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CN118231307B - Wafer conveying system and method - Google Patents

Wafer conveying system and method Download PDF

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Publication number
CN118231307B
CN118231307B CN202410637231.7A CN202410637231A CN118231307B CN 118231307 B CN118231307 B CN 118231307B CN 202410637231 A CN202410637231 A CN 202410637231A CN 118231307 B CN118231307 B CN 118231307B
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China
Prior art keywords
wafer
chamber
storage chamber
carrier
wafer carrier
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CN202410637231.7A
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Chinese (zh)
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CN118231307A (en
Inventor
王涛
郭军强
王永
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Yaoguang Semiconductor Zhejiang Co ltd
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Yaoguang Semiconductor Zhejiang Co ltd
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    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C23—COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; CHEMICAL SURFACE TREATMENT; DIFFUSION TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL; INHIBITING CORROSION OF METALLIC MATERIAL OR INCRUSTATION IN GENERAL
    • C23C—COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; SURFACE TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL BY DIFFUSION INTO THE SURFACE, BY CHEMICAL CONVERSION OR SUBSTITUTION; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL
    • C23C16/00—Chemical coating by decomposition of gaseous compounds, without leaving reaction products of surface material in the coating, i.e. chemical vapour deposition [CVD] processes
    • C23C16/44—Chemical coating by decomposition of gaseous compounds, without leaving reaction products of surface material in the coating, i.e. chemical vapour deposition [CVD] processes characterised by the method of coating
    • C23C16/54—Apparatus specially adapted for continuous coating
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C23—COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; CHEMICAL SURFACE TREATMENT; DIFFUSION TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL; INHIBITING CORROSION OF METALLIC MATERIAL OR INCRUSTATION IN GENERAL
    • C23C—COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; SURFACE TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL BY DIFFUSION INTO THE SURFACE, BY CHEMICAL CONVERSION OR SUBSTITUTION; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL
    • C23C16/00—Chemical coating by decomposition of gaseous compounds, without leaving reaction products of surface material in the coating, i.e. chemical vapour deposition [CVD] processes
    • C23C16/44—Chemical coating by decomposition of gaseous compounds, without leaving reaction products of surface material in the coating, i.e. chemical vapour deposition [CVD] processes characterised by the method of coating
    • C23C16/458—Chemical coating by decomposition of gaseous compounds, without leaving reaction products of surface material in the coating, i.e. chemical vapour deposition [CVD] processes characterised by the method of coating characterised by the method used for supporting substrates in the reaction chamber
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01J—ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
    • H01J37/00—Discharge tubes with provision for introducing objects or material to be exposed to the discharge, e.g. for the purpose of examination or processing thereof
    • H01J37/32—Gas-filled discharge tubes
    • H01J37/32431—Constructional details of the reactor
    • H01J37/32458—Vessel
    • H01J37/32522—Temperature
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01J—ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
    • H01J37/00—Discharge tubes with provision for introducing objects or material to be exposed to the discharge, e.g. for the purpose of examination or processing thereof
    • H01J37/32—Gas-filled discharge tubes
    • H01J37/32431—Constructional details of the reactor
    • H01J37/32733—Means for moving the material to be treated
    • H01J37/32743—Means for moving the material to be treated for introducing the material into processing chamber
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01J—ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
    • H01J37/00—Discharge tubes with provision for introducing objects or material to be exposed to the discharge, e.g. for the purpose of examination or processing thereof
    • H01J37/32—Gas-filled discharge tubes
    • H01J37/32431—Constructional details of the reactor
    • H01J37/32733—Means for moving the material to be treated
    • H01J37/32788—Means for moving the material to be treated for extracting the material from the process chamber
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
    • H01L21/67005—Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
    • H01L21/67011—Apparatus for manufacture or treatment
    • H01L21/67098—Apparatus for thermal treatment
    • H01L21/67109—Apparatus for thermal treatment mainly by convection
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
    • H01L21/677—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations
    • H01L21/67739—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations into and out of processing chamber
    • H01L21/67742—Mechanical parts of transfer devices
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
    • H01L21/677—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations
    • H01L21/67739—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations into and out of processing chamber
    • H01L21/67745—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations into and out of processing chamber characterized by movements or sequence of movements of transfer devices

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Computer Hardware Design (AREA)
  • Power Engineering (AREA)
  • Condensed Matter Physics & Semiconductors (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
  • Plasma & Fusion (AREA)
  • Microelectronics & Electronic Packaging (AREA)
  • Analytical Chemistry (AREA)
  • General Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
  • Materials Engineering (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Metallurgy (AREA)
  • Organic Chemistry (AREA)
  • Robotics (AREA)
  • Container, Conveyance, Adherence, Positioning, Of Wafer (AREA)

Abstract

The invention discloses a wafer conveying system and a wafer conveying method, and relates to the field of semiconductor manufacturing. The system comprises: the wafer carrier comprises a reaction chamber and a processing chamber, wherein the processing chamber comprises a loading and unloading chamber, a wafer carrier storage chamber and a wafer storage chamber, at least two wafer carrier storage chambers are arranged in the wafer carrier storage chamber, each wafer carrier is used for storing a plurality of wafer carriers, the wafer carrier storage chamber is also used for cooling the wafer carriers, at least two wafer storage chambers are arranged in the wafer storage chamber, each wafer storage chamber is used for storing a plurality of wafers, the wafer storage chamber is also used for cooling the wafers, a first carrying device is arranged in the transmission chamber, and the wafers and/or the wafer carriers can move in each chamber through the first carrying device. The system can be used for greatly saving the processing time and improving the production efficiency by synchronously cooling and loading and unloading wafers in a centralized way.

Description

Wafer conveying system and method
Technical Field
The present invention relates to the field of semiconductor manufacturing, and more particularly, to a wafer transfer system and method.
Background
Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) is typically performed in a reactor in a temperature controlled environment to ensure stability of a first precursor gas comprising at least one group iii element, such as gallium (Ga). The second precursor gas (e.g., ammonia (NH 3)) provides the nitrogen needed to form the group iii-nitride. Two precursor gases are injected into a processing region in a reactor where they mix and move toward a heated substrate in the processing region. A carrier gas may be used to help deliver the precursor gas toward the substrate. The precursors react at the heated substrate surface to form a group iii-nitride layer (e.g., gaN) on the substrate surface. MOCVD is a novel Vapor Phase Epitaxy (VPE) growth technique developed on the basis of VPE. It uses organic compounds of III group and II group elements and hydrides of V group and VI group elements as crystal growth source material, and adopts thermal decomposition reaction mode to make gas-phase epitaxy on the substrate so as to grow thin-layer monocrystal material of various III-V group and II-VI group compound semiconductors and their multiple solid solutions. Typically, the crystal growth in MOCVD systems is performed in a cold-wall quartz (stainless steel) reaction chamber at either atmospheric or low pressure (10-100 Torr) and using H 2 as a carrier gas (CARRIER GAS) at a substrate temperature of 500-1200deg.C, heating a graphite susceptor (with the substrate above the graphite susceptor) by radio frequency induction, and bubbling H2 through a temperature-controlled liquid source to carry the metal-organic material to the growth zone. In the manufacture of semiconductor devices, substrates are sometimes treated at high temperatures. In existing systems, the substrate is typically kept in the process chamber for cooling after processing the substrate at high temperature to prevent cracking due to thermal shock. Cooling the substrate in the process chamber can take production time, thereby increasing the cost to the manufacturer. In addition, cooling the substrate in the process chamber requires frequent cooling and heating of the process chamber, resulting in temperature variations in the process chamber. Temperature variations in the process chamber may cause deposits or films formed on the interior surfaces of the process chamber to flake off and increase particle contamination. Frequent cooling and heating of the process chamber also increases power consumption. Cooling with separate chambers is also currently occurring, but the cooling efficiency is not sufficiently high.
Disclosure of Invention
A first aspect of the present invention provides a wafer transfer system comprising:
A reaction chamber for performing metal organic chemical vapor deposition treatment on the wafer;
The processing chamber comprises a loading and unloading chamber, a wafer bearing device storage chamber and a wafer storage chamber, wherein at least two wafer bearing device storage chambers are arranged in the processing chamber, each wafer bearing device storage chamber is used for storing a plurality of wafer bearing devices, the wafer bearing device storage chamber is also used for cooling the wafer bearing devices, at least two wafer storage chambers are arranged in the wafer storage chamber, each wafer storage chamber is used for storing a plurality of wafers, the wafer storage chamber is also used for cooling the wafers, and the loading and unloading chamber is used for combining and/or separating the wafers and the wafer bearing devices;
a transfer chamber having a first handling device disposed therein, by which the wafer and/or the wafer carrier may be moved between the reaction chamber and the processing chamber and/or within the processing chamber.
Optionally, the wafer storage chamber comprises a first wafer storage chamber provided with a first air inlet and a first air outlet.
Optionally, a wafer storage box is arranged in the middle of the first wafer storage chamber, and wafer brackets are arranged in the wafer storage box at equal intervals along the vertical direction.
Optionally, the wafer carrier storage chamber comprises a first wafer carrier storage chamber provided with a second air inlet and a second air outlet.
Optionally, a workbench is arranged in the middle of the loading and unloading chamber, and a jacking device is arranged at the lower part of the workbench and can jack up the wafer from the lower part so as to separate the wafer from the wafer bearing device.
Optionally, the wafer storage chamber includes a second wafer storage chamber, the wafer carrier storage chamber includes a second wafer carrier storage chamber, the first handling device takes the wafer carrier out of the wafer carrier storage chamber and places the wafer carrier on the workbench, and then takes the wafer out of the wafer storage chamber and places the wafer on the wafer carrier, so as to complete the combination of the wafer and the wafer carrier.
Optionally, the processing chamber further includes a wafer positioning chamber, a first gate valve is disposed between the reaction chamber and the transfer chamber, a second gate valve is disposed in the first wafer carrier storage chamber, a third gate valve is disposed in the first wafer storage chamber, a fourth gate valve is disposed in the wafer positioning chamber, a fifth gate valve is disposed in the second wafer storage chamber, a sixth gate valve is disposed in the second wafer carrier storage chamber, and a seventh gate valve is disposed in the loading and unloading chamber.
Optionally, the wafer carrier storage chamber further includes a third wafer carrier storage chamber, a fourth wafer carrier storage chamber, and the wafer storage chamber further includes a third wafer storage chamber, a fourth wafer storage chamber.
A second aspect of the present invention provides a wafer transfer method, comprising:
Step S110: carrying the wafer in the reaction chamber and the wafer carrying device together to the loading and unloading chamber by a first carrying device arranged in the transmission chamber;
step S120: separating the wafer and the wafer carrier within the loading and unloading chamber;
Step S130: placing the separated wafers into a first wafer storage chamber through the first carrying device, and placing the separated wafer bearing device into a first wafer bearing device storage chamber;
Step S140: repeating the steps S110 to S130 until the wafer and the wafer carrying device in the reaction chamber are completely moved;
Step S150: the wafers placed in the first wafer storage chamber and the wafer carrier placed in the first wafer carrier storage chamber of step S130 are cooled.
Step S160: when the step S150 is executed, firstly, the wafer bearing device in the storage cavity of the second wafer bearing device is put into the loading and unloading cavity through the first conveying device, then, the wafer in the storage cavity of the second wafer is conveyed to the loading and unloading cavity through the first conveying device, and the combination of the wafer and the wafer bearing device is completed in the loading and unloading cavity;
Step S170: transporting the wafer to the reaction chamber with the combination of wafer carrier after performing the step S160;
optionally, step S170 is further followed by step S180, and steps S160 to S170 are repeatedly performed until a predetermined amount of wafers are transferred to the reaction chamber together with the combination of wafer carriers.
The invention has the beneficial effects that: the invention adopts a mode of concentrated cooling of a plurality of pieces, and can save a great amount of time compared with a single-piece cooling mode. In addition, the invention is provided with the first wafer storage chamber and the second wafer storage chamber which have the same structure, and the first wafer bearing device storage chamber and the second wafer bearing device storage chamber, when the previous group of unloading is finished, the wafers are cooled in the first wafer storage chamber without waiting, and the wafers can be immediately loaded from the corresponding second wafer storage chamber and the second wafer bearing device storage chamber, thereby improving the processing efficiency.
Drawings
The foregoing and/or additional aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and may be better understood from the following description of embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a wafer transfer system in one embodiment of the invention;
Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of a wafer storage chamber in one embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a wafer carrier storage chamber in one embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a loading and unloading chamber according to one embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a wafer transfer method in one embodiment of the invention;
Fig. 6 is a flow chart of a wafer transfer method in another embodiment of the invention.
Detailed Description
For a better understanding of the technical content of the present invention, specific examples are set forth below, along with the accompanying drawings.
Aspects of the invention are described in this disclosure with reference to the drawings, in which are shown a number of illustrative embodiments. The embodiments of the present disclosure are not necessarily intended to include all aspects of the invention. It should be understood that the various concepts and embodiments described above, as well as those described in more detail below, may be implemented in any of a number of ways, as the disclosed concepts and embodiments are not limited to any implementation. Additionally, some aspects of the disclosure may be used alone or in any suitable combination with other aspects of the disclosure.
It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being "connected to" or "disposed on" another element, it can be directly on the other element or be indirectly on the other element. When an element is referred to as being "connected to" another element, it can be directly connected to the other element or be indirectly connected to the other element.
Furthermore, the terms "first," "second," and the like, are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying a relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defining "a first" or "a second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more such feature. In the description of the present invention, the meaning of "a plurality" is two or more, unless explicitly defined otherwise.
In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that the terms "center," "length," "width," "thickness," "upper," "lower," "front," "rear," "left," "right," "vertical," "horizontal," "top," "bottom," "inner," "outer," and the like indicate orientations or positional relationships based on the orientation or positional relationships shown in the drawings, are merely for convenience in describing the present invention and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the devices or elements referred to must have a specific orientation, be configured and operated in a specific orientation, and thus should not be construed as limiting the present invention.
In the description of the present invention, it should be noted that, unless explicitly specified and limited otherwise, the terms "mounted," "connected," and "connected" are to be construed broadly, and may be either fixedly connected, detachably connected, or integrally connected, for example; can be mechanically or electrically connected; can be directly connected or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, and can be communicated with the inside of two elements or the interaction relationship of the two elements. The specific meaning of the above terms in the present invention can be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art according to the specific circumstances.
Reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, the appearances of the phrases "in one embodiment," "in some embodiments," or "in some embodiments" in various places throughout this specification are not all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.
The traditional wafer transmission system is provided with a wafer cooling cavity, but usually, one piece of cooling is put in the cavity first, and the next piece of cooling is put in the cavity after the cooling is taken out. On the other hand, the feeding can be performed while cooling, so that the waiting time is further reduced, and the production efficiency of the whole process is improved.
Fig. 1 illustrates a wafer transfer system in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. The embodiment shown in fig. 1 represents only one possible configuration and should not be considered as limiting the scope of the present disclosure. For example, in some embodiments, the wafer transfer system has a different number of process chambers, reaction chambers 1, transfer chambers 2, and first handling device 3 configurations.
As used herein, "wafer," "substrate," "epitaxial wafer," or "substrate" refers to any substrate upon which a film formation process is performed during a manufacturing process. For example, materials on which the film forming process may be performed include materials such as silicon, silicon oxide, strained silicon, silicon On Insulator (SOI), carbon doped silicon oxide, amorphous silicon, doped silicon, germanium, gallium arsenide, glass, sapphire, and any other material such as metals, metal nitrides, metal alloys, and other conductive materials, depending on the particular application. The substrate includes, but is not limited to, a semiconductor wafer.
The wafer transfer system includes a transfer chamber 2, the transfer chamber 2 having a plurality of sides. The transfer chamber 2 shown in fig. 1 has a first side 21, a second side 28, a third side 22, a fourth side 23, a fifth side 24, a sixth side 25, a seventh side 26, and an eighth side 27. Although eight sides are shown, one skilled in the art will appreciate that the transfer chamber 2 may have any suitable number of sides, depending on the overall configuration of the wafer transfer system.
The transfer chamber 2 has a first handling device 3, such as a robot, a handling robot, etc., positioned therein, which may be any suitable robot capable of moving wafers during processing. The first carrying device 3 is disposed substantially at the center of the transfer chamber 2, and the first carrying device 3 has a movable portion 31 that can rotate and expand and contract. In some embodiments, the robot has a first yoke 32 and a second yoke 33, the first yoke 32 and the second yoke 33 being mounted on the movable portion 31 in opposite directions to each other. The first fork arm 32 and the second fork arm 33 are movable independently of the other, opposite fork arm. The first fork arm 32 and the second fork arm 33 are movable in a horizontal plane and/or in a vertical direction. In some embodiments, the robot includes a third yoke or a fourth yoke (not shown). Each of the prongs is movable independently of the other prongs. The first transfer device 3 performs the loading and unloading of the semiconductor wafer into and from the process chamber and the reaction chamber 1, and can transfer the wafer between the process chamber and the reaction chamber 1, for example.
The reaction chamber 1 is arranged on one side of the octagonal transfer chamber 2, for example the first side 21. The reaction chamber 1 is used for film forming treatment, and further, is used for performing metal organic chemical vapor deposition treatment on the wafer. The cavity is typically fabricated from stainless steel or quartz, and the inner walls of the cavity are typically lined with a liner composed of quartz or a high temperature ceramic. At least one slide tray 18 is arranged in the cavity for bearing wafers, the slide tray 18 can be made of graphite, a heater is arranged in the reaction chamber or outside the reaction chamber 1, and the heater can be selected from infrared lamp tubes, heat resistance wires, microwaves and other heating modes. In this embodiment, 10 slide trays 18 are arranged in a circular shape in the reaction chamber 1, and in other embodiments, other numbers of slide trays 18 may be provided, and the number is at least 4. The shape of the reaction chamber 1 may be a disk type, a square type, and is not limited.
The process chambers are arranged on any other side of the transfer chamber 2. The processing chamber may perform degassing, positioning, cooling, etc. In some embodiments, the processing chamber includes a loading chamber 9, a wafer carrier storage chamber, and a wafer storage chamber, the first handling device 3 may move the wafer and/or the wafer carrier between the reaction chamber 1 and the processing chamber, or may move inside the processing chamber, for example, the first handling device 3 may take a wafer from the wafer storage chamber to the loading chamber 9, may take a wafer carrier from the wafer carrier storage chamber to the loading chamber 9, and may similarly separately handle a wafer and a wafer carrier in the loading chamber 9 to different processing chambers. The wafer carrying device is used for carrying wafers into the reaction chamber 1 for epitaxial film growth. It is understood that the shape of the process chamber may be rectangular, hexagonal, etc., without limitation.
In some embodiments, the wafer carrier storage chambers are provided with at least two, and each wafer carrier storage chamber is used for storing a plurality of wafer carriers, optionally 2-20 wafer carriers.
In some embodiments, the wafer carrier storage chamber is used to cool a wafer carrier.
In some embodiments, at least two wafer storage chambers are provided, and each wafer storage chamber is configured to store a plurality of wafers, and the wafer storage chambers are further configured to cool the wafers, alternatively, the wafer storage chambers may store 2-20 wafers.
In some embodiments, the loading chamber 9 is used to combine and/or separate the wafer and the wafer carrier.
Referring to fig. 1, in some embodiments, the wafer carrier storage chambers include two first wafer carrier storage chambers 4 and second wafer carrier storage chambers 8, respectively, and two wafer storage chambers, first wafer storage chambers 5 and second wafer storage chambers 7, respectively. The first wafer carrier storage chamber 4 is disposed on the third side 22, the first wafer storage chamber 5 is disposed on the fourth side 23, the first wafer storage chamber 5 is disposed on the sixth side 25, and the second wafer carrier storage chamber 8 is disposed on the seventh side 26. In some embodiments, the loading and unloading chamber 9 is provided at the eighth side 27.
Referring to fig. 2, the first wafer storage chamber 5 is a substantially rectangular parallelepiped, and a frame 54 is a sealable cavity, and the first wafer storage chamber 5 is provided with a first air inlet 51 and a first air outlet 52. In some embodiments, the upper left corner is provided with a first gas inlet 51, the lower right corner is provided with a first gas outlet 52, the purge gas can be introduced into the first wafer storage chamber 5 through the first gas inlet 51, and the purge gas can be discharged from the first wafer storage chamber 5 by opening the first gas outlet 52 when the gas is introduced or the purging is stopped. A wafer housing box 53 is provided in the middle of the first wafer storage chamber 5, wafer holders 55 are provided in the wafer housing box 53 at equal intervals in the vertical direction, and each wafer holder 55 can store one wafer thereon. In some embodiments, the wafer receiving box 53 is provided with 10 wafer carriers 55, i.e. 10 wafers can be received simultaneously, in other embodiments a different number of wafer carriers 55 may be provided, optionally 5-20 wafer carriers 55. The lower part of the wafer storage box 53 is provided with a first lifting mechanism 56, and the first lifting mechanism 56 can lift the wafer storage box 53, so that the vertical height of a wafer to be operated is the same as that of the first carrying device 3, thereby facilitating the carrying operation of the first carrying device 3. It will be appreciated that the side of the wafer receiving enclosure 53 facing at least the first handling device 3 is provided with an opening to facilitate the removal and placement of wafers on the wafer carrier 55. When the purge gas is introduced into the first wafer storage chamber 5 to cool the wafers stored therein, it is noted that when the cooling function is performed, the first gas inlet 51 and the first gas outlet 52 are opened, the gas is exhausted while being introduced, and heat is taken away by the rapid flow of the gas. The gas is inert gases such as nitrogen, argon and the like. It will be appreciated that the second wafer storage chamber 7 or other wafer storage chamber structures shown in this embodiment are the same, and will not be described again.
Referring to fig. 3, the first wafer carrier storage chamber 4 is substantially rectangular, and a sealable cavity is formed inside the housing 41, and the first wafer carrier storage chamber 4 is provided with a second air inlet 42 and a second air outlet 43. In some embodiments, a second gas inlet 42 is provided at the upper left corner, a second gas outlet 43 is provided at the lower right corner, and purge gas may be introduced into the first wafer carrier storage chamber 4 through the second gas inlet 42, and when the purge is introduced or stopped, the purge gas may be discharged from the first wafer carrier storage chamber 4 by opening the second gas outlet 43. When the cooling function is performed, the second air inlet 42 and the second air outlet 43 are opened, and the air is discharged while being introduced, so that heat is removed by the rapid flow of the air.
The gas is inert gases such as nitrogen, argon and the like. A wafer carrier storage box 44 is provided in the middle of the first wafer carrier storage chamber 4, and wafer carrier brackets 46 are provided in the wafer carrier storage box 44 at equal intervals along the vertical direction, and each wafer carrier bracket 46 can store one wafer carrier. In some embodiments, the wafer carrier storage case 44 is provided with 10 wafer carrier trays 46, i.e., 10 wafer carriers can be stored simultaneously, and in other embodiments a different number of wafer carrier trays 46 may be provided, optionally 5-20 wafer carrier trays 46 may be provided, as desired.
The second lifting mechanism 47 is disposed at the lower part of the wafer carrier storage box 44, and the second lifting mechanism 47 can lift the wafer carrier storage box 44, so that the vertical height of the wafer carrier 44 to be operated is the same as the vertical height of the first carrying device 3, thereby facilitating the carrying operation of the first carrying device 3. It will be appreciated that the side of the wafer carrier storage case 44 facing the first carrier 3 is provided with an opening to facilitate the removal and placement of wafers on the wafer carrier tray 46.
It should be noted that the wafer carrier may be a bracket, a carrier ring, a basket, etc., without limitation. The wafer carrier stored therein may be cooled by the purge gas flowing into the wafer carrier storage box 44. It can be appreciated that the second wafer carrier storage chamber 8 and the first wafer carrier storage chamber 4 in this embodiment may be the same, and will not be described again. In one embodiment, the wafer carrier storage chamber performs the function of cooling the wafer carrier while the wafer storage chamber cools the wafer, thereby reducing the temperature of the wafer carrier, reducing latency and improving efficiency through simultaneous cooling operations.
Referring to fig. 4, the loading and unloading chamber 9 is generally rectangular and includes a housing 91, a sealable cavity is formed inside the housing 91, a third air inlet 92 is provided on one side of the housing, a third air outlet (not shown) is provided on the other side of the housing, and a purge gas can be introduced into the loading and unloading chamber 9 through the third air inlet 92, and when the purge is stopped, the purge gas can be discharged from the loading and unloading chamber 9 by opening the third air outlet. The loading/unloading chamber 9 has a work table 93 in the middle, and the first carrier 3 takes out the wafer carrier 35 from the wafer carrier storage chamber, places it on the work table 93, and then takes out the wafer 34 from the wafer storage chamber and places it on the wafer carrier 35, thereby completing the combination of the wafer 34 and the wafer carrier 35 (hereinafter simply referred to as wafer combination).
Specifically, the lower portion of the table 93 is provided with a jack-up device 94, and the jack-up device 94 can lift up and jack up the wafer 34 from below to separate the wafer 34 from the wafer carrier 35, or lower together with the wafer 34 so that the wafer 34 falls on the wafer carrier 35 to complete the combination of the wafer 34 and the wafer carrier 35. In some embodiments, the platen 93 has a through hole in the middle, the wafer carrier 35 is annular in shape, and a through hole is also provided in the middle, while the wafer 34 is generally a continuous surface, so that the jacking device 94 is positioned below the platen 93 and not in contact with the platen 93 when not in operation. When it is necessary to combine the wafer 34 and the wafer carrier 35, the wafer carrier 35 is first placed on the table 93, the jack-up device 94 under the table 93 is lifted up from the through holes of the table 93 and the wafer carrier 35 and is higher than the wafer carrier 35, the first carrying device 3 places the wafer 34 on the jack-up device 94, and the jack-up device 94 carries the wafer 34 down so that the wafer 34 and the wafer carrier 35 are combined together. After the assembly is completed, the first handling device 3 places it into the reaction chamber 1.
For example, the jacking device 94 is raised 5-10mm above the wafer carrier 35. When it is desired to separate the wafer 34 from the wafer carrier 35, the jack-up device 94 is only required to lift up from the through holes of the table 93 and the wafer carrier 35 and jack up the wafer carrier 35, alternatively, jack-up by 5-10mm to complete the separation of the wafer 34 from the wafer carrier 35. In some embodiments, the diameter of the through hole of the stage 93 is 30-60mm. It should be noted that, the jacking device of the present invention may adopt worm and gear type, screw driving type, etc., and may also adopt other structural forms besides the foregoing structural forms, including but not limited to, the wafer chip jacking mechanism with reference to the patent publication No. CN103633006B, or other suitable wafer jacking devices, without limitation.
The height of the table 93 generally matches the height of the first handling device 3 so that the first handling device 3 conveniently picks up and places the wafers 34 and/or wafer carriers 35 of the table 93. In some embodiments, a lifting mechanism is provided at a lower portion of the table 93, and the lifting mechanism is capable of lifting the table 93 so that the vertical height of the wafer carrier 35 and/or the wafer 34 to be handled is the same as the vertical height of the first handling device 3, thereby facilitating handling operations of the first handling device 3. The present embodiment has the advantage of providing only 1 loading and unloading chamber 9, which is cost-effective. In other embodiments, two handling devices, namely, a first handling device 3 and a second handling device, and two loading and unloading chambers 9, namely, a first loading and unloading chamber and a second loading and unloading chamber, may be provided, wherein the first handling device 3 cooperates with the first loading and unloading chamber to perform unloading, and the second handling device cooperates with the second loading and unloading chamber to perform loading, so that the loading and unloading speed can be increased, and the processing efficiency is improved.
Referring to fig. 1, in some embodiments, the processing chamber further includes a wafer positioning chamber 6, the wafer positioning chamber 6 being used to orient a plane of orientation of the wafer or to conform the notch to a prescribed position or orientation. The wafer positioning chamber 6 is arranged on the fifth side 24, and the wafer positioning chamber 6 is used for wafer positioning. In some embodiments, the first handling device 3 takes out the wafer from the wafer storage chamber into the wafer positioning chamber 6, takes out the wafer from the wafer positioning chamber 6 after positioning is completed, and then into the loading and unloading chamber 9. The wafer positioning chamber 6 is used for carrying a wafer and adjusting the angle of the wafer. Alternatively, the wafer positioning chamber 6 may be implemented using a structure disclosed in the application No. 201820879100.X and entitled wafer edge identification and correction device, and it is understood that other suitable structures may be used for the wafer positioning chamber 6.
In some embodiments, when the wafers in the first wafer storage chamber 5 are cooled, the wafer carrier in the second wafer carrier storage chamber 8 is placed into the loading and unloading chamber 9 by the first conveying device 3, and then the wafers in the second wafer storage chamber 7 are conveyed to the loading and unloading chamber 9 by the first conveying device 3, so that the combination of the wafers and the wafer carrier is completed in the loading and unloading chamber 9; then, the wafer and wafer carrier combination is carried to the reaction chamber 1 for film forming treatment.
The process chamber of the present invention requires cooling fluid injection, and it is readily understood that each gas is fed through a respective one of the input ports. The cooling fluid takes heat by a rapid flow or achieves a cooling effect by a circulating inlet cooling device or heat transfer device, so that in order to maintain a stable temperature of the gas injection device, at least one cooling fluid inlet and at least one cooling fluid outlet are provided, whereby a plurality of cooling fluid inlets and outlets may also be used for temperature control. It will be appreciated that the cooling fluid inlet may be the inlet of each chamber and the cooling fluid outlet the outlet of each chamber.
The transfer chamber 2 may be maintained at vacuum and/or no higher than atmospheric pressure during processing. The pressure level of the transfer chamber 2 may be adjusted to correspond to the gas pressure level of the corresponding process chamber. For example, when transferring wafers from the transfer chamber 2 into the reaction chamber 1 (or vice versa), the transfer chamber 2 and the reaction chamber 1 may be maintained at the same gas pressure level, e.g., 1 normal atmospheric pressure. Then, when transferring the wafer from the transfer chamber 2 to the processing chamber (or vice versa), the gas pressure level of the transfer chamber 2 may be adjusted to match the gas pressure level of the processing chamber. In some embodiments, it may be desirable to backfill the transfer chamber 2 with an inert gas (e.g., nitrogen). In some embodiments, the wafer is transferred in an environment above 90% n 2. In some embodiments, the wafers are transported in a high purity NH 3 environment. In some embodiments, the wafer is transferred in an environment above 90% nh 3. In some embodiments, the wafers are transported in a high purity H 2 environment. In some embodiments, the wafers are transferred in an environment above 90% h 2.
The reaction chamber 1, the transfer chamber 2 and the process chamber all have the ability to independently control the internal pressure. Although not shown, a plurality of vacuum pumps are provided in fluid communication with the reaction chamber 1, the transfer chamber 2 and each process chamber to independently regulate the pressure in the respective chambers. The pump may establish a vacuum gradient of increasing pressure across the apparatus from the process chamber to the reaction chamber 1, it being understood that gas lines may be provided in communication with the respective gas inlets to deliver gas into the respective process chambers.
In some embodiments, a cleaning gas (purge gas) may be delivered into the chambers through gas inlets in each process chamber. A cleaning gas enters the process volume of the chamber to remove deposits or particulate matter from the chamber components and exits the chamber through one or more exhaust ports. The purge gas can be selected from inert gases such as argon, nitrogen and the like.
When the film formation process is completed, the wafer is transferred to the wafer storage chamber and cooled, the reaction chamber 1 is cooled to about 900 ℃ and then the hydrogen gas in the reaction chamber 1 is replaced with argon gas. The gate valves of the reaction chamber 1, the loading and unloading chamber 9, the first wafer storage chamber 5 and the first wafer carrier storage chamber 4 are opened, the combination of the wafer and the wafer carrier is conveyed into the loading and unloading chamber 9 through the first conveying device 3, the combination is separated through the jacking device 94, then the wafer is firstly conveyed into the first wafer storage chamber 5 through the first conveying device 3, the wafer accommodating box 53 moves upwards or downwards by the height of one wafer bracket 55 through the lifting device every time one wafer 34 is put into the first wafer storage chamber 5, so that the wafer bracket 55 of the previous wafer or the next wafer which is not stored is exposed, and then the first conveying device 3 translates to put the wafer on the wafer bracket 55. The wafer carrier 35 is then transferred into the first wafer carrier storage chamber 4 by the first handling device 3, and the wafer carrier storage box 44 is moved up or down by the height of one wafer carrier rack 46 by the lifting device every time one wafer carrier 35 is placed, so that the last or next empty wafer carrier rack 46 is exposed. The above process is repeated until the wafer assembly in the reaction chamber 1 is completely separated and fed into the corresponding chamber, then the gate valves of the first wafer storage chamber 5 and the first wafer carrier storage chamber are closed, the wafer storage chamber is evacuated first, and then the wafer storage chamber is cooled by purging with a gas at a predetermined flow rate for a predetermined time. For example, cooling is performed with a nitrogen purge of 50 SLM (STANDARD LITREPER minutes), approximately 10 minutes. In the traditional cooling mode, the cooling time of one wafer is 3 minutes, and if the number of the wafers is 10, the cooling time is at least 30 minutes, and the invention can intensively cool a plurality of wafers, for example, 10 wafers through optimizing the structure, so that the cooling time is saved from 30 minutes to 10 minutes, and the production efficiency is greatly improved.
In one embodiment, after the wafer carrier is transferred from the reaction chamber 1 to the wafer carrier storage chamber, the gate valve of the wafer carrier storage chamber is closed, the wafer storage chamber, the wafer carrier storage chamber are evacuated first, and then cooled by purging with a predetermined flow rate of gas for a predetermined time. For example, the cooling is performed with a nitrogen purge of 50 SLM, about 10 minutes.
When both the first wafer storage chamber 5 and the first wafer carrier storage chamber 4 are cooled (both the first wafer storage chamber 5 and the first wafer carrier storage chamber 4 are in a sealed state), another set of wafers and wafer carriers needs to be transferred from the processing chamber to the reaction chamber 1, and the reaction chamber 1, the transfer chamber 2, the second wafer storage chamber 7, the second wafer carrier storage chamber 8, the wafer positioning chamber 6 and the loading and unloading chamber 9 are controlled to be under a standard atmospheric pressure, and argon gas can be selected as the filling gas.
The gate valve of the second wafer carrier storage chamber 8 is opened and the first handler 3 in the transfer chamber 2 is moved into position and one wafer carrier is grasped from the second wafer carrier storage chamber 8 and placed into the loading and unloading chamber 9. A lift is provided in the second wafer carrier storage chamber 8 that moves the height of one wafer carrier tray 46 in the wafer storage chamber up or down to position the other wafer carrier in the transport plane so that it can be positioned on either the first fork arm 32 or the second fork arm 33. The gate valve of the second wafer storage chamber 7 is opened again. The first handling means 3 in the transfer chamber 2 is then moved into position and a wafer is grasped from the second wafer storage chamber 7 and placed into the loading and unloading chamber 9, the further placement is performed on the previously placed wafer carrier to complete the wafer and carrier combination, and the gate valve of the reaction chamber 1 is opened to bring the wafer combination into the reaction chamber 1. It will be appreciated that a lift mechanism is provided in the wafer storage chamber that moves the height of one wafer carrier 55 in the wafer storage chamber up or down to position the other wafer in the transport plane so that it can be positioned on either the first fork arm 32 or the second fork arm 33.
In some embodiments, each of the processing chambers is isolated from the transfer chamber 2 by a gate valve that allows the processing chamber to operate at a different air pressure level than the transfer chamber 2.
Referring to fig. 1, a reaction chamber 1 is connected to one side of a transfer chamber 2 via a gate valve, and the reaction chamber 1 communicates with the transfer chamber 2 by opening the corresponding gate valve and is blocked from the transfer chamber 2 by closing the corresponding gate valve. The processing chamber is also connected to the remaining sides of the transfer chamber 2 via gate valves. The gate valve is not limited by a slit valve, a vacuum isolation valve and the like, and can only be used for a wafer and a wafer bearing device to pass through and isolate the inner space and the outer space of the valve. Specifically, a first gate valve 11 is disposed between the reaction chamber 1 and the transfer chamber 2, the first wafer carrier storage chamber 4 is provided with a second gate valve 12, the first wafer storage chamber 5 is provided with a third gate valve 13, the wafer positioning chamber 6 is provided with a fourth gate valve 14, the second wafer storage chamber 7 is provided with a fifth gate valve 15, the second wafer carrier storage chamber 8 is provided with a sixth gate valve 16, and the loading and unloading chamber 9 is provided with a seventh gate valve 17.
The reaction chamber 1 communicates with the transfer chamber 2 by opening the first gate valve 11, and is blocked from the transfer chamber 2 by closing the first gate valve 11. The first wafer carrier storage chamber 4 communicates with the transfer chamber 2 by opening the second gate valve 12, and is blocked from the transfer chamber 2 by closing the second gate valve 12.
The first wafer storage chamber 5 communicates with the transfer chamber 2 by opening the third gate valve 13, and is blocked from the transfer chamber 2 by closing the third gate valve 13. The wafer positioning chamber 6 communicates with the transfer chamber 2 by opening the fourth gate valve 14, and is blocked from the transfer chamber 2 by closing the fourth gate valve 14. The second wafer storage chamber 7 communicates with the transfer chamber 2 by opening the fifth gate valve 15, and is blocked from the transfer chamber 2 by closing the fifth gate valve 15. The second wafer carrier storage chamber 8 communicates with the transfer chamber 2 by opening the sixth gate valve 16, and is blocked from the transfer chamber 2 by closing the sixth gate valve 16. The loading/unloading chamber 9 communicates with the transfer chamber 2 by opening the seventh gate valve 17, and is blocked from the transfer chamber 2 by closing the seventh gate valve 17.
In other embodiments, not shown, the wafer carrier storage chamber may further include a third wafer carrier storage chamber, a fourth wafer carrier storage chamber, etc. disposed on a side of the transfer chamber 2, all of which are identical in structure to the first wafer carrier storage chamber 4. The wafer storage chambers may also include a third wafer storage chamber, a fourth wafer storage chamber, etc., all of which are identical in structure to the first wafer storage chamber 5. Different wafer storage chambers and wafer carrier storage chambers may be used in combination as needed, for example, the wafer and wafer carrier in the slide tray 18 of the reaction chamber 1 may be carried to the loading and unloading chamber 9, and after the wafer and wafer carrier are separated, the wafer is placed in the first wafer storage chamber 5 and the third wafer storage chamber, and the wafer carrier is placed in the first wafer carrier storage chamber 4 and the third wafer carrier storage chamber, respectively; and cooling the wafers in the first wafer storage chamber 5 and the third wafer storage chamber, and cooling the wafer carrier in the first wafer carrier storage chamber 4 and the third wafer carrier storage chamber; one wafer carrier is taken out of the second wafer carrier storage chamber 8 or the fourth wafer carrier storage chamber and put into the loading and unloading chamber 9 while cooling, and one wafer is taken out of the second wafer storage chamber 7 or the fourth wafer storage chamber and put into the loading and unloading chamber 9 every time one wafer carrier is put, so that the combination of the wafer and the wafer carrier is completed, and then put into the reaction chamber 1 together. The cycle is operated until the wafers in the second wafer storage chamber 7 and the fourth wafer storage chamber and the wafer carriers in the second wafer carrier storage chamber 8 and the fourth wafer carrier storage chamber are all taken out and combined and placed into the reaction chamber 1. Thus, the wafers in the first wafer storage chamber 5 and the third wafer storage chamber are cooled, and the wafers in the second wafer storage chamber 7 and the fourth wafer storage chamber can be fed at the same time, so that the efficiency is higher.
The wafer transfer system has a controller, which may be one of any form of general purpose computer processor, that may be used in an industrial setting for controlling various chambers and in sub-processors. The support circuits are coupled to the CPU for supporting the processor in a conventional manner. These circuits include caches, power supplies, frequency circuits, input/output circuits and subsystems, and the like. One or more processes may be stored in memory as software routines that may be executed or invoked. The software routines may also be stored and/or executed by a second CPU (not shown) located remotely from the hardware controlled by the CPU. The controller may include one or more configurations, which may include any command or function to control flow rates, gas valves, gas sources, rotation, movement, heating, cooling, or other processes performing various configurations. The controller may be coupled to various components of the wafer transfer system to control the operation thereof. In some embodiments, the controller includes a Central Processing Unit (CPU), memory, and support circuitry.
In some embodiments, the controller is constituted by a microprocessor (computer) that controls each constituent element, and each constituent element is connected to the controller to be controlled. The controller is also connected to a keyboard for an operator to input instructions for controlling the wafer transfer system, and a user interface including a display for visually displaying the operation state of the film formation apparatus.
Further, a storage unit is connected to the controller, and the storage unit stores: a control program for realizing various processes performed by the wafer transfer system by control of the controller; the process is performed by a program for each component of the wafer transfer system according to the process conditions, for example, a film formation scheme for film formation, a transport scheme for wafer transport, a purge scheme for pressure adjustment of each process chamber, and the like, and a scheme for controlling the up-and-down movement of the lift device and the lift device. Such various schemes are stored in a storage medium (not shown) in the storage section. The storage medium may be one or more of a Read Only Memory (ROM), a floppy disk, a hard disk, an optical storage medium (e.g., an optical disk or digital video disk), a flash drive, or any other form of digital memory). In addition, the scheme may be appropriately transferred from other apparatuses via, for example, a dedicated line.
By retrieving an arbitrary recipe from the storage unit and executing the recipe in the controller by an instruction from the user interface or the like, a desired process can be performed by the wafer transfer system under the control of the controller. In addition, the controller can control the pressure and the height of the wafer during the purge cooling process to suppress the deformation of the wafer, for example, by the lifting device.
In some embodiments, the wafer storage chamber is a load lock chamber, (also known as a factory interface) or a buffer station-like auxiliary chamber. The load lock chamber is connected to one side of the transfer chamber to allow, for example, loading/unloading of wafers from the load lock chamber.
The wafer transfer system of the present invention comprises:
A reaction chamber for performing metal organic chemical vapor deposition treatment on the wafer;
the processing chamber comprises a loading and unloading chamber, a wafer bearing device storage chamber and a wafer storage chamber, wherein the number of the wafer bearing device storage chambers is at least two, each wafer bearing device is used for storing a plurality of wafer bearing devices, the wafer bearing device storage chamber is also used for cooling the wafer bearing devices, the number of the wafer storage chambers is at least two, each wafer storage chamber is used for storing a plurality of wafers, the wafer storage chamber is also used for cooling the wafers, and the loading and unloading chamber is used for combining and/or separating the wafers and the wafer bearing devices;
a transfer chamber having a first handling device disposed therein, by which the wafer and/or the wafer carrier may be moved between the reaction chamber and the processing chamber and/or within the processing chamber.
Assuming that the ideal thickness of the SiC epitaxial layer is 1000 a, the process time of the silicon carbide wafer in the monolithic reaction chamber is at least 50 minutes, and the process time of a complete wafer may take 80 minutes, plus wafer transfer and wafer cooling in the cooling chamber. And when the epitaxial process of each silicon carbide wafer is finished, the single-wafer reaction cavity is required to be subjected to specific cleaning treatment, so that the environment of the single-wafer reaction cavity reaches specific conditions, and the epitaxial process of the next silicon wafer is performed, if the silicon wafers are used as a batch of 10 silicon wafers, the epitaxial process time of the batch of products in the single-wafer reaction cavity exceeds 130 hours, the production is restricted, and a large amount of epitaxial process time is consumed. The invention can centralize 10 wafers to be cooled together, thereby saving a great deal of time. Typically, the cooling time of one wafer is about 5 minutes, and if 10 wafers are cooled separately in sequence, at least 50 minutes is required, but some embodiments of the present invention are 10 wafers are cooled in a concentrated manner, so that the cooling time is saved from 50 minutes to 10 minutes, and the production efficiency is greatly improved. The invention adopts a mode of concentrated cooling of a plurality of pieces, and can save 80 percent of time compared with a single-piece cooling mode. In addition, the invention is provided with the first wafer storage chamber 5 and the second wafer storage chamber 7 which have the same structure, and the first wafer bearing device storage chamber 4 and the second wafer bearing device storage chamber 8 which have the same structure, when the first wafer storage chamber 5 cools the wafer after the last group of unloading is finished, the process of filling gas and vacuumizing the chamber needs a certain time, waiting is not needed, and the wafer can be immediately fed from the corresponding second wafer storage chamber 7 and second wafer bearing device storage chamber 8, thereby improving the processing efficiency.
Fig. 5 is a method for operating the wafer transfer system described with reference to fig. 1-4, according to some embodiments. The present disclosure is not limited to this operational description. It should be appreciated that additional operations may be performed. Moreover, not all operations may be required to perform the disclosure provided herein. Further, some of the operations may be performed simultaneously or in a different order than shown in fig. 5. In some implementations, one or more other operations may be performed in addition to or in place of the presently described operations. For illustrative purposes, a wafer transfer method is described with reference to fig. 1-4. However, the wafer transfer method is not limited to these embodiments.
Referring to fig. 5, in some embodiments, a wafer transfer method includes:
step S110: the wafer in the reaction chamber 1 is carried to the loading and unloading chamber 9 together with the wafer carrying device by the first carrying device 3 provided in the transfer chamber 2;
step S120: separating the wafer and the wafer carrier within the loading and unloading chamber 9;
Step S130: placing the separated wafer into a first wafer storage chamber 5 through the first carrying device 3, and placing the separated wafer carrying device into a first wafer carrying device storage chamber 4;
Step S140: repeating the steps S110 to S130 until the wafer and the wafer carrier in the reaction chamber 1 are completely carried out;
Step S150: cooling the wafers placed in the first wafer storage chamber 5 and the wafer carrier placed in the first wafer carrier storage chamber 4 at step S130;
step S160: when the step S150 is executed, the wafer carrier in the second wafer carrier storage chamber 8 is put into the loading and unloading chamber 9 by the first carrying device 3, then the wafer in the second wafer storage chamber 7 is carried into the loading and unloading chamber 9 by the first carrying device 3, and the combination of the wafer and the wafer carrier is completed in the loading and unloading chamber 9;
Step S170: after the step S160 is performed, the wafer is carried to the reaction chamber 1 together with the combination of the wafer carrier.
In some embodiments, before step S110, the method further comprises the step of: the reaction chamber 1 was cooled to about 900 ℃ and then the hydrogen in the reaction chamber 1 was replaced with argon and filled to a standard atmospheric pressure.
In some embodiments, step S140: the above steps S110 to S130 are repeated until the wafers in the reaction chamber 1 are all put into the first wafer storage chamber 5 and the wafer carrier in the reaction chamber 1 is all put into the first wafer carrier storage chamber 4.
In some embodiments, before step S110, the method further comprises the step of: gate valves of the reaction chamber 1, the loading and unloading chamber 9, the first wafer storage chamber 5 and the first wafer carrier storage chamber 4 are opened.
In some embodiments, step S120: separating the wafer and the wafer carrier within the loading and unloading chamber 9 means separating the combination by the jacking means 94.
In some embodiments, the step S130 of placing the separated wafer into the first wafer storage chamber 5 by the first handling device 3 further includes the steps of: the wafer receiving box 53 moves up or down by the height of one wafer carrier 55 every time one wafer 34 is placed, so that the wafer carrier 55 of the previous or next wafer not stored is exposed, and then the first transporting means 3 translates to place the wafer on the empty wafer carrier 55. The wafer carrier 35 is then transferred into the first wafer carrier storage chamber 4 by the first handling device 3, and the wafer carrier storage box 44 is moved up or down by the height of one wafer carrier rack 46 by the lifting device every time one wafer carrier 35 is placed, so that the last or next empty wafer carrier rack 46 is exposed.
In some embodiments, step S140 refers to repeating the above process until the wafer assembly within the reaction chamber 1 is completely separated and fed into the corresponding chamber.
In some embodiments, step S150: the cooling of the wafer placed in the first wafer storage chamber 5 and the wafer carrier placed in the first wafer carrier storage chamber 4 in step S130 specifically includes: the gate valve of the first wafer storage chamber 5 is closed, the first wafer storage chamber 5 is evacuated, and then cooled by purging with a predetermined flow rate of gas for a predetermined time. For example, the cooling is performed with a nitrogen purge of 50 SLM, about 10 minutes. It will be appreciated that the predetermined flow rate may be any other flow rate, and the predetermined time may be any other time, and is not limited. In addition, the purge cooling means that the air is taken in and the air is taken out, and the heat is taken away by the rapid flow of the air flow.
In one embodiment, step S150: cooling the wafer placed in the first wafer storage chamber 5 further comprises the steps of: the gate valve of the first wafer carrier storage chamber 4 is closed, the wafer carrier storage chamber is evacuated, and then cooled with a predetermined flow rate of gas purge for a predetermined time. For example, the cooling is performed with a nitrogen purge of 50 SLM, about 10 minutes. It will be appreciated that the predetermined flow rate may be any other flow rate, and the predetermined time may be any other time, and is not limited.
In one embodiment, when both the first wafer storage chamber 5 and the first wafer carrier storage chamber 4 are cooling, another set of wafers and wafer carriers need to be transported from the process chamber to the reaction chamber 1, i.e. further comprising the step of, before step S160: the reaction chamber 1, the transmission chamber 2, the second wafer storage chamber 7, the second wafer carrier storage chamber 8, the wafer positioning chamber 6 and the loading and unloading chamber 9 are controlled to be under a standard atmospheric pressure, argon can be selected as filling gas, and the plurality of chambers can be filled with gas while the first wafer storage chamber 5 is cooled, so that the waiting time is saved.
Note that, "step S160: when the step S150 is performed, "means that the step S160 is completed synchronously with the step S150, and no sequence is provided.
In one embodiment, step S160 specifically includes: opening the gate valve of the second wafer carrier storage chamber 8, moving the first handler 3 in the transfer chamber 2 into position and grabbing a wafer carrier from the second wafer carrier storage chamber 8 into the loading and unloading chamber 9; a lift is provided in the second wafer carrier storage chamber 8 that moves the height of one wafer carrier tray 46 in the wafer storage chamber up or down to position the other wafer carrier in the transport plane so that it can be positioned on either the first fork arm 32 or the second fork arm 33. The jacking devices 94 of the loading and unloading chamber 9 are then lifted upwards and above the wafer carrier. Then, the gate valve of the second wafer storage chamber 7 is opened, the first carrying device 3 in the transmission chamber 2 moves to the position and grabs a wafer from the wafer storage chamber and puts the wafer on the jacking device 94, and the jacking device 94 drives the wafer to descend together until the wafer falls on the wafer carrying device, so that the combination of the wafer and the carrying device is completed. It will be appreciated that a lift mechanism is provided in the wafer storage chamber that moves the height of one wafer carrier 55 in the wafer storage chamber up or down to position the other wafer in the transport plane so that it can be positioned on either the first fork arm 32 or the second fork arm 33.
In some embodiments, before the wafer in the second wafer storage chamber 7 is transferred to the loading/unloading chamber 9 by the first transfer device 3 in step S160, the wafer in the first transfer device 3 is transferred to the wafer positioning chamber 6 for positioning.
In some embodiments, in step S150, the wafer placed in the first wafer storage chamber 5 and the wafer carrier placed in the first wafer carrier storage chamber 4 in step S130 are cooled by introducing a gas, optionally including an inert gas such as nitrogen or argon.
Referring to fig. 6, in some embodiments, step S170 further includes, after step S180: steps S160 to S170 are repeatedly performed until a predetermined amount of wafers are transferred to the reaction chamber together with the combination of the wafer carrier. It should be noted that, in some embodiments, the step S180 is stopped when the wafer in the second wafer storage chamber 7 and the wafer carrier in the second wafer carrier storage chamber 8 are both assembled in the loading/unloading chamber 9 and then transported to the reaction chamber 1. For example, there are 10 wafers in the second wafer storage chamber 7, 10 wafer carriers in the second wafer carrier storage chamber 8, and when 1 wafer is paired (combined) with 1 wafer carrier in the loading/unloading chamber 9 and then transferred to the reaction chamber 1, 10 times, all 10 wafers and 10 wafer carriers are transferred to the reaction chamber 1, the execution of step S180 is stopped. The predetermined amount is a preset number of wafers to be processed, for example, 8 wafers, 12 wafers, and is not limited.
In some embodiments, the step S180 is stopped when the preset number of wafers in the second wafer storage chamber 7 and the preset number of wafer carriers in the second wafer carrier storage chamber 8 are all combined in the loading and unloading chamber 9 and then transported to the reaction chamber 1, where the preset number may be 1-100, in some embodiments 1-20, further, 10 is selected.
In some embodiments, the fifth gate valve 15 and the seventh gate valve 17 are opened before the wafers in the second wafer storage chamber 7 are transferred to the loading and unloading chamber 9 by the first transfer device 3 in step S160, and the loading and unloading chamber 8 and the second wafer storage chamber 7 are filled with argon gas to a standard atmospheric pressure.
The cooling time of one wafer is 5 minutes, if 10 wafers are cooled separately in turn, at least 50 minutes is needed, but some embodiments of the invention are 10 wafers are cooled in a concentrated way, so that the cooling time is saved from 50 minutes to 10 minutes, and the production efficiency is greatly improved.
The application is provided with the first wafer storage chamber 5 and the second wafer storage chamber 7 with the same functions, and the first wafer bearing device storage chamber 4 and the second wafer bearing device storage chamber 8, when the previous group of blanking is finished, after the gate valves of the first wafer storage chamber 5 and the first wafer bearing device storage chamber 4 are closed, the process of filling gas, vacuumizing and cooling in the chambers needs a certain time, and the application can immediately feed materials from the corresponding second wafer storage chamber 7 and the corresponding second wafer bearing device storage chamber 8 without waiting for the time of filling gas, vacuumizing and cooling, thereby improving the processing efficiency.
The foregoing is merely illustrative of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited thereto, and any changes or substitutions easily contemplated by those skilled in the art within the scope of the present invention should be included in the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention should be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims (10)

1. A wafer transfer system, comprising:
A reaction chamber for performing metal organic chemical vapor deposition treatment on the wafer;
The processing chamber comprises a loading and unloading chamber, a wafer bearing device storage chamber and a wafer storage chamber, wherein at least two wafer bearing device storage chambers are arranged in the processing chamber, each wafer bearing device storage chamber is used for storing a plurality of wafer bearing devices, the wafer bearing device storage chamber is also used for cooling the wafer bearing devices, at least two wafer storage chambers are arranged in the wafer storage chamber, each wafer storage chamber is used for storing a plurality of wafers, the wafer storage chamber is also used for cooling the wafers, and the loading and unloading chamber is used for combining and/or separating the wafers and the wafer bearing devices;
A transfer chamber having a first handling device disposed therein, by which the wafer and/or the wafer carrier is movable between the reaction chamber and the processing chamber and/or within the processing chamber;
the wafer storage chambers include a first wafer storage chamber and a second wafer storage chamber, the wafer carrier storage chambers including a first wafer carrier storage chamber and a second wafer carrier storage chamber;
and when the first wafer storage chamber and the first wafer bearing device storage chamber are cooled, the wafer bearing device in the second wafer bearing device storage chamber is put into the loading and unloading chamber through the first conveying device, then the wafer in the second wafer storage chamber is conveyed to the loading and unloading chamber through the first conveying device, the combination of the wafer and the wafer bearing device is completed in the loading and unloading chamber, and then the wafer and the combination of the wafer bearing device are conveyed to the reaction chamber together.
2. The wafer transfer system of claim 1, wherein the first wafer storage chamber is provided with a first gas inlet and a first gas outlet.
3. The wafer transfer system of claim 2, wherein a wafer pod is provided in the middle of the first wafer storage chamber, and wherein wafer carriers are provided in the wafer pod at equal intervals in a vertical direction.
4. The wafer transfer system of claim 2, wherein the first wafer carrier storage chamber is provided with a second inlet port and a second outlet port.
5. The wafer transfer system of claim 4, wherein a table is provided in the middle of the loading and unloading chamber, and a jacking device is provided at a lower portion of the table, and the jacking device jacks up the wafer from below to separate the wafer from the wafer carrier.
6. The wafer transfer system of claim 5 wherein the first handling device removes the wafer carrier from the wafer carrier storage chamber and places the wafer carrier on the platen and removes the wafer from the wafer storage chamber and places the wafer carrier on the wafer carrier to complete the wafer and wafer carrier combination.
7. The wafer transfer system of claim 6, wherein the processing chamber further comprises a wafer positioning chamber, a first gate valve is disposed between the reaction chamber and the transfer chamber, a second gate valve is disposed in the first wafer carrier storage chamber, a third gate valve is disposed in the first wafer storage chamber, a fourth gate valve is disposed in the wafer positioning chamber, a fifth gate valve is disposed in the second wafer storage chamber, a sixth gate valve is disposed in the second wafer carrier storage chamber, and a seventh gate valve is disposed in the loading and unloading chamber.
8. The wafer transfer system of claim 1, wherein the wafer carrier storage chamber further comprises a third wafer carrier storage chamber, a fourth wafer carrier storage chamber, the wafer storage chamber further comprising a third wafer storage chamber, a fourth wafer storage chamber.
9. A wafer transfer method based on the wafer transfer system according to any one of claims 1 to 8, comprising:
Step S110: carrying the wafer in the reaction chamber and the wafer carrying device together to the loading and unloading chamber by a first carrying device arranged in the transmission chamber;
step S120: separating the wafer and the wafer carrier within the loading and unloading chamber;
Step S130, placing the separated wafer into a first wafer storage chamber through the first carrying device, and placing the separated wafer carrying device into a first wafer carrying device storage chamber;
Step S140: repeating the steps S110 to S130 until the wafer and the wafer carrying device in the reaction chamber are completely moved;
step S150: cooling the wafers placed in the first wafer storage chamber and the wafer carrier placed in the first wafer carrier storage chamber at step S130;
Step S160: when the step S150 is executed, firstly, the wafer carrying device in the storage cavity of the second wafer carrying device is put into the loading and unloading cavity through the first carrying device, then, the wafer in the storage cavity of the second wafer is carried into the loading and unloading cavity through the first carrying device, and the combination of the wafer and the wafer carrying device is completed in the loading and unloading cavity;
Step S170: the wafer is transported to the reaction chamber with the combination of wafer carrier after performing the step S160.
10. The wafer transfer method according to claim 9, further comprising step S180 after step S170: steps S160 to S170 are repeatedly performed until a predetermined amount of wafers are transferred to the reaction chamber together with the combination of the wafer carrier.
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