CN114300408B - Wafer support device and method of using the same - Google Patents
Wafer support device and method of using the sameInfo
- Publication number
- CN114300408B CN114300408B CN202111614054.3A CN202111614054A CN114300408B CN 114300408 B CN114300408 B CN 114300408B CN 202111614054 A CN202111614054 A CN 202111614054A CN 114300408 B CN114300408 B CN 114300408B
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- wafer
- support plate
- ring
- exhaust channel
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Abstract
本发明揭露一种晶圆支撑装置，包含一支撑盘及一遮蔽环，其特征在于支撑盘形成有多个气孔，且当所述遮蔽环耦接于所述支撑盘时，所述支撑盘和遮蔽环之间形成一排气通道，藉此当所述多个气孔供气至所述排气通道时，所述晶圆与所述承载面之间形成一流动气垫以减轻所述晶圆与所述承载面之间的摩擦。此外，本发明还提供一种晶圆支撑装置的使用方法。
The present invention discloses a wafer support device comprising a support plate and a shield ring. The support plate is characterized in that a plurality of air holes are formed therein, and when the shield ring is coupled to the support plate, an exhaust passage is formed between the support plate and the shield ring. When the plurality of air holes supply air to the exhaust passage, a flowing air cushion is formed between the wafer and the support surface, thereby reducing friction between the wafer and the support surface. The present invention also provides a method for using the wafer support device.
Description
Technical Field
The present invention relates to a wafer supporting device for a semiconductor manufacturing process, and more particularly, to a wafer supporting device for a process chamber and a method for using the same.
Background
In some semiconductor processes, such as Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) or plasma chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), wafers are placed on a support plate in a semiconductor processing chamber for sequential pretreatment and deposition processes.
Regarding the support plate (i.e., the heating plate), chinese patent application publication No. CN102498558a discloses a support plate technology provided with a correction mechanism, which is configured with a plurality of centering mechanisms for approaching the central axis of the wafer to the central axis of the support plate. The centripetal mechanism may support the wafer above the disk surface by a distance, or the centripetal mechanism may place the wafer on the disk surface through proper operation. The centering mechanism is a movable pivoting mechanism that moves the wafer by the centering fingers against the edge of the wafer to achieve the position correction. However, the centripetal mechanism or similar correction mechanism has drawbacks. As the wafer is pushed, particles are generated by friction between the bottom of the wafer and the disk surface. It should be appreciated that non-reactive particles generated in the semiconductor processing chamber are detrimental to the effectiveness of the process. Although particles are generated at the bottom of the wafer, convection currents within the chamber may still cause the particles to fall to the surface of the wafer or other component, increasing the risk of contamination.
Therefore, preventing or reducing friction between the wafer and the disk surface for the process of moving the wafer is one of the problems to be solved in the art.
Disclosure of Invention
The invention aims to provide a wafer supporting device and a using method thereof, so as to reduce friction between a wafer and a bearing surface.
The invention provides a wafer supporting device which comprises a supporting plate, a shielding ring and a covering part, wherein the supporting plate is provided with a bearing surface and an upward surface, the bearing surface is used for bearing a wafer and is provided with a plurality of air holes, the upward surface surrounds the bearing surface, the shielding ring is coupled to the upward surface of the supporting plate and is provided with a first downward surface and a covering part, the covering part is positioned at the inner edge of the shielding ring, and the first downward surface surrounds the covering part. When the shielding ring is coupled to the upward surface of the supporting plate, an exhaust passage is formed between the upward surface of the supporting plate and the first downward surface of the shielding ring, so that when the plurality of air holes supply air to the exhaust passage, a flowing air cushion is formed between the wafer and the bearing surface to reduce friction between the wafer and the bearing surface.
Optionally, the upwardly facing surface of the support plate is higher than the bearing surface.
Optionally, the carrying surface is formed with a plurality of protrusions for supporting the wafer such that the bottom of the wafer does not cover the plurality of air holes.
Optionally, the wafer support apparatus further comprises a collar coupled around the support plate such that the shadow ring is coupled to the support plate via the collar and forms the exhaust channel.
Optionally, the collar has a downward surface and an upward surface, when the collar is sleeved on the supporting plate, the downward surface of the collar contacts the upward surface of the supporting plate, and the upward surface of the collar contacts the shielding ring.
Optionally, the shielding ring has a second downward surface, the second downward surface of the shielding ring surrounds the first downward surface of the shielding ring, and the second downward surface is higher than the first downward surface, so that the upward surface of the collar sleeved on the supporting disk contacts the second downward surface of the shielding ring.
Optionally, the collar has a notch, so that when the collar is sleeved on the support plate and contacts the shielding ring, the collar does not shield the exhaust channel through the notch.
Optionally, a cover portion of the shadow ring extends downwardly and inwardly from the first downwardly facing surface such that the cover portion is sufficient to shield an outer edge of the wafer when the shadow ring is coupled to the support plate.
Optionally, when the shielding ring is coupled to the support plate, a gap is formed between the cover portion and the wafer, and the gap is in communication with the exhaust channel, so that particles above the wafer can be removed through the gap and the exhaust channel.
Optionally, an inclined surface is further formed between the bearing surface and the upward surface of the supporting disc, a gap is formed between the inclined surface and the wafer, and the gap between the covering part and the wafer is smaller than the gap between the inclined surface and the wafer, so that the flowing air cushion mainly flows towards the disc air channel, but not towards the upper side of the wafer.
The invention also provides a use method of the wafer supporting device, which comprises a supporting disc, wherein the supporting disc is provided with a bearing surface and a plurality of air holes formed on the bearing surface. The method includes placing a wafer on a bearing surface of the support plate, moving the wafer by a mechanical correction mechanism to align a center of the wafer with a center of the support plate, and providing air through the plurality of air holes during movement of the wafer to form a flow air cushion between the wafer and the bearing surface, thereby reducing friction between the wafer and the bearing surface.
Optionally, an exhaust channel is provided around the wafer, such that the flow air cushion is exhausted to the periphery of the support plate through the exhaust channel, wherein the exhaust channel is formed by a shielding ring coupled with the support plate.
Optionally, a shower assembly supplies gas downward onto the wafer, such that particles above the wafer are expelled along with the downward supplied gas through the exhaust passage to the periphery of the support plate.
Optionally, an annular channel is provided around the vent channel and air is pumped simultaneously during formation of the fluid cushion.
Drawings
FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view of a semiconductor processing chamber and a wafer support apparatus of the present invention disposed therein.
FIG. 2 illustrates the flow of a flow cushion provided by the wafer support apparatus of the present invention to an exhaust channel.
Fig. 3 illustrates the flow of downward supply gas from the spray assembly to the exhaust channel.
Detailed Description
The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which specific example embodiments are shown by way of illustration. The claimed subject matter may, however, be embodied in many different forms and, therefore, the construction of contemplated or claimed subject matter is not limited to any example embodiment disclosed herein, which is merely illustrative. As such, the present invention is directed to providing a reasonably broad scope to claimed subject matter.
The appearances of the phrase "in one embodiment" in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, nor are other embodiment(s) in the specification. It is intended that, for example, claimed subject matter include all or a combination of portions of example embodiments.
Figure 1 shows a partial cross-sectional view of a semiconductor processing chamber and wafer support apparatus of the present invention. Although a complete cross section of the process chamber is not shown, it is sufficient for a person skilled in the art to understand the complete configuration in terms of symmetry.
The semiconductor processing chamber comprises a chamber body formed by a sidewall 1, a bottom 2, and a showerhead assembly 3 connected to one or more gas sources. The inner side of the side wall 1 is provided with an inner liner 4, and an annular channel 5 for air suction is formed between the inner liner 4 and the side wall 1. An annular channel 5 extends along the sidewall 1 and is fluidly connected to a pumping system (not shown). The liner 4, the upwardly facing surface of the bottom 2, and the bottom of the spray assembly 3 (e.g., a shower plate) together define a chamber space that is in fluid communication with the annular channel 5 via a plurality of gas extraction holes 41 in the liner 4. By this means, the downward supply of gas from the shower assembly 3 can be exhausted out of the chamber through the gas-exhausting holes 41 and the annular channel 5.
The wafer supporting device is arranged in the cavity space and is used for supporting a wafer to be processed. The wafer supporting device mainly comprises a tray body 6 and supporting columns 7 extending downwards from the bottom of the tray body. The support column 7 passes through the bottom 2 and is connected to a lifting system (not shown) to provide the wafer support with vertical movement and horizontal rotation capabilities.
The tray 6 has a carrying surface 61 for placing the wafer W and an upwardly facing surface 62 surrounding the carrying surface 61. In the present embodiment, the upward surface 62 is higher than the bearing surface 61, but the invention is not limited thereto. In addition, an inclined surface 63 for dropping the wafer is provided between the supporting surface 61 and the upward surface 62.
The tray 6 has a plurality of air holes 64 formed therein extending to the bearing surface 61, and the air holes 64 are fluidly coupled to an air supply system (not shown) via air inlet channels 71 of the support posts 7. The air holes 64 are uniformly distributed on the carrying surface 61 and are spaced apart from each other at appropriate intervals. The size of the air holes 64 may be uniform or non-uniform to optimize the flow rate of the overall air hole 64.
The carrying surface 61 of the present embodiment is formed with a plurality of protrusions 65 for contacting the bottom of the wafer W, so as to form a space between the bottom of the wafer W and the carrying surface 61.
The wafer support apparatus of the present invention further comprises a shadow ring 8 coupled to the support plate 6. The shielding ring 8 is mainly used for shielding the edge area of the wafer W in the process to prevent the wafer W edge from forming a fragile film and peeling off to pollute the chamber environment. In one embodiment, the shadow ring 8 is a replaceable component to meet the requirements of the shadow. In one embodiment, the shadow ring 8 may be a correction ring for limiting the position of the wafer W without a shadow function. In a possible embodiment, the shadow ring 8 may incorporate a correction mechanism as described in the prior art, i.e. the shadow ring 8 may have similar centripetal fingers for moving to a desired position against the edge of the wafer W.
However, either the shadow ring 8, the correction ring or the shadow ring 8 in combination with the correction mechanism, in order to reduce friction between the wafer W and the bearing surface 61 or the protrusions 65, the present invention proposes that the flow air cushion further comprises a vent channel for the flow air cushion, thereby maintaining the stability of the flow air cushion.
The shadow ring 8 is coupled to the upwardly facing surface 62 of the support plate 6 via a collar 9. The collar 9 has a horizontal extension and a vertical extension, and is detachably sleeved around the support plate 6. As shown, when the collar 9 is sleeved outside the support plate 6, the horizontal extension portion abuts against the upward surface 62 of the support plate 6, and the vertical extension portion wraps the side portion of the support plate 6. The horizontal extension of collar 9 provides a contact surface higher than the upwardly facing surface 62, and shadow ring 8 is placed on the contact surface of collar 9 to couple to the upwardly facing surface 62 of support plate 6. The contact surface of the collar 9 may be provided with a limit structure to avoid deflection of the shroud ring 8. When the shadow ring 8 is coupled to the support plate 6, an exhaust passage 81 is formed between the shadow ring 8 and the support plate 6. The collar 9 is formed with at least one notch 91 at a position corresponding to the vent channel 81 so that the vent channel 81 is not closed.
Fig. 2 shows an enlarged view of a part of the shadow ring 8 and the direction of the flow cushion. The shielding ring 8 is a substantially ring body, having a flat top and an inwardly facing downward slope, and having one or more first downward surfaces 82, a second downward surface 83 and a cover 84 at the bottom. The second downward facing surface 83 surrounds and is higher than the first downward facing surface 82, and the cover 84 extends downward from the first downward facing surface 82. In other embodiments, the cover 84 may be omitted.
When the shielding ring 8 is coupled to the support plate 6 via the collar 9, the second downward surface 83 abuts against the horizontal extension of the collar 9, and the first downward surface 82 is suspended above the upward surface 62 of the support plate 6 due to the thickness of the horizontal extension of the collar 9, thereby forming the exhaust passage 81 between the support plate 6 and the shielding ring 8. The cover 84 is located above the wafer edge but does not press down the wafer.
The vent channel 81 is a substantially flat annular channel, but the invention is not so limited. In other embodiments, the exhaust channel 81 may be comprised of multiple separate flat arcuate channels. The inner end of the exhaust channel 81 is adjacent to the cover 84 and may be in fluid communication with the space between the load surface 61 and the wafer. The outboard end of the vent passage 81 is in fluid communication with the notch 91 of the collar 9.
As shown in fig. 2, the fluid cushion P provides an upward supporting force to the wafer when the flow rate of the gas supplied from the gas hole 64 reaches a certain level, but does not completely separate the wafer from the protrusion 65 or leave the disk surface. The fluid cushion P is flowing and will escape to the exhaust channels 81 on both sides and out of the support plate 6 to be exhausted out of the chamber by the pumping ring 5 of fig. 1. Thus, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the fluid cushion P is not of a particular shape, but rather the flow of air is controlled by the flow rate to be as effective as a cushion. With the aid of the fluid cushion P, friction between the wafer and the carrier surface 61 is reduced, and particle generation is prevented if a wafer alignment mechanism is introduced. Even though particles are present at the bottom of the wafer, the fluid cushion P has the opportunity to exclude it through the exhaust channel 81.
The notch 91 of the collar 9 is shown in a position corresponding to the outer end of the suction channel 81, which is a straight-through configuration, but the invention is not limited thereto. In other possible embodiments, the location of the notch 91 and the outboard end of the bleed channel 81 may have a staggered configuration, meaning that there may be other sections of channel between the notch 91 and the bleed channel 81.
In other embodiments where the bearing surface 61 does not have the protrusions 65, the fluid cushion P may be formed under the wafer by supplying a proper flow rate of gas, although the wafer shields the gas holes 64.
The present invention provides further benefits in the configuration of the support wafer. Fig. 3 again shows an enlarged view of a portion of the support ring 6 and the shielding plate 8, with the downward flow of air (indicated by the arrows) from the shower assembly. In practice, a gap G1 still exists between the cover portion 84 of the shadow ring 8 and the wafer edge, so that the gas supplied downward can enter the exhaust passage 81 through the gap G1. Such air flow helps to carry particles on the wafer surface to the wafer edge and even out through the exhaust channel 81, maintaining the cleanliness of the wafer surface.
On the other hand, another gap G2 is also present between the wafer edge, the cover 84 and the inclined surface 63, but this gap G2 is larger than the aforementioned gap G1. Thus, the air flow of the fluid cushion P is still mainly entering the exhaust channel 81 rather than running over the wafer via the gap G1.
Based on the above configuration, the method of using the wafer support apparatus of the present invention may include a plurality of steps, and in particular, a process involving placing a wafer on a support plate before performing a process. In a first step, a wafer is placed on the bearing surface 61 of the support plate 6. Alternatively, the wafer is transferred from the front end of the robot onto a plurality of vertically movable support pins, which are then lowered to place the wafer on the load surface 61 or the protrusions 65. And secondly, moving the wafer by adopting a mechanical correction mechanism to align the center of the wafer with the center of the supporting disc. Optionally, the shadow ring 8 is coupled to the support plate 6, and the shadow ring 8 may include a calibration mechanism (centering fingers) or other calibration means as in the prior art, so that the cover 84 properly covers the wafer edge, but does not contact. In the third step, during the process of moving the wafer, the air holes 64 are used for synchronously supplying air, so that an outward flowing air cushion P is formed between the wafer and the bearing surface 61, thereby reducing the friction between the wafer and the bearing surface. It should be appreciated that the gas holes 64 are primarily supplied with non-reactive gas and the flow rate is selected to avoid wafer edge rubbing against the cover 84 of the shadow ring 8. Therefore, particles on the bottom of the wafer and the bearing surface 61 are opportune to be removed by the flow cushion P, ensuring cleanliness of the wafer and the support plate 6.
In addition, during the cleaning step, gas may be supplied downward from the shower assembly 3 onto the wafer, so that particles above the wafer are removed together with the downward supplied gas through the exhaust passage 81.
Preferably, the annular channel 5 is arranged at the same height as or close to the exhaust channel 81, and the annular channel 5 is synchronously pumped during the period of supplying air to the air holes 64.
Claims (11)
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CN202111614054.3A CN114300408B (en) | 2021-12-27 | 2021-12-27 | Wafer support device and method of using the same |
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| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CN202111614054.3A CN114300408B (en) | 2021-12-27 | 2021-12-27 | Wafer support device and method of using the same |
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| CN114300408A CN114300408A (en) | 2022-04-08 |
| CN114300408B true CN114300408B (en) | 2025-10-03 |
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| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
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| CN115799150A (en) * | 2022-11-09 | 2023-03-14 | 南京中安半导体设备有限责任公司 | Chuck assembly and measuring device |
| CN116083883B (en) * | 2023-01-12 | 2025-02-14 | 长鑫存储技术有限公司 | Reaction cavity |
| WO2025213527A1 (en) * | 2024-04-12 | 2025-10-16 | 浙江安可新材料科技有限公司 | Oled manufacturing device and oled manufacturing method using same |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| JP2003171146A (en) * | 2001-12-04 | 2003-06-17 | Toppan Printing Co Ltd | Glass substrate positioning device |
| CN111900119A (en) * | 2020-07-31 | 2020-11-06 | 上海华力集成电路制造有限公司 | Bearing device for reducing contact friction and transmission method using bearing device |
| CN113764328A (en) * | 2020-06-02 | 2021-12-07 | 拓荆科技股份有限公司 | Apparatus and method for processing wafers |
Family Cites Families (3)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPH0846017A (en) * | 1994-07-29 | 1996-02-16 | Sony Corp | Substrate positioning device and positioning method |
| CN1930322A (en) * | 2004-03-05 | 2007-03-14 | 应用材料公司 | Hardware development to reduce bevel deposition |
| CN112582295A (en) * | 2019-09-29 | 2021-03-30 | 长鑫存储技术有限公司 | Wafer processing equipment and cleaning method of wafer carrier |
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Patent Citations (3)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JP2003171146A (en) * | 2001-12-04 | 2003-06-17 | Toppan Printing Co Ltd | Glass substrate positioning device |
| CN113764328A (en) * | 2020-06-02 | 2021-12-07 | 拓荆科技股份有限公司 | Apparatus and method for processing wafers |
| CN111900119A (en) * | 2020-07-31 | 2020-11-06 | 上海华力集成电路制造有限公司 | Bearing device for reducing contact friction and transmission method using bearing device |
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| CN114300408A (en) | 2022-04-08 |
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