Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Comp. Ltd.

Chia-Chih Chen

Otto Chen

Chi-Ying Wu

Wen-Yu Ku

Ying-Yen Tseng

A semiconductor fabrication facility is provided. The semiconductor fabrication facility includes a processing tool and a transmission assembly. The transmission assembly is connected to the processing tool and comprises a number of transmission lines used to supply electric power or a fluid to the processing tool or remove the fluid or an exhaust gas from the processing tool. The transmission lines includes a first transmission line and a second transmission line. The first transmission line has a first temperature and the second transmission line has a second temperature. The second temperature is higher than the first temperature. The first transmission line and the second transmission line are arranged such that a thermal energy of the second transmission line is able to be transmitted to the first transmission line to change the first temperature of the first transmission line.

Method for managing temperature in semiconductor fabrication facility

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.

Wafer cooling system

An ion collector includes a plurality of segments and a plurality of integrators. The plurality of segments are physically separated from one another and spaced around a substrate support. Each of the segments includes a conductive element that is designed to conduct a current based on ions received from a plasma. Each of the plurality of integrators is coupled to a corresponding conductive element. Each of the plurality of integrators is designed to determine an ion distribution for a corresponding conductive element based, at least in part, on the current conducted at the corresponding conductive element. An example benefit of this embodiment includes the ability to determine how uniform the ion distribution is across a wafer being processed by the plasma.

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Hsinchu, Taiwan

Chia-Chih Chen