KR100905262B1 - Substrate Processing Apparatus and Manufacturing Method for a Semiconductor Device - Google Patents

Abstract

The nitrogen gas circulation in the waiting room is compatible with the flow in one direction of the clean air.

The substrate processing apparatus includes a processing chamber for processing a substrate, a substrate holding port for holding the substrate and carrying it into the processing chamber, a waiting chamber provided below the processing chamber and waiting for the substrate holding port to be carried into the processing chamber, A gas supply part provided on the side of the waiting room and supplying an inert gas to an oxygen containing gas to the waiting room, and a gas discharge part provided to the side of the waiting room opposite to the gas supply part and exhausting the inert gas to the oxygen containing gas from the waiting room; And a first gas discharge path connected to the gas discharge part and discharging the inert gas to the oxygen-containing gas in the gas discharge part, and connected to the side of the gas discharge part and in the gas discharge part. A second gas discharge path for discharging gas, and opening and closing the second gas discharge path It is equipped with a seat valve.

Substrate Processing Equipment, Inert Gas, Clean Air, Exhaust

Description

Substrate Processing Apparatus and Manufacturing Method for a Semiconductor Device

TECHNICAL FIELD This invention relates to the manufacturing method of a substrate processing apparatus and a semiconductor device.

In particular, it is related with the technique which suppresses or suppresses generation | occurrence | production of a natural oxide film.

For example, in a method for manufacturing a semiconductor integrated circuit device (hereinafter referred to as IC), a heat treatment apparatus for performing heat treatment on a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter referred to as a wafer) containing a semiconductor integrated circuit including a semiconductor element. It is about what is valid for use in furnace.

In the IC manufacturing method, a heat treatment apparatus is widely used in the heat treatment step of forming an CVD film such as an insulating film, a metal film, and a semiconductor film on a wafer or diffusing impurities.

Conventional heat treatment apparatuses include a processing chamber for batch processing while holding a plurality of wafers in a boat, a waiting chamber in which the boat waits before and after entering and exiting the processing chamber, and a filter for supplying a clean atmosphere to the waiting chamber. And a clean unit composed of a blower, and a boat elevator provided in the waiting room so as to face the filter and lifting and lowering the boat between the waiting room and the processing room.

In general, a motor that is a driving device of a boat elevator is provided in a motor installation chamber that is isolated from a waiting room.

In the conventional heat treatment apparatuses, nitrogen gas serving as an inert gas is blown from the clean unit into the air chamber and circulated to prevent natural oxide film from being formed on the wafer by oxygen (O ₂ ) in the air. Document 1; Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-l19888)

In the heat treatment apparatus configured to prevent nitrogen gas from being formed by atmospheric oxygen on the wafer by blowing nitrogen gas from the clean unit into the waiting chamber, it is necessary to maintain the oxygen concentration in the waiting chamber at several ppm or less.

Therefore, inflow of the atmosphere into the waiting chamber is prevented by maintaining the inside of the waiting chamber in a positive pressure state with nitrogen gas. That is, after setting the sealing performance of the housing | casing which forms a waiting room high, nitrogen gas more than the nitrogen gas flow rate leaking from the clearance of a housing | casing, etc. is supplied to a waiting room.

Therefore, in the heat treatment apparatus assuming that the heat treatment step is performed in a nitrogen gas atmosphere, the exhaust duct for exhausting the inside of the waiting room does not have to be a very large size.

That is, in this case, what is necessary is just to maintain the relationship of the following formula.

Inflow atmosphere amount into the waiting room = additional nitrogen gas supply + (circulation atmosphere in the waiting room)

Discharge amount from the waiting room = leakage from the waiting room, etc. + (circulation atmosphere in the waiting room)

Quantity of inflow atmosphere into the waiting room ≥ amount of discharge atmosphere from the waiting room

On the other hand, in the case where the suppression of the natural oxide film is unnecessary (for example, in the case of the heat treatment process for the film species in which the natural oxide film does not occur), the flow in one direction is not allowed to circulate in the air atmosphere [oxygen]. It is preferable to generate | occur | produce by air which is a gas containing, and hereafter, it may be called clean air from a viewpoint of a thermal effect.

In this case, what is necessary is just to set so that the following formula may be satisfied.

Quantity of inflow atmosphere into waiting room = quantity of discharge atmosphere from waiting room

In this case, the clean air is blown from one side of the waiting room to the opposite side so as to flow horizontally with respect to the boat so as to prevent particles or organic matter from accumulating or remaining in the waiting room. It is preferable.

That is, in order to make the inside of a waiting room a clean atmosphere, the exhaust duct for exhausting the inside of a waiting room needs large size enough.

It is desired to realize both of the above requests in the same heat treatment apparatus.

However, it is a reality that the high sealing body which assumed circulation of the atmosphere in a waiting room does not ensure sufficient exhaust performance.

In the case of designing a large size of the exhaust duct in order to secure sufficient exhaust, there is a problem of worsening the footprint of the heat treatment apparatus.

An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing apparatus and a semiconductor device manufacturing method in which the circulation of the atmosphere in the waiting room and the flow in one direction are compatible.

Means for solving the above problems are as follows.

A processing chamber for processing a substrate,

A substrate holding tool holding the substrate and carrying it into the processing chamber;

A waiting chamber provided at a lower portion of the processing chamber and waiting for the substrate holding tool;

A gas supply unit provided at a side of the waiting chamber and supplying an inert gas to an oxygen-containing gas to the waiting chamber;

A gas discharge part provided on a side facing the gas supply part of the waiting room and exhausting the inert gas to the oxygen-containing gas from the waiting room;

A first gas discharge passage connected to the gas discharge unit and configured to discharge the inert gas to the oxygen-containing gas in the gas discharge unit;

A second gas discharge passage connected to the side of the gas discharge portion to discharge the oxygen-containing gas in the gas discharge portion;

The substrate processing apparatus provided with the gate valve which opens and closes a said 2nd gas discharge path.

In the above means, the inert gas is supplied from the gas supply unit to the waiting room, the inert gas in the waiting room is exhausted from the gas discharge unit provided on the side opposite to the gas supply unit of the waiting room, and the first gas discharge path connected to the gas discharge unit is provided. By discharging the inert gas in the first gas discharge unit, the inert gas can be circulated in the air chamber.

On the other hand, the oxygen-containing gas is supplied from the gas supply unit to the waiting chamber, the oxygen-containing gas in the waiting chamber is exhausted from the gas discharge section provided on the side facing the gas supply section of the waiting chamber, and the second gas discharge path connected to the side of the gas discharge section is provided. Is opened by the gate valve and the oxygen-containing gas in the gas discharge portion is discharged by the second gas discharge passage connected to the side of the gas discharge portion, whereby a flow in one direction of the oxygen-containing gas can be formed in the waiting room.

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter, one Embodiment of this invention is described based on drawing.

In this embodiment, the substrate processing apparatus which concerns on this invention is comprised as the heat processing apparatus 10 as shown in FIGS.

By the way, as a carrier (transfer jig) for accommodating and conveying the wafer as a board | substrate, there are an open cassette and a front opening unified pod (hereinafter, called a pod). The open cassette is formed in a box shape that is substantially cubic, and a pair of faces facing each other is opened. The pod is formed in a substantially rectangular box shape, and one surface is opened, and a cap is attached to the opening surface in a removable material.

When a pod is used as the carrier of the wafer, the cleanliness (cleanness) of the wafer can be maintained even if particles or the like exist in the surrounding atmosphere. This is because the wafer is conveyed in a sealed state. Therefore, in this embodiment, the pod 2 is used as a carrier of the wafer 1.

The heat treatment apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment includes the housing 11. The housing 11 is constructed in an airtight structure that exhibits an airtight performance of about atmospheric pressure. The housing 11 constitutes a waiting chamber 12 in which the substrate holding tool waits for carrying into the processing chamber.

The housing 11 is constructed by combining a frame and a panel. There is a possibility that an extremely minute gap that causes leakage may be formed between the surfaces where the panels abut each other, or between the overlapped surfaces.

The attachment plate 13 is abutted and fastened to the front wall of the housing 11. The contact surface between the housing 11 and the attachment plate 13 may form an extremely fine gap that causes leakage.

In the attachment plate 13, a pair of ports 14 (hereinafter referred to as a wafer loading port) 14 for loading and unloading (loading and unloading) the wafer 1 are formed vertically. At the positions corresponding to the wafer loading ports 14, 14, a pod opener 15 for opening and closing the pod 2 by attaching and detaching the cap 3 (see FIG. 1) of the pod 2 is provided. It is installed.

The maintenance port 16 is provided in the back wall of the housing 11, and the maintenance door 16 is requested | required so that the maintenance door 17 can be opened and closed. The back surface of the housing 11 of the opening edge of the maintenance tool 16 and the contact surface between the maintenance door 17 may form an extremely fine gap which causes leakage.

An elevator 18 is provided in the space in front of the waiting room 12. The elevator 18 elevates the wafer transfer equipment 18A. The wafer transfer device 18A is moved up and down by an elevator 18 (hereinafter sometimes referred to as a wafer transfer device elevator) to convey the wafer 1 between the wafer loading port 14 and the boat 21. . By this conveyance, the wafer transfer apparatus 18A exchanges the wafer 1 with the pod 2 and the boat 21.

A boat elevator 19 is vertically installed in the rear space of the waiting room 12. The boat elevator 19 raises and lowers the seal cap 20 in the vertical direction.

The seal cap 20 is formed in disk shape, and the boat 21 as a board | substrate holding | maintenance opening is perpendicularly formed on the center line of the seal cap 20. As shown in FIG.

The boat 21 holds a plurality of wafers 1 in a state where they are arranged horizontally with a center.

At the rear end of the housing 11, the heater unit 22 is arranged concentrically on the upper portion, and the heater unit 22 is supported by the housing 11.

The outer tube 23 and the inner tube 24 are provided concentrically in the heater unit 22. The outer tube 23 is formed of a heat resistant material such as quartz or silicon carbide, and has an inner diameter larger than the outer diameter of the inner tube 24 and is formed in a cylindrical shape with the upper end closed and the lower end opened.

The inner tube 24 is formed of heat resistant material, such as quartz or silicon carbide, and is formed in the cylindrical shape which opened the upper end and the lower end.

In the cylindrical hollow part of the inner tube 24, the process chamber 25 which can accommodate the boat 21 is formed.

Below the outer tube 23, the manifold 26 is disposed concentrically with the outer tube 23. The manifold 26 is formed with stainless steel etc., and is formed in the cylindrical shape which opened the upper end and the lower end. The manifold 26 supports these by engaging the outer tube 23 and the inner tube 24.

The lower end opening (furnace) of the manifold 26 is opened and closed by the shutter 27.

The exhaust pipe 28 is connected to the side wall portion of the manifold 26 so as to communicate with the space between the outer tube 23 and the inner tube 24. The exhaust pipe 28 exhausts the process chamber 25.

The gas supply pipe 29 as a gas introduction part is connected to the seal cap 20 in a process chamber 25 so as to be communicable.

In the housing 11, a circulation duct 32 composed of a circulation path 31 for circulating nitrogen gas 30 as an inert gas in the waiting chamber 12 is provided as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4.

The circulation duct 32 is provided with the suction side duct part 34 which has the suction port 33, and the suction side duct 34 exhausts nitrogen gas 30 to clean air (oxygen containing gas) 40. As shown in FIG. It constitutes a gas discharge part. The suction side duct part 34 is provided with the suction port 33 in the arm lifting movement range of the arm 19d of the boat elevator 19, and the wafer transfer apparatus elevator 18. As shown in FIG.

The suction side duct part 34 as the gas discharge part from the waiting room 12 isolates the wafer transfer device elevator 18 and the boat elevator 19 from the transfer room on the right side which is one side surface in the waiting room 12 ( However, the moving parts of both arms communicate with each other). They are laid so as to extend vertically over substantially the entire surface.

At the lower end of the suction side duct part 34, the suction side end of the main communication duct part 35 is connected to the front end, and the main communication duct part 35 is outside the waiting room 12 in the pod opener 15. It is laid horizontally to cross below. The suction port 36 is horizontally long and largely opened in the side wall which faces the waiting room 12 of the main communication duct part 35.

The suction side end of the sub communication duct part 37 is connected to the substantially center position in the lower end part of the suction side duct part 34, and the sub communication duct part 37 has the left-right direction on the bottom surface in the waiting room 12. It is laid to cross.

The lower end part of the blowout side duct part 39 is connected to each extraction side end of the main contact duct part 35 and the sub contact duct part 37, and the blower outlet 38 is connected to the blowout side duct part 39, respectively. It is largely opened substantially throughout. The blowout side duct part 39 is attached perpendicularly to the left side surface of the waiting room 12 opposite to the suction side duct part 34.

The clean unit 41 is erected at the jet port 38 of the blowout side duct part 39. The clean unit 41 comprises a gas supply unit as gas supply means for supplying the nitrogen gas 30 and the clean air 40.

The clean unit 41 includes a filter 42 for collecting particles, a plurality of blowers 43 for blowing the cleaned nitrogen gas 30, and the clean air 40. The clean unit 41 is configured such that the filter 42 is exposed to the waiting room 12 and is downstream of the blower 43 group.

As shown in FIG. 2, the clean air supply pipe 44 which supplies clean air is connected to the upstream side of the blowout duct part 39 rather than the clean unit 41, and the clean air supply pipe 44 opens and closes. A damper 45 as an example is opened.

Moreover, the nitrogen gas supply pipe 46 is connected to the extraction side duct part 39, and the nitrogen gas supply pipe 46 comprises the inert gas supply path which supplies an inert gas to the circulation path 31. As shown in FIG. The nitrogen gas supply pipe 46 is provided with a damper 47 as a flow control valve.

As shown in FIG. 2, the cooler 48 is provided in the lower end part of the blowout side duct part 39 so that it may extend in the front-back direction. The cooler 48 cools the atmosphere (nitrogen gas 30) recovered from the main communication duct part 35 and the sub communication duct part 37 to the extraction side duct part 39.

In the present embodiment, the cooler 48 is configured by a water-cooled heat exchanger.

A damper 57 is provided on the downstream side of the cooler 48 as a flow control valve, and the damper 57 is clean of the blowout side duct part 39 from the main communication duct part 35 and the sub communication duct part 37. The circulation path 31 circulating to the upstream side of the unit 41 is opened and closed.

As shown in FIG.3 and FIG.4, the rear end of the suction side duct part 34 forms the discharge path (2nd gas discharge path) 49 connected in the side of the gas discharge part.

As shown in FIG. 4, the discharge duct 50 is connected to the upper end of the discharge path 49, and the main discharge path 51 is formed in the downstream end of the discharge duct 50. As shown in FIG.

The duct is connected again to the downstream end of the discharge duct 50. This duct does not discharge the gas of the periphery of the heat processing apparatus 10 to a clean room, but exhausts it all to exhaust processing systems, such as a factory.

The main discharge path 51 is provided with a damper 52 as an opening / closing edge.

The bypass passage 53 bypassing the damper 52 is connected to the main discharge passage 51. The flow rate of the bypass passage 53 is set to be smaller than the flow rate of the main discharge passage 51.

By providing a flow rate adjusting device such as a flow meter or a needle valve in the bypass passage 53, the flow rate of the bypass passage 53 may be adjusted.

2 to 4, the boat elevator 19 includes a feed screw shaft 19a vertically mounted and supported by a rotating material, and a motor for forward and reverse rotation of the feed screw shaft 19a ( 19b), a lifting platform 19c which is bitten by the feed screw shaft 19a and moves up and down by forward and reverse rotation, and an arm 19d supported by the lifting platform 19c and provided with a boat 21 at the distal end through the seal cap 20. Equipped with.

As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the wafer transfer device elevator 18 includes a transfer screw shaft 18a vertically mounted and supported by a rotating material and a motor 18b for rotating the feed screw shaft 18a forward and backward. ), A lift table 18c which is bitten by the feed screw shaft 18a and moves up and down by forward and reverse rotation, and an arm 18d supported by the lift table 18c and provided with a wafer transfer device 18A.

As shown in FIG. 4, the motor installation chamber 54 is provided just above the suction side duct part 34. As shown in FIG. The motor 19b of the boat elevator 19 and the motor 18b of the wafer transfer device elevator 18 are provided in the motor installation chamber 54. The motor installation chamber 54 is formed in the box shape of the rectangular parallelepiped which has a volume sufficiently larger than the volume of the motor 19b and the motor 18b.

The communication port 56 is formed in the motor installation chamber 54 and the partition 55 which blocks the waiting chamber 12. The communication port 56 communicates the inside of the motor installation chamber 54 with the inside of the suction side duct part 34.

A discharge port 58 is formed in a portion adjacent to the discharge duct 50 of the motor mounting chamber 54.

The motor installation chamber 54, the communication port 56, the discharge port 58, and the discharge duct 50 comprise the 1st gas discharge path 59 connected from the upper side of the gas discharge part.

As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the utility box 60 in which gas piping etc. are provided is adjoined to the site | part adjacent to the discharge path 49 in the back surface of the housing 11.

The utility box 60 is provided with a gas supply unit, an exhaust system, etc. inside. The gas supply unit comprises a gas supply unit including a valve, a flow meter, and the like for supplying gas to the gas supply pipe 29. The exhaust system includes a valve, a pressure gauge, and the like for exhausting gas from the exhaust pipe.

In addition, since the wafer is not placed in the utility box 60 in comparison with the cleanliness in the waiting chamber 12 which is the atmosphere in which the wafer is placed, high cleanliness is not required. Therefore, the sealing property is comprised much lower compared with the housing 11.

On the partition walls of the utility box 60 and the discharge passage 49, a plurality of discharge ports 61 (two in the present embodiment) for discharging the clean air 40 in the discharge passage 49 are arranged in the vertical direction. Each discharge port 61 is opened and closed by a gate valve 62 as opening and closing means, respectively.

In the partition 63 of the suction side duct part 34 and the discharge path 49, there are several discharge ports 64 which discharge the clean air 40 in the suction side duct part 34 to the discharge path 49. In embodiment, 3) is arrange | positioned in the up-down direction, and is formed. Each exhaust port 64 is provided with an exhaust fan 65, respectively. Each exhaust fan 65 constitutes a forced gas exhaust unit as forced gas exhaust means for exhausting the clean air 40 to the exhaust path 49.

The discharge port 61 and the discharge port 64 are formed so that opening area may become larger than the communication port 56, respectively.

That is, compared with the 1st gas discharge path, the flow path area of a 2nd gas discharge path is formed large.

The connection part of the discharge path 49 and the discharge duct 50 is blocked by the partition plate 67, and the partition plate 67 blocks the first gas discharge path 59 and the second gas discharge path 49. Doing.

The exhaust duct 50 may be placed on the exhaust passage 49 without providing the partition plate 67 to block the exhaust passage 49 and the exhaust duct 50.

As shown in FIG. 4, the heat treatment apparatus 10 includes a controller 70 as a control means for controlling the exhaust fan 65 and the gate valve 62. The controller 70 controls the gate valve 62 and the exhaust fan 65 via the communication wiring 71.

That is, the controller 70 controls to close the discharge port 61 by the gate valve 62 when the nitrogen gas 30 is supplied from the clean unit 41 to the waiting room 12. In addition, when the clean air 40 is supplied from the clean unit 41 to the waiting room 12 from the clean unit 41, the controller 70 controls to open the discharge port 61 by the gate valve 62, or the exhaust fan. At the same time as the operation of 65, control is performed to open the discharge port 61 by the gate valve 62.

In addition to the exhaust fan 65 and the gate valve 62, the controller 70 controls conveying units such as the wafer transfer device elevator 18, the boat elevator 19, the wafer transfer device 18A, the pod opener 15, or the like. Control the heating unit of the heater unit 22 or the like, control the blower 43, the dampers 45, 47, 52, 57, or the like, supply or exhaust gas to the process chamber 25, Control the pressure and so on. That is, the controller 70 controls the entire heat treatment apparatus 10 via the communication wiring 71.

Next, the operation of the heat treatment apparatus according to the above configuration will be described.

1 to 3, in the wafer loading step, the pod 2 transferred to the mounting table of the pod opener 15 is cap 3 (by the pod opener 15). Open by removing).

When the pod 2 is opened by the pod opener 15, the plurality of wafers 1 stored in the pod 2 are transferred to the boat 21 by the wafer transfer device 18A and charged. .

When the predetermined number of wafers 1 are loaded, the boat 21 is lifted up by the boat elevator 19 to be loaded into the process chamber 25.

When the boat 21 reaches the upper limit, since the periphery of the upper surface of the seal cap 20 holding the boat 21 abuts on the lower surface of the manifold 26, the processing chamber 25 is closed in an airtight manner. It becomes a state.

In the state in which the process chamber 25 is hermetically closed, it is exhausted by the exhaust pipe 28 at a predetermined vacuum degree and heated to a predetermined temperature by the heater unit 22.

Subsequently, a predetermined processing gas is supplied from the gas supply pipe 29 to the processing chamber 25.

As a result, a desired heat treatment is performed on the wafer 1 (heat treatment step).

Prior to this wafer loading step, the waiting chamber 12 and the circulation path 31 are replaced with a nitrogen gas 30 atmosphere. Thereafter, during the wafer loading step and the heat treatment, most of the nitrogen gas 30 is circulated by the circulation path 31 to the waiting chamber 12.

That is, most of the nitrogen gas 30 supplied from the nitrogen gas supply pipe 46 to the circulation path 31, for example, about the amount of the nitrogen gas 30 supplied from the nitrogen gas supply pipe 46 to the circulation path 31. As shown in FIG. 2, 80% of the circulation duct 32 is blown into the waiting room 12 from the clean unit 41 that is set up on the ejection-side duct part 39 and is part of the circulation path 31. 12) is passed through and sucked into the suction side duct 34 from the suction port 33.

Nitrogen gas 30 sucked into the suction side duct part 34 returns to the extraction side duct part 39 via the main communication duct part 35 and the sub communication duct part 37, and clean unit Blowing again from (41) to the waiting room (12).

Thereafter, the nitrogen gas 30 circulates through the air chamber 12 and the circulation path 31 by repeating the above flow.

On the other hand, a small amount (for example, supplied to the circulation path 31 from the nitrogen gas supply pipe 46) flowing from the waiting room 12 and the suction side duct part 34 to the motor installation chamber 54 via the communication port 56. Nitrogen gas 30 of about 15% of the amount of the nitrogen gas 30 thus obtained flows through the bypass passage 53 via the discharge port 58 and the discharge duct 50.

In addition, the nitrogen gas 30 of a trace amount (for example, about 5% of the amount of nitrogen gas 30 supplied from the nitrogen gas supply pipe 46 to the circulation path 31) is the housing 11 or the housing 11. And the gap from the contact surface of the attachment plate 13 and the contact surface between the housing 11 and the maintenance door 17, etc., are discharged out of the housing 11.

At this time, the flow rate of the nitrogen gas 30 corresponding to the flow rate of the nitrogen gas 30 discharged from the gap of the bypass passage 53 and the housing 11 is supplied from the nitrogen gas supply pipe 46.

In the nitrogen gas 30 circulation step, the damper 52 of the main discharge path 51 and the damper 45 of the clean air supply pipe 44 are closed, and the damper 47 of the nitrogen gas supply pipe 46 is closed. And the damper 57 in the circulation path 31 is open.

Therefore, when the predetermined processing time elapses, the boat 21 descends by the boat elevator 19, whereby the boat 21 holding the processed wafer 1 is in the waiting room 12 in its original waiting position. The boat is unloaded.

When the boat 21 is taken out from the processing chamber 25, the processing chamber 25 is closed by the shutter 27.

When the boat 21 holding the processed wafer 1 is taken out (during the boat unloading step), the damper 52 is opened. Accordingly, about 95% of the nitrogen gas 30 supplied to most of the nitrogen gas 30 in the waiting chamber 12 and the circulation path 31, for example, the nitrogen gas supply pipe 46, to the circulation path 31 is connected to the communication port ( It flows to the motor installation chamber 54 via 56). Nitrogen gas 30 flowing through the motor installation chamber 54 is discharged by the main discharge path 51 and the bypass path 53 via the discharge port 58 and the discharge duct 50.

In addition, the nitrogen gas 30 of a trace amount (for example, about 5% of the amount of nitrogen gas supplied from the nitrogen gas supply pipe 46 to the circulation path 31) has the housing 11, the housing 11, and the attachment plate ( 13 is discharged out of the housing 11 from a gap such as a contact surface between the contact surface 13 and the contact surface between the housing 11 and the maintenance door 17. At this time, the flow rate of the nitrogen gas 30 corresponding to the flow rate of the nitrogen gas 30 discharged from the gaps such as the main discharge path 51, the bypass path 53 and the ore body 11 is a nitrogen gas supply pipe. It is supplied from 46.

That is, the nitrogen gas 30 supplied to the circulation path 31 by the nitrogen gas supply pipe 46 blows into the waiting room 12 from the clean unit 41 built in the extraction side duct part 39, and the waiting room 12 ) Flows through the inlet port 33 of the suction side duct part 34 to the motor installation chamber 54 via the communication port 56, and then passes through the outlet port 58 and the discharge duct 50. Thus, it is discharged by a gap between the main discharge path 51, the bypass path 53, the housing 11, and the like.

During the circulation of the waiting chamber 12, the nitrogen gas 30 is cooled by cooling the heat by contacting the group of wafers 1, which are heated to a high temperature, and the boat 21 holding them.

At this time, the nitrogen gas 30 is cold fresh nitrogen gas 30 immediately after being supplied by the nitrogen gas supply pipe 46, and can cool the wafer 1 group and the boat 21 with high heat exchange efficiency.

Moreover, most nitrogen gas 30 which cooled the wafer 1 group and the boat 21, and raised the temperature flows into the motor installation chamber 54 via the communication port 56, and after that, the discharge port 58 ) And the discharge duct 50 are immediately discharged from the circulation path 31 by the main discharge path 51 and the bypass path 53. As a result, the nitrogen gas 30 whose temperature has risen does not pass through the clean unit 41 opened in the circulation path 31, so that the temperature of the nitrogen gas 30 having the temperature raised raises the clean unit 41. none.

Therefore, organic pollutants are not generated from the clean unit 41.

In addition, since it is nitrogen gas 30 which is an inert gas, the contact with the wafer 1 which became high temperature does not produce a natural oxide film on the surface of the wafer 1.

In this boat unloading step, the damper 52 of the main discharge path 51 and the damper 47 of the nitrogen gas supply pipe 46 are opened, and the damper 45 and the circulation path 31 of the clean air supply pipe 44 are opened. The damper 57 is closed.

In the temperature range where the temperature rise of the circulation path 31 is small, a part of the nitrogen gas 30 whose temperature has risen may be circulated to the circulation path 31.

The wafer 1 having completed the processing of the boat 21 carried out to the waiting room 12 is picked up by the wafer transfer device 18A from the boat 21 and stored in the empty pod 2. The empty pod 2 is conveyed to the wafer loading port 14 in advance, and the cap 3 is separated and opened.

When the pod 2 is filled by the processed wafer 1, the pod 2 is mounted and closed by the pod opener 15 with the cap 3. Thereafter, the pod 2 is transferred from the wafer loading port 14 to another place.

Thereafter, the above-described operation is repeated, whereby the wafer 1 is disposed by the heat treatment apparatus 10.

By the way, the flow volume of the nitrogen gas 30 supplied to the waiting room 12 is constant, and the flow volume of the nitrogen gas 30 exhausted from the waiting room 12 is the flow volume of the nitrogen gas 30 supplied to the waiting room 12. In the case of the same quantity, if the atmosphere (nitrogen gas) of the waiting chamber 12 leaks, the pressure in the waiting chamber 12 will fall.

When the pressure in the waiting chamber 12 decreases, the outside atmosphere (atmosphere) of the waiting chamber 12 easily flows into the waiting chamber 12, so that the oxygen concentration in the waiting chamber 12 increases. As a result, management of the oxygen concentration becomes difficult.

In this embodiment, the phenomenon in which the pressure in the waiting room 12 falls is as follows.

In the wafer loading step and the step of circulating the nitrogen gas under heat treatment in the circulation path 31, the nitrogen gas in an amount equal to the amount of exhaust gas discharged from the gap between the nitrogen gas supply pipe 46 and the bypass path 53 and the ore body 11 and the like. Supply 30. When the nitrogen gas 30 is discharged by the discharge path 49, the main discharge path 51 is closed by the damper 52, and the nitrogen gas 30 is discharged through the bypass path 53.

By preventing the pressure in the waiting chamber 12 from being lowered, the outside atmosphere of the waiting chamber 12 can be prevented from flowing into the waiting chamber 12, and according to the present embodiment, the oxygen concentration can be kept constant.

Even in the wafer loading step and the step of circulating the nitrogen gas under heat treatment in the circulation path 31, by the exhaust path 53, exhaustion and retention can be prevented in the waiting chamber 12. Therefore, not only the natural oxide film can be prevented, but also particles and organic matter can be prevented from remaining in the air chamber 12.

By the way, when suppression of a natural oxide film is unnecessary, it is preferable from the viewpoint of a thermal influence etc. to create the flow of one direction which does not circulate by the clean air 40 in a waiting room.

In this case, it is preferable to blow the clean air 40 from the clean unit 41 so as to flow horizontally with respect to the boat 21 to prevent particles or organic matters from accumulating or remaining in the waiting chamber 12. Do.

In order for the clean air 40 to form a flow in one direction so that no pooling or retention occurs in the waiting room 12, it is necessary to distribute the large flow rate of the clean air 40 into the waiting room 12.

Therefore, in the heat treatment apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the controller 70 operates the exhaust fan 65 and at the same time the gate valve 62. To open the outlet 61.

The damper 45 is opened, and the clean air (see FIG. 2) supplied from the clean air supply pipe 44 to the blowout side duct part 39 is cleaned through the clean unit 41, and becomes the clean air 40 to form the waiting room. It blows horizontally to 12, and it flows in the inside of the waiting room 12 to one horizontal direction, and is sucked in the suction side duct part 34 through the suction port 33 of the suction side duct part 34.

As shown in FIG. 5, the clean air 40 sucked into the suction side duct part 34 exhausts the exhaust forces of the plurality of exhaust fans 65 to the discharge path 49 through the plurality of discharge ports 64. Forced to discharge horizontally. The clean air 40 discharged in the discharge path 49 is discharged horizontally into the utility box 60 from the plurality of discharge ports 61.

In the waiting chamber 12, the flow in the horizontal one direction of the clean air 40 is sufficiently high due to the exhaust force of the plurality of exhaust fans 65, so that the boat is in a large flow rate and in a laminar flow state. The group of wafers 1 on 21 is cooled extremely effectively.

In addition, since a plurality of exhaust fans 65, outlets 64, and outlets 61 are provided in the vertical direction, the clean air 40 can be discharged uniformly in the vertical direction. The flow chart in one horizontal direction of the clean air 40 can be formed uniformly with respect to the vertical direction. Therefore, the wafer 1 group on the boat 21 can be cooled equally over the up-down direction.

In addition, by discharging to the utility box 60 once, the flow velocity of clean air falls. Therefore, the atmosphere of the clean room around the heat treatment apparatus 10 is disturbed and the particles are not rolled up. In addition, due to the poor sealing property of the utility box 60, even if a large amount of gas leaks into the clean room, the clean air 40 or the like does not adversely affect the human body such as asphyxiation.

Unlike the case where the inside of the waiting room 12 is filled with nitrogen gas 30, when the clean air 40 flows in the horizontal direction in the waiting room 12 in one direction, the exhaust port 65 of the exhaust fan 65 and the utility By exhausting horizontally from the discharge port 61 of the box 60, the heat | fever of the group of the wafer 1 on the boat 21 can be taken away quickly. However, at this time, when the overpressure is reached, the temperature in the waiting chamber 12 tends to rise, making it difficult to lose heat, and there is a risk that the wafer 1 is oxidized.

In the present embodiment, by forcibly evacuating the clean air 40 by the exhaust fan 65, it is possible to prevent the inside of the waiting room 12 from becoming excessively positive, thus preventing such a bad occurrence from occurring. You can do it.

Since the 1st gas discharge path 59 is provided in the motor installation chamber 54 above the suction side duct part 34, heat buildup in the motor installation chamber 54 can be prevented.

According to the said embodiment, the following effects can be acquired.

1) Nitrogen gas is supplied from the clean unit to the waiting room, nitrogen gas in the waiting room is exhausted from the suction side duct part, and nitrogen gas in the suction side duct part is discharged from the first gas discharge path connected to the suction side duct part from above. By discharging, nitrogen gas can be circulated in the air chamber, and even a wafer which is easily oxidized in the air chamber can be reliably prevented from generating a natural oxide film.

2) Clean air is supplied from the clean unit to the waiting room, the clean air in the waiting room is exhausted from the suction side duct part, the outlet of the discharge path connected to the side of the suction side duct part is opened, and the suction side duct is opened by the discharge path. By discharging the clean air in the part, it is possible to form a flow in the horizontal direction of the clean air in the laminar flow state in the waiting chamber, and thus it is possible to prevent the pooling and retention in the waiting chamber.

3) According to 2) above, in the heat treatment that does not interfere even if a natural oxide film having a certain thickness is formed, the use of an inert gas such as nitrogen gas can be suppressed or inhibited, thereby reducing operating costs.

4) According to 1) and 2) above, in the same heat treatment apparatus, the nitrogen gas circulation and the one-way flow of clean air can be made compatible.

5) Since the size of the exhaust duct does not have to be increased in 4) above, an increase in the footprint of the heat treatment apparatus can be avoided.

6) By providing a plurality of exhaust fans and outlets in the up and down direction, the clean air can be discharged uniformly in the up and down direction, so that the flow chart in the horizontal one direction of the clean air in the waiting room can be formed uniformly in the up and down direction, The wafer group on the boat can be cooled evenly over the vertical direction.

7) Since the gate valve which opens and closes a 2nd gas discharge path is provided in the 2nd gas discharge path connected from the side of a gas discharge part, a 2nd gas discharge path is opened by a gate valve, and clean air is discharged from a 2nd gas discharge path. Can be discharged in large quantities, and the second gas discharge passage can be closed by the gate valve to circulate the inert gas or discharge the discharge to the first discharge passage. That is, the first gas discharge path mainly discharging the inert gas and the second gas discharge path mainly discharging the oxygen-containing gas can be provided separately.

8) If the utility box is addressed to the discharge path 49, it is not necessary to provide a new exhaust duct, so that an increase in the footprint of the heat treatment apparatus can be avoided.

This invention is not limited to the said embodiment, Needless to say that a various change is possible in the range which does not deviate from the summary.

For example, the exhaust fan 65 and the exhaust ports 64 are not limited to being provided three by one, but may be provided by one, two, or four or more.

In addition, you may abbreviate | omit forced gas exhaust parts, such as an exhaust fan.

FIG. 6 is a view showing details of the opening / closing drive and discharge port 61 of the gate valve 62 and the gate valve 62 and the discharge port 64 and the fan 65 around the vertically long discharge path 49. to be.

In Fig. 6, the number of outlets 61 and gate valves 62 are different, as are the three outlets 61 and the gate valve 62, the two outlets 64 and the fan 65, respectively. The outlet 61 and the gate valve 62 and the outlet 64 and the fan 65 are alternately arranged in the up and down directions, respectively, with different installation heights of the outlet 64 and the fan 65.

In addition, a cylinder device 62A as an opening / closing drive unit for opening and closing the gate valve 62 is provided between the plurality of discharge ports 64. By the operation of this cylinder device 62A, the gate valve 62 opens and closes the discharge port 61 by moving in parallel with the front face in the vertical direction with respect to the discharge port 61. Since the cylinder device 62A is connected at the center of the gate valve 62, the propulsion force of the cylinder device 62A is easily transmitted evenly to the entire gate valve 62.

The cylinder device 62A is controlled by the controller 70 via the communication wiring 71.

By providing the cylinder device 62A between the plurality of discharge ports 64 in this manner, the operation of the gate valve 62 can be smoothed and the installation of the cylinder device 62A can be facilitated.

In addition, the number of the outlet 61 and the gate valve 62 and the two outlets 64 and the fan 65 are different, and the outlet 61 and the gate valve 62, the outlet 64 and the fan are also different. By disposing the outlet 61 and the gate valve 62 and the outlet 64 and the fan 65 in the vertical direction, respectively, by varying the installation height of the 65, the gate valve in the vertically long discharge passage 49 is arranged. The 62 can be easily installed and opened or closed. Therefore, the clean air discharged from the discharge port 64 can be avoided from the gate valve 62 and discharged.

Even if the number of the outlet 61 and the gate valve 62 and the two outlets 64 and the fan 65 are one each, or two or more of the same number, the outlet 61 and the gate valve 62 and the outlet ( 64 and the installation height of the fan 65 may be staggered, and the discharge port 61 and the gate valve 62, the discharge port 64, and the fan 65 may be mutually staggered in the up-down direction, respectively. In this case, the effectiveness of the space and the discharge efficiency are slightly inferior to those described above.

Clean air is not limited to being configured to exhaust into a utility box.

The utility box 60 has been described so as to speak only to the side of the discharge passage 49, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the upper end of the utility box 60 is moved to the side of the discharge duct 50 and the utility box 60 is moved. You may increase the height of 60.

The filter installed in the clean unit may be a type in which particles are removed and cleaned. Preferably, it is good to provide both a type for removing particles and a type for removing organic matter.

As an inert gas, it is not limited to using nitrogen gas.

The operation method of the 1st gas discharge path 59 and the 2nd gas discharge path 49 is not limited to the said embodiment, It can select suitably.

For example, in a heat treatment step (process) in which a natural oxide film having a certain thickness is formed, which does not interfere, during a wafer charging step (wafer loading step) or a heat treatment step that does not require forced cooling in the wafer group, nitrogen As the gas circulation step, the nitrogen gas may be discharged from the first gas discharge path 59, and the boat unloading step may be converted to discharge from the second gas discharge path 49 using the clean air 40.

In addition, in the boat unloading step requiring forced cooling of the wafer group, clean air may be distributed in addition to the distribution of nitrogen gas.

In addition, in the boat unloading step in which forced cooling is not required for the wafer group, the flow rate of the nitrogen gas discharged from the gaps of the bypass passage 53 and the housing 11 and the like without opening the damper 52 is equivalent. The flow rate of the nitrogen gas 30 may be supplied from the nitrogen gas supply pipe 46.

In the above embodiment, the case of the batch type vertical heat treatment apparatus has been described, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and the present invention can be applied to the entire substrate processing apparatus such as the batch type vertical diffusion apparatus.

On the other hand, the first gas discharge path which is connected from the upper side of the gas discharge part and discharges the nitrogen gas or the clean air in the gas discharge part can be preferentially discharged from the upper side of the waiting room or the gas discharge part. This contributes to the compactness of the heat treatment apparatus. However, this does not prevent, for example, installing the first gas discharge passage below the gas discharge portion.

7 and 8 show the gas supply sequence into the waiting room, the supply amount of nitrogen gas and clean air, the opening and closing timing of the damper 57, the damper 52 and the gate valve 62, and the oxygen concentration in the waiting room, It is a flow chart which shows the modification of the operating method which operates in response to the atmospheric temperature in a waiting room, the temperature of the upper surface of the body which forms a waiting room, and each step.

In the operation method shown in FIG. 7, in order to promote discharge | emission of heat etc. which generate | occur | produced at the last batch (1st batch) during the heat treatment step of this batch (2nd batch), in the operation method shown in FIG. Immediately after the boat loading step, the gate valve 62 and the damper 52 are opened, the damper 57 is closed at the same time, and the clean air 40 is supplied to the waiting chamber 12.

Next, in the middle of the heat treatment step, the gate valve 62 is closed, the damper 57 is opened, the damper 52 is kept open, and 800 liters of nitrogen gas is supplied to the waiting chamber 12 every minute. The oxygen concentration in (12) is returned to the low concentration state (about 20 ppm).

Next, the damper 52 is closed and nitrogen gas is continuously supplied.

By the way, when the wafer is carried out to the air chamber 12 at a high temperature such as 700 ° C. after the heat treatment step, the atmosphere recovered before passing through the cooler 48 is 60 ° C., The atmosphere after passage becomes 40 degreeC.

For example, when the heat exchange is performed at a temperature of 20 to 25 ° C. of the cooling water flowing to the cooler 48, heat exchange cannot be performed properly, and therefore, particularly during the step of the first batch (the first treatment), In the boat unloading step of the completed wafer, heat is accumulated in the housing 11 and the nitrogen gas 30 in the waiting chamber 12 forming the waiting chamber 12.

In particular, if the arrangement (multiple processes) is repeated several times, the accumulation of heat to the inner wall of the waiting chamber 12 and the nitrogen gas 30 increases. As a result, organic matter is generated from cables, elevators, electrical appliances, and the like provided in the vicinity of the waiting room 12, the filter deteriorates in heat, or organic matter is generated from the seal ring of the filter portion.

In order to solve this, as shown in FIG. 7, during the second heat treatment step, the clean air 40 is supplied at a flow rate greater than the gas supply amount of the nitrogen gas 30, and the gate valve 62 is opened to open the horizontal. Eject from the direction.

Thereby, even if the clean air 40 becomes large flow rate, heat will not be generated in the waiting room 12, but heat can be discharged, and the waiting room 12 can be cooled quickly.

In addition, since the clean air 40 can use air in a clean room, for example, unlike the nitrogen gas 30, it is easy to make a large flow volume and can also reduce operating cost.

Preferably, by discharging while operating the exhaust fan 65, the clean air 40 can be effectively discharged from the discharge passage 49 which is the second gas discharge passage.

As shown in FIG. 7, even if the inflow of fresh nitrogen gas when the nitrogen gas 30 is used is 800 liters per minute, the flow rate of the nitrogen gas 30 flowing in the circulation path 31 is about 20000 liters per minute, Relative quantities are significantly different. Therefore, even if the temperature of new nitrogen gas is 20-25 degreeC lower than circulating nitrogen gas temperature of about 40 degreeC, the circulation atmosphere of the waiting chamber 12 is maintained at 40 degreeC substantially.

That is, in the heat treatment step of the second batch from the boat unloading step of the first batch, only about 35 deg. In addition, the upper panel of the housing 11 forming the waiting chamber 12 substantially falls only about 60 ° C.

However, as shown in FIG. 7, the gate valve 62 is supplied with the clean air 40 supplied at a flow rate (about 20,000 liters per minute) more than the supply amount of the nitrogen gas 30 during the second heat treatment step. The air in the waiting chamber 12 can be lowered to room temperature while removing the heat accumulated in the housing 11 in a short time by opening the air and discharging the clean air 40 from the horizontal direction.

In addition, since clean air is replaced with nitrogen gas during the heat treatment step, there is no such thing as forming a natural oxide film on the wafer.

The second modification shown in FIG. 8 is an operation method for reducing the thermal diffusion in the wafer cooling step of each batch in addition to the operation of the valve of the first modification of FIG. 7.

As shown in FIG. 8, in the wafer cooling step, the controller 70 increases the supply flow rate of the nitrogen gas 30 from 400 liters per minute to 800 liters per minute, and opens the damper 52.

By controlling in this way, before the cooling step by valve operation which is a 1st modified example, the heat and particle which were generated at the time of the boat carrying out step can be discharged | emitted from the 1st gas discharge path 59. As shown in FIG. Therefore, in the second heat treatment step, the atmosphere in the waiting chamber 12 can be lowered to room temperature while removing the heat accumulated in the housing 11 in a shorter time.

In the first and second modifications, the cooling of the waiting room by the large flow rate clean air supply in the heat treatment step in the second batch has been described, but is not limited thereto. For example, after the third batch, the waiting chamber may be cooled by a large flow rate of clean air during the heat treatment step. Preferably, it is efficient if performed every 1 batch.

Preferred embodiment is added.

(1) a processing chamber for processing a substrate,

A substrate holding tool for holding the substrate and bringing it into the processing chamber;

A waiting room provided below the processing chamber and waiting for the substrate holding tool;

A gas supply unit provided at a side of the waiting chamber and supplying an inert gas to an oxygen-containing gas to the waiting chamber;

A gas discharge part provided on the side of the waiting chamber facing the gas supply part and exhausting the inert gas to the oxygen-containing gas from the waiting chamber;

A first gas discharge passage connected to the gas discharge unit and configured to discharge the inert gas to the oxygen-containing gas in the gas discharge unit;

A second gas discharge passage connected to the side of the gas discharge portion and configured to discharge the oxygen-containing gas in the gas discharge portion;

The substrate processing apparatus provided with the gate valve which opens and closes a said 2nd gas discharge path.

(2) The substrate processing of (1), wherein a plurality of forced gas exhaust units for discharging gas are provided in the second gas discharge path, and an opening / closing drive unit of the gate valve is provided between the plurality of forced gas exhaust units. Device.

(3) The substrate processing apparatus of said (1) provided in the upstream of the said gas supply part, and provided with the gas supply path which supplies the said inert gas-the said oxygen containing gas.

(4) a controller for controlling the gate valve, wherein the controller

When the inert gas is supplied from the first gas supply path to the waiting chamber, the second gas discharge path is closed by the gate valve,

The substrate processing apparatus of said (1) which controls so that the said 2nd gas discharge path may be opened by the said gate valve, when the said oxygen containing gas is supplied from the 2nd gas supply path to the said waiting room.

(5) The controller controls the supply amount of the oxygen-containing gas supplied from the second gas supply path to the waiting chamber to be larger than the supply amount of the inert gas supplied from the first gas supply passage to the waiting chamber ( 4) substrate processing apparatus.

(6) The substrate processing apparatus of the above (1), wherein a plurality of discharge ports are provided in the vertical direction of the second gas discharge path, and a plurality of the gate valves are provided in the vertical direction so as to open and close the plurality of discharge ports, respectively.

(7) The substrate processing apparatus according to (6), wherein the forced gas exhaust unit is provided in plural in the vertical direction at a position different from the gate valve.

(8) A controller for controlling the forced gas exhaust unit and the gate valve, wherein the controller is configured to supply the second gas by the gate valve when the inert gas is supplied from the first gas supply path to the waiting chamber. Close the exhaust path,

When the oxygen-containing gas is supplied from the second gas supply path to the waiting chamber, the substrate of (2) which operates the forced gas exhaust part and controls the gate gas valve to open the second gas discharge path. Processing unit.

(9) The substrate processing apparatus of (1), wherein the first gas discharge path is connected to an upper side of the gas discharge part.

(10) a processing chamber for processing the substrate,

A substrate holding tool for holding the substrate and bringing it into the processing chamber;

A waiting room in which the substrate holding tool is waiting;

A gas supply unit provided at a side of the waiting chamber and supplying at least an oxygen-containing gas to the waiting chamber;

A gas discharge part provided on the side of the waiting room facing the gas supply part and exhausting at least the oxygen-containing gas from the waiting room;

A gas discharge path connected to the side of the gas discharge part and configured to discharge the oxygen-containing gas in the gas discharge part;

The substrate processing apparatus provided with the gate valve which opens and closes the said gas discharge path.

(11) The substrate processing apparatus according to the above (10), wherein a plurality of forced gas exhaust units for discharging gas are provided in the gas discharge path, and an opening / closing drive unit of the gate valve is provided between the plurality of forced gas exhaust units.

(12) In the method of manufacturing a semiconductor device using the substrate processing apparatus of (1),

Processing the substrate in the processing chamber while holding the substrate as the substrate holding tool;

Carrying out the substrate holding tool from the processing chamber while holding the processed substrate in the waiting chamber;

And at least a step of opening the gate valve and discharging the oxygen-containing gas in the waiting chamber from the second gas discharge path while supplying an oxygen-containing gas from the gas supply section to the waiting chamber. Method of manufacturing the device.

(13) The method of manufacturing the semiconductor device of (12), wherein the discharging of the oxygen-containing gas is within a predetermined period in the discharging of the substrate.

(14) In the method of manufacturing a semiconductor device using the substrate processing apparatus of (10),

Processing the substrate in the processing chamber while holding the substrate as the substrate holding tool;

Carrying out the substrate holding tool from the processing chamber while holding the processed substrate in the waiting chamber;

And at least a step of opening the gate valve and discharging the oxygen-containing gas in the waiting chamber from the second gas discharge path while supplying an oxygen-containing gas from the gas supply section to the waiting chamber. Method of manufacturing the device.

(15) The method of manufacturing the semiconductor device according to the above (14), wherein the discharging of the oxygen-containing gas is within a predetermined period within the discharging of the substrate.

(16) processing the substrate in a processing chamber while holding the substrate as a substrate holding tool;

Carrying out the substrate holding port from the processing chamber while holding the processed substrate in the waiting chamber;

In at least a predetermined period in the step of carrying out the substrate holding port, while supplying an oxygen-containing gas to the waiting chamber from a gas supply section provided on the side of the waiting chamber, through a gas discharge section provided on the side of the waiting chamber opposite to the gas supply section, And discharging said oxygen-containing gas in said waiting chamber from a gas discharge passage connected to the side of said gas discharge portion opened by a gate valve.

(17) supplying an inert gas or an oxygen-containing gas to the waiting chamber from a gas supply unit provided on the side of the waiting chamber;

Waiting the substrate holding tool holding the substrate in the waiting room before bringing it into the processing chamber;

Exhausting the inert gas to the oxygen-containing gas in the waiting chamber from at least a certain period of time in the waiting step from a gas discharge section provided on the side of the waiting chamber facing the gas supply section;

Discharging the inert gas to the oxygen-containing gas in the gas discharge part from a first gas discharge path connected at the gas discharge part;

Opening a second gas discharge passage connected to the side of the gas discharge portion by a gate valve, and discharging the oxygen-containing gas in the gas discharge portion;

Closing the second gas discharge passage by the gate valve;

Bringing in the substrate holding tool holding the substrate from the waiting chamber to the processing chamber;

And manufacturing the substrate in the processing chamber.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The side cross section which shows the heat processing apparatus which is one Embodiment of this invention.

2 is a partial cutaway front view.

3 is a plan sectional view of the waiting room.

4 is a side cross-sectional view taken along line IV-IV of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a side cross-sectional view corresponding to FIG. 4 showing a step of forming a directional flow of clean air in the waiting room; FIG.

6 is a side cross-sectional view showing details of a portion around the discharge path.

7 is a sequence flowchart showing a first modification of the valve operation method.

8 is a sequence flowchart showing a second modification of the valve operation method.

<Description of the code>

1 wafer (substrate) 2 pod (wafer carrier)

3: cap 10: heat treatment apparatus (substrate processing apparatus)

11: ore 12: waiting room

13: attachment plate 14: wafer loading port

15: Ford Opener 16: Maintenance Hole

17: maintenance door 18: wafer transfer device elevator

18a: Feed screw shaft 18b: Motor (drive mechanism)

18c: platform 18d: arm

18A: Wafer Transfer Device 19: Boat Elevator

19a: feed screw shaft 19b: motor (drive mechanism)

19c: platform 19d: arm

20: seal cap 21: boat (board support base)

22: heater unit 23: outer tube

24: inner tube 25: processing chamber

26: manifold 27: shutter

28: exhaust pipe 29: gas supply pipe

30: nitrogen gas (inert gas) 31: circulation path

32: circulation duct 33: suction port

34: suction side duct part 35: main contact duct part

36: suction port 37: sub contact duct

38: outlet 39: outlet side duct part

40: clean air (oxygen-containing gas) 41: clean unit (gas supply means)

42: filter 43: blower

44: clean air supply pipe (clean air supply passage)

45: damper

46: nitrogen gas supply pipe (inert gas supply passage)

47: damper 48: cooler

49: discharge path (second gas discharge path)

50: discharge duct 51: main discharge path

52: damper (opening and closing side) 53: bypass

54 motor installation chamber 55 partition wall

56: communication port 57: damper

58: discharge port 59: the first gas discharge path

60: utility box 61: outlet

62: gate valve (opening and closing means)

62A: Cylinder Device 63: Bulkhead

64: exhaust port 65: exhaust fan

67 partition plate 70 controller (control means)

71: communication wiring.

Claims (16)

A processing chamber for processing a substrate, A substrate holding tool holding the substrate and carried in the processing chamber; A waiting room provided below the processing chamber and waiting for the substrate holding tool; A gas supply unit provided at a side of the waiting chamber and supplying an inert gas to an oxygen-containing gas to the waiting chamber; A gas discharge part provided on the side of the waiting chamber facing the gas supply part and exhausting the inert gas to the oxygen-containing gas from the waiting chamber; A first gas discharge passage connected to the gas discharge unit and discharging the inert gas to the oxygen-containing gas in the gas discharge unit; A second gas discharge passage connected to the side of the gas discharge unit and configured to discharge the oxygen-containing gas in the gas discharge unit; And a gate valve for opening and closing the second gas discharge passage. 2. The substrate according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of forced gas exhaust portions for discharging gas are provided in the second gas discharge passage, and an opening / closing drive portion of the gate valve is provided between the plurality of forced gas exhaust portions. Processing unit. The substrate processing apparatus of Claim 1 provided with the gas supply path provided in the upstream of the said gas supply part, and supplying the said inert gas-the said oxygen containing gas. The said gas supply path of Claim 1 provided with the controller which controls the said gate valve, When the said inert gas is supplied from the 1st gas supply path to the said waiting room, Close it, And when the oxygen-containing gas is supplied from the second gas supply path to the waiting chamber, the second gas discharge path is controlled to be opened by the gate valve. The said controller is controlled so that the supply amount of the said oxygen containing gas supplied from the said 2nd gas supply path to the said waiting room may be larger than the supply amount of the inert gas supplied from the said 1st gas supply path to the said waiting room. The substrate processing apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of discharge ports are provided in the vertical direction of the second gas discharge path, and a plurality of the gate valves are provided in the vertical direction so as to open and close the plurality of discharge ports, respectively. . 7. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 6, wherein a plurality of forced gas exhaust ports for discharging gas are provided in the second gas discharge path in a vertical direction at a position different from the gate valve. The said gas-exhaust part and the controller which control the said gate valve are provided, The said controller is provided with the said gate valve, when the said inert gas is supplied from the 1st gas supply path to the said waiting room. Close the second gas outlet, When the oxygen-containing gas is supplied from the second gas supply path to the waiting chamber, the forced gas exhaust unit is operated, and the substrate gas is controlled to open the second gas discharge path by the gate valve. Device. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first gas discharge passage is connected from an upper side of the gas discharge unit. A processing chamber for processing a substrate, A substrate holding tool holding the substrate and brought into the processing chamber; A waiting room in which the substrate holding tool is waiting; A gas supply unit provided at a side of the waiting chamber and supplying at least an oxygen-containing gas to the waiting chamber; A gas discharge part provided on the side of the waiting room facing the gas supply part and exhausting at least the oxygen-containing gas from the waiting room; A gas discharge path connected to the side of the gas discharge part and configured to discharge the oxygen-containing gas in the gas discharge part; Gate valve for opening and closing the gas discharge path The substrate processing apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein a plurality of forced gas exhaust portions for discharging gas are provided in the gas discharge passage, and an opening / closing drive portion of the gate valve is provided between the plurality of forced gas exhaust portions. . In the manufacturing method of the semiconductor device using the substrate processing apparatus of Claim 1, Processing the substrate in the processing chamber while holding the substrate as the substrate holding tool; Carrying out the substrate holding tool from the processing chamber to the waiting chamber while the substrate is processed; Opening the gate valve through the gas discharge unit and discharging the oxygen-containing gas in the waiting chamber from the second gas discharge passage while supplying an oxygen-containing gas from the gas supply unit to the waiting chamber. At least a semiconductor device manufacturing method characterized by the above-mentioned. The method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 12, wherein the step of discharging the oxygen-containing gas is within a predetermined period within the step of discharging the substrate. In the manufacturing method of the semiconductor device using the substrate processing apparatus of Claim 10, Processing the substrate in the processing chamber while holding the substrate as the substrate holding tool; Carrying out the substrate holding tool from the processing chamber while holding the processed substrate in the waiting chamber; Opening the gate valve through the gas discharge unit and discharging the oxygen-containing gas in the waiting chamber from the gas discharge path while supplying an oxygen-containing gas from the gas supply unit to the waiting chamber. At least a semiconductor device manufacturing method characterized by the above-mentioned. 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the discharging of the oxygen-containing gas is within a predetermined period within the discharging of the substrate. Processing the substrate in a processing chamber while holding the substrate as a substrate holding tool; Carrying out the substrate holding port from the processing chamber while holding the processed substrate in the waiting chamber; In at least a predetermined period in the step of carrying out the substrate holding tool, through the gas discharge portion provided on the side of the waiting chamber facing the gas supply portion, the oxygen-containing gas is supplied from the gas supply portion provided on the side of the waiting chamber to the waiting chamber. Discharging said oxygen-containing gas in said waiting chamber from a gas discharge passage connected to the side of said gas discharge portion opened by a gate valve; At least a semiconductor device manufacturing method characterized by the above-mentioned.

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