general scale, and the schematic drawings are merely examples, which should not limit the scope of the present application. In addition, the three-dimensional dimensions of length, width and depth should be included in actual fabrication.

For ease of description, spatially relative terms such as "under", "below", "beneath", "above", "upper" and the like may be used herein to describe one element or feature's relationship to another element or feature as illustrated in the figures. It will be understood that these spatially relative terms are intended to encompass other orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures.

In the context of the present application, a structure described as a first feature being "on" a second feature may include embodiments where the first and second features are formed in direct contact, as well as embodiments where additional features are formed between the first and second features, such that the first and second features may not be in direct contact.

It should be noted that, the illustrations provided in the present embodiment merely illustrate the basic concept of the present application by way of illustration, and only the components related to the present application are shown in the drawings rather than the number, shape and size of the components in actual implementation, and the form, number and proportion of each component in actual implementation may be arbitrarily changed, and the layout of the components may be more complex.

Embodiment one:

as shown in fig. 1, the present application provides a cavity cover structure 10, in which a viewing window 11 is embedded in the cavity cover structure 10, the viewing window 11 is a transparent guide groove structure 12 in the shape of an aeroboat disk including an annular structure 111 and a protruding portion 112, and the protruding portion 112 is disposed on an outer ring of the annular structure 111 and extends outwards along a radial direction of the annular structure 111.

According to the application, the transparent guide groove structure 12 in the shape of the aeroboat is arranged as the observation window 11, so that the cavity cover structure 10 can enlarge the observation visual angle and reduce the observation dead angle on the premise of ensuring the structural strength.

In one embodiment, as shown in fig. 2, the transparent channel structure 12 is an i-shaped laminated layer formed by stacking three transparent layers along a cross section perpendicular to the cavity cover structure 10 and passing through a center point of the cavity cover structure 10, the three transparent layers sequentially include a lower transparent layer 123121, a middle transparent layer 122 and an upper transparent layer from bottom to top, the lengths of the lower transparent layer 123121 and the upper transparent layer along the radial direction of the annular structure 111 are greater than the lengths of the middle transparent layer 122 along the radial direction of the annular structure 111, a through groove 124 is formed in the center of the upper transparent layer, and the through groove 124 reveals the surface of the middle transparent layer 122.

The application enables the transparent guide groove structure 12 to be stably clamped on the cavity cover structure 10 by arranging the cross-section structure of the I-shaped transparent guide groove structure 12.

Embodiment two:

as shown in fig. 3-5, the present application further provides a semiconductor process apparatus, wherein fig. 3 is a top view of the structure 10 with a cavity cover of the semiconductor process apparatus, fig. 4 is an internal top view of the semiconductor process apparatus without a cavity cover, and fig. 5 is a side sectional view of the semiconductor process apparatus, and the semiconductor process apparatus includes the structure 10 with a cavity cover according to any one of the first embodiment, and further includes: a transfer chamber 21, a process chamber 22, a wafer transfer structure 23, and a tracking imaging structure 24;

the chamber cover structure 10 is disposed on the transfer chamber 21 to form a sealed chamber;

the transfer chamber 21 serves as a transfer space for transferring the wafer 25 to the process chamber 22; the process chamber 22 is arranged on the side surface of the conveying chamber 21 and is used for carrying out a preparation process; the wafer conveying structure 23 is disposed in the conveying cavity 21 and is used for conveying the wafer 25; the tracking imaging structure 24 is disposed above the chamber lid structure 10 for viewing the transfer chamber 21, the process chamber 22, the wafer 25, and the wafer transfer structure 23 through the viewing window 11.

In the prior art, as shown in fig. 6-8, where fig. 6 is an internal side sectional view of a semiconductor process structure in the prior art, fig. 7 is a top view of the semiconductor process structure in the prior art, fig. 8 is an external side view of the semiconductor process structure in the prior art, the existing observation windows 3211 are usually provided with a circular transparent glass at a position close to the process chamber 22, but each of the existing observation windows 3211 is not communicated, so that an observation angle range α of each of the existing observation windows 3211 is limited, meanwhile, due to a strength requirement of the chamber cover structure 10, an area of the existing observation windows 3211 cannot be excessively large, so that the existing observation devices 31 cannot continuously and dynamically observe the wafer 25, the wafer conveying structure 23 and the interior of the chamber structure in real time in a moving process, many observation dead angles can be generated, an observation position, a lens direction and the like of the existing observation devices 31 need to be manually changed in an observation process, and the observation process is inconvenient. The application takes the cavity cover structure 10 provided with the navigation wheel-shaped observation window 11 as the cavity cover of the conveying cavity 21 of the semiconductor process equipment, so that the movement process of the conveying cavity 21, the process cavity 22, the wafer conveying structure 23 and the wafer 25 in the semiconductor process equipment can be dynamically observed by the observation window 11 at an observation angle beta without dead angles, thereby being used for timely processing and checking faults occurring in the movement process; meanwhile, the tracking imaging structure 24 is matched to realize dead angle-free tracking of the dynamic process of the movement of the wafer 25, so that real-time observation is facilitated.

In one embodiment, sealing rings 125 are disposed on both sides of the connection between the transparent channel structure 12 of the chamber cover structure 10 and the chamber cover structure 10, so as to ensure sealing in the semiconductor processing apparatus.

In one embodiment, the semiconductor process equipment is a magnetron sputtering machine, and can be used for improving other semiconductor process equipment according to requirements.

In one embodiment, a gate valve is disposed between the process chamber 22 and the transfer chamber 21; when the wafer transfer structure 23 needs to transfer the wafer 25 to the process chamber 22, the gate valve is opened to allow the wafer transfer structure 23 to enter the process chamber 22 from the transfer chamber 21; when the wafer transfer structure 23 is not required to transfer the wafer 25 to the process chamber 22, the gate valve is closed to isolate the transfer chamber 21 from the process chamber 22.

The present application simultaneously meets the requirements of wafer 25 transfer and avoiding gas interference between process chamber 22 and transfer chamber 21 by dynamically controlling the gate valve.

In one embodiment, as shown in fig. 4, the wafer transfer structure 23 includes a wafer carrier 231, a transfer arm 232, and a transfer control motor 233, the wafer 25 is placed on the wafer carrier 231, and the transfer control motor 233 controls the wafer carrier 231 through the transfer arm 232 so that the wafer 25 is transferred to a predetermined position.

In one embodiment, as shown in fig. 5, the tracking imaging structure 24 includes a wide-angle camera 241, a lens control lever 242, and a lens control motor 243, the lens control motor 243 controlling the movement of the wide-angle camera 241 through the lens control lever 242.

In one embodiment, the wide angle camera 241 has a viewing angle greater than 90 ° such that the wide angle camera 241 can view the process chamber 22 through the viewing window 11.

The application can enlarge the observable angle range by setting the visual angle of the wide-angle camera 241.

In one embodiment, as shown in fig. 9-10, where fig. 9 is a side view of the tracking imaging structure 24, fig. 10 is a top view of the tracking imaging structure 24, the lens control lever 242 is retractable along a radial direction of the annular structure 111 of the viewing window 11, and the lens control lever 242 is rotatable about the lens control motor 243.

The application can flexibly control the wide-angle lens to realize real-time dynamic tracking and observation by arranging the lens control rod 242 to be telescopic and rotatable, thereby reducing the occurrence of observation dead angles and smoothly recording the states of all the observed components in the dynamic process.

In one embodiment, an electric connection mechanism is disposed between the lens control lever 242 and the wide-angle camera 241, and the lens control lever 242 can control the wide-angle camera 241 to perform a rotational movement by using the electric connection mechanism as an origin.

According to the application, the electric connection mechanism is arranged, so that the angle of the wide-angle lens can be directly controlled, and more accurate alignment and real-time observation of an observation object are realized.

Embodiment III:

the application also provides a use method of the semiconductor process equipment, which is carried out by adopting the semiconductor process equipment in any one of the second embodiment, and comprises the following steps:

step 1: the wafer transfer structure 23 takes out the wafer 25 in the process chamber 22 from one process chamber 22, and the wafer transfer structure 23 transfers the wafer 25 into another process chamber 22;

step 2: a tracking imaging structure 24 tracks the movement of the wafer transfer structure 23 and acquires images and/or dynamic pictures of the wafer 25, the wafer transfer structure 23, the process chamber 22, and the transfer chamber 21 to check the operation within the semiconductor processing equipment.

It should be noted that the above sequence does not strictly represent the sequence of the method for using the semiconductor processing apparatus protected by the present application, and those skilled in the art may vary depending on the actual preparation steps.

In one embodiment, the acquired images and dynamic pictures include real-time positions of the wafer 25 and states of the wafer 25, real-time motion of the wafer transport structure 23, integrity of components within the process chamber 22 and the transport chamber 21, and the like.

In summary, the cavity cover structure, the semiconductor process equipment and the use method thereof can enlarge the observable range and reduce the observation dead angle while ensuring the strength of the cavity cover structure by arranging the observation window comprising the annular structure and the protruding part; meanwhile, by means of the arrangement of the protruding parts in the observation window, the dynamic whole process of the wafer conveying structure is observed in real time without dead angles, and fault investigation is facilitated; in addition, the telescopic and rotary tracking imaging structure is matched with the wide-angle camera, so that the observation range in the semiconductor process equipment is further enlarged.

Therefore, the application effectively overcomes various defects in the prior art and has high industrial utilization value.

The above embodiments are merely illustrative of the principles of the present application and its effectiveness, and are not intended to limit the application. Modifications and variations may be made to the above-described embodiments by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the application. Accordingly, it is intended that all equivalent modifications and variations of the application be covered by the claims, which are within the ordinary skill of the art, be within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

Claims (10)

1. The utility model provides a chamber lid structure, its characterized in that, chamber lid structure embeds has the observation window, the observation window is the transparent guide slot structure of taking the form of the boat sea wheel disk including annular structure and protruding portion, protruding portion set up on annular structure's outer loop and along annular structure's radial outwards extends.

2. The cavity cover structure according to claim 1, wherein the transparent guide groove structure is an i-shaped laminated layer formed by stacking three transparent layers along a cross section perpendicular to the cavity cover structure and passing through a center point of the cavity cover structure, the three transparent layers sequentially comprise a lower transparent layer, a middle transparent layer and an upper transparent layer from bottom to top, the lengths of the lower transparent layer and the upper transparent layer along the radial direction of the annular structure are larger than the lengths of the middle transparent layer along the radial direction of the annular structure, a through groove is formed in the center of the upper transparent layer, and the through groove exposes the surface of the middle transparent layer.

3. A semiconductor processing apparatus comprising the chamber lid structure of any one of claims 1-2, the semiconductor processing apparatus further comprising: a transfer chamber, a process chamber, a wafer transfer structure, and a tracking imaging structure;

the cavity cover structure is arranged on the conveying cavity to form a sealed cavity;

the conveying cavity is used as a conveying space for conveying the wafer to the process cavity; the process cavity is arranged on the side surface of the conveying cavity and is used for carrying out a preparation process; the wafer conveying structure is arranged in the conveying cavity and is used for conveying the wafer; the tracking imaging structure is arranged above the cavity cover structure and is used for observing the conveying cavity, the process chamber, the wafer and the wafer conveying structure through the observation window.

4. The semiconductor processing apparatus of claim 3, wherein a gate valve is disposed between the process chamber and the transfer chamber; when the wafer conveying structure needs to convey the wafer to the process cavity, the gate valve is opened to enable the wafer conveying structure to enter the process cavity from the conveying cavity; when the wafer conveying structure does not need to convey the wafer to the process cavity, the gate valve is closed to isolate the conveying cavity from the process cavity.

5. The semiconductor processing apparatus of claim 3, wherein the wafer transfer structure comprises a wafer carrier, a transfer arm, and a transfer control motor, the wafer being placed on the wafer carrier, the transfer control motor controlling the wafer carrier via the transfer arm to cause the wafer to be transferred to a predetermined position.

6. The semiconductor processing apparatus of claim 3 wherein the tracking imaging structure comprises a wide angle camera, a lens control lever, and a lens control motor, the lens control motor controlling movement of the wide angle camera via the lens control lever.

7. The semiconductor processing apparatus of claim 3 wherein said wide angle camera has a viewing angle greater than 90 ° such that said wide angle camera can view said process chamber through said viewing window.

8. The semiconductor processing apparatus of claim 3, wherein the lens control lever is retractable in a radial direction of the annular structure of the viewing window, and the lens control lever is rotatable about the lens control motor.

9. The semiconductor processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein an electric connection mechanism is provided between the lens control lever and the wide-angle camera, and the lens control lever can control the wide-angle camera to perform a rotational movement with the electric connection mechanism as an origin through the electric connection mechanism.

10. A method of using a semiconductor processing apparatus according to any one of claims 3 to 9, the method comprising:

the wafer conveying structure is used for taking out a wafer in one process chamber from the other process chamber, and conveying the wafer into the other process chamber;

the tracking imaging structure tracks the movement of the wafer transfer structure, and images and/or dynamic pictures of the wafer, the wafer transfer structure, the process chamber and the transfer chamber are acquired to check the operation condition in the semiconductor process equipment.