EJECTOR PIN STRUCTURE, SEMICONDUCTOR PROCESSING DEVICE, AND METHOD FOR USING SEMICONDUCTOR PROCESSING DEVICE
20230223294 · 2023-07-13
Assignee
Inventors
Cpc classification
H01L21/68742
ELECTRICITY
International classification
Abstract
An ejector pin structure at least includes an end part and an ejector rod. The end part includes a convex structure and an inverted trapezoid-like structure located below the convex structure. The convex structure is configured to support an object to be processed. A projection area of the convex structure in a horizontal plane is less than a projection area of the inverted trapezoid-like structure in the horizontal plane.
Claims
1. An ejector pin structure, at least comprising an end part and an ejector rod, wherein the end part comprises a convex structure and an inverted trapezoid-like structure located below the convex structure; the convex structure is configured to support an object to be processed; and a projection area of the convex structure in a horizontal plane is less than a projection area of the inverted trapezoid-like structure in the horizontal plane.
2. The structure according to claim 1, wherein the end part and the ejector rod are connected detachably.
3. The structure according to claim 2, wherein the ejector pin structure is made of ceramic.
4. The structure according to claim 3, wherein the projection area of the inverted trapezoid-like structure in the horizontal plane is greater than a projection area of the ejector rod in the horizontal plane.
5. The structure according to claim 4, wherein a dimension of a cross section of the ejector rod is 2 to 5 mm, a height of a connecting part between the end part and the ejector rod is 0.5 to 3 mm, a height of the convex structure is 0.5 to 1.5 mm, and a height of the inverted trapezoid-like structure is 1 to 5 mm; and a length of a contact surface between the object to be processed and the end part of each ejector pin structure is 0.3 to 1 mm.
6. The structure according to claim 5, wherein the convex structure is located at a position of a vertical central line of the ejector rod, and the convex structure is a hemisphere with a radius of 0.5 to 1.5 mm.
7. The structure according to claim 6, wherein a length of a cross section of the end part is 3 to 10 mm.
8. A semiconductor processing device, comprising: a cavity; ejector pin structures, located in the cavity and configured to support a semiconductor; the ejector pin structure at least comprising an end part and an ejector rod, wherein the end part comprises a convex structure and an inverted trapezoid-like structure located below the convex structure; the convex structure is configured to support an object to be processed; and a projection area of the convex structure in a horizontal plane is less than a projection area of the inverted trapezoid-like structure in the horizontal plane; and a lifting assembly, configured to drive the ejector pin structure to move up and down.
9. The device according to claim 8, further comprising: a heating assembly, located in the cavity and configured to perform at least one of heating the semiconductor or carrying the semiconductor, wherein a plurality of channels through which all ejector pin structures penetrate are formed in the heating assembly.
10. The device according to claim 9, wherein a plurality of reserved spaces formed in such a manner that an inner wall of a top end of each of the channels protrudes radially outwards are further formed in the heating assembly; and the end part of the ejector pin structure is able to be accommodated in the reserved space.
11. The device according to claim 8, wherein the lifting assembly comprises a lifting platform, a connecting rod, and an outer driving part, and wherein the lifting platform is connected to the outer driving part through the connecting rod.
12. The device according to claim 11, comprising three ejector pin structures which are in regular triangle distribution.
13. The device according to claim 9, further comprising a supporting assembly that is located below the heating assembly, at a center of the heating assembly and extends downward.
14. The device according to claim 8, further comprising: a conveying area, located outside the cavity and configured to convey a semiconductor having been subjected to a previous processing process; and an environmental transition buffer area, adjacent to the conveying area and configured to store a semiconductor to be subjected to a next processing process.
15. A method for using a semiconductor processing device, wherein the device comprises: a cavity and a lifting assembly, wherein the cavity comprises ejector pin structures and a heating assembly; the ejector pin structures are configured to support a semiconductor; the ejector pin structure comprises an ejector rod and an end part that are connected detachably; the end part comprises a convex structure and an inverted trapezoid-like structure located below the convex structure; a projection area of the convex structure in a horizontal plane is less than a projection area of the inverted trapezoid-like structure in the horizontal plane; the heating assembly is located in the cavity and is configured to perform at least one of heating the semiconductor or carrying the semiconductor; a plurality of channels through which all ejector pin structures penetrate are formed in the heating assembly; the lifting assembly is configured to drive the ejector pin structure to move up and down; the method comprises: opening the cavity; replacing the end part; and closing the cavity.
16. The method according to claim 15, after replacing the end part, further comprising: correcting the ejector pin structure to a preset height.
17. The method according to claim 16, further comprising: placing the semiconductor at the end part of the ejector pin structure, so that the ejector pin structure supports the semiconductor; and descending the lifting assembly to drive the ejector pin structure to descend by a preset height to an initial position.
18. The method according to claim 17, further comprising: ascending the lifting assembly to drive the ejector pin structure to ascend from the initial position to the preset height; and removing the semiconductor from the end part of the ejector pin structure.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] In the drawings which are not necessarily drawn to scale, similar reference numerals may describe similar parts in different figures. Similar reference numerals with different letter suffixes may represent different examples of similar parts. The drawings generally illustrate the various embodiments discussed herein by way of examples rather than limitation.
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0021] Exemplary implementation modes of the disclosure will be described below in more detail with reference to the drawings. Although the exemplary implementation modes of the disclosure are shown in the drawings, it should be understood that, the disclosure may be implemented in various forms and should not be limited by the specific implementation modes elaborated herein. On the contrary, these implementation modes are provided to enable a more thorough understanding of the disclosure and to fully convey the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art.
[0022] In the following description, a large number of specific details are given in order to provide a more thorough understanding of the disclosure. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the disclosure may be implemented without one or more of these details. In other examples, in order to avoid confusion with the disclosure, some technical features known in the art are not described. That is, not all features of the actual embodiments are described here, and the known functions and structures are not described in detail.
[0023] In the drawings, the dimensions of layers, areas and elements and their relative dimensions may be exaggerated for clarity. Throughout, the same reference numerals represent the same elements.
[0024] It is to be understood that description that an element or layer is “above”, “adjacent to”, “connected to”, or “coupled to” another element or layer may refer to that the element or layer is directly above, adjacent to, connected to or coupled to the other element or layer, or there may be an intermediate element or layer. On the contrary, description that an element is “directly on”, “directly adjacent to”, “directly connected to” or “directly coupled to” another element or layer refers to that there is no intermediate element or layer. It is to be understood that, although various elements, components, areas, layers, and/or parts may be described with terms “first”, “second”, “third”, etc., these elements, components, areas, layers, and/or parts should not be limited by these terms. These terms are used only to distinguish one element, component, area, layer or part from another element, component, area, layer or part. Therefore, a first element, component, area, layer, or part discussed below may be represented as a second element, component, area, layer, or part without departing from the teaching of the disclosure. However, when the second element, component, area, layer, or part is discussed, it does not mean that the first element, component, area, layer, or part is necessarily presented in the disclosure.
[0025] The terms used herein are intended only to describe specific embodiments and are not a limitation of the disclosure. As used herein, singular forms “a/an”, “one”, and “said/the” may also be intended to include the plural forms, unless otherwise specified types in the context. It is also to be understood that, when terms “composed of” and/or “including” are used in this specification, the presence of the features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components may be determined, but the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups is not excluded. As used herein, terms “and/or” includes any and all combinations of the related listed items.
[0026] In order to understand an ejector pin structure provided by the embodiments of the disclosure better, the problems in the ejector pin structure are described first.
[0027] In the case that the semiconductor is processed by a machine, for example, a silicon nitride film is deposited on a wafer by a chemical vapor deposition method, an ejector pin structure will be in contact with a back surface of the wafer when the ejector pin structure supports the wafer. An ejector pin structure 10, which is shown in
[0028] As shown in
[0029] During depositing the silicon nitride film, the machine needs to be subjected to a cleaning process, for example, a surface of the wafer, or the interior of a cavity is cleaned by using a clean gas or plasma, to remove impurities. Therefore, a problem that the ejector pin structure will be corroded when the machine is subjected to the cleaning process for a long time will be caused, so that particles exist at a contact position between a back surface of a wafer and an end part of the ejector pin structure and are partially attached to the back surface of the wafer. As shown in
[0030] The embodiments of the disclosure provide an ejector pin structure, which at least includes an end part and an ejector rod. The end part includes a convex structure and an inverted trapezoid-like structure located below the convex structure. The convex structure is configured to support an object to be processed. A projection area of the convex structure in a horizontal plane is less than that of the inverted trapezoid-like structure in the horizontal plane.
[0031] Here, the ejector rod may be cylindrical or prismatic. The ejector rod may be made of a stainless steel material, a metal material, or a ceramic material. The ejector rod and the end part may be integrated, so as to facilitate manufacturing, or may also be separated, for example be connected with each other in a detachable mode. The object to be processed may be a wafer, a substrate, or other objects.
[0032]
[0033] In some embodiments, the end part and the ejector rod are detachably connected to each other. For example, the end part and the ejector rod may be connected by using a clamping hook, may be in key connection, clamping connection, or pin connection, or may be in threaded connection, which can be selected by those skilled in the art according to requirements, and is not be limited here.
[0034] The detachable connection between the end part and the ejector rod is described by taking the threaded connection as an example. As shown in
[0035] The detachable connection between the end part and the ejector rod is described by taking the clamping connection as an example. The inverted trapezoid-like structure has a clamping groove opened downward. The ejector rod has a radially outward clamping bump. It can be understood that the end part has a concave part, and the ejector rod has the bump, so that the bump may be stably clamped inside the convex part without relative movement. During implementing, the concave part may be T-shaped, and the bump may be T-shaped. During assembling, the end part is placed on the ejector rod, and the clamping bump is located in the clamping groove by rotating the end part.
[0036] In some embodiments, the ejector pin structure is made of ceramic. During implementing, the ceramic, such as alumina ceramic or silicon nitride ceramic, with excellent performance of high temperature resistance, corrosion resistance, and the like may be used, which can reduce the production of particles.
[0037] In some embodiments, the projection area of the inverted trapezoid-like structure in a horizontal plane is greater than a projection area of the ejector rod in the horizontal plane. Here, the ejector rod structure needs to penetrate through the heating assembly, and after an object to be processed is driven to move downward to be placed on the heating assembly, the back surface of the object to be processed is in contact with an upper surface of the heating assembly. At this moment, the end part of the ejector rod structure is placed in a channel of the heating assembly, which can play a positioning effect. Thus, the projection area of the inverted trapezoid-like structure in the horizontal plane needs to be greater than the projection area of the ejector rod in the horizontal plane.
[0038] In some embodiments, a dimension of a cross section of the ejector rod is 2 to 5 mm, a height of a connecting part between the end part and the ejector rod is 0.5 to 3 mm, a height of the convex structure is 0.5 to 1.5 mm, and a height of the inverted trapezoid-like structure is 1 to 5 mm. A length of a contact surface between the object to be processed and the end part of each ejector pin structure is 0.3 to 1 mm.
[0039] As shown in
[0040] In some embodiments, the convex structure is located at a position of a vertical central line of the ejector rod, and the convex structure is a hemisphere with a radius of 0.5 to 1.5 mm. During implementing, the radius of the convex structure may be 1 mm.
[0041] Here, the convex structure is hemispherical, which can reduce the contact area between clean gas or plasma and the convex structure and can further reduce the corrosion to the convex structure, thereby reducing production of the particles. Meanwhile, the surface of the hemispherical structure is smooth, which can reduce the scratch of the object to be processed.
[0042] In some embodiments, a length of a cross section of the end part is 3 to 10 mm. During implementing, the length of the cross section of the end part may be 6 mm.
[0043] A semiconductor processing device provided by the embodiments of the disclosure includes a cavity; an ejector pin structure, located in the cavity, as provided by the abovementioned embodiment, and configured to support a semiconductor; and a lifting assembly, configured to drive the ejector pin structure to move up and down.
[0044] The semiconductor processing device provided by the embodiments of the disclosure can be used in the process of forming a film by using a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition technology. Low temperature plasma is used as an energy source. The semiconductor is placed on a cathode capable of performing glow discharge at a low pressure. The semiconductor is heated to a predetermined temperature by using the glow discharge, and then a suitable amount of reaction gas is introduced. The gas forms a solid film on the surface of the semiconductor through a series of chemical reactions and plasma reactions. During a film forming process, the semiconductor is smoothly ascended from and descended on the heating assembly during a process that the lifting assembly drives the ejector pin structure to ascend and descend, so as to realize the conveying of the semiconductor.
[0045] In the embodiments of the disclosure, the used ejector pin structure at least includes an end part and an ejector rod. The end part includes a convex structure and an inverted trapezoid-like structure located below the convex structure. The convex structure is configured to support an object to be processed. The projection area of the convex structure in the horizontal plane is less than that of inverted trapezoid-like structure in the plane surface. The contact area between the back surface of the conductor and the end part of the ejector pin structure can therefore be reduced, so as to reduce production of the particles and improve the environment inside the cavity. Meanwhile, the connection between the ejector rod and the end part can be facilitated by the inverted trapezoid-like structure, so that the position where the end part falls into a channel of a heating assembly is more appropriate.
[0046] The semiconductor processing device provided by the embodiments of the disclosure will be interpreted in detail below with reference to
[0047] During implementing, the lifting assembly may be a lifting rod, or may be a lifting platform, which can be selected by those skilled in the art according to requirements, and is not limited here.
[0048] In some embodiments, as shown in
[0049] Here, the heating assembly may be a heating plate or a heating disc. The heating plate or the heating disc may be made of a ceramic material. The heating assembly may be configured to heat the semiconductor; or the semiconductor may also be placed flat on the heating assembly, to be carried by the heating assembly; or the heating assembly can both heat the semiconductor and carry the semiconductor.
[0050] In some embodiments, as shown in
[0051] In some embodiments, an outer peripheral surface of the inverted trapezoid-like structure is an outer conical surface. An inner peripheral wall of the reserved space B is an inner conical surface. The inverted trapezoid-like structure and the reserved space B of this shape are easier to be machined.
[0052] In some embodiments, the lifting assembly includes a lifting platform, a connecting rod, and an outer driving part, and the lifting platform is connected to the outer driving part through the connecting rod. Here, the bottom of the ejector rod of the ejector pin structure is in contact with the lifting platform. The lifting platform is configured to support the ejector pin structure. The outer driving part may be a driving motor, or may also be an electric cylinder, an air cylinder, or an oil cylinder, for example a pressure ring lifting cylinder. Those skilled in the art can select it according to requirements, and no limits are made thereto here.
[0053] In some embodiments, the device includes three ejector pin structures which are in regular triangle distribution. Thus, when the three ejector pin structures jack up the semiconductor simultaneously, the semiconductor is stressed more uniformly, and the semiconductor is supported more stably, which can improve the stability of the semiconductor during an up-down movement process.
[0054] In some another embodiments, the device may include a plurality of ejector pin structures. Vertexes of each adjacent two ejector pin structures are connected into a regular polygon, which may be, for example, a square or a regular pentagon. The orthographic projection of the center of the regular polygon on an upper platform plane of the lifting platform coincides with the center of the lifting platform, the stability of the semiconductor during moving thus can be further improved.
[0055] In some embodiments, as shown in
[0056] The embodiments of the disclosure provide a semiconductor processing device. Referring to
[0057] The lithography processing is a process for establishing patterns on the surfaces of different devices and circuits by a series of production steps. A final pattern of the semiconductor device is established on a surface of the semiconductor by stacking layer by layer through a plurality of masks according to a specific sequence. The lithography process includes main processes of glue coating, exposure, development, and the like. The exposure is that a photoresist layer is irradiated by taking an exposure lamp or other radiation sources as an exposure light source, so as to transfer the patterns onto the photoresist layer. The development is that the photoresist unpolymerized after the exposure is chemically decomposed, so as to transfer the patterns into the photoresist. During exposure, if there is a convex or concave abnormality on the back surface of the semiconductor, the formation of an image on a front surface will be affected.
[0058] It can be seen from the above that semiconductors having been processed in the cavity will be conveyed to the conveying area and an environment transition buffer area through the mechanical arm. By using the ejector pin structure provided by the embodiments of the disclosure, the production of the particles are reduced, the environment in the cavity is improved, and the environments of the conveying area and the environment transition buffer area are also improved. Thus, when the semiconductor enters the cavity for a next processing process, the particles on the back surface of the semiconductor can be reduced, or there will not even be particles. Therefore, the problem that the levelness of the semiconductor on the base is affected by presence of the particles on the back surface of the semiconductor will not occur, so that the influence on the lithography process is reduced, and the production yield of the semiconductors is improved.
[0059] In some embodiments, a sensor may also be arranged in the environment transition buffer area, to detect defects of the semiconductors, which is beneficial to performing batch production of the semiconductors.
[0060] The embodiments of the disclosure provide a method for using a semiconductor processing device, applied to the abovementioned semiconductor processing device. The device includes: a cavity and a lifting assembly. The cavity includes injector pin structures and a heating assembly. The ejector pin structures are configured to support a semiconductor. The ejector pin structure includes an ejector rod and an end part that are connected detachably. The end part includes a convex structure and an inverted trapezoid-like structure located below the convex structure. A projection area of the convex structure in a horizontal plane is less than a projection area of the inverted trapezoid-like structure in the horizontal plane. The heating assembly is located in the cavity and is configured to heat the semiconductor, and/or, configured to carry the semiconductor. A plurality of channels through which all ejector pin structures penetrate are formed in the heating assembly. The lifting assembly is configured to drive the ejector pin structure to move up and down.
[0061] As shown in
[0062] At S401, a cavity is opened.
[0063] At S402, an end part is replaced.
[0064] At S403, the cavity is closed.
[0065] It can be understood that the device in this embodiment may be understood with reference to
[0066] In some embodiments, after S402, the method further includes that: the ejector pin structure is corrected to a preset height. Thus, the lifting height before and after replacing the ejector pin structure can be kept the same, so that the conveying height of a mechanical arm does not need to be adjusted repeatedly during subsequent conveying of the semiconductor. During implementing, the height of the ejector pin may be adjusted manually by using an ejector pin height tool, and may also be regulated by using an automatic height adjusting program, so as to realize precise assembly and rapid assembly.
[0067] The embodiments of the disclosure provide a method for using a semiconductor processing device, applied to the abovementioned semiconductor processing device. The device includes: a cavity and a lifting assembly. The cavity includes injector pin structures and a heating assembly. The ejector pin structures are configured to support a semiconductor. The ejector pin structure includes an ejector rod and an end part that are connected detachably. The end part includes a convex structure and an inverted trapezoid-like structure located below the convex structure. A projection area of the convex structure in a horizontal plane is less than a projection area of the inverted trapezoid-like structure in the horizontal plane. The heating assembly is located in the cavity and is configured to heat the semiconductor, and/or, is configured to carry the semiconductor. A plurality of channels through which all ejector pin structures penetrate are formed in the heating assembly. The lifting assembly is configured to drive the ejector pin structure to move up and down.
[0068] It can be understood that the device in this embodiment may be understood with reference to
[0069] At S501, a cavity is opened.
[0070] At S502, an end part is replaced.
[0071] At S503, a semiconductor is placed at the end part of the ejector pin structure, so that the ejector pin structure supports the semiconductor.
[0072] Here, the semiconductor is placed on the ejector pin structure through the mechanical arm, so that the back surface of the semiconductor is in contact with the ejector pin structure, and the ejector pin structure supports the semiconductor.
[0073] At S504, the lifting assembly is descended to drive the ejector pin structure to descend by a preset height to an initial position.
[0074] At S505, the cavity is closed.
[0075] It can be understood that not only the process of replacing the ejector pin structure is included here, but also the process of placing the semiconductor inside the cavity to perform processing on the semiconductor is included. For example, film deposition is performed on the semiconductor. Here, S503 and S504 are the steps of placing the semiconductor into the cavity. During the process, the lifting assembly drives the ejector pin structure to move upwards, so that the height of the semiconductor is greater than that of the heating assembly. The mechanical arm can hold the semiconductor to place the semiconductor on the ejector pin structure, and a space between the top end of the ejector pin structure and the heating assembly is configured to reserve position for the mechanical arm. After the mechanical arm retracts, the lifting assembly descends to drive the ejector pin structure to descend by the preset height to the initial position. During the process, the semiconductor is placed on the heating assembly which can carry the semiconductor. When the heating assembly heats the semiconductor, the ejector pin structure plugs the channel and plays a role of heat conduction, so that the semiconductor can be heated more uniformly.
[0076] In some embodiments, the method further includes the following steps.
[0077] At S506, the lifting assembly is ascended to drive the ejector pin structure to ascend from the initial position to the preset height.
[0078] At S507, the semiconductor is removed from the end part of the ejector pin structure.
[0079] It can be understood that S506 and S507 are processes of removing the semiconductor from the cavity. The lifting assembly ascends to drive the ejector pin structure to ascend to the preset height from the initial position. At this moment, the heating assembly does not carry the semiconductor, and the ejector pin structure supports the semiconductor. The semiconductor may be removed from the ejector pin structure by the mechanical arm, so as to convey out of the cavity.
[0080] In several embodiments provided by the disclosure, it is to be understood that the disclosed device and method may be implemented in a non-target mode. The device embodiment described above is only schematic, and for example, division of the units is only logic function division, and other division manners may be adopted during practical implementation. For example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some characteristics may be neglected or not executed. In addition, the components shown or discussed are coupled to each other, or directly coupled.
[0081] The abovementioned units described as separate parts may be or may not be physically separate and the parts shown as units may be or may not be physical elements, which may be located in one place or distributed to a plurality of network elements. Some or all of the units may be selected to achieve the objectives of the solutions of the embodiments according to practical requirements.
[0082] The characteristics disclosed in several method or device embodiments provided in the disclosure may be freely combined without conflicts to obtain new method embodiments or device embodiments.
[0083] The abovementioned descriptions are only some implementation modes of the disclosure, but the scope of protection of the embodiments of the disclosure are limited thereto. Any variation or replacement readily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in the disclosure shall fall within the scope of protection of the disclosure. Therefore, the scope of protection of the embodiments of the disclosure shall be subject to the scope of protection of the claims.