CN116445880A - Independent continuous process system - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides an independent continuous process system for performing plasma treatment on objects to be processed. The system is sequentially provided with a pretreatment machine, a first independent process machine and a terminal independent process machine. The first independent process machine has a process chamber and two valves. The two valves are respectively arranged on both sides of the process chamber. The process chamber is sequentially provided with a first vacuum pumping area, a plasma treatment area and The second vacuum pumping area; the terminal independent process machine has a terminal process cavity and a terminal valve, the terminal valve is set on one side of the terminal process cavity, and the terminal process cavity is sequentially provided with a first terminal vacuum pump connected to each other area, a terminal plasma treatment area and a second terminal vacuum pumping area. Therefore, the present invention solves the problems of low sputtering quality and high sputtering cost of conventional vacuum sputtering equipment.

Description

A self-contained continuous process system

technical field

The invention relates to a process system, in particular to an independent continuous process system.

Background technique

In many industrial fields (such as semiconductor manufacturing, optoelectronics, etc.), vacuum sputtering technology has been widely applied to semiconductor processes. Among them, one of the methods of vacuum sputtering technology is plasma sputtering. Its principle is to spread argon, neon and other passive gases between two metal plates with high potential difference in a high vacuum environment, and the passive gases and electrons collide to form Plasma, the passive ions such as argon and neon in the plasma are accelerated by the electric field and hit the surface of the target. After being hit, the atoms on the target fly to the surface of the substrate. Form a thin film.

Most of the existing vacuum sputtering equipment adopts leaf-type arrangement, and the mechanical arm is set at the center to transport the objects, and the relevant carrier to be processed is pushed or pulled out of each leaf-type cavity equipment, and the When the process carrier is moved out of the chamber equipment, it is necessary to pay great attention to the cleanliness of the overall environment to avoid dust from adhering to the carrier to be processed, so the above-mentioned vacuum sputtering equipment is usually in a high dust-free environment.

However, the vacuum sputtering equipment in the market usually requires a large installation space. Therefore, in order to maintain a large area of high dust-free environment, the cost of the plant will increase, which will inevitably increase the cost of the process. Furthermore, the interior of the chamber of the vacuum sputtering equipment requires a high vacuum environment, and the airflow stability during pumping will have a significant impact on the sputtering efficiency and quality.

Contents of the invention

The main purpose of the present invention is to solve the problems of low sputtering quality and high sputtering cost of conventional vacuum sputtering equipment.

In order to achieve the above purpose, an embodiment of the present invention provides a stand-alone continuous process system for performing plasma treatment on an object to be processed. The stand-alone continuous process system includes a pretreatment machine, a first independent process machine Taiwan and a terminal independent process machine. The pre-processing machine pre-processes the object to be processed; the first independent process machine is connected to the pre-processing machine and receives the object to be processed from the pre-processing machine. The first independent process machine has a process chamber and two Valves, two valves are located on both sides of the process chamber, and the process chamber is sequentially provided with a first vacuum pumping area, a plasma treatment area and a second vacuum pumping area; the terminal independent process The machine is connected to the side of the first independent process machine away from the pretreatment machine. The terminal independent process machine has a terminal process chamber and a terminal valve. The terminal valve is located in the terminal process chamber close to the first independent process machine. On one side, the terminal process chamber is sequentially provided with a first terminal vacuum pumping area, a terminal plasma treatment area and a second terminal vacuum pumping area, which are connected to each other.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the first independent process machine also includes a first vacuum pumping module and a second vacuum pumping module, the first vacuum pumping module corresponds to the first vacuum pumping area position and communicate with the first vacuum pumping area, the second vacuum pumping module corresponds to the position of the second vacuum pumping area and communicates with the second vacuum pumping area; the terminal independent process machine also includes a first terminal Vacuum pumping module and a second terminal vacuum pumping module, the first terminal vacuum pumping module corresponds to the position of the first terminal vacuum pumping area and communicates with the first terminal vacuum pumping area, the second terminal vacuum pumping area The suction module corresponds to the position of the second terminal vacuum suction area and communicates with the second terminal vacuum suction area.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the other side of the terminal process chamber different from the terminal valve is closed.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the first vacuum pumping module and the second vacuum pumping module are arranged on the top surface of the first independent process machine; the first terminal vacuum pumping module and the second terminal vacuum pumping The gas module is set on the top surface of the terminal independent process machine.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the plasma treatment area and the terminal plasma treatment area respectively have a sputtering module, the sputtering module has a target, and the process chamber and the terminal process chamber respectively have a The transportation module of the object to be processed, the transportation module moves the object to be processed horizontally along the X-axis direction, the length of the target on the horizontal plane and perpendicular to the X-axis direction is greater than the length of the object to be processed on the horizontal plane and perpendicular to the X-axis direction .

In another embodiment of the present invention, the process cavity and the terminal process cavity respectively have a top cover, the top cover is respectively arranged on the top surface of the process cavity and the terminal process cavity, and the top cover is respectively located on the first vacuum pumping mold. Between the group and the second vacuum suction module and between the first terminal vacuum suction module and the second terminal vacuum suction module, the top cover can be selectively opened.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the valve and the terminal valve are of a vertical up and down switch type, and the valve and the terminal valve are normally closed.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a second independent process machine is also included, and the second independent process machine is connected between the first independent process machine and the terminal independent process machine.

Thereby, the process chamber and the terminal process chamber of the present invention all have two sets of vacuum pumping areas and vacuum pumping modules connected to each other with the vacuum pumping areas, so that the process chambers can be completely closed in a short time. The inside of the body is made into a high vacuum environment, and the vacuum pumping area and the vacuum pumping module are symmetrically arranged, so as to solve the problem that the sputtering quality is affected by the uneven air flow environment inside the plasma process chamber.

Description of drawings

Fig. 1 is the three-dimensional schematic view of the free-standing continuous process system of the embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is the three-dimensional front view diagram of the independent continuous process system of the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of a stand-alone continuous process system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a process chamber or a terminal process chamber according to an embodiment of the present invention, which is used to present the internal partition status of the process chamber or the terminal process chamber;

Figure 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the other side of the process chamber or terminal process chamber of the embodiment of the present invention, which is used to show that the length of the target on the horizontal plane and perpendicular to the X-axis direction is greater than that of the object to be processed on the horizontal plane and perpendicular to the X-axis direction length.

In the figure: 100, independent continuous process system; 200, objects to be processed;

10. Pretreatment machine; 20. The first independent process machine;

21. Process cavity; 211. The first vacuum pumping area;

212. Plasma treatment area; 213. Second vacuum pumping area;

22. Valve; 23. The first vacuum pumping module;

24. Second vacuum pumping module; 30. Terminal independent process machine;

31. The terminal process cavity; 311. The first terminal vacuum pumping area;

312. Terminal plasma treatment area; 313. Second terminal vacuum pumping area;

32. Terminal valve; 33. The first terminal vacuum pumping module;

34. Second terminal vacuum pumping module; 40. Sputtering module;

41. Target material; 50. Transport module;

60. Top cover; 70. The second independent process machine;

L1, length; L2, length.

Detailed ways

The following will clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some, not all, embodiments of the present invention. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by persons of ordinary skill in the art without making creative efforts belong to the protection scope of the present invention.

Please refer to FIG. 1 to FIG. 5 , which disclose a stand-alone continuous process system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention, which is used to perform plasma treatment on an object 200 to be processed. The stand-alone continuous process system 100 includes a pretreatment machine Taiwan 10, a first independent process machine 20 and a terminal independent process machine 30. Wherein, the object 200 to be processed is a semiconductor wafer, a circuit board, a flexible board, a composite carrier board, and the like.

The preprocessing machine 10 is used for preprocessing the object 200 to be processed. Wherein, the pretreatment refers to the treatment before the plasma treatment process of the object 200 to be processed, such as heating, cleaning the surface of the object 200 to be processed, preliminary vacuuming and so on.

The first independent process machine 20 is connected to the pre-processing machine 10 and receives the object 200 to be processed from the pre-processing machine 10 . The first independent process machine 20 has a process chamber 21 and two valves 22, the valves 22 are respectively arranged on both sides of the process chamber 21, and the process chamber 21 is sequentially provided with a first vacuum pumping area communicating with each other 211. A plasma treatment area 212 and a second vacuum pumping area 213; the valve 22 is a vertical up and down switch type, and the valve 22 is normally closed. Among them, the valve 22 presents a vertical up-and-down switch design, and when the first independent process machine 20 is repaired inside the cavity, the valve 22 is still closed to avoid affecting the operation of other adjacent process machines.

As shown in Figures 1 to 5, in the embodiment of the present invention, the first independent process machine 20 includes a first vacuum pumping module 23 and a second vacuum pumping module 24, the first vacuum pumping module Group 23 corresponds to the position of the first vacuum pumping area 211 and communicates with the first vacuum pumping area 211; the second vacuum pumping module 24 corresponds to the position of the second vacuum pumping area 213 and communicates with the second vacuum pumping area 213; The area 213 is connected. In this embodiment, the first vacuum pumping module 23 and the second vacuum pumping module 24 are arranged on the top surface of the first independent process machine 20 . Wherein, as shown in Figure 4, the first vacuum pumping area 211 and the second vacuum pumping area 213 are symmetrically arranged, so the first vacuum pumping module 23 and the second vacuum pumping module 24 can rapidly process the process. The inside of the chamber 21 is evacuated, and the uniformity of the vacuum evacuation is improved, so that the plasma treatment area 212 located in the middle can stably perform plasma cleaning, etching and other related plasma treatment processes.

The terminal independent process machine 30 is connected to the side of the first independent process machine 20 away from the pretreatment machine 10 . The terminal independent process machine 30 has a terminal process chamber 31 and a terminal valve 32 . The terminal valve 32 is arranged on the side of the terminal process chamber 31 close to the first independent process machine 20, and the terminal process chamber 31 is sequentially provided with a first terminal vacuum pumping area 311 and a terminal plasma treatment area. 312 and a second terminal vacuum pumping area 313. In this embodiment, the terminal process chamber 31 is closed from the other side of the terminal valve 32, and the terminal valve 32 presents a vertical up-and-down switch type design, and the independent process machine 30 of the terminal can be used for internal control of the cavity. When repairing, the closing of the terminal valve 32 is still maintained to avoid affecting the operation of other adjacent process machines. According to the usage requirements, an output port (not shown in the figure) can also be provided on the other side of the terminal process chamber 31 different from the terminal valve 32 , so that the object 200 to be processed can be output from the output port.

As shown in Figures 1 to 5, in the embodiment of the present invention, the terminal independent process machine 30 includes a first terminal vacuum pumping module 33 and a second terminal vacuum pumping module 34, and the first terminal vacuum pumping module 34 The air module group 33 corresponds to the position of the first terminal vacuum pumping area 311 and communicates with the first terminal vacuum pumping area 311; the second terminal vacuum pumping module 34 corresponds to the position of the second terminal vacuum pumping area 313 and It communicates with the second terminal vacuum pumping area 313 , and the first terminal vacuum pumping module 33 and the second terminal vacuum pumping module 34 are arranged on the top surface of the terminal independent process machine 30 . Wherein, as shown in Figure 4, the first terminal vacuum pumping area 311 and the second terminal vacuum pumping area 313 are symmetrically arranged, so the first terminal vacuum pumping module 33 and the second terminal vacuum pumping module 34 can Quickly evacuate the interior of the terminal process chamber 31 and improve the uniformity of vacuum evacuation.

Furthermore, in the embodiment of the present invention, the plasma treatment area 212 and the terminal plasma treatment area 312 respectively have a sputtering module 40; the process chamber 21 and the terminal process chamber 31 respectively have a The transport module 50 and a top cover 60 of the object 200 . As shown in Figure 4, the sputtering module 40 has a target 41; the transport module 50 moves the object 200 to be processed horizontally along an X-axis direction, and then please refer to Figure 5, the target 41 is on the horizontal plane and The length L1 perpendicular to the X-axis direction is greater than the length L2 of the object to be processed 200 on the horizontal plane and perpendicular to the X-axis direction, thereby achieving complete coverage of the plasma range and preventing the object to be processed 200 from being processed by the plasma process. Unevenness occurs. The transportation module 50 horizontally transports the object 200 to be processed from the pretreatment machine 10 to the terminal independent process machine 30 along the X-axis direction, so that the object 200 to be processed is subjected to plasma processing, and the object 200 to be processed is completed. Afterwards, the transport module 50 horizontally transports the processed object 200 to be processed from the terminal independent process machine 30 back to the pre-processing machine 10 along the X-axis direction.

Wherein, the process sequence of the object to be processed 200 is: (1) The pretreatment machine 10 performs the treatment before the plasma treatment process on the object to be processed 200, such as heating, cleaning the surface of the object to be processed 200, preliminary vacuuming, etc. (2) After the process object 200 completes the pretreatment of the pretreatment machine 10, the process object 200 enters the inside of the process cavity 21, and the first vacuum pumping module 23 and the second vacuum pumping module 24 process The cavity 21 is evacuated, so that the inside of the process cavity 21 is made into a high vacuum environment. Afterwards, the sputtering module 40 in the plasma treatment area 212 performs plasma treatment on the object 200 to be processed, and, because the plasma treatment process There will be gas input in the plasma, so the first vacuum pumping module 23 and the second vacuum pumping module 24 will continue to pump air during the plasma treatment time to maintain the internal vacuum of the process chamber 21 , also maintains the airflow inside the process chamber 21 to be stable; (3) After the process object 200 completes the process treatment in the plasma treatment area 212, the process object 200 enters the inside of the terminal process chamber 31, and repeats the above in the process chamber 21, the first terminal vacuum pumping module 33 and the second terminal vacuum pumping module 34 pump air to the terminal process chamber 31, so that the interior of the terminal process chamber 31 is made into a high vacuum environment, and then , the sputtering module 40 in the terminal plasma treatment area 312 will perform the final plasma treatment on the process object 200, and the repeated steps will not be repeated; Afterwards, in this embodiment, it is transported back to the outlet of the preprocessing machine 10 to continue the process of the next object 200 to be processed.

Top cover 60, which is respectively arranged on the top surface of process cavity 21 and terminal process cavity 31, and top cover 60 is respectively located between the first vacuum pumping module 23 and the second vacuum pumping module 24 and the first Between the terminal vacuum pumping module 33 and the second terminal vacuum pumping module 34, the top cover 60 can be selectively opened, so that when the interior of the process chamber 21 or the interior of the terminal process chamber 31 needs to be maintained, the maintenance Personnel only need to open the top cover 60 to perform maintenance on the interior of the process chamber 21 or the interior of the terminal process chamber 31 . And as mentioned above, since the valve 22 and the terminal valve 32 are set independently, the process machine still maintains its independence from other cavities when repairing the interior of the cavity, so as to avoid affecting the quality of other adjacent process machines. operation without shutting down the entire machine.

In addition, as shown in Figures 1 to 3, in the embodiment of the present invention, the independent continuous process system 100 also includes a second independent process machine 70, and the second independent process machine 70 is connected to the first independent process machine 20 and terminal independent process machine 30. Wherein, the structure of the second independent process machine 70 is the same as that of the first independent process machine 20, and the quantity of the second independent process machine 70 can be adjusted according to the needs of users, for example, as shown in Figures 1 to 3 As shown, in the embodiment of the present invention, the number of the second independent process machine 70 is one. In other embodiments, the number of the second independent process machine 70 can also be zero or more than two.

Thereby, the present invention has the following advantages:

1. The process chamber 21 of the present invention and the terminal process chamber 31 all have two sets of vacuum pumping areas and a vacuum pumping module connected to the vacuum pumping area, so that the process can be completed in a short time. The inside of the cavity is manufactured into a high vacuum environment, and the vacuum pumping area and the vacuum pumping module are symmetrically arranged, so that the problem of poor air flow uniformity caused by pumping in the previous process chamber and affecting the coating process can be solved.

2. The process machines of the present invention operate independently, and each has its own independent valve setting. Therefore, when one of the process machines is being maintained, the remaining process machines can continue to process the object 200 to be processed.

3. The valve 22 and the terminal valve 32 of the present invention present a vertical up-and-down switch type design, and when the first independent process machine 20 or the terminal independent process machine 30 is repaired inside the cavity, the valve 22 or The closing of the terminal valve 32 avoids affecting the operation of other adjacent process machines.

It should be noted that in this article, relational terms such as first and second are only used to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply that there is a relationship between these entities or operations. There is no such actual relationship or order between them. Furthermore, the term "comprises", "comprises" or any other variation thereof is intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion such that a process, method, article, or apparatus comprising a set of elements includes not only those elements, but also includes elements not expressly listed. other elements of or also include elements inherent in such a process, method, article, or device.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, those skilled in the art can understand that various changes, modifications and substitutions can be made to these embodiments without departing from the principle and spirit of the present invention. and modifications, the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims (8)

1. A free-standing continuous process system characterized by: the self-contained continuous process system for plasma treating an article to be processed, the self-contained continuous process system comprising:

a pretreatment machine for pretreating the object to be processed;

the first independent process machine is connected with the pretreatment machine and receives the object to be processed from the pretreatment machine, the first independent process machine is provided with a process cavity and two valves, the two valves are respectively arranged on two sides of the process cavity, and the process cavity is sequentially provided with a first vacuum pumping area, a plasma treatment area and a second vacuum pumping area which are mutually communicated; and

the terminal independent process machine is connected to one side, far away from the pretreatment machine, of the first independent process machine, the terminal independent process machine is provided with a terminal process cavity and a terminal valve, the terminal valve is arranged on one side, close to the first independent process machine, of the terminal process cavity, and the terminal process cavity is sequentially provided with a first terminal vacuum pumping area, a terminal plasma treatment area and a second terminal vacuum pumping area which are communicated with each other.

2. A freestanding continuous process system as claimed in claim 1 wherein: the first independent process machine also comprises a first vacuum air extraction module and a second vacuum air extraction module, wherein the first vacuum air extraction module corresponds to the position of the first vacuum air extraction area and is communicated with the first vacuum air extraction area, and the second vacuum air extraction module corresponds to the position of the second vacuum air extraction area and is communicated with the second vacuum air extraction area; the terminal independent process machine also comprises a first terminal vacuum air suction module and a second terminal vacuum air suction module, wherein the first terminal vacuum air suction module corresponds to the position of the first terminal vacuum air suction area and is communicated with the first terminal vacuum air suction area, and the second terminal vacuum air suction module corresponds to the position of the second terminal vacuum air suction area and is communicated with the second terminal vacuum air suction area.

3. A freestanding continuous process system as claimed in claim 2 wherein: the other side of the terminal process cavity, which is different from the terminal valve, is closed.

4. A freestanding continuous process system as claimed in claim 2 wherein: the first vacuum air suction module and the second vacuum air suction module are arranged on the top surface of the first independent process machine; the first terminal vacuum air suction module and the second terminal vacuum air suction module are arranged on the top surface of the terminal independent process machine.

5. A freestanding continuous process system as claimed in claim 4 wherein: the plasma processing area and the terminal plasma processing area are respectively provided with a sputtering module, the sputtering module is provided with a target, the process cavity and the terminal process cavity are respectively provided with a transportation module for moving the object to be processed, the transportation module horizontally moves the object to be processed along an X-axis direction, and the length of the target in the horizontal plane and vertical to the X-axis direction is larger than the length of the object to be processed in the horizontal plane and vertical to the X-axis direction.

6. A freestanding continuous process system as claimed in claim 4 wherein: the process cavity and the terminal process cavity are respectively provided with a top cover, the top covers are respectively arranged on the top surfaces of the process cavity and the terminal process cavity, the top covers are respectively arranged between the first vacuum pumping module and the second vacuum pumping module and between the first terminal vacuum pumping module and the second terminal vacuum pumping module, and the top covers can be selectively opened.

7. A freestanding continuous process system as claimed in claim 1 wherein: the valve and the terminal valve are vertically opened and closed up and down, and the valve and the terminal valve are in a normally closed state.

8. A freestanding continuous process system as claimed in claim 1 wherein: the system also comprises a second independent process machine, wherein the second independent process machine is connected between the first independent process machine and the terminal independent process machine.