阅读说明：本技术 前端模块及其控制方法、半导体加工设备 (Front-end module, control method thereof and semiconductor processing equipment ) 是由 马良 于 2020-04-30 设计创作，主要内容包括：本申请实施例提供一种前端模块及其控制方法、半导体加工设备。该前端模块包括：模块主体、整流板组件、调节板组件及排气管；模块主体上部设置有进气口；整流板组件设置于模块主体的底部,且整流板组件上开设多个排气口,经由进气口进入模块主体的气体仅通过排气口排出；多个调节板组件均设置于模块主体内,并且各调节板组件分别对应设置于各排气口处,用于通过调节各排气口的开合状态以调整模块主体内的气压；多个排气管均设置于模块主体的外侧,且各排气管的进气端分别与各排气口对应连接,流经排气口的气体通过排气管导出。本申请实施例实现了有效保持前端模块内外具有压差,进而有效避免前端模块因内部压力及气流紊乱造成颗粒污染。(The embodiment of the application provides a front-end module, a control method thereof and semiconductor processing equipment. The front end module includes: the module comprises a module main body, a rectifying plate assembly, an adjusting plate assembly and an exhaust pipe; the upper part of the module main body is provided with an air inlet; the rectifying plate assembly is arranged at the bottom of the module main body, a plurality of exhaust ports are formed in the rectifying plate assembly, and gas entering the module main body through the air inlet is exhausted only through the exhaust ports; the adjusting plate assemblies are arranged in the module main body, and are respectively and correspondingly arranged at the exhaust ports and used for adjusting the air pressure in the module main body by adjusting the opening and closing states of the exhaust ports; the exhaust pipes are arranged on the outer sides of the module main bodies, the air inlet ends of the exhaust pipes are correspondingly connected with the exhaust ports respectively, and gas flowing through the exhaust ports is led out through the exhaust pipes. The embodiment of the application realizes that the pressure difference between the inside and the outside of the front-end module is effectively kept, and further effectively avoids the particle pollution caused by the internal pressure and airflow disorder of the front-end module.)

1. The front-end module of the semiconductor processing equipment is characterized by comprising a module main body, a rectifier board assembly, an adjusting board assembly and an exhaust pipe;

an air inlet is formed in the upper part of the module main body;

the rectifying plate assembly is arranged at the bottom of the module main body, a plurality of exhaust ports are formed in the rectifying plate assembly, and gas entering the module main body through the gas inlet is exhausted only through the exhaust ports;

the plurality of adjusting plate assemblies are arranged in the module main body, and are respectively and correspondingly arranged at the exhaust ports, so that the air pressure in the module main body can be adjusted by adjusting the opening and closing states of the exhaust ports;

the exhaust pipes are arranged on the outer side of the module main body, the air inlet ends of the exhaust pipes are correspondingly connected with the exhaust ports respectively, and gas flowing through the exhaust ports is led out through the exhaust pipes.

2. The front-end module of claim 1, wherein the fairing assembly includes a first fairing, the exhaust opening being open to the first fairing; the adjusting plate assembly comprises an adjusting plate, the adjusting plate is movably arranged on the first rectifying plate, and the adjusting plate can adjust the opening and closing states of the exhaust port.

3. The front-end module as claimed in claim 2, wherein the adjusting plate is slidably disposed on the first rectifying plate, and the opening/closing degree of the exhaust port is adjusted by slidably coupling with the first rectifying plate.

4. The front-end module of claim 3, wherein the adjustment plates are disposed on both sides of each of the exhaust ports.

5. The front-end module of claim 1, wherein each of the exhaust ports is provided with a flange interface, the exhaust pipe is connected with the exhaust port through the flange interface, and an outlet end of the exhaust pipe is connected with a gas filtration system.

6. The front-end module of claim 2, wherein the fairing assembly further comprises a second fairing and a third fairing, the second fairing and the third fairing being located on opposite sides of the first fairing in the longitudinal direction.

7. The front end module of any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein a plurality of feed ports are arranged side by side outside the bottom of the module body; the exhaust ports are arranged on the rectifying plate assembly in parallel, and the exhaust ports are respectively arranged corresponding to the feeding ports.

8. The front-end module of any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the fairing assembly and the conditioning plate assembly are each of stainless steel and the fairing assembly and the conditioning plate assembly are each provided with a corrosion resistant layer on an outer surface thereof.

9. A semiconductor processing apparatus comprising a front end module of the semiconductor processing apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8.

10. A front-end module control method of a semiconductor processing apparatus to which the front-end module of the semiconductor processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8 is applied, comprising the steps of:

controlling an air inlet of a module main body to start air intake, and monitoring an air pressure value of the module main body in real time;

and controlling the adjusting plate component according to the air pressure value to adjust the opening and closing state of the air outlet, so as to adjust the air pressure in the module main body.

Technical Field

The application relates to the technical field of semiconductor processing, in particular to a front-end module, a control method of the front-end module and semiconductor processing equipment.

Background

At present, plasma etching equipment is widely applied to the manufacturing process of Integrated Circuits (ICs) or Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS), the etching process is a key process for forming pattern in chip manufacturing, process gas is supplied with radio frequency to generate plasma, the plasma contains a large amount of active particles such as electrons, ions, excited atoms, molecules, and radicals, and the active particles interact with a substrate to cause various physical and chemical reactions on the surface of a material, so that the surface performance of the material is changed to complete the etching process. Before or during etching, because particles fall off due to unclean transmission modules or process modules, masks are formed in etching, original photoetching pattern transfer is influenced, the product yield is reduced, and the particle pollution problem seriously restricts the extension of the field of integrated circuits to lower technical nodes. After the etching is finished, halogen gas or compounds may remain on the surface of the Wafer (Wafer), and these remaining halogen gas and compounds may generate Condensation reaction under the action of water vapor in the air, forming Condensation particles (Condensation defects) on the surface of the Wafer (Wafer). The condensed particles are generally in the form of water drops and are irregularly distributed on the surface of the wafer, which seriously affects the yield of the etching product. Meanwhile, the halogen gas and its compounds form under the action of water vapor in the air, which may corrode the wafer transport system, causing failure of the related parts in the Front-End Module (EFEM).

Further, besides the wafers are easily contaminated during the transportation process, the wafers also have a risk of particle contamination in the wafer cassette. When the wafer box is in the scanning (mapping) process, the wafer box moves backwards a small distance and starts scanning again, so that a large gap is formed between the wafer box and the front end module, and the wafer is exposed to have risks. If the internal and external pressure difference (difference between the internal pressure and the external pressure of the front end module, hereinafter referred to as front end module pressure difference) of the front end module is negative pressure or positive pressure, the pressure difference is insufficient. Part of the gas flows back into the wafer box, and wafers without processes are possibly polluted by particles, so that the product yield is greatly reduced. Therefore, the front module is required to have a continuous gas flow inside, so that the pressure difference between the inside and the outside of the front module is maintained, and the external gas does not overflow into the front module.

The existing etching equipment adopts a multi-cavity parallel structure and is mainly divided into three parts: the semiconductor processing Equipment comprises a process chamber, a transmission Module and a Front-End Module (EFEM), wherein the process chamber is used for finishing a plasma etching process; the transmission module is used for completing the transfer of the wafer and comprises two preloading Stations (LOADLOCKs), wherein the preloading stations complete the conversion of the wafer between the atmospheric state and the vacuum state, a front-end module of the semiconductor processing equipment provides a microenvironment for the wafer, and uniform air flow from top to bottom is generated in the front-end module so as to ensure the clean environment of a wafer box and avoid the influence of particles on the wafer. The current standard front end module is provided with a fan and a filter screen at the top, and sucks air in a factory building into the EFEM after passing through the filter screen, so that an air flow from top to bottom is formed in the EFEM, and corrosive gas remained on a wafer after the process is finished is exhausted from the bottom of the EFEM. The fan and the filter screen ensure positive pressure inside the EFEM, and external low-pressure gas cannot enter the EFEM.

When the EFEM internal pressure is not within the specified range, the EFEM internal positive pressure is increased by first adjusting the EFEM bottom fairing to reduce losses from the fan and filter screen airflow. When the adjustment of the fairing plate reaches the limit, the internal pressure environment of the EFEM can be improved by adjusting the rotating speed of the fan. Therefore, the EFEM has continuous clean airflow inside and keeps a certain pressure difference between the inside and the outside, and external particles are isolated from entering. However, in the prior art, the volume of the fairing is large, and the fairing at the lower part of the tank chain of the manipulator has adjusting difficulty. Therefore, in the process of adjusting the internal pressure of the EFEM, the bottom fairing is difficult to adjust integrally, if only part of the fairing is adjusted, the internal pressure of the EFEM and the airflow are disturbed to cause particle pollution.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a front-end module, a control method thereof and semiconductor processing equipment aiming at the defects of the prior art, and aims to solve the technical problem of particle pollution caused by internal pressure and airflow disorder of the front-end module in the prior art.

In a first aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a front end module of a semiconductor processing apparatus, the front end module comprising: the module comprises a module main body, a rectifying plate assembly, an adjusting plate assembly and an exhaust pipe; an air inlet is formed in the upper part of the module main body; the rectifying plate assembly is arranged at the bottom of the module main body, a plurality of exhaust ports are formed in the rectifying plate assembly, and gas entering the module main body through the gas inlet is exhausted only through the exhaust ports; the plurality of adjusting plate assemblies are arranged in the module main body, and are respectively and correspondingly arranged at the exhaust ports, so that the air pressure in the module main body can be adjusted by adjusting the opening and closing states of the exhaust ports; the exhaust pipes are arranged on the outer side of the module main body, the air inlet ends of the exhaust pipes are correspondingly connected with the exhaust ports respectively, and gas flowing through the exhaust ports is led out through the exhaust pipes.

In an embodiment of the present application, the rectifying plate assembly includes a first rectifying plate, and the exhaust port is opened on the first rectifying plate; the adjusting plate assembly comprises an adjusting plate, the adjusting plate is movably arranged on the first rectifying plate, and the adjusting plate can adjust the opening and closing states of the exhaust port.

In an embodiment of this application, the regulating plate slide set up in on first cowling panel, through with sliding connection between the first cowling panel adjusts the degree of opening and shutting of gas vent.

In an embodiment of the present application, the adjusting plates are respectively disposed on two sides of each of the exhaust ports.

In an embodiment of the present application, each of the exhaust ports is provided with a flange interface, the exhaust pipe is connected to the exhaust port through the flange interface, and an outlet end of the exhaust pipe is connected to a gas filtering system.

In an embodiment of this application, the fairing assembly is still including second fairing and third fairing, the second fairing with the third fairing is located respectively first fairing length direction's both sides.

In an embodiment of the present application, a plurality of loading ports are arranged in parallel at an outer side of the bottom of the module main body, for temporarily storing the wafer; the exhaust ports are arranged on the rectifying plate assembly in parallel, and the exhaust ports are respectively arranged corresponding to the feeding ports.

In an embodiment of the present application, the rectifying plate assembly and the adjusting plate assembly are both made of stainless steel, and the outer surfaces of the rectifying plate assembly and the adjusting plate assembly are both provided with a corrosion-resistant layer.

In a second aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a semiconductor processing apparatus comprising a front-end module of the semiconductor processing apparatus as provided in the first aspect.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a front-end module control method, which is applied to the front-end module of the semiconductor processing equipment provided in the first aspect, and includes the following steps: controlling an air inlet of a module main body to start air intake, and monitoring an air pressure value of the module main body in real time; and controlling the adjusting plate component according to the air pressure value to adjust the opening and closing state of the air outlet, so as to adjust the air pressure in the module main body.

The technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application has the following beneficial technical effects:

the bottom of this application embodiment at semiconductor processing equipment front end module is provided with the fairing subassembly to set up a plurality of air outlets on the fairing subassembly, thereby each adjusting plate subassembly is used for adjusting the state of opening and shutting of each air outlet respectively and realizes the purpose of adjusting the interior atmospheric pressure of module main part. Because only can be with the state that opens and shuts of adjustment gas vent through the regulating plate subassembly for not only simple structure is and it is also more convenient to adjust this application embodiment, thereby effectively keeps the front end module inside and outside to have pressure differential, has completely cut off outside granule and has got into, and then effectively avoids semiconductor processing equipment front end module to cause particle pollution because of internal pressure and air current disorder. Furthermore, the problem of corrosion and pollution of halogen acid of parts in the front-end module is solved, and the periodic cleaning and maintenance period of the front-end module is prolonged, so that the use and maintenance cost is effectively reduced; meanwhile, the influence of particles generated by hydrobromic acid (HBr) corrosion on etching defects (defects) is reduced, and the yield of the wafer is effectively improved.

Additional aspects and advantages of the present application will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the present application.

Drawings

The foregoing and/or additional aspects and advantages of the present application will become apparent and readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:

fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a front-end module of a semiconductor processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 2A is a schematic front view of a partial structure of a front-end module according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 2B is a schematic top view illustrating a partial structure of a front-end module according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a control method of a front-end module according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

Reference will now be made in detail to the present application, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the same or similar parts or parts having the same or similar functions throughout. In addition, if a detailed description of the known art is not necessary for illustrating the features of the present application, it is omitted. The embodiments described below with reference to the drawings are exemplary only for the purpose of explaining the present application and are not to be construed as limiting the present application.

It will be understood by those within the art that, unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this application belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the prior art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

The following describes the technical solutions of the present application and how to solve the above technical problems with specific embodiments.

An embodiment of the present application provides a front-end module of a semiconductor processing apparatus, and a schematic structural diagram of the front-end module is shown in fig. 1 to 2B, including: comprises a module body 1, a rectifying plate component 2, an adjusting plate component 3 and an exhaust pipe 4; the upper part of the module main body 1 is provided with an air inlet; the rectifying plate component 2 is arranged at the bottom of the module main body 1, a plurality of exhaust ports 24 are formed in the rectifying plate component 2, and gas entering the module main body 1 through the air inlet is exhausted only through the exhaust ports 24; the plurality of adjusting plate assemblies 3 are all arranged in the module main body 1, and each adjusting plate assembly 3 is correspondingly arranged at each exhaust port 24 and used for adjusting the air pressure in the module main body 1 by adjusting the opening and closing state of each exhaust port 24; the exhaust pipes 4 are disposed outside the module body 1, and the air inlet end of each exhaust pipe 4 is correspondingly connected to each exhaust port 24, and the gas flowing through the exhaust ports 24 is guided out through the exhaust pipes 4.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic top view of a front-end module, as shown in fig. 1 to 2B, a module main body 1 is made of a metal material and has a cubic structure with a closed space, the closed space in the module main body 1 provides a microenvironment for stabilizing a gas flow state for a wafer, an air inlet is disposed at an upper portion of the module main body 1, and a fan and a filter screen (not shown) may be disposed at the air inlet for pumping gas into the module main body 1. The fairing assembly 2 is arranged at the bottom of the module main body 1, the fairing assembly 2 is provided with a plurality of exhaust ports 24, and the exhaust ports 24 are communicated with the inside and the outside of the module main body 1 and used for exhausting gas in the module main body 1 only through the exhaust ports 24. A plurality of regulating plate assemblies 3 are provided in the module main body 1, and a plurality of regulating plate assemblies 3 may be provided on the flow regulating plate assembly 2, each regulating plate assembly 3 being provided corresponding to each exhaust port 24. Blast pipe 4 adopts the bellows to make, and every gas vent 24 is connected to every blast pipe 4's inlet end correspondence to blast pipe 4's the end of giving vent to anger can be provided with the aspiration pump for provide a negative pressure in order to derive the factory building outside with the residual gas in the module main part 1, thereby avoid causing harm to operating personnel. In practical application, when the interior of the module main body 1 is negative pressure or positive pressure, the opening and closing state of the exhaust port 24 can be adjusted through the adjusting plate assembly 3, so that the purpose of adjusting the air pressure state and the air flow state in the module main body 1 is achieved.

The bottom of this application embodiment at semiconductor processing equipment front end module is provided with the fairing subassembly to set up a plurality of air outlets on the fairing subassembly, thereby each adjusting plate subassembly is used for adjusting the state of opening and shutting of each air outlet respectively and realizes the purpose of adjusting the interior atmospheric pressure of module main part. Because only can be with the state that opens and shuts of adjustment gas vent through the regulating plate subassembly for not only simple structure is and it is also more convenient to adjust this application embodiment, thereby effectively keeps the front end module inside and outside to have pressure differential, has completely cut off outside granule and has got into, and then effectively avoids semiconductor processing equipment front end module to cause particle pollution because of internal pressure and air current disorder. Furthermore, the problem of corrosion and pollution of halogen acid of parts in the front-end module is solved, and the periodic cleaning and maintenance period of the front-end module is prolonged, so that the use and maintenance cost is effectively reduced; meanwhile, the influence of particles generated by hydrobromic acid (HBr) corrosion on etching defects (defects) is reduced, and the yield of the wafer is effectively improved.

It should be noted that the present embodiment does not limit the specific materials and structures of the module body 1 and the exhaust pipe 4, and the specific positions of the fan and the filter screen in the module body 1, for example, both the module body 1 and the exhaust pipe 4 may be made of stainless steel. Therefore, the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto, and those skilled in the art can adjust the settings according to actual situations.

In an embodiment of the present application, the rectifying plate assembly 2 includes a first rectifying plate 21, and the exhaust port 24 is opened on the first rectifying plate 21; the adjusting plate assembly 3 includes an adjusting plate 31, the adjusting plate 31 is movably disposed on the first rectifying plate 21, and the adjusting plate 31 can adjust the opening and closing state of the exhaust port 24.

As shown in fig. 1, the first rectifying plate 21 is a rectangular plate-shaped structure made of stainless steel, two first rectifying plates 21 are arranged in parallel at the middle position of the bottom of the module body 1, and each first rectifying plate 21 is provided with two circular exhaust ports 24. The adjusting plate 31 is movably disposed on the first rectifying plate 21, and the adjusting plate 31 can selectively open or close the exhaust port 24, thereby adjusting the air pressure in the module body 1. For example, when the negative pressure or the positive pressure in the module body 1 is insufficient, the air vent area of the air vent 24 can be reduced by the adjusting plate 31 or the air vent 24 can be directly closed, or conversely, the air vent area of the air vent 24 can be enlarged by the adjusting plate 31 or the air vent 24 can be completely opened. By adopting the above design, the adjusting plate 31 is movably arranged on the first rectifying plate 21, so that the structure of the embodiment of the application is simple, and the adjustment is convenient and fast during actual adjustment.

It should be noted that the driving manner of the adjusting plate 31 is not limited in the embodiment of the present application, for example, the adjusting plate 31 may be driven by an air cylinder or driven by an operator to realize adjustment. Further, the number and arrangement of the first rectifying plates 21 are not limited in the embodiments of the present application, and the specific number may be set according to the specific specification of the module main body 1. Therefore, the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto, and those skilled in the art can adjust the settings according to actual situations.

In an embodiment of the present application, the adjusting plate 31 is slidably disposed on the first rectifying plate 21, and slidably connected to the first rectifying plate 21 to adjust the opening/closing degree of the exhaust port 24. Alternatively, adjustment plates 31 are provided on both sides of each exhaust port 24, respectively.

As shown in fig. 1 to 2B, the adjusting plate 31 is also specifically a rectangular plate-like structure made of stainless steel, and the adjusting plate assembly 3 further includes a plurality of guides 32. The upper and lower ends of the adjusting plate 31 are provided with strip-shaped guide holes 311 extending in the transverse direction. The two adjusting plates 31 are respectively arranged at the left side and the right side of the exhaust port 24, a plurality of guiding pieces 32 respectively penetrate through the guiding holes 311 and then are connected with the first rectifying plate 21, and the guiding pieces 32 are used for limiting and guiding the adjusting plates 31. In practical applications, since the guide holes 311 and the guide members 32 cooperate to guide the adjusting plate 31, the opening degree of the exhaust port 24 can be adjusted by pushing the adjusting plate 31. When the internal pressure of the module main body 1 exceeds the range and needs to be adjusted, the change of the ventilation area of the exhaust port 24 can be realized only by manually dragging the adjusting plate 31 to move horizontally along the direction of the guide hole 311, so that the internal pressure of the module main body 1 is adjusted, a long and heavy rectifying plate in the prior art does not need to be adjusted, the adjusting size is reduced, and the adjusting convenience is improved. Furthermore, since the adjusting plate 31 is slidably disposed on the first rectifying plate 21, the installation space of the embodiment of the present application can be effectively reduced, so that the structure of the embodiment of the present application is relatively simple, and the assembly, disassembly and maintenance efficiency is effectively improved; because set up two relative regulating plate 31 that set up, can effectively improve this application embodiment and adjust efficiency.

It should be noted that the present embodiment does not limit the arrangement manner of the adjustment plate 31, for example, the adjustment plate 31 is one and is pivotally arranged on the exhaust port 24. Therefore, the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto, and those skilled in the art can adjust the settings according to actual situations.

In an embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 2A to 2B, each exhaust port 24 is provided with a flange interface, the exhaust pipe 4 is connected with the exhaust port 24 through the flange interface, and the gas outlet end of the exhaust pipe 4 is connected with the gas filtering system. Specifically, the first flow rectification plate 21 is opened with a circular exhaust port 24, and a flange joint, which may be a plurality of female screw holes around the outer periphery of the exhaust port 24, is provided at the outer periphery of the exhaust port 24. The bottom of the exhaust pipe 4 passes through the exhaust port 24, and a flange at the top of the exhaust pipe 4 is connected with the flange interface. By adopting the design, the flange interface arranged on the first rectifying plate 21 can respond to the interface requirements of different wafer factories. Optionally, two adjusting plates 31 may also be disposed on the flange of the exhaust pipe 4 through the guide member 32, so that the structure of the embodiment of the present application is simpler, and the assembly, disassembly and maintenance efficiency is improved. The gas outlet end of the exhaust pipe 4 can be connected with a factory service filtering system of a wafer factory, that is, the gas outlet end of the exhaust pipe 4 is connected with the gas filtering system. When the process is executed, residual gas in the module main body 1 is filtered by the gas filtering system and then discharged to the atmosphere, so that the harm to the atmosphere is effectively reduced. In an embodiment of the present application, the rectifying plate assembly 2 further includes a second rectifying plate 22 and a third rectifying plate 23, and the second rectifying plate 22 and the third rectifying plate 23 are respectively located at two sides of the first rectifying plate 21 in the length direction.

As shown in fig. 1, the second flow straightening plate 22 and the third flow straightening plate 23 each have a plate-like structure made of a stainless steel material. The four second rectifying plates 22 are arranged above the first rectifying plate 21 in parallel, and the four third rectifying plates 23 are arranged below the first rectifying plate 21 in parallel, that is, the rectifying plates are distributed at the bottom of the module body 1 in an array manner. Further, each rectifying plate may be disposed on a frame (not shown in the drawings) at the bottom of the module body 1 by using screws, but the embodiment of the present application is not limited thereto, and those skilled in the art can adjust the disposition thereof according to actual situations. By adopting the design, the rectifying assembly adopts the rectifying plates with a plurality of plate-shaped structures, so that the assembly, disassembly and maintenance are convenient, and the application and maintenance cost is effectively reduced.

Furthermore, because the space in the front-end module is limited, and in addition, a space for the manipulator to move needs to be reserved in the front-end module, so that a whole large single plate is not suitable to be arranged below the inside of the front-end module, the third rectifying plate 23 is arranged to be four relatively small plate-shaped structures in the embodiment of the application, the installation mode of the embodiment of the application is flexible, and the installation space is effectively saved and the manipulator is convenient to move.

Optionally, the four corners of the third rectifying plate 23 are all provided with mounting holes 231, and the plate surface of the third rectifying plate 23 is further provided with strip-shaped holes 232, and in practical application, the mounting holes 231 and the strip-shaped holes 232 can be used for electric wires of the front-end module to pass through. Further, a gasket 233 with a thickness of 40mm (millimeters) is further disposed above the mounting hole 231, and for example, a fastener passes through the gasket 233 and the mounting hole 231 in sequence and then is connected to the frame at the bottom of the module body 1 to fix the third rectifying plate 23, and the fastener can also completely block the mounting hole to prevent the module body 1 from leaking air, but the embodiment of the present application is not limited thereto. By adopting the design, the module main body 1 can be conveniently disassembled, assembled and maintained, and the space utilization rate and the sealing effect of the module main body 1 can be effectively improved.

In the embodiment of the present application, the arrangement of the second rectifying plate 22 and the third rectifying plate 23 is not limited, for example, the second rectifying plate 22 and the third rectifying plate 23 are integrated with the module body 1, or an integrated bottom plate is provided at the bottom of the module body 1, and the exhaust port 24 may be directly formed on the bottom plate of the module body 1. Therefore, the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto, and those skilled in the art can adjust the settings according to actual situations.

In an embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 1, a plurality of material loading ports 5 are arranged in parallel on the outer side of the bottom of the module body 1; the exhaust ports 24 are provided in parallel on the flow regulating plate assembly 2, and the exhaust ports 24 are provided corresponding to the feed ports 5, respectively. Specifically, the material loading port 5 is four, and the number of the corresponding exhaust ports 24 is also four, that is, the center of each exhaust port 24 is aligned with the center of the material loading port 5. Further, the center-to-center distance between any two adjacent exhaust ports 24 may be 505mm (millimeters), and the center-to-center distance between any two adjacent material loading ports 5 may also be 505mm (millimeters); the distance between the exhaust port 24 and the center of the loading port 5 is 565mm (millimeters), and it should be noted that the above-mentioned distance is not limited to the embodiment of the present application, and those skilled in the art can adjust the arrangement according to the actual situation. By adopting the design, the exhaust port 24 and the feeding port 5 are correspondingly arranged, so that when the wafer box is positioned in the module main body 1, the exhaust port 24 and the wafer box are aligned in the vertical direction, the air flow in the module main body 1 is more uniform, the residual gas on the surface of the wafer can be effectively removed, and the yield of the wafer is effectively improved.

In an embodiment of the present application, the rectifying plate assembly 2 and the adjusting plate assembly 3 are made of stainless steel, and the outer surfaces of the rectifying plate assembly 2 and the adjusting plate assembly 3 are both provided with a corrosion-resistant layer. Specifically, the rectifying plate assemblies and the adjusting plate assembly 3 can be made of stainless steel, that is, the first rectifying plate 21, the second rectifying plate 22, the third rectifying plate 23 and the adjusting plate 31 are made of stainless steel, and the outer surfaces of the components are provided with anti-corrosion layers made by a plastic spraying process, so that particles are not generated, particles in the module main body 1 can be effectively reduced, and the yield of wafers is effectively improved; and the service life of the embodiment of the application can be effectively prolonged.

Based on the same inventive concept, embodiments of the present application provide a semiconductor processing apparatus including a front-end module of the semiconductor processing apparatus as provided in the above embodiments.

Based on the same inventive concept, a method for controlling a front-end module according to an embodiment of the present application is applied to the front-end module of the semiconductor processing apparatus provided in the above embodiments, and includes the following steps:

s301: controlling an air inlet of a module main body to start air intake, and monitoring an air pressure value of the module main body in real time;

s302: and controlling the adjusting plate component according to the air pressure value to adjust the opening and closing state of the air outlet, so as to adjust the air pressure in the module main body.

As shown in fig. 1 to 3, a controller (not shown) may control the gas inlet of the module body 1 to start gas inlet, and the controller may be a lower computer of the semiconductor processing apparatus. Specifically, the controller may control the fan at the gas inlet to start operating to introduce gas into the module body 1 for providing a microenvironment with a stable gas flow state for the wafer; the controller can also control the sensor in the module main body 1 to monitor the air pressure in the module main body 1 in real time and acquire the air pressure value in the module main body 1. The controller can control the adjusting plate assembly 3 according to the air pressure value to adjust the opening and closing state of the air outlet 24, so as to adjust the air pressure in the module main body 21. For example, when the negative pressure or the positive pressure in the module body 1 is insufficient, the air vent area of the air vent 24 can be reduced or the air vent 24 can be directly closed by the adjusting plate 31 of the adjusting plate assembly 3, and conversely, the air vent area of the air vent 24 can be enlarged or the air vent 24 can be completely opened by the adjusting plate 31. It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, the controller is not limited to be a lower computer of the semiconductor processing apparatus, and for example, the controller may also be a single chip microcomputer. Therefore, the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto, and those skilled in the art can adjust the settings according to actual situations.

To further illustrate the technical effects of the embodiments of the present application, the following describes a specific embodiment of the present application with reference to the drawings to obtain a monitoring result, and then compares the monitoring result with a monitoring result of a front-end module in the prior art. Specifically, when the size of the exhaust port 24 is 100mm, the flow rate is 187m³Per hour (cubic meter per hour), the rotating speed of the fan is1300r/min (revolutions per minute). Compared with the monitoring result in the prior art, the air flow in the front-end module is uniform, and the gas overflowing to the outer side is greatly reduced; the pressure in the front-end module of the embodiment of the application does not change obviously relative to the front-end module in the prior art, so that the pressure in the front-end module can be increased when the exhaust outlet pumping speed is reduced, and the pressure in the front-end module can be reduced when the exhaust outlet pumping speed is increased.

By applying the embodiment of the application, at least the following beneficial effects can be realized:

the bottom of this application embodiment at semiconductor processing equipment front end module is provided with the fairing subassembly to set up a plurality of air outlets on the fairing subassembly, thereby each adjusting plate subassembly is used for adjusting the state of opening and shutting of each air outlet respectively and realizes the purpose of adjusting the interior atmospheric pressure of module main part. Because only can be with the state that opens and shuts of adjustment gas vent through the regulating plate subassembly for not only simple structure is and it is also more convenient to adjust this application embodiment, thereby effectively keeps the front end module inside and outside to have pressure differential, has completely cut off outside granule and has got into, and then effectively avoids semiconductor processing equipment front end module to cause particle pollution because of internal pressure and air current disorder. Furthermore, the problem of corrosion and pollution of halogen acid of parts in the front-end module is solved, and the periodic cleaning and maintenance period of the front-end module is prolonged, so that the use and maintenance cost is effectively reduced; meanwhile, the influence of particles generated by hydrobromic acid (HBr) corrosion on etching defects (defects) is reduced, and the yield of the wafer is effectively improved.

It will be understood that the above embodiments are merely exemplary embodiments taken to illustrate the principles of the present invention, which is not limited thereto. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and improvements can be made without departing from the spirit and substance of the invention, and these modifications and improvements are also considered to be within the scope of the invention.

In the description of the present application, it is to be understood that the terms "center", "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", and the like indicate orientations or positional relationships based on those shown in the drawings, and are only for convenience in describing the present invention and simplifying the description, but do not indicate or imply that the device or element being referred to must have a particular orientation, be constructed in a particular orientation, and be operated, and thus, should not be construed as limiting the present invention.

The terms "first", "second" and "first" are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of that feature. In the description of the present invention, "a plurality" means two or more unless otherwise specified.

In the description of the present application, it is to be noted that, unless otherwise explicitly specified or limited, the terms "mounted," "connected," and "connected" are to be construed broadly, e.g., as meaning either a fixed connection, a removable connection, or an integral connection; they may be connected directly or indirectly through intervening media, or they may be interconnected between two elements. The specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood in specific cases to those skilled in the art.

The foregoing is only a partial embodiment of the present application, and it should be noted that, for those skilled in the art, several modifications and decorations can be made without departing from the principle of the present application, and these modifications and decorations should also be regarded as the protection scope of the present application.