UV curing system for semiconductors

摘要

Embodiments of an ultraviolet (UV) curing system for treating a semiconductor substrate such as a wafer are disclosed. The curing system generally includes a processing chamber, a wafer support for holding a wafer in the chamber, a UV radiation source disposed above the chamber, and a UV transparent window interspersed between the radiation source and wafer support. In one embodiment, the wafer support is provided by a belt conveyor operable to transport wafers through the chamber during UV curing. In another embodiment, the UV radiation source is a movable lamp unit that travels across the top of the chamber for irradiating the wafer. In another embodiment, the UV transparent window includes a UV radiation modifier that reduces the intensity of UV radiation on portions of the wafer positioned below the modifier. Various embodiments enhance wafer curing uniformity by normalizing UV intensity levels on the wafer.

主权项

1. A semiconductor wafer curing system comprising:
a processing chamber; a belt conveyor disposed in the processing chamber, the belt conveyor being configured for holding a wafer and operable to transport the wafer through the processing chamber; an ultraviolet (UV) radiation source disposed above the processing chamber, the UV radiation source being operable to emit UV radiation to irradiate a wafer disposed on the belt conveyor for UV curing; the processing chamber provided with a UV transparent window that is positioned between the belt conveyor and the UV radiation source, wherein the UV radiation impinges on higher and lower intensity regions on a side of the UV transparent window with higher and lower intensities of UV radiation, respectively; wherein the UV transparent window is configured to pass at least some of the UV radiation from the UV radiation source, through the lower intensity region, and onto the wafer on the belt conveyor; the UV transparent window includes a UV radiation modifying section; wherein the UV radiation modifying section has a surface area less than the surface area of the side of the UV transparent window and is localized to the higher intensity region of the UV transparent window, and reduces the intensity of the UV radiation passing through the radiation modifying section to the wafer on the belt conveyor; and wherein all portions of the wafer are irradiated substantially uniformly with relatively uniform UV intensity.