CN115228862A - Transfer chamber and cleaning method thereof, semiconductor processing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a transfer chamber, a cleaning method thereof, and semiconductor processing equipment, and the transfer chamber includes a cavity. At least two air outlet parts are arranged on the inner wall of the cavity, and the air outlet parts are used for outputting the cleaning gas into the cavity. At least two air outlet parts are arranged at intervals along a direction surrounding the central axis of the cavity. The bottom of the cavity is provided with a waste discharge hole communicating with the outside of the cavity, and the waste discharge hole is used to communicate with the negative pressure device. In the above-mentioned transmission chamber, when the cleaning work is started inside the chamber, each air outlet will pass the cleaning gas into the chamber, which can generate a vortex phenomenon in the chamber and form a swirling air flow to clean the interior of the chamber, and the air flow can be eliminated. It can take away foreign matter such as particles and impurities; when the foreign matter passes through the waste discharge hole at the bottom of the cavity, the negative pressure device works and can be extracted to the outside of the cavity through the waste discharge hole. In this way, the automatic cleaning of the transmission chamber can be realized without opening the chamber, the efficiency of cleaning and preventive maintenance can be improved, and the maintenance cost can be greatly reduced.

Description

Transfer chamber and cleaning method therefor, semiconductor processing equipment

technical field

The present disclosure relates to the technical field of semiconductor equipment processing, and in particular, to a transfer chamber and a cleaning method thereof, and semiconductor processing equipment.

Background technique

With the development of semiconductor manufacturing processes, semiconductor processing equipment includes but is not limited to etching equipment and deposition equipment, and an etching equipment is used as an example for introduction. Traditionally, the etching equipment includes a process chamber (Process Module, PM for short) and a transport system, and the transport system includes a vacuum transport module, a vacuum-atmosphere exchange module (Loadlock), and an atmosphere transport module. Wherein, the vacuum transport module includes a vacuum transport chamber (Vacuum Transport Module, VTM for short) and a vacuum manipulator (not shown in the figure) located in the vacuum transport chamber VTM. The vacuum atmosphere exchange module includes a load interlock chamber (Loadlock, referred to as LL); the atmosphere transmission module includes a front and rear chamber (Equipment Front-End Module, referred to as EFEM), a loading platform (Loadport), and the front and rear chambers EFEM. Atmospheric manipulator and aligner (Aligner). A plurality of process chambers PM1-4 and load-lock chambers LLA and LLB are spaced apart along the circumference of the vacuum transfer chamber VTM and connected to the vacuum transfer chamber VTM. The load lock chambers LLA and LLB are also connected to the front and rear chambers EFEM. The front and rear chambers EFEM are connected to the loading table. In addition, the transfer process of the substrate on the transfer platform includes a process of transferring the substrate to a process chamber for processing and a process of returning to the loading table after the process is completed. Among them, in order to ensure the cleanliness of the substrate, it is usually necessary to periodically clean, for example, a vacuum transfer chamber after the semiconductor device has been operated for a period of time. However, when cleaning the vacuum transfer chamber, the vacuum transfer chamber needs to be opened, resulting in lower cleaning work efficiency and higher cleaning maintenance cost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Based on this, it is necessary to overcome the defects of the prior art, and provide a transfer chamber, a cleaning method thereof, and semiconductor processing equipment, which can improve work efficiency and reduce cleaning and maintenance costs.

The technical solution is as follows: a transmission chamber, the transmission chamber includes:

A cavity, the inner wall of the cavity is provided with at least two air outlet parts, and the air outlet parts are used to output cleaning gas to the inside of the cavity; at least two of the air outlet parts surround the cavity along the The directions of the central axes of the bodies are arranged at intervals in sequence; the bottom of the cavity is provided with a waste discharge hole communicating with the outside of the cavity, and the waste discharge hole is used to communicate with the negative pressure device.

In one embodiment, the transfer chamber is a vacuum transfer chamber; the inner wall of the chamber is provided with a first connection port for communicating with the process chamber, and/or for communicating with the atmosphere transfer module the second connection port.

In one embodiment, the air outlet portion includes a first air outlet portion, and the first air outlet portion is located at a side portion of the first connection port and emits air toward the first connection port; and/or The air outlet portion includes a second air outlet portion, and the second air outlet portion is located at the side portion of the second connection port and emits air toward the second connection port.

In one embodiment, at least two of the air outlet parts are arranged on the inner wall of the cavity at equal intervals; and/or, the number of the air outlet parts is 3 to 15.

In one embodiment, the air outlet portion includes a convex portion disposed on the inner wall of the cavity or formed by extending from the inner wall of the cavity toward the central axis; the convex portion includes a convex portion facing the inner wall of the cavity. The first wall surface of the central axis and the two second wall surfaces respectively connected to opposite sides of the first wall surface, at least one of the second wall surfaces is provided with at least one air outlet.

In one embodiment, the two second wall surfaces of the protruding portion are provided with the air outlet, and the air outlets of the two second wall surfaces of the protruding portion communicate with each other to form an air duct , the air duct is provided with a control air valve for controlling the air out of one of the air outlets, and the control air valve is used for connecting with the cleaning air supply device.

In one embodiment, the first wall surface is an arc-shaped surface, and the center of the arc-shaped surface is located on a side of the arc-shaped surface away from the central axis.

In one of the embodiments, a plurality of the air outlets are arranged on the second wall at intervals along the vertical direction.

In one embodiment, the plurality of air outlets on the second wall are arranged at equal intervals; and/or, the interval between two adjacent air outlets on the second wall is 5 cm-20 cm.

In one embodiment, the number of the air outlets on the second wall is 2 to 10.

In one of the embodiments, a support portion is provided in the middle of the bottom of the cavity, and the support portion is provided with a manipulator, and the manipulator is used to transport the substrate; and/or, a wall of the cavity is provided with a On the suction hole communicated with the vacuum pump and the inflation hole communicated with the inflator.

A method for cleaning the transport chamber, the cleaning method comprising the steps of:

The cleaning gas is introduced into the cavity through at least two of the air outlet parts, so that a vortex airflow is formed inside the cavity, and the foreign matter inside the cavity is cleaned and removed by the vortex airflow;

The scavenging gas containing the foreign matter inside the cavity is drawn out through the exhaust hole.

In one of the embodiments, a pressure difference is formed by the flow rate of the vortex airflow, the foreign matter inside the process chamber is sucked into the inside of the vacuum transmission chamber through the first connection port, and/or, the air inside the atmosphere transmission module is sucked Foreign matter is sucked into the interior of the vacuum transfer chamber through the second connection port.

In one of the embodiments, a semiconductor processing apparatus includes the transfer chamber.

In one embodiment, the semiconductor processing equipment further includes a purge gas supply device; the purge gas supply device communicates with each of the air outlet parts, respectively.

In one embodiment, the semiconductor processing equipment further includes a foreign matter collecting device; the foreign matter collecting device is provided with the negative pressure device.

In the above-mentioned transmission chamber, its cleaning method, and semiconductor processing equipment, since at least two air outlet portions are provided on the inner wall of the chamber body, and the at least two air outlet portions are arranged at intervals along the direction surrounding the central axis of the chamber body, In this way, when cleaning the inside of the cavity, each air outlet will pass the cleaning gas into the cavity, which can generate a vortex phenomenon in the cavity, and form a swirling airflow to clean the inside of the cavity, and the airflow can take away particles and impurities When the foreign matter passes through the waste discharge hole at the bottom of the cavity, the negative pressure device works and can be drawn out of the cavity through the waste discharge hole. In this way, the automatic cleaning of the transfer chamber can be realized without opening the chamber, the efficiency of cleaning and preventive maintenance can be improved, and the maintenance cost can be greatly reduced.

Description of drawings

The accompanying drawings constituting a part of the present application are used to provide further understanding of the present disclosure, and the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure and their descriptions are used to explain the present disclosure and do not constitute an improper limitation of the present disclosure.

In order to illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure more clearly, the following briefly introduces the accompanying drawings used in the description of the embodiments. Obviously, the accompanying drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present disclosure. For those of ordinary skill in the art, other drawings can also be obtained from these drawings without creative effort.

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a transfer chamber according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

2 is a top structural view of an air outlet of a transmission chamber according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

Fig. 3 is the sectional structure schematic diagram of Fig. 2 at A-A place;

Fig. 4 is the sectional structure schematic diagram at B-B place of Fig. 2;

FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a transfer chamber according to another embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional structural diagram at C-C of FIG. 5 .

10, cavity; 1101, first air outlet; 1102, second air outlet; 111, convex part; 1111, first wall surface; 1112, second wall surface; 1113, air outlet; 1114, air duct; 1115, Control air valve; 12, waste discharge hole; 13, first connection port; 14, second connection port; 15, support part; 16, air suction hole; 17, gas filling hole; 20, process chamber; .

Detailed ways

In order to make the above objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure more clearly understood, the specific embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present disclosure. However, the present disclosure can be implemented in many other ways different from those described herein, and those skilled in the art can make similar improvements without departing from the connotation of the present disclosure. Therefore, the present disclosure is not limited by the specific embodiments disclosed below.

As mentioned in the background art, the cleaning operation of the transfer chamber in the prior art has low work efficiency, and the maintenance cost of the cleaning operation is relatively high. The inventors have found that the reason for this problem is that cleaning the vacuum transfer chamber When it is necessary to open the vacuum transmission chamber, the inner wall of the vacuum transmission chamber must be cleaned manually, for example, by using an air gun with compressed dry air.

Based on the above reasons, the present disclosure provides a transfer chamber and semiconductor processing equipment, which can improve work efficiency and reduce cleaning and maintenance costs.

Referring to FIG. 1, FIG. 1 shows a schematic structural diagram of a transfer chamber according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. An embodiment of the present disclosure provides a transfer chamber. The transfer chamber includes, but is not limited to, a vacuum transfer chamber, such as a It can be a transfer chamber with other functions, and in this embodiment, a vacuum transfer chamber will be used as an example for development. The transfer chamber includes a cavity 10 . At least two air outlet parts are provided on the inner wall of the cavity 10 . The air outlet is used to output the cleaning gas to the inside of the cavity 10 . At least two air outlet parts are arranged at intervals along the direction surrounding the central axis of the cavity 10 (eg, the direction indicated by the dotted arrow shown in FIG. 1 ). The bottom of the cavity 10 is provided with a waste discharge hole 12 that communicates with the outside of the cavity 10 , and the waste discharge hole 12 is used to communicate with a negative pressure device (not shown in the figure).

It should be noted that the central axis is as indicated by point Z in FIG. 1 .

The above-mentioned transmission chamber, because at least two air outlet parts are provided on the inner wall of the cavity body 10, and the at least two air outlet parts are arranged at intervals along the direction surrounding the central axis of the cavity body 10, so that the cavity 10 When the internal cleaning work is started, each air outlet will pass the cleaning gas into the cavity 10, which can generate a vortex phenomenon in the cavity 10, and form a swirling airflow to clean the interior of the cavity 10, and the airflow can take away particles and impurities, etc. Foreign matter; when the foreign matter passes through the waste discharge hole 12 at the bottom of the cavity 10 , the negative pressure device works and can be drawn out to the outside of the cavity 10 through the waste discharge hole 12 . In this way, the automatic cleaning of the transfer chamber can be realized without opening the chamber, the efficiency of cleaning and preventive maintenance can be improved, and the maintenance cost can be greatly reduced.

Specifically, the cleaning gas includes, but is not limited to, CDA (Compressor Dry Air) gas. The CAD gas can achieve a better cleaning effect on the interior of the cavity 10, and at the same time, the cost is relatively low, and it is green and pollution-free. Of course, the cleaning gas can also be selected from other types of gases such as nitrogen, etc. The specific selection is not limited here, and can be adjusted and set flexibly according to actual needs, as long as it can clean the foreign matter inside the cavity 10. Can.

Referring to FIG. 1 , in one embodiment, the air outlet directions of each air outlet part are set along the counterclockwise direction around the central axis (the direction shown by the arrow in FIG. 1 ) or are along the direction of the center axis. Clockwise setting around the central axis. In this way, each air outlet part emits air in the same clockwise direction, which can help to generate a vortex phenomenon in the cavity 10 and form a swirling airflow, thereby ensuring the cleaning effect inside the cavity 10 .

Please refer to FIG. 1 , FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 , FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a transfer chamber according to another embodiment of the present disclosure, and FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional structural diagram of FIG. 5 at C-C. The main difference between FIG. 5 and FIG. 1 is that the number of process chambers 20 shown in FIG. 5 is significantly more than that shown in FIG. 1 , and the atmospheric delivery module 30 is also illustrated in FIG. 5 . As some examples, a process chamber 20 and/or an atmosphere transfer module 30 are also connected to the exterior of the chamber 10 , for example. It should be noted that the number of the process chambers 20 is not limited to one in FIG. 1 , but may be, for example, 1-5. The specific number can be flexibly adjusted and set according to actual needs, which is not limited here. In addition, the number of air transmission modules 30 is not limited to one as shown in FIG. 6 , and the specific set number can be flexibly adjusted and set according to actual needs.

Referring to FIG. 6 , in one embodiment, the inner wall of the cavity 10 is provided with a first connection port 13 for communicating with the process chamber 20 , and/or a second connection port 14 for communicating with the atmosphere transmission module 30 . . In this way, in addition to the blowing and cleaning of the inner wall of the cavity 10 by the vortex air flow, the pressure difference formed by the gas flow rate is also used to extract the foreign objects in other chambers connected to the vacuum transmission chamber to the outside, so as to realize Efficient and high-quality cleaning effect for other chambers.

Specifically, while the annular airflow is formed inside the cavity 10 of the vacuum transfer chamber, the foreign matter inside the process chamber 20 can be sucked into the inside of the vacuum transfer chamber through the first connection port 13 due to the pressure difference formed by the flow velocity, and The foreign matter inside the atmosphere transfer module 30 is sucked into the vacuum transfer chamber through the second connection port 14, which is more efficient and has better cleaning effect than manual purging with a CDA gun.

Referring to FIG. 6 , in one embodiment, the air outlet includes a first air outlet 1101 . The first air outlet 1101 is located at the side of the first connection port 13 and emits air toward the first connection port 13 . And/or, the air outlet portion includes a second air outlet portion 1102 , and the second air outlet portion 1102 is located at a side portion of the second connection port 14 and emits air toward the second connection port 14 . In this way, when the first air outlet 1101 located at the side of the first connection port 13 emits air, the air outlet direction of the first air outlet 1101 faces the first connection port 13 . The pressure difference formed by the gas flow rate is obvious, and the foreign matter in the process chamber 20 can be sucked into the vacuum transmission chamber through the first connection port 13; similarly, the second air outlet located at the side of the second connection port 14 When the 1102 is out of the air, the air outlet direction of the second air outlet 1102 is toward the second connection port 14, and in the process of passing through the second connection port 14, the pressure difference formed by the gas flow rate is obvious, which can realize the foreign matter inside the process chamber 20. It is pumped into the interior of the vacuum transfer chamber through the second connection port 14 .

Through research, it is found that, in one embodiment, the distance between the first air outlet 1101 and the side edge of the first connection port 13 is controlled within 20 cm, for example, 5 cm-15 cm, so as to ensure the airflow of the first air outlet 1101. In the process of passing through the first connection port 13 , the pressure difference formed by the flow rate of the gas is obvious, so as to ensure a better cleaning effect on the foreign matter inside the process chamber 20 . Similarly, the distance between the second air outlet 1102 and the side edge of the second connection port 14 is controlled within 20 cm, for example, 5 cm-15 cm, so as to ensure that the wind from the second air outlet 1102 passes through the second connection port 14. During the process, the pressure difference formed by the gas flow rate is obvious, so as to ensure a better cleaning effect on the foreign matter inside the atmosphere transmission module 30 .

Of course, in some optional embodiments, the first air outlet 1101 does not need to be provided at the side portion of the first connection port 13 , and the second air outlet portion does not need to be provided at the side portion of the second connection port 14 . 1102 , but, for example, the air outlet is arranged at a position away from the first connection port 13 and at a position away from the second connection port 14 . When the air pressure of each air outlet is large enough and the number of air outlets is large enough, in the process of passing the cleaning gas into the cavity 10 from each air outlet, a sufficiently obvious eddy current phenomenon can be generated in the cavity 10, and A sufficiently strong swirling airflow is formed, so that when the swirling airflow passes through the position of the first connection port 13 and the position of the second connection port 14, an obvious gas flow velocity and pressure difference can also be formed at the first connection port 13, so as to ensure the process chamber. better cleaning effect of foreign objects in the chamber 20 ; and an obvious gas flow rate pressure difference can be formed at the second connection port 14 to ensure better cleaning effect of foreign objects in the atmosphere transmission module 30 .

Referring to FIG. 1 , in one embodiment, at least two air outlet parts are arranged on the inner wall of the cavity 10 at equal intervals. In this way, when the air outlet parts are arranged on the inner wall of the cavity 10 at equal intervals, a better cleaning effect on the interior of the cavity 10 can be achieved. Of course, as some optional solutions, the arrangement of each air outlet on the inner wall of the cavity 10 can also be unequally spaced, and how to set the interval of each adjacent air outlet can be flexibly adjusted according to actual needs. and settings are not limited here.

Referring to FIG. 1 , in one embodiment, the number of air outlet parts is 3 to 15.

In some embodiments, the number of air outlet parts is set to 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 13 or 15, for example. Of course, as some optional solutions, the number of air outlet parts can also be set to 2 or more than 15, and the specific number is not limited here, and can be flexibly adjusted according to actual needs.

After research, it is found that when the number of air outlets is set to 5 to 7, the cleaning effect on the interior of the cavity 10 can be satisfied, and at the same time, the number of air outlets will not be too large, resulting in a complicated structure of the transmission chamber. change.

Please refer to FIG. 1 to FIG. 4 , FIG. 2 shows a top view of the air outlet of the transmission chamber according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, FIG. 3 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of FIG. A schematic diagram of the cross-sectional structure at B-B in FIG. 2 is shown. In one embodiment, the air outlet includes a convex portion 111 disposed on the inner wall of the cavity 10 or extending from the inner wall of the cavity 10 toward the central axis. The convex portion 111 includes a first wall surface 1111 facing the central axis and two second wall surfaces 1112 respectively connected to opposite sides of the first wall surface 1111 , at least one of the second wall surfaces 1112 is provided with at least one air outlet 1113 . In this way, the air outlet portion outputs the cleaning gas to the interior of the cavity 10 through the air outlet 1113 , and the air outlet 1113 is located on the second wall surface 1112 , so that when at least two air outlet portions emit air at the same time, it can be beneficial to the inside of the cavity 10 . A vortex phenomenon is generated, and a swirling airflow is formed, and the cleaning effect on the inside of the cavity 10 is better.

Optionally, the two second wall surfaces 1112 of the convex portion 111 are, for example, arranged relatively parallel or substantially parallel. Among them, "substantially parallel" is not strictly "parallel" in the mathematical sense, but "parallel" to the naked eye.

Optionally, the extension of the second wall surface 1112 passes through the central axis, or there is a deviation from the central axis within a preset range, and the preset range is flexibly controlled and adjusted according to the actual situation, for example, controlled within 1cm-5cm.

In addition, when the two second wall surfaces 1112 of the convex portion 111 are provided with air outlets 1113, in order to ensure the airflow vortex effect inside the cavity 10 during operation, it is necessary to make the air outlets 1113 of each convex portion 111 uniform. The air is synchronously discharged in the counterclockwise direction inside the cavity 10 or the air is synchronously discharged in the clockwise direction, that is, each convex portion 111 adopts the air outlet 1113 on the second wall surface 1112 at its upstream position to discharge the air or all adopt the air outlet 1113 in the upstream position. The air outlet 1113 on the second wall surface 1112 at the downstream position emits air, and the air outlet 1113 on the other second wall surface 1112 stops. It should be noted that the second wall surface 1112 at the upstream position refers to, for example, with reference to the clockwise direction around the central axis, the second wall surface 1112 at the first position on the convex portion 111 is the upstream position, and the other second wall surface 1112 corresponds to the downstream position.

In addition, when one of the second wall surfaces 1112 of the convex portion 111 is provided with an air outlet 1113, in order to ensure the airflow vortex effect inside the cavity 10, each convex portion 111 is provided on the second wall surface 1112 at the upstream position with an air outlet 1113. air outlet 1113, so that the air can be discharged in the counterclockwise direction inside the cavity 10; The air flows out in a clockwise direction.

Of course, as some optional solutions, one or more convex portions 111 are provided with air outlets 1113 on both wall surfaces, and only one wall surface of the remaining convex portions 111 is provided with air outlets 1113 .

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4 , in one embodiment, the two second walls 1112 of the convex portion 111 are provided with air outlets 1113 , and the air outlets 1113 of the two second walls 1112 of the convex portion 111 communicate with each other to form an air outlet. A duct 1114, the air duct 1114 is provided with a control air valve 1115 for controlling the air output from one of the air outlets 1113, and the control air valve 1115 is used for connecting with the cleaning gas supply device. In this way, after the cleaning gas supply device delivers gas to the control gas valve 1115 , the control gas valve 1115 can selectively discharge the cleaning gas to the inside of the cavity 10 from the air outlet 1113 on one of the second walls 1112 .

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4 , in one embodiment, the first wall surface 1111 is an arc-shaped surface, and the center of the arc-shaped surface is located on the side of the arc-shaped surface away from the central axis. In this way, on the one hand, the first wall surface 1111 can facilitate airflow flow, reduce wind resistance, and facilitate the formation of vortex airflow inside the cavity 10; of foreign bodies.

Specifically, the arc-shaped surface may be either a circular arc-shaped surface or an elliptical arc-shaped surface. Of course, as some optional solutions, the first wall surface 1111 can also be designed in other shapes, that is, it is not limited to an arc-shaped surface, for example, it can be a square, a triangle, a pentagon, a hexagon, etc. with regular shapes and irregular shapes The shape can be flexibly adjusted and set according to actual needs, which is not limited here.

Referring to FIGS. 2 to 4 , in one embodiment, a plurality of air outlets 1113 are disposed on the second wall surface 1112 at intervals along the vertical direction. In this way, the air outlets 1113 at different heights of each convex portion 111 can emit air synchronously, and can also freely combine and selectively emit air, so that different levels of air flow can be formed along the vertical direction, and thus can be A better cleaning effect on the inside of the cavity 10 is achieved.

Please refer to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 , in one embodiment, the plurality of air outlets 1113 on the second wall surface 1112 include but are not limited to being arranged at equal intervals, and may also be arranged at unequal intervals. Requirement settings.

Referring to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 , in one embodiment, the interval between two adjacent air outlets 1113 on the second wall surface 1112 is 5 cm-20 cm. Specifically, the interval between two adjacent air outlets 1113 on the second wall surface 1112 is 5 cm-10 cm. In this way, it has been found through research that when the interval between the air outlets 1113 is set in this range, it can ensure that different levels of air flow in the upper, middle and lower levels are formed along the vertical direction for the cavity 10 , thereby achieving a relatively high level of air flow inside the cavity 10 . Good cleaning effect.

Referring to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 , in one embodiment, the number of air outlets 1113 on the second wall surface 1112 includes, but is not limited to, 2 to 10. Of course, it can also be set to a number of 1 or more than 10. The specific setting can be flexibly adjusted and selected according to actual needs, which is not limited here.

It is found through research that when the number of air outlets 1113 on the second wall surface 1112 is 4 to 6, the cleaning effect of each part in the interior of the cavity 10 along the vertical direction can be satisfied. The number is not too large to complicate the structure of the transfer chamber.

Referring to FIG. 1 , in one embodiment, a support portion 15 is provided in the middle position of the bottom of the cavity 10 , and the support portion 15 is provided with a manipulator, which is used for transferring substrates. Wherein, the substrate includes, but is not limited to, a semiconductor workpiece, specifically, a wafer.

Referring to FIG. 1 , in one embodiment, the wall of the cavity 10 is provided with a suction hole 16 for communicating with a vacuum pump and an inflating hole 17 for communicating with an inflator. In this way, the cavity 10 can be evacuated through the air extraction hole 16 , so that the vacuum degree of the cavity 10 meets the preset requirements of the process. In addition, the cavity 10 can be inflated through the inflation hole 17, so that the cavity 10 is inflated to the atmosphere.

In one embodiment, a method for cleaning a transfer chamber using any of the above embodiments, the cleaning method includes the following steps:

In step S100, the cleaning gas is introduced into the cavity 10 through at least two air outlets, so that a vortex airflow is formed inside the cavity 10, and the foreign matter inside the cavity 10 is cleaned and removed by the vortex airflow;

In step S200 , the cleaning gas containing foreign matter inside the cavity 10 is drawn out through the waste discharge hole 12 .

The above cleaning method can realize automatic cleaning of the transmission chamber without opening the chamber, improve the efficiency of cleaning and preventive maintenance, and greatly reduce the maintenance cost.

In one embodiment, the cleaning method further includes step S300: forming a pressure difference through the flow rate of the vortex air flow, and sucking the foreign matter inside the process chamber 20 to the inside of the vacuum transmission chamber through the first connection port 13, and/or, The foreign matter inside the atmosphere transfer module 30 is sucked into the inside of the vacuum transfer chamber through the second connection port 14 .

In one embodiment, in step S100, the gas pressure may be adjusted according to the cleaning effect on the inside of the cavity 10, so that the gas pressure is adjusted to an appropriate value, so as to avoid gas waste caused by excessive gas pressure.

In one embodiment, in step S100 , the cleaning gas of constant pressure may be introduced into the cavity 10 in a continuous manner, or a constant pressure or variable pressure may be introduced into the cavity 10 in a pulsed manner. The specific manner of the purge gas under pressure, for example, is to pause every 1 second to 3 seconds, and to feed the purge gas for 10 seconds to 30 seconds. Of course, the control size of the specific gas pressure and the operation mode of introducing the gas can be flexibly adjusted and set according to actual needs, which are not limited here.

In one embodiment, in step S100 , when cleaning the inside of the cavity 10 , the air outlet direction of each air outlet part may enter the inside of the cavity 10 in a counterclockwise direction, or it may be Make the air outlet directions of each air outlet enter the cavity 10 in a clockwise direction, or enter the cavity 10 in a counterclockwise direction first, and then enter the cavity 10 in a clockwise direction. internal. Of course, other methods may also be adopted to introduce the cleaning gas into the cavity 10 , and the specific selection can be flexibly adjusted and set according to actual needs, which is not limited here.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4 , in one embodiment, a semiconductor processing apparatus includes the transfer chamber of any of the above-described embodiments.

The above-mentioned semiconductor processing equipment, since at least two air outlet parts are provided on the inner wall of the cavity 10, and the at least two air outlet parts are arranged at intervals along the direction of the central axis of the cavity 10, so that the cavity 10 When the internal cleaning work is started, each air outlet will pass the cleaning gas into the cavity 10, which can generate a vortex phenomenon in the cavity 10, and form a swirling airflow to clean the interior of the cavity 10, and the airflow can take away particles and impurities, etc. Foreign matter; when the foreign matter passes through the waste discharge hole 12 at the bottom of the cavity 10 , the negative pressure device works and can be drawn out to the outside of the cavity 10 through the waste discharge hole 12 . In this way, the automatic cleaning of the transfer chamber can be realized without opening the chamber, the efficiency of cleaning and preventive maintenance can be improved, and the maintenance cost can be greatly reduced.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4 , in one embodiment, the semiconductor processing equipment further includes a purge gas supply device (not shown in the figures). The cleaning gas supply devices are respectively communicated with each air outlet.

Specifically, the purge gas supply device is provided with a plurality of gas transmission pipes. The plurality of gas transmission pipes are respectively communicated with the plurality of air outlet parts correspondingly. In this way, the cleaning gas can be output to the plurality of air outlet parts respectively through the plurality of gas transmission pipelines, and the air outlet parts can pass the cleaning gas into the cavity 10 .

Optionally, the scavenging gas supply device, for example, further includes a multi-pass flow control valve, which is respectively connected with a plurality of gas transmission pipelines through the multi-pass flow control valve, so that it is possible to control and adjust whether each gas transmission pipeline is ventilated and the flow rate of the gas introduced. . Of course, as an example, the multi-pass flow control valve can also be replaced with a plurality of flow control valves respectively disposed on each gas pipeline.

By adjusting the gas flow rate of each air outlet, the vortex state of the air flow inside the cavity 10 can be adjusted accordingly, so as to improve the cleaning effect inside the cavity 10 . In addition, it is also possible to avoid gas waste due to an excessively large inlet flow rate of the sweeping gas, and to prevent the cleaning effect of the interior of the cavity 10 from being too small due to an excessively small inlet flow rate of the sweeping gas.

In one embodiment, the semiconductor processing equipment further includes a foreign material collection device (not shown in the figures). The foreign matter collection device is provided with a negative pressure device. In this way, when the foreign matter collection device is in operation, the negative pressure device provides negative pressure to draw out the foreign matter inside the cavity 10 through the waste discharge hole 12, and is collected by the foreign matter collection device, which collects and centrally processes the foreign matter.

Specifically, the foreign matter collection device is located outside the cavity 10 .

The technical features of the above-described embodiments can be combined arbitrarily. For the sake of brevity, all possible combinations of the technical features in the above-described embodiments are not described. However, as long as there is no contradiction between the combinations of these technical features, All should be regarded as the scope described in this specification.

The above-mentioned embodiments only represent several embodiments of the present disclosure, and the descriptions thereof are relatively specific and detailed, but should not be construed as a limitation on the scope of the disclosed patent. It should be noted that, for those skilled in the art, without departing from the concept of the present disclosure, several modifications and improvements can be made, which all belong to the protection scope of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the scope of protection of the present disclosure should be determined by the appended claims.

In the description of the present disclosure, it is to be understood that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "length", "width", "thickness", "upper", "lower", "front", " Back, Left, Right, Vertical, Horizontal, Top, Bottom, Inner, Outer, Clockwise, Counterclockwise, Axial , "radial", "circumferential" and other indicated orientations or positional relationships are based on the orientations or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present disclosure and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying the indicated device or Elements must have a particular orientation, be constructed, and operate in a particular orientation and are therefore not to be construed as limitations of the present disclosure.

In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are only used for descriptive purposes, and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implying the number of indicated technical features. Thus, a feature delimited with "first", "second" may expressly or implicitly include at least one of that feature. In the description of the present disclosure, "plurality" means at least two, such as two, three, etc., unless expressly and specifically defined otherwise.

In the present disclosure, unless otherwise expressly specified and limited, the terms "installed", "connected", "connected", "fixed" and other terms should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it may be a fixed connection or a detachable connection , or integrated; it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can be directly connected or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, it can be the internal connection of two elements or the interaction relationship between the two elements, unless otherwise specified limit. For those of ordinary skill in the art, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present disclosure can be understood according to specific situations.

In the present disclosure, unless expressly stated and defined otherwise, a first feature "on" or "under" a second feature may be in direct contact with the first and second features, or indirectly through an intermediary between the first and second features touch. Also, the first feature being "above", "over" and "above" the second feature may mean that the first feature is directly above or obliquely above the second feature, or simply means that the first feature is level higher than the second feature. The first feature being "below", "below" and "below" the second feature may mean that the first feature is directly or obliquely below the second feature, or simply means that the first feature has a lower level than the second feature.

It should be noted that when an element is referred to as being "fixed to" or "disposed on" another element, it can be directly on the other element or an intervening element may also be present. When an element is referred to as being "connected" to another element, it can be directly connected to the other element or intervening elements may also be present. The terms "vertical", "horizontal", "upper", "lower", "left", "right" and similar expressions used herein are for the purpose of illustration only and do not represent the only embodiment.

Claims (16)

1. A transfer chamber, characterized in that the transfer chamber comprises: A cavity, the inner wall of the cavity is provided with at least two air outlet parts, and the air outlet parts are used to output cleaning gas to the inside of the cavity; at least two of the air outlet parts surround the cavity along the The directions of the central axes of the bodies are arranged at intervals in sequence; the bottom of the cavity is provided with a waste discharge hole communicating with the outside of the cavity, and the waste discharge hole is used to communicate with the negative pressure device. 2. The transfer chamber according to claim 1, wherein the transfer chamber is a vacuum transfer chamber; the inner wall of the chamber is provided with a first connection port for communicating with the process chamber, and /or, a second connection port for communicating with the atmospheric transmission module. 3 . The transmission chamber according to claim 2 , wherein the air outlet portion comprises a first air outlet portion, and the first air outlet portion is located at a side portion of the first connection port and faces the and/or, the air outlet portion includes a second air outlet portion, and the second air outlet portion is located at the side portion of the second connection port and emits air toward the second connection port . 4. The transmission chamber according to claim 1, wherein at least two of the air outlet parts are arranged on the inner wall of the cavity at equal intervals; and/or the number of the air outlet parts is 3 to 15. 5 . The transmission chamber according to claim 1 , wherein the air outlet portion comprises a convex portion disposed on the inner wall of the cavity or extending from the inner wall of the cavity toward the central axis. 6 . The convex part includes a first wall facing the central axis and two second walls respectively connected to opposite sides of the first wall, at least one of which is provided with at least one air outlet on the second wall . 6 . The transfer chamber according to claim 5 , wherein the two second wall surfaces of the convex portion are provided with the air outlet, and the two second wall surfaces of the convex portion are provided with the air outlet. 7 . The air outlets are connected to each other to form an air duct, and a control air valve for controlling the air out of one of the air outlets is arranged in the air duct, and the control air valve is used for connecting with the cleaning gas supply device. 7 . The transfer chamber according to claim 5 , wherein the first wall surface is an arc-shaped surface, and the center of the arc-shaped surface is located on a side of the arc-shaped surface away from the central axis. 8 . 8 . The transport chamber according to claim 5 , wherein a plurality of the air outlets are arranged on the second wall at intervals along the vertical direction. 9 . 9 . The transmission chamber according to claim 8 , wherein a plurality of the air outlets on the second wall surface are arranged at equal intervals; and/or, two adjacent air outlets on the second wall surface are arranged at equal intervals. 10 . The interval of the air outlet is 5cm-20cm. 10 . The transmission chamber according to claim 8 , wherein the number of the air outlets on the second wall surface is 2 to 10. 11 . 11. The transmission chamber according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein a support portion is provided in the middle position of the bottom of the chamber, and the support portion is provided with a manipulator, and the manipulator is used to transmit the base. and/or, the wall of the cavity is provided with a suction hole for communicating with the vacuum pump and an inflating hole communicating with the inflator. 12. A cleaning method for a transfer chamber as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the cleaning method comprises the steps of: The cleaning gas is introduced into the cavity through at least two of the air outlet parts, so that a vortex airflow is formed inside the cavity, and the foreign matter inside the cavity is cleaned and removed by the vortex airflow; The scavenging gas containing the foreign matter inside the cavity is drawn out through the exhaust hole. 13 . The cleaning method according to claim 12 , wherein a pressure difference is formed by the flow rate of the vortex airflow, and the foreign matter inside the process chamber is sucked into the interior of the vacuum transfer chamber through the first connection port, and 13 . /or, sucking the foreign matter inside the atmosphere transfer module into the inside of the vacuum transfer chamber through the second connection port. 14. A semiconductor processing equipment, characterized in that, the semiconductor processing equipment comprises the transfer chamber according to any one of claims 1 to 11. 15 . The semiconductor processing equipment according to claim 14 , wherein the semiconductor processing equipment further comprises a purge gas supply device; the purge gas supply device communicates with each of the air outlet parts respectively. 16 . 16 . The semiconductor processing equipment according to claim 15 , wherein the semiconductor processing equipment further comprises a foreign matter collecting device; the foreign matter collecting device is provided with the negative pressure device. 17 .

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