WAFER LOADING BRACKET, WAFER LOADING SYSTEM, AND WAFER MOUNTING METHOD FOR CMP PROCESS

Abstract

Disclosed are a wafer loading bracket, a wafer loading system and a wafer mounting method. The wafer loading bracket, which can lift, and a polishing head including a plurality of pressure medium cavities are used. In a wafer loading process, arc-shaped deformation occurs, under pressure, on an attachment film of the polishing head; a wafer on a wafer-bearing base of the wafer loading bracket is lifted to a loading position, and comes into contact with the attachment film, a pressure medium cavity which is in contact with the attachment film is vacuumized; and the wafer and the attachment film, under vacuum conditions, are attached to the polishing head, and the wafer is transferred to the polishing head to complete loading.

Claims

1. A wafer loading bracket comprises a base and a wafer holder located thereon, the wafer holder is used to place a wafer, the wafer loading bracket is matched with a polishing head for loading the wafer, and the polishing head comprises a first pressure medium cavity controlling a vertical movement of the polishing head, a second pressure medium cavity keeping the cavity closed by loading pressure, a third pressure medium cavity connected with the second pressure medium cavity and an adsorption film used to adsorb the wafer and contact with the third pressure medium cavity, wherein the wafer holder drives the wafer to lift when the base rises, and after contacting with the adsorption film which has produced arc deformation in an outer direction of the polishing head, the wafer holder may be further lifted to make the wafer attach with the adsorption film; the wafer holder is a basin-shaped bracket structure with high edge and low center so that during a complete contact between the wafer and the adsorption film, an edge of the wafer contacts with the wafer holder, and a central area of the wafer does not contact with the wafer holder, which avoids introducing scratches and/or particles on a lower surface of the wafer caused by squeeze of the wafer holder.

2. The wafer loading bracket according to claim 1, wherein a lower part of the wafer holder is connected with a lifting plate, and the wafer holder continues to rise through the lifting plate to further raise a height of the wafer, in a process of continuous lifting, the wafer holder squeezes the adsorption film that has produced the arc deformation and increases a contact area with the wafer on the wafer holder, at this moment, the adsorption film produces deformation, the deformation first contacts a central position of the wafer and gradually extends outward until the deformation fully contact with the wafer to exhaust air between the wafers and the wafer holder.

3. The wafer loading bracket according to claim 2, wherein the lower part of the wafer holder is connected with an upper part of the lifting plate through several catch bolts to control lifting of the wafer holder.

4. The wafer loading bracket according to claim 2, wherein a lifting height of the base is 5 mm≤Ha≤150 mm, and a lifting height of the wafer holder is 0 mm≤Hb≤30 mm.

5. The wafer loading bracket according to claim 1, wherein the third pressure medium cavity of the polishing head is set as one or more to adjust air pressure in different areas and control a shape of the adsorption film of the polishing head.

6. The wafer loading bracket according to claim 1, wherein a set pressure loaded by the second pressure medium cavity of the polishing head is 0.1 psi≤P2≤9.0 psi; the third pressure medium cavity of the polishing head is injected with gas to make a pressure value of the arc deformation of the adsorption film 0.1 psi≤P3≤8.0 psi and a pressurization time 200 ms≤t3≤8000 ms.

7. The wafer loading bracket according to claim 1, wherein after the adsorption film of the polishing head contacts with the wafer on the wafer holder, the third pressure medium cavity is changed from a pressurized state to a vacuum state, the adsorption film and the wafer are adsorbed to the polishing head; a vacuum value of the third pressure medium cavity which is changed as the vacuum state is −9.0 psi≤Vac≤−0.1 psi.

8. A wafer mounting method based on the wafer loading bracket according to claim 1, the method comprises the following steps: S1. place a wafer on a wafer holder of a wafer loading bracket; S2. inject gas into a third pressure medium cavity of a polishing head to produce arc deformation of an adsorption film of the polishing head towards an outer direction of the polishing head; S3. load a set pressure on a second pressure medium cavity of the polishing head and keep the cavity closed; S4. the wafer holder for loading the wafer rises to a loading position with lifting of a base, and the wafer is in contact with the adsorption film above the wafer; S5. the wafer holder may further rise on the basis that the base lifts the wafer, and continue to lift the wafer, the wafer holder loading wafers lifts upward to make the adsorption film produce an upward pressure, and the adsorption film is deformed, the deformation first contacts with a central position of the wafer and gradually extends outward until the deformation is in full contact with the wafer to exhaust air between the wafer and the adsorption film; S6. the third pressure medium cavity in contact with the adsorption film is changed from a pressurized state to a vacuum state, and the adsorption film and the wafer are adsorbed to the polishing head.

9. The wafer mounting method according to claim 8, further comprises the following step: S7. the following two necessary conditions must be met in order to determine whether wafer loading is successful or not: 1) an air pressure value of the second pressure medium cavity rises, which indicates that the wafer is transferred to the polishing head, and 2) a water pressure of a water pressure detection sensor of the base decreases, which confirms that the wafer has left the base and completes loading; if the two conditions cannot be met simultaneously, it indicates that the adsorption film is not tightly attached with the wafer or the wafer falls from the adsorption film during lifting, the wafer loading fails, and a process of wafer loading is cycled until the wafer loading succeeds.

10. A wafer loading system of CMP process, comprising a polishing head for loading a wafer and a wafer loading bracket according to claim 1, the polishing head comprises: a first pressure medium cavity which controls a vertical movement of the polishing head through pressure adjustment; a second pressure medium cavity which is loaded with a set pressure and keeps the cavity closed; one or more third pressure medium cavities which is or are connected with the second pressure medium cavity through a conducting valve; an adsorption film which is used to adsorb the wafer on a wafer holder with high edge and low center, the third pressure medium cavity contacts with the adsorption film below the third pressure medium cavity, and a state of the adsorption film is controlled by pressure adjustment, wherein when gas is injected into the third pressure medium cavity, the adsorption film produces arc deformation in an outer direction of the polishing head, the adsorption film contacts with the wafer on the wafer holder and changes the third pressure medium cavity from a pressurized state to a vacuum state, the adsorption film and the wafer are adsorbed to the polishing head.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] FIG. 1 is a section view for the wafer loading bracket of the present invention;

[0027] FIG. 2 is a top view for the wafer loading bracket of the present invention;

[0028] FIG. 3A is a three-dimensional structural diagram for the polishing head of the present invention;

[0029] FIG. 3B is a schematic diagram for the plane structure of the polishing head of the present invention;

[0030] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram for the deformation of the adsorption film of the polishing head of the present invention;

[0031] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram for the wafer bracket lifting wafers of the present invention;

[0032] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram for the adsorption film adsorbing wafers of the present invention;

[0033] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram for the wafer loading failure of the present invention;

[0034] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram for the wafer loading process of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0035] The features, purposes and advantages of the present invention will become more obvious after you read the detailed description of the non-limiting embodiments provided with reference to FIGS. 1 to 8. Referring to FIGS. 1 to 8 showing the embodiments of the present invention, the present invention will be described in detail below. However, the present invention can be implemented in many different forms and shall not be construed as being limited by the embodiments proposed herein.

[0036] As shown in FIG. 1-FIG. 2, the wafer loading bracket of the present invention comprises a base 1, a lifting plate 2, a limit block 3 and a wafer bracket 4. The round base 1 is used to bear the limit block 3 and the wafer holder 4. The limit block 3 and the wafer holder 4 are located above the base 1, and the limit block 3 surrounds the wafer holder 4 along the edge of the wafer holder 4. The limit block 3 can ensure the accuracy of the position of the wafer 7 during loading, for the height of the wafer holder 4 at the position of the wafer 7 is slightly lower than the limit block 3 and ensures that the wafer 7 is accurately placed in the wafer holder 4.

[0037] The wafer holder 4 is composed of a basin-shaped bracket structure with high edge and low center. The lower end of the wafer holder 4 is connected with the upper end of the lifting plate 2 through several catch bolts 401 to control the lifting of the wafer holder 4 so that the wafer 7 can be further lifted at the wafer loading position. However, the present invention is not limited to connecting with the lifting plate 2 through the catch bolts 401.

[0038] As shown in FIG. 2, several deionized water nozzles are uniformly installed on the base 1 along the circumferential direction. Each deionized water nozzle is correspondingly connected with the water pressure detection sensor 5 and transmits the corresponding water pressure signal to the water pressure detection sensor 5. The present invention can detect the existence state of the wafer 7 on the wafer holder 4 in real time through the water pressure change of the water pressure detection sensor 5. Generally, the number of deionized water nozzles shall not be less than 3.

[0039] As shown in the combination of FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B, the polishing head 6 of the present invention comprises the first pressure medium cavity 61, the second pressure medium cavity 62, an adsorption film 64, a pressure medium cavity 63 (recorded as the third pressure medium cavity 63) in contact with the adsorption film 64, and a conducting valve 65. The first pressure medium cavity 61, the second pressure medium cavity 62, the third pressure medium cavity 63 and the adsorption film 64 are arranged from top to bottom, wherein part of the surface of the second pressure medium cavity 62 is exposed in the third pressure medium cavity 63.

[0040] The first pressure medium cavity 61 can control the vertical movement of the polishing head through pressure adjustment. Specifically, when a pressure medium (such as air) is injected into the cavity of the first pressure medium cavity 61, the first pressure medium cavity 61 expands and moves the polishing head downward. When the vacuum pumping operation is performed on the first pressure medium cavity 61, the volume of the first pressure medium cavity 61 shrinks, and the polishing head rises upward. After the wafer 7 is loaded, the first pressure medium cavity 61 is compressed, the polishing head is rotated and translated above the polishing unit, and then a pressure medium is injected into the cavity to lower the polishing head. The wafer 7 is polished on the polishing unit. After polishing, the polishing head is lifted up and rotated and translated above the wafer loading bracket to complete unloading.

[0041] The second pressure medium cavity 62 is connected with the third pressure medium cavity 63 through a conducting valve 65. In particular, the conducting valve 65 is composed of a lower partition and an upper flexible spring. After physical touch (that is, the adsorption film 64 mentioned below deforms inward under the action of vacuum), the conducting valve 65 jacks up, and the pressurized partition will compress the spring, and then the conducting valve 65 opens inward so that the two cavities (the second pressure medium cavity 62 and the third pressure medium cavity 63) are connected with each other.

[0042] The adsorption film 64 is a closed elastic film, and the state of the adsorption film 64 below the third pressure medium cavity 63 can be controlled by pressure adjustment.

[0043] The number of the third pressure medium cavities 63 of the present invention is not limited to one but can be multiple. That is, the present invention can adjust the air pressure in different areas through one or multiple third pressure medium cavities 63 and can more quickly and accurately control the deformation range and state of the adsorption film 64.

[0044] As shown in FIG. 4, when a certain amount of gas is injected into the third pressure medium cavity 63 (pressure value 0.1 psi≤P3≤8.0 psi, pressurization time 200 ms≤t3≤8000 ms), the adsorption film 64 produces some arc deformation to the outside of the polishing head 6 under the action of the pressure medium (as shown by the number mark 64a in FIG. 4). After a certain amount of gas is injected into the third pressure medium cavity 63, the air pressure of the third pressure medium cavity 63 increases and is higher than the external atmospheric pressure, the elastic adsorption film 64 is squeezed outward to form arc deformation, and then a certain pressure is loaded on the second pressure medium cavity 62 and keeps the cavity closed (for example, the pressure range is 0.1 psi≤P2≤9.0 psi).

[0045] As shown in FIG. 5, the wafer 7 is placed in the wafer holder 4, the base 1 rises to drive the wafer 7 to rise (for example, the lifting height of the base is 5 mm≤Ha≤150 mm), and the raised wafer 7 will contact with the adsorption film 64 above it.

[0046] When the wafer 7 is placed in the wafer holder 4, the outlet of the deionized water nozzle on the base 1 will be normally covered by the wafer 7, the water pressure of the water pipe of the deionized water nozzle will rise, and the corresponding water pressure rising signal will be transmitted to the water pressure detection sensor 5. When the water pressure signal of each water pressure detection sensor 5 is the rising water pressure signal, it indicates that the placement position of the wafer 7 on the wafer holder 4 is correct. Otherwise, it indicates that the placement position of the wafer 7 on the wafer holder 4 is incorrect.

[0047] The wafer holder 4 continues to rise at the current height position through the lifting plate 2. That is, the height of the wafer 7 is continuously raised (for example, the lifting height of the wafer holder 4 is 0 mm≤Hb≤30 mm). The wafer holder 4 squeezes the adsorption film in the process of continuous lifting, the adsorption film 64 is subject to the downward pressure of the third pressure medium cavity 63, and the upward lifting of the wafer holder 4 produces an upward pressure on the adsorption film 64. As a result, the adsorption film 64 is squeezed, and the contact area with the wafer 7 on the wafer holder 4 is increased. At this moment, the adsorption film 64 produces some deformation under the joint action of the wafer 7 and the pressure medium. The deformation firstly contacts with the center of the wafer 7 and gradually extends outward until it is in full contact with the wafer 7. Thus, the air between the wafer 7 and the wafer holder is effectively exhausted.

[0048] In the process of full contact between the wafer 7 and the adsorption film 64, the pressure on the center of the wafer 7 is the largest and the pressure on its edge is small (the center of the wafer 7 is the largest under the downward pressure of the third pressure medium cavity 63). As the wafer holder 4 is designed as a basin-shaped bracket structure with high edge and low center, the edge position of the wafer 7 contacts with the wafer holder 4 to serve as a support, and the area with a large central pressure is not in contact with the wafer holder 4 and avoids scratch defects caused by the pressure on the lower surface of the wafer 7. Therefore, the method of and exhausting air by extending from the center to the periphery through the deformation of the adsorption film is designed reasonably, loading process is simple, there is no need to add a pressure on the edge of the wafer 7. It consumes short time, obtains high efficiency and good implementation effect and ensures the success rate of the wafer 7 in the process of loading.

[0049] As shown in FIG. 6, after the wafer 7 is completely covered by the adsorption film 64, the third pressure medium cavity 63 is changed from a pressurized state to a vacuum state. As the adsorption film 64 is attached with the wafer 7 completely and closely, they are adsorbed on the surface of the polishing head 6 simultaneously to complete wafer loading. At this moment, the second pressure medium cavity 62 is squeezed by the third pressure medium cavity 63 (the third pressure medium cavity 63 changes from pressurization to vacuum, and the inward deformation has the second pressure medium cavity 62 squeezed), the volume of the second pressure medium cavity 62 decreases and results in an increase in the air pressure value. This indicates that the wafer is loaded to the polishing head. Meanwhile, the wafer 7 on the wafer holder 4 is smoothly transferred to the polishing head 6, resulting in a decrease in the water pressure of the water pressure detection sensor 5 and confirming that the wafer has left the base. Therefore, the decrease of the water pressure of the water pressure detection sensor 5 and the increase of the air pressure of the second pressure medium cavity 62 are used as a basis for judging whether the wafer is loaded successfully or not. That is, if these two conditions are met, it will mean that loading is successful.

[0050] As shown in FIG. 7, when the adsorption film 64 is not closely attached with the wafer 7, the wafer 7 is not adsorbed and lifted by the adsorption film 64. At this moment, the water pressure of the water pressure detection sensor 5 remains unchanged. Alternatively, when the wafer 7 falls from the adsorption film 64 during lifting, the cavity of the third pressure medium cavity 63 is changed to a vacuum state, generates a pressure difference with the external atmospheric pressure and results in the deformation of the adsorption film 64 towards the inner direction of the polishing head 6. The deformed adsorption film 64 touches the partition on the lower part of the conducting valve 65, the pressurized partition will compress the spring on the upper part of the conducting valve 65 to open the conducting valve 65 inward so that the second pressure medium cavity 62 and the third pressure medium cavity 63 are connected with each other (in order to ensure the reasonable deformation of the vacuum and atmospheric pressure difference of the third pressure medium cavity and touch the conducting valve, the vacuum value can be set as −9.0 psi≤Vac≤−0.1 psi), the gas in the second pressure medium cavity 62 is pumped to the vacuum state through the vacuum generator connected to the third pressure medium cavity 63. Therefore, the constant water pressure of the water pressure detection sensor 5 or the vacuum state of the second pressure medium cavity 62 can be used as a basis for judging wafer loading failure, and the state of the wafer during loading can be detected.

[0051] The facility judgment basis for judging the wafer loading state by reasonably designing the water pressure value of the water pressure detection sensor 5 and the state of the second pressure medium cavity 62 is characterized by simple and fast judgment basis, high safety and accuracy.

[0052] As shown in the combination of FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B, the inner surface of the adsorption film 64 of the present invention is closely attached to the support frame with several round holes. If the support frame does not exist, the adsorption film 64 will deform inward as a whole during vacuum operation and touch the conducting valve 65. That is, the function of the support frame is to prevent the adsorption film 64 from being adsorbed into the cavity as a whole. The round hole is set to ensure that some areas can deform inward to adsorb the wafer 7 and the inward deformation can touch the conducting valve 65 when the wafer 7 falls off.

[0053] As shown in FIG. 8, the present invention provides a wafer mounting method, which comprises the following steps:

[0054] S1. Place the wafer on the wafer holder of the wafer loading bracket

[0055] S2. Inject gas into the third pressure medium cavity of the polishing head to produce arc deformation of the adsorption film of the polishing head towards the outer direction of the polishing head;

[0056] S3. Load the set pressure on the second pressure medium cavity of the polishing head and keep the cavity closed;

[0057] S4. The wafer holder loading wafers rises to the loading position with the lifting of the base, and the wafer is in contact with the said adsorption film above it;

[0058] S5. On the basis that the base lifts the wafer to the loading position, the wafer holder can further rise and continue to lift the wafer. The wafer holder loading wafers lifts upward to make the adsorption film produce an upward pressure, and the adsorption film is deformed. The deformation firstly contacts with the central position of the wafer and gradually extends outward until it is in full contact with the wafer to exhaust the air between the wafer and the adsorption film.

[0059] S6. The third pressure medium cavity in contact with the adsorption film is changed from a pressurized state to a vacuum state, and the adsorption film and the wafer are adsorbed to the polishing head.

[0060] S7. The following two necessary conditions shall be met in order to determine whether the loading of the wafers is successful or not: 1) The air pressure value of the second pressure medium cavity rises, which indicates that the wafer is transferred to the polishing head, and 2) the water pressure of the water pressure detection sensor of the said base decreases, which confirms that the wafer has left the base and completes loading. If the two conditions cannot be met simultaneously, it will indicate that the adsorption film is not tightly attached with the wafer or the wafer falls from the adsorption film during lifting. That is, the wafer loading fails, and it skips to Step S2 to continue until the wafer loading succeeds.

[0061] To sum up, the present invention adopts a lifting wafer loading bracket and a polishing head containing multiple pressure medium cavities. In the process of wafer loading, the adsorption film of the polishing head produces arc deformation under pressure to lift the wafer on the wafer holder of the wafer loading bracket to the loading position and contact with the adsorption film. The wafer holder is composed of a basin-shaped bracket with high edge and low center. The wafer holder further lifts the wafer. Under the pressure of the wafer holder and the adsorption film, the wafer gradually attaches closely with the adsorption film from the center to the four sides, emptying the air between them. In this process, the central area of the wafer does not contact with the wafer holder, which avoids scratches on the wafer during loading. At this moment, vacuum is applied to the pressure medium cavity contacting the adsorption film, and the wafer and the adsorption film transfer the wafer to the polishing head under vacuum to complete loading. The wafer loading bracket and the pressure monitoring device in the polishing head can effectively detect the wafer loading state.

[0062] Although the contents of the invention have been described in detail through the above preferred embodiments, we should realize that the above description shall not be considered as a limitation for the present invention. After those skilled in the art have read the above contents, various modifications and substitutions of the present invention will be obvious. Therefore, the protection range of the present invention shall be defined by the attached claims.