CN115167574B - Valve temperature control device and vapor deposition equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides a valve temperature control device and vapor deposition equipment. The valve temperature control device comprises a heating element, a shielding box and a cooling box. The heating member contacts the valve base body and provides heat to the valve base body to heat reaction gas therein for the vapor deposition reaction. The shield can is made of a thermally conductive material, contacts the plurality of first locations of the valve base, and transfers heat between the plurality of first locations of the valve base. The cooling cartridge contacts at least one second position of a valve actuator to reduce a temperature of the valve actuator. By adopting the structure, the valve temperature control device can control the temperature of different target temperatures of the reaction gas flowing through the valve base body and the valve actuating mechanism so as to meet the temperature requirement of vapor deposition on the reaction gas and the working temperature requirement of the valve actuating mechanism.

Description

Valve temperature control device and vapor deposition equipment

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of vapor deposition, in particular to a valve temperature control device and vapor deposition equipment.

Background

The vapor deposition technology is a new technology that changes the surface components of a workpiece by utilizing physical and chemical changes in vapor phase and forms a metal or compound coating with specific optical and electrical properties on the surface of the workpiece, and is widely applied to the technical fields of chip manufacturing and the like.

In the fields of Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD), atomic Layer Deposition (ALD), metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD), etc., in order to satisfy the real-time requirement and the flow stability requirement of high-precision thin film thickness control on the flow of the reaction gas, a valve needs to be arranged nearby the gas inlet of the reaction chamber to realize the rapid switching of the flow direction of the reaction gas. In addition, in order to meet the temperature control requirements of the PECVD, ALD, MOCVD and other technologies on the reaction gas, a heating device needs to be disposed at a position close to the gas inlet of the reaction chamber to heat the reaction gas, so as to promote the growth of the thin film. However, in the existing valve, the actuator such as a diaphragm for switching the gas flow direction generally has the defect of poor heat resistance, and cannot normally operate at the reaction temperature of vapor deposition. Therefore, in the prior art, the real-time performance of gas switching or the precision and efficiency of temperature control are generally required to be sacrificed, and the difference setting and isolation of the installation positions of the valve and the heating device are performed, so as to avoid the influence of the heating device on the normal operation of the valve actuating mechanism.

In order to overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, there is a need in the art for a valve temperature control technique for controlling the temperature of the reactant gas flowing through the valve substrate and the valve actuator at different target temperatures to meet the temperature requirements of the reactant gas for vapor deposition and the operating temperature requirements of the valve actuator.

Disclosure of Invention

The following presents a simplified summary of one or more aspects in order to provide a basic understanding of such aspects. This summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated aspects, and is intended to neither identify key or critical elements of all aspects nor delineate the scope of any or all aspects. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

In order to overcome the above defects in the prior art, the present invention provides a valve temperature control device and a vapor deposition apparatus, which can perform temperature control of different target temperatures on a reaction gas flowing through a valve substrate and a valve actuator, so as to meet the temperature requirements of vapor deposition on the reaction gas and the working temperature requirements of the valve actuator.

Specifically, according to a first aspect of the present invention, the above valve temperature control device includes a heating element, a shielding box, and a cooling box. The heating element contacts the valve substrate and provides heat to the valve substrate to heat a reaction gas therein for a vapor deposition reaction. The shield can is made of a thermally conductive material, contacts the plurality of first locations of the valve base, and transfers heat between the plurality of first locations of the valve base. The cooling cartridge contacts at least one second position of a valve actuator to reduce a temperature of the valve actuator. The valve actuator is arranged on at least one side of the valve base body and used for switching the communication state of at least one valve inner channel in the valve base body.

Further, in some embodiments of the invention, the shielding cage includes at least one third position disengaged from the valve base. The at least one third location is provided with a mirror-finished structure for radiating and/or reflecting heat to a corresponding location of the valve substrate.

Further, in some embodiments of the present invention, an insulating layer is disposed outside the shielding box for preventing the shielding box from radiating heat outwards.

Further, in some embodiments of the present invention, a fluid channel is disposed in the cooling box for circulating a cooling fluid to remove heat from the valve actuator.

Further, in some embodiments of the present invention, an insulating gap is provided between the shield box and the cooling box for preventing heat transfer between the shield box and the cooling box.

Further, in some embodiments of the invention, the valve base includes a plurality of in-valve channels therein. Heating holes are arranged among the channels in the valves. The heating member extends into the heating hole to uniformly heat the plurality of in-valve passages.

Further, in some embodiments of the present invention, the valve temperature control device further includes a temperature detector and a controller. The controller obtains the temperature of the valve base body through the temperature detector, and controls the heating element to generate heat according to the temperature of the valve base body so as to control the temperature of the valve base body at a preset target temperature.

Further, in some embodiments of the present invention, the valve temperature control device further comprises an alarm. The alarm acquires the temperature of the valve base body through the temperature detector, and alarms and/or controls the heating element to stop heating when the temperature of the valve base body is greater than a preset upper temperature limit.

Further, in some embodiments of the present invention, the valve base is mounted on the upper surface of the upper cover plate of the reaction chamber via the valve temperature control device. And the reaction gas subjected to temperature control enters the reaction cavity through the valve base body and the upper cover plate so as to carry out vapor deposition.

In addition, the vapor deposition equipment provided by the second aspect of the invention comprises a reaction cavity, a spray header, a gas source, a valve and a valve temperature control device. The spray header is arranged above the reaction cavity. And the base body of the valve is arranged on the upper surface of the upper cover plate of the reaction cavity through the valve temperature control device. The valve temperature control device is selected from the valve temperature control devices provided in the first aspect of the present invention. The reaction gas enters the base body of the valve through the gas source, is subjected to temperature control by the valve temperature control device, and then enters the reaction cavity through the spray header to carry out vapor deposition.

Drawings

The above features and advantages of the present disclosure will be better understood upon reading the detailed description of embodiments of the disclosure in conjunction with the following drawings. In the drawings, components are not necessarily drawn to scale, and components having similar associated characteristics or features may have the same or similar reference numerals.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic view of a vapor deposition apparatus provided according to some embodiments of the present invention.

Fig. 2 illustrates a piping schematic of a passage in a valve of a valve provided according to some embodiments of the present invention.

Fig. 3A-3D illustrate schematic structural views of a valve provided according to some embodiments of the invention.

Fig. 4A and 4B illustrate schematic views of a valve temperature control apparatus provided according to some embodiments of the present invention.

5A-5D illustrate schematic diagrams of flow splitting structures provided according to some embodiments of the invention.

Fig. 6 illustrates a schematic diagram of a flow splitting structure provided in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The following description of the embodiments of the present invention is provided for illustrative purposes, and other advantages and effects of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the present disclosure. While the invention will be described in connection with the preferred embodiments, there is no intent to limit its features to those embodiments. On the contrary, the invention has been described in connection with the embodiments for the purpose of covering alternatives or modifications as may be extended based on the claims of the invention. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. The invention may be practiced without these particulars. Moreover, some of the specific details have been omitted from the description in order not to obscure or obscure the focus of the present invention.

In the description of the present invention, it should 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; can be mechanically or electrically connected; 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 a specific case to those of ordinary skill in the art.

Additionally, the terms "upper," "lower," "left," "right," "top," "bottom," "horizontal," "vertical" and the like as used in the following description are to be understood as referring to the segment and the associated drawings in the illustrated orientation. The relative terms are used for convenience of description only and do not imply that the described apparatus should be constructed or operated in a particular orientation and therefore should not be construed as limiting the invention.

It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, regions, layers and/or sections, these elements, regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms, but rather are used to distinguish one element, region, layer and/or section from another element, region, layer and/or section. Thus, a first component, region, layer or section discussed below could be termed a second component, region, layer or section without departing from some embodiments of the present invention.

As described above, in the fields of Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD), atomic Layer Deposition (ALD), metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD), etc., in order to meet the real-time requirement and the flow stability requirement of high-precision thin film thickness control on the flow rate of the reaction gas, a valve needs to be disposed nearby the gas inlet of the reaction chamber to realize the rapid switching of the flow direction of the reaction gas. In addition, in order to meet the temperature control requirement of PECVD, ALD, MOCVD and other technologies on the reaction gas, a heating device needs to be disposed near the gas inlet of the reaction chamber to heat the reaction gas, so as to promote the growth of the thin film. However, the actuators such as diaphragms for switching gas flow directions in the existing valves generally have the defect of poor heat resistance, and cannot normally work at the reaction temperature of vapor deposition. Therefore, in the prior art, the real-time performance of gas switching or the precision and efficiency of temperature control are generally required to be sacrificed, and the difference setting and isolation of the installation positions of the valve and the heating device are performed so as to avoid the influence of the heating device on the normal operation of the valve actuating mechanism.

In order to overcome the above-mentioned defects in the prior art, the present invention provides a valve temperature control device and a vapor deposition apparatus, which can perform temperature control of different target temperatures on the reaction gas flowing through the valve substrate and the valve actuator, so as to meet the temperature requirements of vapor deposition on the reaction gas and the working temperature requirements of the valve actuator.

Referring first to fig. 1, fig. 1 illustrates a schematic view of a vapor deposition apparatus according to some embodiments of the invention.

As shown in fig. 1, in some embodiments of the present invention, a reaction chamber 11, a shower head (not shown), a gas source 13, an exhaust passage 14, and a valve 15 are disposed in a vapor deposition apparatus 10.

Specifically, the reaction chamber 11 can meet the timing requirements of various thin film preparation processes such as Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD), atomic Layer Deposition (ALD), metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD), and the like, and is configured with corresponding structures and accessories, which are not limited herein. The shower head is disposed above the reaction chamber 11 through the chamber upper cover plate 12, and is used for uniformly introducing the reaction gas from above the reaction chamber 11, so as to facilitate uniform film growth on the upper surface of the reaction object. The air source 13 may be an air tank with various processing functions such as a flow rate adjusting function, a flow direction switching function, and the like, and the technical details thereof do not relate to the technical improvement of the present invention and are not described herein. Further, the gas tank 13 may preferably be installed below the reaction chamber 11, etc. at a position away from the chamber upper cover 12. Similarly, the exhaust channel 14 may be disposed below the reaction chamber 11 for receiving the exhaust gas flowing through the vapor deposition object such as the wafer, and receiving the unstable reaction gas discharged through the first gas outlet bypass of the valve 15. By arranging the air source 13, the exhaust channel 14 and other equipment at positions far away from the upper cover plate 12 of the cavity, the invention can effectively prevent the equipment from blocking the translational and/or rotational freedom degree of the upper cover plate 12 of the cavity, thereby preventing operators from blocking the normal opening and the daily maintenance operation of the upper cover plate 12 of the reaction cavity.

In order to satisfy the real-time requirement and the stability requirement for controlling the film thickness with high precision, the valve 15 is installed near the upper surface of the chamber upper cover plate 12 for rapidly and stably switching the flowing direction of the reaction gas. Specifically, the valve 15 is provided with an air inlet, a first air outlet, and a second air outlet. Which is connected via an inlet duct to a remote gas source 13. The first outlet is connected to the distal exhaust channel 14 via a first outlet duct. The second outlet is connected to the vapor deposition reaction chamber 11 below the second outlet via the chamber upper cover plate 12.

During vapor deposition, the valve 15 first receives reactant gas from a remote gas source 13 via its inlet. At this time, since the gas source 13 is disposed at a position far from the gas inlet of the reaction chamber 11, there is a gradual increase in the flow rate of the gas flowing into the valve 15 through the gas inlet pipe. In order to avoid the influence of too low flow rate of the reaction gas on the high-precision control of the film thickness, the valve 15 may first deliver the reaction gas to the exhaust channel 14 through the first gas outlet thereof, and monitor the flow rate of the reaction gas flowing through the valve 15 until the flow rate of the reaction gas is stabilized at a preset target value. In response to the monitoring result that the flow rate of the reaction gas flowing through the valve 15 is stabilized at the target value, the valve 15 can switch the flow direction of the reaction gas, and the reaction gas is delivered to the shower head at the upper part of the reaction chamber 11 through the second gas outlet, so that the reaction gas is uniformly and stably sprayed to each region of the vapor deposition object such as the wafer by the shower head. At this time, since the valve 15 is installed on the upper surface of the upper cover plate 12 of the reaction chamber 11, the reaction gas flowing out from the second gas outlet of the valve 15 and having a stable flow rate can rapidly enter the reaction chamber 11, thereby satisfying the real-time requirement and the stability requirement of the high-precision control of the film thickness.

Further, in some embodiments of the present invention, each of the inlet pipes and the outlet pipes for transmitting the reaction gas may be made of a hard material to avoid the winding and knotting of the pipes. Correspondingly, the air inlet may be connected to the air box 13 via the cavity blocks 161, 162, while the first air outlet may be connected to the air exhaust channel 14 via the cavity blocks 161, 162, thereby avoiding that a complete hard pipe obstructs the translational and/or rotational freedom of the cavity upper cover plate 12.

Specifically, in the embodiment shown in fig. 1, the cavity block may be divided into an upper portion and a lower portion. The upper first portion 161 is disposed on the upper cover 12 and extends out from the upper surface of the upper cover 12 to connect to the inlet and/or the first outlet of the valve 15. The lower second portion 162 is disposed in the reaction chamber 11 and extends through the bottom of the reaction chamber 11 to connect the air outlet of the air box 13 and/or the exhaust channel 14. The cavity penetrating block is internally provided with a plurality of gas transmission pipes which are used for connecting a gas inlet of a valve 15 and a gas outlet of a gas box 13, and/or a first gas outlet of the valve 15 and an exhaust channel 14. The gas transmission pipes of the first part 161 and the second part 162 are detachably and airtightly connected. Thus, each gas transmission pipe arranged on the first part 161 is separated from each gas transmission pipe arranged on the second part 162 along with the opening of the upper cover plate 12 of the chamber, and is restored to be connected with each gas transmission pipe arranged on the second part 162 along with the closing of the upper cover plate 12 of the chamber, so that the normal opening and the routine maintenance operation of the upper cover plate 12 of the reaction chamber by an operator are facilitated.

Further, in some embodiments of the present invention, the inlet port of the valve 15 includes a first inlet port and a second inlet port. The first air inlet is connected to an air source 13 via a first air inlet pipe to obtain the sweep gas. The second inlet is connected to a gas source 13 via a second inlet conduit to obtain the reactant gas. In addition, the reaction chamber 11 may include a plurality of independent sub-chambers therein. The valve 15 may include a plurality of independent air paths, wherein each air path is configured with an independent air inlet and a second air outlet. Each air inlet is connected with a corresponding air path of the air source 13 respectively to obtain corresponding air source gas. And each second air outlet is respectively connected with the corresponding sub-cavity so as to transmit corresponding gas source gas to the sub-cavity.

Referring specifically to fig. 2, fig. 2 illustrates a piping schematic of an in-valve passage of a valve provided according to some embodiments of the present invention.

As shown in fig. 2, in a valve 15 comprising two sets of gas paths, each set comprises two gas paths. Each gas path in the same group is configured with an independent reactant gas inlet 211, 221 and a first gas outlet 212, 222, respectively, and shares the same purge gas inlet 213 and second gas outlet 214 to transmit the same reactant gas and/or purge gas to multiple positions of the same reaction chamber 11. Each of the gas passages of the different groups is configured with an independent purge gas inlet 213, 233 and a second gas outlet 214, 234, respectively, to transmit the corresponding reaction gas and/or purge gas to the different reaction chambers 11, respectively.

Taking the first gas path as an example, during the vapor deposition process, the valve 15 may first introduce the purge gas from the gas source 13 through the purge gas inlet 213, and introduce the purge gas into the reaction chamber 11 through the first in-valve channel and the second outlet 214, so as to prevent the residual reaction gas and/or particles hidden in the first in-valve channel from interfering with the control accuracy of the film thickness. Meanwhile, the valve 15 may also introduce the reaction gas from the gas source 13 through the reaction gas inlet 211, and introduce the reaction gas into the exhaust channel 14 through the corresponding first gas outlet 221 until the flow rate of the reaction gas is stabilized at the preset target value. Then, in response to the monitoring result that the flow rate of the reaction gas flowing through the reaction gas inlet 211 is stabilized at the target value, the valve 15 can switch the flow direction of the reaction gas by operating the switching valve, introduce the reaction gas into the first valve internal channel, and deliver the mixed gas of the reaction gas and the scavenging gas to the shower head at the upper portion of the reaction chamber 11 through the second gas outlet 214, so that the reaction gas is uniformly and stably sprayed to each region of the vapor deposition object such as the wafer by the shower head. Therefore, the invention can rapidly inject the reaction gas into the reaction cavity 11 on one hand, and can stabilize the flow of the injected reaction gas on the other hand, thereby meeting the real-time requirement and the stability requirement of controlling the thickness of the film with high precision. The working principle of the rest of the air passages in the valve 15 is similar to the above embodiments, and is not described in detail here.

Please refer to fig. 3A to fig. 3D. Fig. 3A illustrates a perspective view of a valve provided according to some embodiments of the invention. Fig. 3B illustrates a front cross-sectional view of a valve provided in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. Fig. 3C and 3D illustrate schematic top cross-sectional views of valves provided according to some embodiments of the present invention.

As shown in fig. 3A, in some embodiments of the present invention, the reaction gas inlet (i.e. the second inlet) 211 and the first outlet 212 of each gas path of the valve 15 may be disposed on the upper surface of the valve 15 and connected via a second valve inner channel extending along the longitudinal direction inside the valve 15. The purge gas inlet ports (i.e., the first inlet ports) 213 and 233 of the respective gas passages of the valve 15 may be disposed at a rear side (i.e., a first side) of the valve, and the second outlet ports 214 and 234 may be correspondingly disposed at a front side (i.e., a second side) of the valve 15, such that the first in-valve passages connecting the purge gas inlet ports 213 and 233 and the second outlet ports 214 and 234 extend in a lateral direction. Further, an actuator 31 for switching the communication state of the respective passages in the valve 15 may be provided on the left and/or right side of the valve 15. By preferentially arranging the interfaces and the auxiliary mechanisms 31 of the valve 15 on the front, rear, left, right and upper surfaces of the valve 15 and reserving the lower surface of the valve 15, the invention can further reduce the installation height of the valve 15, thereby further shortening the gas transmission distance from the second gas outlets 214 and 234 of the valve 15 to the reaction chamber 11 so as to further meet the real-time requirement of controlling the thickness of the film with high precision.

Further, as shown in fig. 3B and 3C, during the vapor deposition process, the valve 15 may first introduce the purge gas from the gas source 13 through the purge gas inlet 213 and introduce the purge gas into the reaction chamber 11 through the first valve inner channel and the second gas outlet 214 extending laterally, so as to prevent the residual reaction gas and/or particles hidden in the first valve inner channel from interfering with the control accuracy of the film thickness. Meanwhile, the valve 15 may also introduce the reaction gas from the gas source 13 through the reaction gas inlet 211, and introduce the reaction gas into the exhaust channel 14 through the longitudinally extending second valve internal channel and the corresponding first gas outlet 221 until the flow rate of the reaction gas is stabilized at a preset target value.

Then, as shown in fig. 3D, in response to the monitoring result that the flow rate of the reaction gas flowing through the reaction gas inlet 211 is stabilized at the target value, the valve 15 can switch the flow direction of the reaction gas by operating the valve actuator 31, introduce the reaction gas into the first valve internal channel extending in the transverse direction through the second valve internal channel extending in the longitudinal direction, and then deliver the reaction gas to the shower head at the upper portion of the reaction chamber 11 through the second gas outlet 214, so that the reaction gas is uniformly and stably sprayed to each region of the vapor deposition object such as the wafer by the shower head.

By adopting the interface structures and the channel structures in the valve as shown in fig. 3a to 3d, the valve 15 provided by the invention has higher structural compactness, so that the occupied space can be well reduced, and the path of gas flowing through the inside of the valve 15 is reduced, so as to further meet the real-time requirement of vapor deposition (especially atomic layer deposition technology) on high-precision control of the film thickness. In addition, by adopting the structure that the transversely extending first valve inner channel is matched with the longitudinally extending second valve inner channel, the invention can effectively reduce dead angles in the internal flow channel of the valve 15, thereby reducing the residual risk of reaction gas and/or particles and further meeting the reliability requirement of controlling the thickness of the film with high precision.

In addition, in some embodiments of the present invention, in order to meet the temperature control requirement of the reaction gas in the Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD), atomic Layer Deposition (ALD), metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD), etc., a valve temperature control device may be configured besides the valve 15 for heating the reaction gas flowing through the substrate of the valve 15 to promote the film growth. The valve 15 may be installed on the upper surface of the upper cover plate of the reaction chamber 11 via the valve thermostat.

Referring to fig. 4A and 4B in combination, fig. 4A and 4B illustrate schematic diagrams of a valve temperature control device according to some embodiments of the present invention.

As shown in fig. 4A and 4B, the valve temperature control device 40 may be composed of a heating element (not shown), a shielding box 41 and a cooling box 42, which surround the outer surfaces of the valve base 32 and the actuator 31, and are mounted on the upper surface of the upper cover plate 12 of the reaction chamber 11 to perform temperature control of different target temperatures on the reaction gas flowing through the valve base 32 and the valve actuator 31. Here, the valve base 32 is an integrated member including the first valve internal passage and/or the second valve internal passage of each of the air passages, and actuators 31 for switching communication states of the valve internal passages are provided on both left and right sides thereof. The cooling box 42 is a temperature control component dedicated to reducing the temperature of the actuator 31 in view of the fact that the heat-resistant temperature (e.g., 120 ℃ or lower) of the actuator 31 is generally lower than the target temperature (e.g., 200 ℃ or lower) of the reaction gas.

In some embodiments, the heating element may be selected from a glow stick that contacts the valve substrate 32 via one or more heating holes 43 and provides heat to the valve substrate 32 to heat the reactant gases therein for the vapor deposition reaction. Further, the one or more heating holes 43 may be provided between the first valve internal passages and/or the second valve internal passages and extend through the entire valve base 32 to increase the contact area of the heating member with the valve base 32 and uniformly heat the reaction gas flowing through the valve internal passages in the valve base 32.

Additionally, in some embodiments, the shield case 41 may be made of a thermally conductive material such as aluminum, copper, or the like, that tightly wraps the entire exterior surface of the valve base 32 and maintains contact with the plurality of first locations of the valve base 32. In this manner, the shield 41, which is made of a thermally conductive material, can capture heat via the plurality of first locations that contact the valve base 32 and conduct heat between the first locations of the valve base 32, thereby improving the uniformity of heating throughout the valve base 32.

Further, the shield case 41 may include at least one third position disengaged from the valve base 32 for a convex, concave, contour structure on the valve base 32. For these third positions off the valve base 32, the inner surface of the shield can 41 may preferably be provided with a mirror finish. In this manner, the shielding box 41 can reflect heat radiated outward from the third position of the valve base 32 back to the valve base 32 via the mirror-finished structure, and can radiate heat obtained by conduction from the first positions contacting the valve base 32 to the third position of the valve base 32, thereby further improving the heating uniformity of the entire valve base 32.

Further, in order to avoid heat dissipation caused by the heat conductive material, the shielding box 41 may be preferably provided at its periphery with a heat insulating layer made of heat insulating material such as teflon, asbestos, etc. for reducing heat radiation to the outside, thereby improving the heating efficiency of the reaction gas and reducing energy consumption.

Additionally, in some embodiments, the cooling box 42 may also be made of a thermally conductive material such as aluminum, copper, etc. to contact at least one second position of the valve actuator 31 to reduce the temperature of each valve actuator 31. Further, the cooling box 42 may be provided with a fluid passage for flowing cooling gas such as compressed air, nitrogen, etc. and/or cooling liquid such as water, oil, alcohol, etc. to take away heat of the valve actuator 31 more quickly, thereby further ensuring that the valve actuator 31 operates in an environment with a suitable operating temperature (e.g., below 120 ℃).

In addition, in some embodiments, a certain thermal insulation gap may be preferably disposed between the cooling box 42 and the shielding box 41 to prevent heat transfer between the shielding box 41 and the cooling box 42, so as to facilitate temperature control of different target temperatures for the reactant gas flowing through the valve base 32 and the valve actuator 31.

In addition, in some embodiments, the valve temperature control device may also be preferably configured with a temperature detector, an alarm and a controller. In this way, during the vapor deposition, the valve 15 may first take the reaction gas from the gas source 13 through its inlet and discharge it to the exhaust channel 14 through the first outlet before the flow rate of the reaction gas is stabilized. In this process, in response to the reaction gas entering the valve base 32 through the gas inlet, the controller of the valve temperature control device may first obtain the temperature of the valve base 32 through the temperature detector to calculate the control amount of the heating member, and then control the heating member to be energized to generate heat according to the control amount, so as to adjust the temperature of the valve base 32 to the preset target temperature.

Further, after the temperature of the valve base 32 measured by the temperature sensor fluctuates and stabilizes over a period of time, the controller may continuously or intermittently supply an alternating current of a certain power to the heating element to constantly position the temperature of the valve base 32 at the target temperature.

Further, in response to the temperature detector detecting that the temperature of the valve base 32 is higher than the preset alarm value, the alarm may obtain the abnormal temperature of the valve base 32 via the temperature detector, and perform an alarm prompt when the temperature of the valve base 32 is higher than the preset upper temperature limit, and/or cut off the power supply to the heating element to control the heating element to stop heating.

By installing the valve 15 on the upper surface of the upper cover plate 12 of the reaction chamber 11 nearby and configuring the valve temperature control device on the periphery thereof, the invention can heat the reaction gas flowing into the reaction chamber 11 nearby on the premise of meeting the real-time requirement and stability requirement of controlling the thickness of a film with high precision, so as to avoid the heat loss of the high-temperature reaction gas, and carry out temperature control of different target temperatures on the base body 32 and the actuating mechanism 31 of the valve 15, so as to ensure the normal operation of the valve 15. Further, compared with the conventional gas heating device, the valve temperature control device provided by the invention better conforms to the space installation structure of the valve 15, can meet the requirements that the valve base body 32 and the actuating mechanism 31 need to work at different temperatures, and cannot heat the actuating mechanism 31 while heating the reaction gas, so that the distance from the second gas outlet of the valve 15 to the reaction cavity 11 can be further shortened, and the real-time requirement of controlling the thickness of the film with high precision can be further met.

In addition, in some embodiments of the present invention, for the reaction chamber 11 having a larger space size and/or a plurality of independent sub-chambers, the rear end of the second gas outlet of the valve 15 may be further configured with a gas distribution structure for uniformly distributing the reaction gas to each position of the reaction chamber 11 or each independent sub-chamber, so as to improve the uniformity of the film thickness in each chamber position or each independent sub-chamber. The valve 15 may be installed on the upper surface of the upper cover plate of the reaction chamber 11 via the gas distribution structure 50.

Referring to fig. 5A to 5D in combination, fig. 5A to 5D illustrate schematic diagrams of a shunting module according to some embodiments of the present invention.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 5A to 5D, the air distribution structure 50 may include an air inlet duct 51, an air distribution gap 52, a plurality of pressure relief chambers 531, 532, and a plurality of air outlet ducts 54. The air inlet duct 51 is oriented in a first direction (e.g., horizontally to the right, i.e., at an included angle with respect to the horizontal)θAngle of =0 °, vertical angleφ=0 °) extends into the gas distribution structure and deflects the direction of extension via a first bend into a second direction (for example: vertically downwards, i.e.θ=0°，φ= -90 °), thereby reducing the momentum of the gas in the first direction. The air-distributing gap 52 is connected to the air inlet duct 51 via a second bend, and extends in a plurality of third directions (for example:θ∈ {0°, 120°, 240°}，φ=0 °) to uniformly distribute the reaction gas to the plurality of relief chambers 531, 532. The plurality of relief chambers 531, 532 are respectively connected to the air distribution gap 52 via at least one third bend, and are arranged along a fourth direction (for example:θ=0°，φand = -90 deg.) to further reduce the momentum of the reactant gases in the first direction and to promote thorough mixing of the reactant gases and the purge gas, and/or between the reactant gases. The multiple air outletsThe conduits 54 are connected to respective relief pressure chambers 531, 532, and extend in respective fifth directions (e.g.:θ=0 ° or 120 ° or 240 °,φ=0 °) to extend out of the gas distribution structure 50 to uniformly distribute the reaction gas to each position of the reaction chamber 11 or each independent sub-chamber, thereby improving uniformity of the film thickness in each chamber position or each independent sub-chamber. So, at vapor deposition's in-process, reactant gas can get into through gas source 13 and valve 15 earlier and divide gas structure 50, carries out even branch gas by dividing gas structure, gets into reaction chamber 11 through the shower head again and carries out vapor deposition to avoid dividing the uneven problem of film thickness that leads to of gas.

Further, as shown in fig. 5B, a multi-stage pressure-relief chamber may be preferably configured in the gas distribution structure 50. Specifically, the first chamber 531 is connected to the air separation gap 52 via at least one third bend and extends in a sixth direction (e.g., vertically upward, i.e., perpendicular to the first direction)θ=0°，φ=90 °), and the second cavity 532 connects the first cavity 531 via at least one third bend and extends in a fourth direction (e.g.:θ=0°，φand = -90 deg.), thereby further reducing the amount of reaction gas rushing in a single direction by increasing the number of bends and the number of stages of the buffer chamber, and further promoting thorough mixing of the reaction gas and the purge gas, and/or between the plurality of reaction gases. Furthermore, the aperture of the first chamber 531 may be smaller than the aperture of the second chamber 532, so as to form a multi-stage pressure-reducing structure for reducing pressure in cooperation with the second chamber 532. Thus, in the practical application of the reaction chamber 11 having a larger space size and/or a plurality of independent sub-chambers, even if the reaction gas of the gas distribution structure 50 is injected at a high speed at a flow rate of 30 to 40m/s, the reaction gas of the target flow rate can be uniformly and stably provided to each position or each sub-chamber of the reaction chamber 11 under the action of the multi-stage pressure relief structure.

In addition, as shown in fig. 5C and 5D, the gas distribution structure 50 may be formed by splicing an upper part 501 and a lower part 502. In some embodiments, inlet conduits 51 may be disposed in upper first member 501, while each second chamber 532 and each outlet conduit 54 may be disposed in lower second member 502. By arranging the gas inlet pipe 51 and each gas outlet pipe 54 on the upper layer and the lower layer of the gas distribution structure 50 respectively, the invention can make full use of the longitudinal space of the gas distribution structure 50 to form a plurality of bends, and avoid the problem of uneven gas outlet flow of each gas outlet pipe 54 caused by the transverse impulse of the reaction gas by using the bends.

Further, as shown in fig. 5C and 5D, the air distribution gap 52 may be formed by a gap formed by splicing the first member 501 and the second member 502 in the transverse direction, and the first chamber 531 may be formed by a gap formed by splicing the first member 501 and the second member 502 in the longitudinal direction. By adopting the upper part and the lower part to splice 501 and 502 to form the gas distribution structure 50, the invention can conveniently form the gas distribution gap 52 with small diameter and the first cavity 531 by adjusting the transverse size and the longitudinal size of the first part 501 and the second part 502, thereby effectively reducing the processing difficulty of the gas distribution structure 50.

Further, in the embodiment shown in fig. 5A, the gas distribution structure 50 may also be preferably provided with a temperature control hole 55 and/or a temperature detection hole 56. A temperature detector may extend into the gas distribution structure 50 via the temperature detection hole 56 to detect the temperature of the gas in the gas distribution structure 50. The heater may extend into the gas distribution structure 50 through the temperature control hole 55 to heat the gas therein by heating the plurality of relief pressure chambers 531, 532.

Specifically, in the gas distribution structure 50 formed by splicing the upper and lower members 501 and 502, the temperature detection hole 56 may be provided in the upper first member 501, and the temperature control hole 55 may be provided in the lower second member 502. A temperature detector may protrude into the first member 501 via the temperature detection hole 56 to detect the temperature of the gas in the gas inlet duct 51. The heater may extend into the lower second member 502 through the temperature control hole, and heat the plurality of buffer pressure chambers 531, 532 with corresponding power according to the gas temperature measured by the temperature detector, so as to accurately heat the gas in each buffer pressure chamber 531, 532 to the target temperature required for the vapor deposition reaction.

Further, as shown in fig. 5A and 5D, the plurality of relief chambers 531, 532 may be evenly distributed at equal angular intervals (e.g., 120 °) to evenly distribute the flow of gas emitted through the gas-distributing gap 52. Furthermore, the plurality of outlet pipes 54 may be evenly distributed at equal angular intervals (e.g., 120 °), so as to evenly distribute the flow of gas emitted through the gas-distributing gap 52.

Further, for a large-scale vapor deposition apparatus including a plurality of sub-cavities and a plurality of showerheads, the gas distribution structure 50 may further include a plurality of gas outlet manifolds. Referring to fig. 6, fig. 6 shows a schematic diagram of a flow dividing device provided according to some embodiments of the present invention. As shown in fig. 6, the outlet manifolds 60 include an inlet and a plurality of outlets. The gas inlet is connected to the gas outlet pipe 54 of the gas distribution structure 50, and each gas outlet is connected to a plurality of positions or sub-cavities of one or more reaction chambers 11 of the vapor deposition apparatus. Therefore, in the vapor deposition process, the reaction gas can enter the gas distribution structure 50 through the gas source 13 and the valve 15, the gas distribution structure 50 uniformly distributes the gas, and then the reaction gas enters the corresponding reaction cavities 11 through the gas outlet manifolds 60 and the spray headers to perform vapor deposition, so that the problem of uneven film thickness caused by uneven gas distribution is solved.

By configuring the gas distributing structure 60 for multiple turning and pressure relief, the invention can effectively reduce the influence of impulse of high-speed input gas along the input direction on the flow rate of the gas output from each gas output pipeline in the vapor deposition process of the reaction cavity 11 with larger space size and/or a plurality of independent sub-cavities, thereby improving the gas output uniformity of each gas output pipeline and avoiding the problem of uneven film thickness caused by uneven gas distribution.

While, for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the methodologies are shown and described as a series of acts, it is to be understood and appreciated that the methodologies are not limited by the order of acts, as some acts may, in accordance with one or more embodiments, occur in different orders and/or concurrently with other acts from that shown and described herein or not shown and described herein, as would be understood by one skilled in the art.

The previous description of the disclosure is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the disclosure. Various modifications to the disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not intended to be limited to the examples and designs described herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims (9)

1. A vapor deposition device is characterized by comprising a reaction cavity, a spray head, a gas source, a valve and a valve temperature control device, wherein the spray head is arranged above the reaction cavity,

the valve base member of valve via the valve temperature control device install in the upper surface of reaction cavity's upper cover plate, the valve includes: the air inlet is connected with an air source through an air inlet pipeline; the first air outlet is connected with the exhaust channel through a first air outlet pipeline; and a second gas outlet communicated to the vapor deposition reaction cavity below the upper cover plate through the upper cover plate, wherein the valve is configured to: acquiring gas source gas through the gas inlet and conveying the gas source gas to the exhaust channel through the first gas outlet; and in response to the judgment result of the stable flow of the gas source gas, the gas source gas is conveyed to the reaction cavity through the second gas outlet,

the valve temperature control device includes: a heating member contacting the valve substrate and supplying heat to the valve substrate to heat a reaction gas used for a vapor deposition reaction therein; a shield can made of a thermally conductive material, contacting the plurality of first locations of the valve base and transferring heat between the plurality of first locations of the valve base; and a cooling box contacting at least one second position of the valve actuator to reduce the temperature of the valve actuator, wherein the valve actuator is disposed on at least one side of the valve base body for switching the communication state of at least one valve internal passage in the valve base body,

the reaction gas enters the base body of the valve through the gas source, is subjected to temperature control by the valve temperature control device, and then enters the reaction cavity through the spray header to perform vapor deposition.

2. The vapor deposition apparatus of claim 1, wherein the shield box includes at least one third location off of the valve base having a mirror-polished structure for radiating and/or reflecting heat to a corresponding location of the valve base.

3. The vapor deposition apparatus of claim 1, wherein an insulating layer is disposed outside the shield box to prevent the shield box from radiating heat outward.

4. The vapor deposition apparatus of claim 1, wherein a fluid channel is disposed within the cooling box for circulating a cooling fluid to remove heat from the valve actuator.

5. The vapor deposition apparatus according to claim 1 or 4, wherein an insulating gap is provided between the shield box and the cooling box for preventing heat transfer between the shield box and the cooling box.

6. The vapor deposition apparatus of claim 1, wherein the valve body includes a plurality of valve internal passages therein, the plurality of valve internal passages having heating holes provided therebetween, and the heating member extends into the heating holes to uniformly heat the plurality of valve internal passages.

7. The vapor deposition apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a temperature detector and a controller, wherein,

the controller obtains the temperature of the valve base body through the temperature detector, and controls the heating element to generate heat according to the temperature of the valve base body so as to control the temperature of the valve base body at a preset target temperature.

8. The vapor deposition apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising an alarm that acquires the temperature of the valve base via the temperature detector and alarms and/or controls the heating element to stop heating when the temperature of the valve base is greater than a preset upper temperature limit.

9. The vapor deposition apparatus of claim 1, wherein the valve body is mounted on an upper surface of an upper cover plate of the reaction chamber via the valve temperature control device, and the temperature-controlled reaction gas enters the reaction chamber via the valve body and the upper cover plate to perform vapor deposition.

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