Patent Application
20230402265
The present disclosure generally relates to the semiconductor processing technology field and, more particularly, to a process chamber and a semiconductor process apparatus.
Currently, a plasma process apparatus is widely used nowadays in a manufacturing process of a semiconductor, a solar cell, and a tablet display. In the current manufacturing process, a discharging type that uses the plasma process apparatus includes a capacitively coupled plasma (CCP) type, an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) type, and an electron cyclotron resonance plasma (ECR) type. Currently, these discharging types are widely used in a semiconductor process apparatus of physical vapor deposition (PVD), plasma etching and chemical vapor deposition (CVD), and plasma immersion ion implantation (PILI). To ensure good uniformity of an etching result from a center to an edge of a wafer, a process environment requires the process chamber radio frequency (RF) circuit of the semiconductor process apparatus to have good uniformity and also requires the process chamber temperature to have good uniformity.
However, in the existing technology, a base is mounted in the process chamber through a cantilever. Due to factors such as processing tolerances and assembly tolerances, a small gap exists between the cantilever and the chamber wall of the process chamber, which causes electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity between the cantilever and the chamber wall to be poor and results in lower wafer yield.
For the shortcomings of the existing methods, the present disclosure provides a process chamber and semiconductor process apparatus, which are configured to solve the problem of poor electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity between the base and the process chamber to cause low yield of the wafer in the existing technology.
In a first aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a process chamber applied to a semiconductor process apparatus and including a chamber body, a base, and a chuck assembly. A reaction chamber is formed in the chamber body, the base is located in the reaction chamber, and the chuck assembly is connected to the base and configured to carry a wafer.
The base includes a base body and a plurality of cantilevers, the plurality of cantilevers are evenly arranged along a circumference of the base body at intervals. Each of the plurality of cantilevers is respectively connected to an inner wall of the chamber body and an outer wall of the base body.
The chamber body, the base body, and the cantilever can be formed integrally and made of a material having electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the base body includes an accommodation chamber. The accommodation chamber includes an opening facing upward. Mounting channels communicating with the accommodation chamber are arranged in the plurality of cantilevers. Through-holes are arranged on the chamber body. The through-holes communicate the mounting channels to the outer side of the chamber body.
The chuck assembly is sealedly connected to the base body and configured to seal the opening of the accommodation chamber.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the mounting channels have openings facing upward on the cantilevers. The openings are communicated with the accommodation chamber.
The chuck assembly is further sealedly connected to the plurality of cantilevers and configured to seal the openings of the mounting channels.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the chuck assembly includes an interface plate. The interface plate includes a plate body and a plurality of cover plates connected to the interface plate. The plate body is sealedly connected to the base body and configured to seal the opening of the accommodation chamber.
A number of the cover plates is same as a number of the cantilevers. The plurality of cover plates are evenly distributed around the plate body at intervals. The cover plates are sealedly connected to the cantilevers in a one-to-one correspondence and configured to seal the openings of the mounting channels.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a positioning structure is arranged between each cover plate of the cover plates and the cantilever corresponding to the cover plate and configured to limit a position of the cover plate on the cantilever.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, each positioning structure includes at least a pair of a positioning concave member and a positioning convex member. The positioning concave member is arranged on one of two surfaces of the cover plate and the cantilever. The positioning convex member is arranged on the other one of the two surfaces of the cover plate and the cantilever.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, The base body includes a sidewall and a bottom cover. The bottom cover is detachably arranged at a bottom of the sidewall. An upper surface of the bottom cover and an inner surface of the sidewall enclose to form the accommodation chamber.
A maintenance opening is arranged at a position on the chamber body corresponding to the bottom cover, and the maintenance opening is communicated with the reaction chamber.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a diameter of an outer wall of the bottom cover gradually decreases in a vertical direction away from the sidewall.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, two connection flanges are correspondingly arranged on the sidewall and the outer surface of the bottom cover. The two connection flanges are stacked with each other in a vertical direction and fixedly connected by a plurality of fasteners.
In a second aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a semiconductor process apparatus, including a process chamber, a radio frequency (RF) assembly, an air inlet assembly, and an air outlet assembly. The process chamber adopts the process chamber provided in the first aspect. The RF assembly and the air inlet assembly are arranged on a top of the chamber body. The air outlet assembly is arranged at a bottom of the chamber body.
The present disclosure includes the following beneficial effects.
The beneficial technical effects brought by the technical solutions provided in embodiments of the present disclosure are as follows.
In the process chamber of embodiments of the present disclosure, the chamber body, the base body, and the cantilever are formed integrally and made of the same material with electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity. Thus, no gap exists between the cantilever and the chamber body, and the electrical conductivity between the cantilevers and the chamber body can be good, which greatly improves the uniformity of the RF circuit of the process chamber. In addition, the thermal conductivity from the chamber body to the cantilevers can be improved, and the uniformity of the overall temperature of the process chamber can be greatly improved. Thus, the yield of the wafer can be greatly improved. Further, since the chamber body, the base body, and the cantilever are formed integrally, which improves the structural stability of embodiments of the present disclosure and greatly reduces the application cost and the maintenance cost.
In the semiconductor process apparatus of embodiments of the present disclosure, by using the above process chamber of embodiments of the present disclosure, the uniformity of the RF circuit and the uniformity of the overall temperature of the process chamber can be greatly improved. Thus, the yield of the wafer can be greatly improved. In addition, the structural stability of embodiments of the present disclosure can be improved, and the application cost and the maintenance cost can be greatly reduced.
Additional aspects and advantages of the present disclosure are described below, which become apparent in the following description or may be known through practicing of the present disclosure.
The above and/or additional aspects and advantages of the present disclosure become apparent and easy to understand from the following description of embodiments in connection with the accompanying drawings
The present disclosure is described in detail below, and examples of embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The same or similar reference numerals refer to the same or similar components or components having the same or similar functions. In addition, detailed descriptions of known technologies can be omitted if the detailed descriptions are not necessary for illustrating features of the present disclosure. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are exemplary and are only used to explain the present disclosure, but are not to be understood as a limitation for the present disclosure.
Those skilled in the art can understand that, unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used here have the same meaning as commonly understood by those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present disclosure belongs. It should also be understood that terms, such as those defined in a general dictionary, should be understood to have meanings consistent with meanings in the context of the existing technology. Unless specifically defined here, the terms should not be interpreted with idealistic or overly formal meaning.
The technical solutions of the present disclosure and how the technical solutions of the present disclosure solve the above technical problems are described in detail below with specific examples.
Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a process chamber, which can be applied to a semiconductor process apparatus. Schematic structural diagrams of the process chamber are shown in
As shown in
The base 2 and the chamber body 1 can have an integral structure. The base 2 and the chamber body 1 can be made of a same material. The material can have the electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity, such as a metal material. Specifically, the base body 21 can have a cylindrical structure. Three cantilevers 22 can be arranged on an outer periphery of the base body 21. The three cantilevers 22 can be evenly distributed along the circumference of the base body 21 at intervals. The three cantilevers 22, the base body 21, and the chamber body 1 can be formed integrally. Two ends of each cantilever 22 can be connected to the inner wall of the chamber body 1 and the outer wall of the base body 21, respectively. An overall structure of the chuck assembly 3 can have a disc-shaped structure. The chuck assembly 3 can be arranged at the top of the base body 21 and configured to carry and absorb the wafer.
In the process chamber of embodiments of the present disclosure, the chamber body, the base body, and the cantilevers can be formed integrally with the same material with the electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity. Thus, no gap can exist between the cantilevers and the chamber body, and the electrical conductivity between the cantilevers and the chamber body can be good, which greatly improves the uniformity of the RF circuit of the process chamber. In addition, the thermal conductivity from the chamber body to the cantilevers can be improved. Therefore, the uniformity of the overall temperature of the process chamber can be greatly improved to greatly improve the yield of the wafer. Further, since the chamber body, the base body, and the cantilevers have an integral structure, the stability of the structure of the present disclosure can be improved, and the application and maintenance costs can be greatly reduced.
It should be noted that the specific implementation of the cantilever 22 and the chamber body 1 are not limited in embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, two or more than three cantilevers 22 can be included, and the chamber body 1 can also have a cylindrical structure. Therefore, embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited here, and those skilled in the art can adjust the settings by themselves according to the actual situation.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in
As shown in
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the chuck assembly 3 includes an interface plate 32, and the interface plate 32 is sealedly arranged over the above opening of the accommodating cavity 211.
Specifically, the interface plate 32 of the chuck assembly 3 can be a disk-shaped structure made of a metal material. The interface plate 32 can be arranged on the top of the base body 21 to seal the opening of the accommodation chamber 211. The interface plate 32 can be detachably connected to the base body 21 to improve the assembly and maintenance efficiency of embodiments of the present disclosure. In addition, since the base body 21 and the cantilever 22 have a hollow structure, the manufacturing cost of embodiments of the present disclosure can also be greatly reduced.
It should be noted that the specific shape of the cantilever 22 is not limited in embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the cantilever 22 can also have a round rod-shaped structure. Therefore, embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited here, and those skilled in the art can adjust the settings by themselves according to the actual situation.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the plate body 321 and the plurality of cover plates 322 can be integrally formed.
When the interface plate 32 is mounted at the base body 21, three cover plates 322 can be correspondingly covered on the three cantilevers 22 and configured to seal the openings 222 of the mounting channels 221 of the three cantilevers 22 in a one-to-one correspondence to protect the components mounted in the mounting channels 221 of the cantilevers 22, which prevents the components from being corroded when performing the process in the process chamber to further greatly reduce the failure rate and improve the service life. In practical application, by dissembling the interface plate 32, the maintenance can be performed on the components in the base body 21 and the cantilever 22 through the opening 222. Thus, the assembly and maintenance efficiency of embodiments of the present disclosure can be greatly improved.
It should be noted that a number of cover plates 322 are not limited in embodiments of the present disclosure, as long as the number of the cover plates 322 is set corresponding to the number of the cantilevers 22. Therefore, embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited here, and those skilled in the art can adjust the setting by themselves according to the actual situation.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in
As shown in
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in
As shown in
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the outer peripheral surfaces of the three cover plates 322 can have a curved surface structure, and a diameter of the curved surface structure can be smaller than an inner diameter of the reaction chamber 11. A difference between the diameter of the curved surface structure and the inner diameter of the reaction chamber 11 can be, for example, around 2 mm. Thus, mechanical interference with the inner wall of the reaction chamber 11 can be avoided when the interface plate 32 is mounted. Therefore, the assembly and maintenance efficiency of embodiments of the present disclosure can be greatly improved, and the failure rate of embodiments of the present disclosure can be effectively reduced.
In addition, to facilitate the installation and sealing between the interface plate 32 and the base body 21, the seal structure can be on the top surface of the cantilever 22 close to the side wall of the reaction chamber 11. That is, a preset distance can be between a side of the opening 222 away from the accommodation chamber 211 and the side wall of the reaction chamber 11. The preset distance can be specifically 30 mm. A wall thickness of the cantilever 22 can be set to about 20 mm. The positioning column 41 can be arranged near the side wall of the reaction chamber 11 and configured to position the position of the interface plate 32. However, embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to the above, and those skilled in the art can adjust the setting by themselves according to the actual situation.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in
As shown in
It should be noted that not all embodiments of the present disclosure necessarily include the bottom cover 34. For example, the bottom cover 34 and the sidewall 35 can be formed integrally. A maintenance gate structure configured to maintain the components can be arranged on the sidewall 35. Thus, embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to this. Those skilled in the art can adjust the height setting by themselves according to the actual situation. A rectangular maintenance opening 14 can be formed on the side surface of the chamber body 1. The length of the maintenance opening 14 can be greater than the diameter of the bottom cover 34. The height of the maintenance opening 14 can be greater than a thickness of the bottom cover 34 to facilitate the assembly and maintenance of the bottom cover 34. Thus, the assembly and maintenance efficiency of embodiments of the present disclosure can be greatly improved.
It should be noted that the specific position and shape of the maintenance opening 14 are not limited in embodiments of the present disclosure, as long as the maintenance opening 14 is arranged at a position corresponding to the position of the bottom cover 34. Thus, embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to this. Those skilled in the art can adjust the setting by themselves according to the actual situation.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in
Based on the same inventive concept, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a semiconductor process apparatus, including a process chamber, an RF assembly, an air inlet assembly, and an air outlet assembly. The process chamber can adopt the process chamber of the above embodiments. The RF assembly and the air inlet assembly can be arranged at the top of the chamber body. The air outlet assembly can be arranged at the bottom of the chamber body.
By applying embodiments of the present disclosure, at least the following beneficial effects can be achieved.
In the semiconductor process apparatus of embodiments of the present disclosure, by using the above process chamber of embodiments of the present disclosure, the uniformity of the RF circuit and the overall temperature uniformity of the process chamber can be greatly improved. Thus, the yield of the wafer can be greatly improved. In addition, the structural stability of embodiments of the present disclosure can be improved, and the application and maintenance costs can be greatly reduced.
It can be understood that the above embodiments are only exemplary embodiments used to illustrate the principle of the present disclosure. However, the present disclosure is not limited to this. For those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit and essence of the present invention, various modifications and improvements can be made, and these modifications and improvements are also within the protection scope of the present disclosure.
In the description of the present disclosure, it should be understood that the orientation or positional relationship indicated by the terms “center,” “upper,” “lower,” “front,” “rear,” “left,” “right,” “vertical,” “horizontal,” “top,” “bottom,” “inner,” “outer,” etc., can be the orientation or positional relationship based on the accompanying drawings. The terms are merely used to facilitate the description of the present disclosure and simplify the description and do not indicate or imply that the devices or elements must have the specific orientation or must be constructed or operated in the specific orientation. Thus, the terms cannot be understood as a limitation of the present disclosure.
The terms “first” and “second” are only used for descriptive purposes, and should not be considered to indicate or imply relative importance or implicitly indicate the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defined by “first” or “second” can expressly or implicitly include one or more of that feature. In the description of the present disclosure, unless otherwise specified, “a plurality of” means two or more.
In the description of the present disclosure, it should be noted that, unless otherwise expressly specified and limited, the terms “installed,” “connected,” and “coupled” should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection. The connection can be a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium and can be an internal communication of two elements. For those of ordinary skill in the art, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present disclosure can be understood in a specific situation.
In the description of the present disclosure, specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics can be combined in any suitable manner in any one or more embodiments or examples.
The above are only some embodiments of the present disclosure. It should be noted that for those skilled in the art, without departing from the principles of the present disclosure, several improvements and modifications can also be made, and these improvements and modifications should be within the scope of the present disclosure.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 202011299759.6 | Nov 2020 | CN | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/CN2021/131205 | 11/17/2021 | WO |
