Wafer cooling system
AssigneeTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
InventorsOtto Chen, Chia-Chih Chen
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present disclosure describes a wafer cooling/heating system that includes a load-lock and a thermo module. The load-lock uses a level stream design to improve temperature uniformity across one or more wafers during a cooling/heating process. The load-lock can include (i) a wafer holder configured to receive wafers at a front side of the load-lock; (ii) a gas diffuser with one or more nozzles along a back side of the load-lock, a side surface of the load-lock, or a combination thereof; and (iii) one or more exhaust lines. Further, the thermo module can be configured to control a temperature of a gas provided to the load-lock.
Claims20
A wafer cooling system,comprising:
- a load-lock comprising:
- a wafer holder comprising vertically-stacked wafer slots each configured to receive a wafer from a front side of the load-lock;
- a gas diffuser disposed on a back side of the load-lock opposite to the front side, wherein the gas diffuser comprises vertically-stacked rows of nozzles, wherein each of the vertically-stacked rows of nozzles surrounds a perimeter of the wafer holder and positioned between adjacent vertically-stacked wafer slots;
- and
- a temperature control device configured to control a temperature of a gas provided to the gas diffuser.
A wafer cooling system, comprising:
- a load-lock comprising:
- a wafer holder comprising wafer slots each configured to receive and hold a wafer in a horizontal position;
- a gas diffuser comprising diffuser rods arranged in an arcuate configuration around the wafer holder, wherein each diffuser rod comprises nozzles, wherein the nozzles face sidewalls of the wafer holder and positioned between the wafer slots;
- and
- exhaust lines disposed on a sidewall of the load-lock, wherein each exhaust line corresponds to a wafer slot in the wafer holder;
- and
- a temperature control device configured to provide temperature-controlled gas to the diffuser rods.
A wafer cooling system, comprising:
- a wafer holder configured to hold a stack of wafers;
- a gas diffuser having an arcuate shape and positioned adjacent to the wafer holder, wherein the gas diffuser comprises:
- rows of nozzles arranged in a semi-circular pattern around the stack of wafers, wherein each row of nozzles is positioned between adjacent wafers from the stack of wafers and is configured to release a gas on opposing surfaces of the adjacent wafers;
- and
- a thermo module configured to modulate a temperature of the gas, wherein the thermo module comprises:
- a semiconductor material comprising a first surface configured to heat the gas above room temperature and a second surface configured to cool the gas below room temperature;
- a copper plate over the first and second surfaces;
- and
- a ceramic plate over the copper plate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.