Molecular pump in chip manufacturing

Semiconductor industry is the cornerstone of the global information industry, whether from the perspective of science and technology or economic development, the importance is self-evident. The development of emerging technologies such as 5g, artificial intelligence, big data, Internet of things has continuously injected new vitality into the semiconductor industry. As a modern basic science closely combined with applied science, vacuum technology is widely used in semiconductor industry. Among them, molecular pump is one of the components of many semiconductor manufacturing equipment,

It is widely used in various IC manufacturing processes. Next, EVP vacuum pump manufacturers will take you into the semiconductor industry chain and explore the application of molecular pumps in the semiconductor industry.

Semiconductor industry chain

The semiconductor industry chain includes the upstream semiconductor support industry, the midstream semiconductor manufacturing industry and the downstream semiconductor application industry. Semiconductor support industry includes semiconductor materials and equipment, among which vacuum products are mainly in semiconductor equipment

Field application; the core of midstream semiconductor manufacturing is integrated circuit manufacturing, including IC design, IC manufacturing and IC packaging test; the downstream semiconductor application fields are numerous, and the top three industries in the global semiconductor application field are communication and smart phone, PC / tablet, industry / medical.

IC manufacturing industry is a typical technology intensive industry, with high technical content and high requirements for supporting industries, including vacuum equipment supporting industry. Vacuum equipment (vacuum valve, vacuum pump, vacuum chamber and pipe, etc.) is the necessary general equipment in the process of semiconductor process, which is widely used in chip manufacturing process.

The manufacturing process of semiconductor devices is extremely complex, which requires a series of precise physical or chemical operations on high-purity silicon wafers, such as doping corresponding other elements, forming a variety of metal films and insulation films, surface etching, etc. These complex manufacturing processes need to be carried out in the high vacuum environment maintained by molecular pump, and the cleanliness of vacuum system and vacuum equipment is also required.

Application of molecular pump in semiconductor equipment

In semiconductor manufacturing process, molecular pump is widely used in lithography, film deposition equipment, etching equipment, ion implantation machine and other key equipment.

Lithography machine

Lithography machine is the core equipment for the production of large-scale integrated circuits. Manufacturing and maintenance require a high degree of optical and electronic industrial foundation. Only a few manufacturers in the world master it, so the lithography machine is expensive. The lithography process of lithography machine must be realized in high vacuum environment, because the extreme ultraviolet light is very delicate and easy to be lost in the air. At the same time, in the process of photolithography, the time error of the device is measured in picosecond, which requires very high vibration value of the magnetic levitation molecular pump. (Note: picosecond = one millionth of a second)

Film deposition equipment

Thin film deposition refers to the formation of a variety of thin films on the wafer surface, which can be insulators, semiconductors or conductors. They are composed of different materials and are grown or deposited by a variety of processes. Common deposition techniques include chemical vapor deposition (CVD), evaporation and sputtered PVD. Generally speaking, low temperature (≤ 500 ℃) annealing process and other heat treatment processes are added to enhance the low resistance contact between the metal layer and semiconductor, and eliminate the internal stress. High clean vacuum environment is needed in the process of equipment operation, and the oil-free vacuum system based on magnetic levitation molecular pump is generally used.

Etching equipment

Etching is the selective removal of unwanted materials from the surface of silicon wafers by chemical or physical methods. The basic goal of etching is to correctly copy mask patterns on the coated silicon. Modern dry etching equipment includes complex mechanical, electrical and vacuum systems, and is equipped with automatic etch end detection and control devices. Due to the complex working conditions, poor cleanliness and various kinds of special gases, dry pump and magnetic levitation molecular pump need special treatment.

Ion implantation equipment

Ion implantation equipment: ion implantation refers to the phenomenon that under vacuum environment, when the ion beam shoots at the solid material, the speed is slowly reduced due to the resistance of the solid material, and finally stays in the solid material. Ion implantation is a major technique for doping near the surface of semiconductors. Ion implanter is the key equipment in IC manufacturing process, which needs high clean vacuum environment to ensure the accuracy of ion doping concentration and dose.