JP2002173775A - Semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, and manufacturing method of semiconductor apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent generation of particles and any falling accident of a boat. SOLUTION: A first evacuation stage 5 and a second evacuation stage 5A are installed respectively on a left front side and a back side of a heat treatment stage 4 installed in the center of a casing 2. A first boat elevator 20 for moving a first boat 30 between the stages 4 and 5 by a rotary actuator 24, and a second boat elevator 20A for moving a second boat 30A between the stages 4 and 5A by a rotary actuator 24A are installed between the heat treatment stage 4 and the first evacuation stage 5, and between the heat treatment stage 4 and the second evacuation stage 5A, respectively. While treating the first boat 30, the second boat 30A is moved to and evacuated in the second evacuation stage 5A by the second boat elevator 20A. Since the other boat need not be shifted from the elevator when evacuating from the thermal effect of the treated boat, generation of particles and generation of falling of the boat can be prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device using the same, and more particularly to a technique for preventing oxidation and contamination of a substrate to be processed.
For example, in a method of manufacturing a semiconductor integrated circuit device (hereinafter, referred to as an IC), the method is effective for use in performing a heat treatment such as an annealing process, an oxide film forming process, a diffusion and a film forming process on a semiconductor wafer to be processed. About things.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a method of manufacturing an IC, a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter, referred to as a wafer) on which an integrated circuit including a semiconductor element is formed is subjected to heat treatment such as annealing, oxide film formation, diffusion, and film formation. Meanwhile, a batch type vertical hot wall type heat treatment apparatus (furnace, hereinafter referred to as a heat treatment apparatus) is widely used.

A conventional heat treatment apparatus of this type is disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2681555. In this heat treatment apparatus, a boat exchange device is arranged between the wafer transfer device and the space directly below the process tube, and a pair (two) of boats are placed on a rotary table of the boat exchange device, By rotating the pair of boats by 180 degrees about the rotary table, an unprocessed boat and a processed boat are exchanged for the boat elevator. That is, in this heat treatment apparatus, while one boat (first boat) holding a wafer group is being processed in the processing chamber of the process tube, a new wafer is transferred to the other boat (second boat). The transfer is performed by the mounting device, thereby improving the throughput.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-289173 discloses a first boat elevator in which a first boat holding a group of wafers is placed and moved between a wafer transfer area and a process tube, and a group of wafers is held. Patent No. 2681 is provided with a second boat elevator that places a second boat and moves between a wafer transfer area and a process tube.
There is described a vertical heat treatment apparatus that improves throughput without replacing a boat with a boat elevator as described in Japanese Patent No. 055.

[0005]

However, the heat treatment apparatus described in Japanese Patent No. 2681555 not only has a problem that particles are generated when the boat is replaced, but also when the boat is replaced or an earthquake occurs. There is a risk of the boat falling.

A first object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus capable of preventing generation of particles and an accident of falling.

On the other hand, in the vertical heat treatment apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-289173, the problem of displacement of the boat is eliminated by not replacing the boat with the boat elevator, so that the boat is prevented from tipping over. However, since the center of the heat treatment furnace is on a straight line connecting the position of the first boat elevator and the position of the second boat elevator, the distance between the first boat elevator and the second boat elevator is There is a problem that the size is about twice as large as the arm (rotary base) of the elevator, and the width of the vertical heat treatment apparatus (width) increases. Further, the process tube is increased by the first boat elevator and the second boat elevator. The wafer group is transferred by the wafer transfer device to the first and second boats moved to positions separated from the To be transferred Te, the moving area of the wafer transfer device is increased, there is a problem in that the footprint (footprint) increases.

A second object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus capable of suppressing a footprint.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus capable of preventing an unprocessed boat from being affected by heat from a processed boat.

[0010]

A first means for solving the above problems is a process tube for processing a substrate, a pair of boats for holding a plurality of the substrates, and a method for connecting the boats to the process. A pair of boat elevators that carry in and out the tubes, respectively, and move between the position for carrying in and out the process tubes and other positions, and a substrate transfer device that transfers the substrates to the boat. The center of the process tube is provided inside a triangle formed by connecting the position of the substrate transfer device and each position of the pair of boat elevators. Are arranged so as to be positioned at a boat loading / unloading position below the process tube with respect to each of the boats. Characterized in that it is configured to transfer the serial board.

A second means for solving the above-mentioned problems is a process tube for processing a substrate, a pair of boats for holding a plurality of the substrates, and loading and unloading these boats to and from the process tube. A pair of boat elevators that move between a position where the substrate is carried in and out of the process tube and other positions, and a substrate transfer device that transfers the substrate to the boat. Boat elevators are arranged on both sides of a straight line passing through the position of the substrate transfer device and the center of the process tube, and one boat elevator moves the boat to the substrate transfer device side, and the other Each of the boat elevators is configured to move the boat to a side opposite to the substrate transfer device.

According to the first and second means,
Since the boat elevator is configured to be able to move the boat between the loading / unloading position of the process tube and another position, the boat is loaded / unloaded into the process tube even when the boat is fixed to the boat elevator. It is possible to prevent the generation of particles when exchanging a treated boat and an untreated boat,
Further, it is possible to avoid occurrence of a boat falling accident at the time of boat replacement or at the time of an earthquake.

Further, in the first means, the position of the substrate transfer device and the position of each of the pair of boat elevators are adjusted without positioning the center of the process tube on a straight line connecting the respective positions of the pair of boat elevators. Since the substrate transfer device and the pair of boat elevators are arranged such that the center of the process tube is located inside a triangle formed by connecting the two, the distance between the pair of boat elevators can be suppressed to be small, and as a result, The width of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus can be reduced. Further, since the substrate transfer device is configured to transfer the wafer to any of the pair of boats at the boat loading / unloading position below the process tube, the wafer is transferred to the pair of boats at one location of the heat treatment stage. Since it is sufficient to transfer the data to any of the boats, the moving area of the substrate transfer device can be reduced, and the footprint can be reduced.

In the second means, a pair of boat elevators are arranged on both sides of a straight line passing through the substrate transfer device and the process tube, and one boat elevator moves the boat to the substrate transfer device side. Moving, the other boat elevators are each configured to move the boat to the opposite side of the substrate transfer device,
Since everything is arranged substantially in a straight line, the width and the footprint of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus can be further reduced.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In the present embodiment, the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention is a batch type vertical hot wall type CVD apparatus (hereinafter, referred to as a CVD apparatus) which is an example of a batch type vertical hot wall type heat treatment apparatus (furnace). It is configured. Further, the method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according to the present invention is configured as a method of manufacturing an IC including a step of applying a CVD film to a wafer using a CVD apparatus. In the following description, front, rear, left and right are based on FIG. That is, the pod stage 8 side is the front side, the opposite side is the rear side, the clean unit 3 side is the left side, and the opposite side is the right side.

As shown in FIG. 1, a CVD apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes a casing 2 formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped box shape in a plan view. On the left side wall of the casing 2, two clean units 3 for blowing clean air are arranged in front and rear, and the front and rear clean units 3 and 3 supply clean air to each of the evacuation stages. ing. A heat treatment stage 4 is set at a substantially central portion inside the housing 2, and a first retreat stage 5 is provided on the left front side of the heat treatment stage 4, and a second retreat stage 5A is provided on the rear side of the heat treatment stage 4. Is set. A wafer loading stage 7 is set in the front right corner inside the housing 2, and a pod stage 8 is set in front of the wafer loading stage 7. Also,
On the left side of the wafer loading stage 7, a notch aligning device 9 for aligning a notch (not shown) of the wafer is provided. Hereinafter, the configuration of each stage will be described in order.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a process tube 11 made of quartz glass and integrally formed into a cylindrical shape having an open lower end is provided above the heat treatment stage 4, and the center line is vertically formed. It is installed vertically to become. The hollow portion of the process tube 11 forms a processing chamber 12 into which a plurality of wafers held concentrically by a boat are loaded, and the lower end opening of the process tube 11 has a wafer as a substrate to be processed. The furnace port 13 for carrying in and out of is constituted. The lower end surface of the process tube 11 is in contact with the upper end surface of the manifold 14 with a seal ring 15 interposed therebetween. When the manifold 14 is supported by the housing 2, the process tube 11 is vertically supported. ing. Manifold 14
An exhaust pipe 16 for evacuating the processing chamber 12 to a predetermined degree of vacuum and a gas introducing pipe 17 for introducing a gas such as a source gas or nitrogen gas into the processing chamber 12 are provided on the side wall of the processing chamber 12.
Are connected to each other. Outside the process tube 11, a heater unit 18 for heating the processing chamber 12 is installed concentrically so as to surround the process tube 11, and the heater unit 18 is vertically installed by being supported by the housing 2. Is in a state of being

On the rear side between the heat treatment stage 4 and the first evacuation stage 5, a first boat 30 for moving the first boat 30 between the heat treatment stage 4 and the first evacuation stage 5, which is another position, is provided. One boat elevator 20 is installed, and the second boat 30A is connected between the heat treatment stage 4 and the other second evacuation stage 5A at the rear side between the heat treatment stage 4 and the second evacuation stage 5A. A second boat elevator 20A for moving between the boats is provided. That is, the first boat elevator 20 and the second boat elevator 20A, which are a pair of boat elevators,
The first boat elevator 20 is arranged on both sides of a straight line passing through the center of the wafer loading stage 7 and the heat treatment stage 4 (the center of the process tube 11), and moves the first boat 30 to the wafer loading stage 7 side. The two-boat elevator 20A is configured to move the second boat 30A to the side opposite to the loading stage 7. The wafer loading stage 7, the first boat elevator 20, and the second boat elevator 20A are located at the center of the wafer loading stage 7, the first boat elevator 20, and the second boat elevator 2A.
The process tube 11 is arranged such that the center of the process tube 11 is located inside a triangle formed by connecting the process tube 11A and 0A. In addition, both the center of the first boat 30 and the center of the second boat 30A are located on one side (left side in the present embodiment) of a straight line passing through the center of the wafer loading stage 7 and the center of the process tube 11. I have.

Here, the configurations of the first boat elevator 20 and the second boat elevator 20A and the first boat 30 and the second boat 30A will be described. The first boat 30 and the second boat 30A are configured identically, and are disposed substantially symmetrically on both sides of a straight line passing through the wafer loading stage 7 and the heat treatment stage 4, and the first boat 30 and the second boat 30A are configured identically in principle. Therefore, the first boat elevator 20 and the first boat 30 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 will be described as representatives.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the first boat elevator 20 has a feed screw shaft 21 vertically erected at a predetermined position inside the housing 2 and rotatably supported.
, And the feed screw shaft 21 is rotated forward and reverse by the electric motor 22. A lift 23 is screwed to the feed screw shaft 21 so as to move up and down in accordance with the rotation of the feed screw shaft 21. A rotary actuator 24 for reciprocatingly rotating an arm 25 in a horizontal plane is mounted on the lift 23.
Is installed horizontally. The arm 25 has a cap 26 for supporting the first boat 30 in a vertically standing state.
Are fixed horizontally, and a cap 26 is provided with a fixing portion 27 for fixing the first boat 30. The fixing portion 27 can fix the first boat 30, and can release the fixing of the first boat 30 during maintenance such as cleaning of the first boat 30.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the first boat 30 is vertically arranged between the upper end plate 31 and the lower end plate 32, and both end plates 31 and 32. A plurality of (three in the present embodiment) holding members 33, and each holding member 33 has a plurality of holding grooves 34 (typically, one hundred to two hundred) at equal intervals in the longitudinal direction. And are engraved so as to open in the same plane with each other. The outer peripheral portion of the wafer W is inserted between the holding grooves 34 and is held in a horizontal and aligned state with the centers aligned. Under the lower end plate 32 of the first boat 30, a heat insulating cap portion 35 having a cylindrical outer shape is formed, and on a lower surface of the heat insulating cap portion 35, a disk-shaped base 3 is formed.
6 is fixed. The base 36 is fixed by the fixing portion 27 while being in contact with the upper surface of the cap 26 of the first boat elevator 20.

As shown in FIG. 1, a wafer transfer device 40 is provided on the wafer loading stage 7, and the wafer transfer device 40 transfers the wafer W to the pod stage 8, the notch aligning device 9, and the heat treatment stage. 4 and the pod 50, the notch aligning device 9 and the boat 3
0, 30A.

That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the wafer transfer device 40 has a base 41,
A rotary actuator 42 is horizontally installed on the top 1. A first linear actuator 43 is installed horizontally on the rotary actuator 42,
The rotary actuator 42 is configured to rotate the first linear actuator 43 in a horizontal plane. A second linear actuator 44 is horizontally installed on the first linear actuator 43, and the first linear actuator 43 is
Is reciprocated. A mounting base 45 is horizontally installed on the second linear actuator 44, and the second linear actuator 44 is configured to reciprocate the mounting base 45. A plurality of (five in the present embodiment) tweezers 46 for supporting the wafer W from below are horizontally mounted on one side surface of the mounting table 45 at equal intervals in the vertical direction. The wafer transfer device 40 is an elevator 4 constituted by a feed screw mechanism.
7 to ascend and descend.

The pod stage 8 has a FOUP (front) as a carrier (container) for carrying the wafer W.
opening unified pod. Hereinafter, it is called a pod. ) 50 are placed one by one. The pod 50 is formed in a substantially cubic box shape with one surface opened,
A door 51 is detachably attached to the opening. When a pod is used as a wafer carrier, the wafer is transported in a sealed state, so that the cleanliness of the wafer can be maintained even if particles are present in the surrounding atmosphere. it can. Therefore, CV
Since it is not necessary to set the cleanliness in the clean room in which the D apparatus is installed so high, it is possible to reduce the cost required for the clean room. Therefore, in the CVD apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, the pod 50 is used as a wafer carrier. A pod opener (not shown) that opens and closes the pod 50 by attaching and detaching the door 51 of the pod 50 to and from the pod stage 8.
Is installed.

Next, a film forming process for depositing a CVD film on a wafer in an IC manufacturing method according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 5, in a state where the second boat 30A supported by the second boat elevator 20A is carried into the processing chamber 12 of the process tube 11 and the processing is performed, the first boat The first boat 30 supported by the elevator 20 is evacuated to the first evacuation stage 5.

When the predetermined processing is completed, as shown in FIG. 6, the cap 26 supporting the second boat 30A
When A is lowered by the second boat elevator 20A, the second boat 30A is unloaded from the processing chamber 12 of the process tube 11 (boat unloading). Process tube 1 from which the second boat 30A has been carried out
The furnace port 13 of the first processing chamber 12 is closed by a shutter (not shown) to prevent the high-temperature atmosphere of the processing chamber 12 from escaping. Second boat 30 unloaded from processing chamber 12
A and the group of wafers W held thereon (hereinafter referred to as a processed boat 30A) are in a high temperature state.

As shown in FIG. 7, the processed boat 30A in the high-temperature state carried out of the processing chamber 12 is directly moved from the heat treatment stage 4 on the axis of the process tube 11 to the second retreat stage 5A. It is retracted by the rotary actuator 24A of the second boat elevator 20A. Since the second retreat stage 5A is set in the vicinity of the clean air outlet of the clean unit 3, the processed boat 30A in the high temperature state retreated to the second retreat stage 5A is clean air blown from the clean unit 3. The cooling is very effective.

When the processed boat 30A is retreated to the second retreat stage 5A by the second boat elevator 20A, the first boat 30 of the first retreat stage 5 is moved to the heat treatment stage 4 as shown in FIG. In the empty state, the rotary actuator 24 of the first boat elevator 20
Moved by When the empty first boat 30 is moved to the heat treatment stage 4, the wafer W of the pod 50 is transferred to the empty first boat 30 by the wafer transfer device 40. At this time, the processed boat 30A is retracted to the second retreat stage 5A and is sufficiently cooled by the clean unit 3, so that the wafer W being transferred to the empty first boat 30 in the heat treatment stage 4 is removed. Treated boat 3
There is no thermal effect of 0A.

As shown in FIG. 8, when the wafer W is transferred to the boat by the wafer transfer device 40, the pod 50 supplied to the pod stage 8 moves the door 51 to the pod opener (not shown). ) And is released. When the pod 50 is opened, the wafer transfer device 40 transfers the wafer W of the pod 50 to the empty first boat 30 of the heat treatment stage 4 via the notch alignment device 9.

That is, as shown in FIG. 4A, the second linear actuator 44 and the mounting base 45 are moved in the direction of the pod 50 from the state shown in FIG. After being inserted into the pod 50 and receiving the wafer W in the pod 50 by the tweezers 46, the wafer W is retracted to the position shown in FIG. In this state, the rotary actuator 42 rotates about 90 degrees, and subsequently, the second linear actuator 44 and the mounting table 45 are moved in the direction of the notch aligning device 9, and the wafer W of the tweezer 46 is transferred to the notch aligning device 9. It is delivered by the operation of the elevator 47. When the notch alignment of the wafer W is completed, the wafer transfer device 40 retreats the tweezers 46 to the position shown in (a) after receiving the wafer W from the notch alignment device 9 by the tweezers 46. In this state, the rotary actuator 42
0 degree rotation operation, and then the second linear actuator 4
The wafer 4 and the mounting table 45 are moved in the direction of the heat treatment stage 4 to transfer the wafer W on the tweezers 46 to the holding groove 34 of the boat 30. The wafer transfer device 40 that has transferred the wafer W to the boat 30 once retreats the second linear actuator 44 and the mounting table 45, and then rotates the rotary actuator 42 about 180 degrees, thereby turning the tweezers 46 on.
4A is directed to the pod 50 side.

At this time, since the wafer transfer device 40 includes the five tweezers 46, the five wafers W are transferred from the five holding grooves of the pod 50 to the boat 3 by one transfer operation.
It can be transferred to the five holding grooves 34 of zero. Here, the number of wafers W (for example, one hundred to two hundred) to be batch-processed by the boat 30 is larger than the number of wafers W (for example, twenty-five) stored in one pod 50. The wafer transfer device 40 transfers a predetermined number of wafers W from the plurality of pods 50 to the boat 30 by moving up and down by the elevator 47. If the notch alignment of the wafer W is secured in advance, the wafer transfer device 40
Pod 5 without passing wafer W through notch aligning device 9
It will be directly transferred from 0 to the boat 30.

When a predetermined number of wafers W are transferred to the first boat 30, the first boat 30 is raised by the first boat elevator 20 and moved to the process tube 11 as shown in FIG. (Boat loading). When the first boat 30 reaches the upper limit, the outer peripheral portion on the upper surface of the cap 26 is seated on the lower surface of the manifold 14 with the seal ring 15 interposed therebetween, and the lower end opening of the manifold 14 is closed in a sealed state. The chamber 12 becomes airtightly closed.

In a state where the processing chamber 12 is airtightly closed by the cap 26, the processing chamber 12 is evacuated to a predetermined degree of vacuum by the exhaust pipe 16, and is heated at a predetermined processing temperature (for example, 800 to 1000 ° C.) by the heater unit 18. ), And a processing gas at a predetermined flow rate is supplied to the processing chamber 12 by the gas introduction pipe 17. Thus, a CVD film is formed on the wafer W by the CVD reaction.

While the processing on the first boat 30 is being performed in the processing chamber 12 of the process tube 11,
While the processed boat 30A retreated to the second retreat stage 5A remains on the heat treatment stage 4, the rotary actuator 24 of the second boat elevator 20A
Moved by A. At this time, the processed boat 30A
Is sufficiently cooled to, for example, 150 ° C. or less. Further, the three holding members 24 of the processed boat 30A moved to the heat treatment stage 4 are in a state where the wafer transfer device 40 side is open.

The treated boat 30A is in the heat treatment stage 4
Is moved by the second boat elevator 20A
The wafer transfer device 40 receives the wafer W from the processed boat 30A of the heat treatment stage 4 and transfers it to the empty pod 50 of the pod stage 8 according to the operation described above with reference to FIG. At this time, since the number of wafers W batch processed by the processed boat 30A is larger than the number of wafers W stored in one pod 50, the wafer transfer device 40
Are moved up and down by the elevator 47 to the pod stage 8, and a predetermined number of wafers W are stored in the plurality of pods 50. Note that a predetermined number of wafers W
Is transported out of the pod stage 8 and transported to another location.

The empty second boat 30A after the transfer of the processed wafer W to the pod 50 is moved to the second retreat stage 5A by the second boat elevator 20A and stands by for the next operation. .

On the other hand, when the processing time set in advance for the first boat 30 elapses, the cap 26 supporting the first boat 30 is lowered by the first boat elevator 20 to move the first boat 30 to the process tube. 11 is carried out from the processing chamber 12. First boat 30
The furnace port 13 of the processing chamber 12 of the process tube 11 from which the is discharged is closed by a shutter (not shown), thereby preventing the high-temperature atmosphere of the processing chamber 12 from escaping. Processing room 12
The first boat 30 carried out from the wafer and the group of wafers W held by the first boat 30 are in a high temperature state.

As in the case of the second boat 30A described above, the processed first boat 3 in the high temperature state carried out of the processing chamber 12
0 is a heat treatment stage 4 on the axis of the process tube 11
Is retracted by the rotary actuator 24 of the first boat elevator 20 while keeping the same from the first evacuation stage 5. Since the first evacuation stage 5 is also set in the vicinity of the clean air outlet of the clean unit 3, the high temperature treated first boat 30 evacuated to the first evacuation stage 5 is blown out from the clean unit 3. It is cooled very effectively by clean air.

Thereafter, the operations described above are repeated, and the wafer W is batch-processed by the CVD apparatus 1.

In the above embodiment, one of the boats is processed, the boat is unloaded from the processing chamber and retreated to the evacuation stage, and then the next wafer is transferred to the other boat. ing. However, for example, in the case of handling a film type in which the thermal effect is not so problematic, a wafer to be processed next time may be transferred to the other boat while processing is performed in one boat.

According to the above embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.

(1) By using two boats, it is possible to simultaneously carry out the wafer transfer operation to one of the boats while processing the other boat.
The throughput of the VD device can be increased.

(2) Two boat elevators for loading and unloading two boats to and from the process tube respectively by moving the boat between the heat treatment stage and the retreat stage by using the two process boats. When processing using alternate boats, it is not necessary to attach / detach the boat to / from the boat elevator, so that the work of exchanging the two boats can be carried out continuously and quickly, and also the misalignment of the wafers. Can be prevented, and generation of particles can be prevented.

(3) The two boats have a simple structure by moving the boat between the heat treatment stage and the evacuation stage by means of a rotary actuator arm mounted on the elevator of the boat elevator. Since it can be moved independently by one boat elevator, an increase in the manufacturing cost of the CVD apparatus can be suppressed.

(4) By fixing the boat to the cap supported on the arm of the boat elevator, it is possible to prevent the boat from collapsing due to an earthquake or the like, thereby causing damage to the boat and the wafer due to the collapsing accident. Can be prevented.

(5) By performing the exchange transfer of the processed boat and the empty boat between the first retreat stage and the second retreat stage and the heat treatment stage, the arm of the first boat elevator and the second boat elevator are moved. Since the turning radius of the arm can be set small,
The left and right (frontage) and front and rear (depth) dimensions of the casing of the CVD apparatus can be set small.

(6) By suppressing the volume of the housing 2 to a small amount, the amount of clean air supplied to the clean unit can be set small, so that the initial cost (initial investment amount) and running cost ( Cost of ownership (Cost of owners) in conjunction with (1) above.
ip. COO. ) Can be reduced. By the way, C
OO [yen / sheet] = (initial investment amount + direct material cost) / number of wafers processed until cost amortization.

(7) The processed boat carried out of the processing chamber of the process tube and brought into a high-temperature state is immediately transferred and retracted by the boat elevator to a retreat stage separated from the heat treatment stage which is a stage on the axis of the process tube. This can prevent the thermal influence of the processed boat in the high-temperature state from affecting the new wafer transferred (loaded) to the empty boat in the heat treatment stage, so that the processing on the new wafer to be processed is performed. It is possible to prevent a decrease in processing accuracy due to the thermal influence of the used boat.

(8) By avoiding the thermal effects of the processed boat on new wafers to be processed,
Since it is not necessary to lower the temperature of the processing chamber during standby, it is possible to prevent the throughput from being reduced by lowering the temperature of the processing chamber during standby.

(9) By avoiding the influence of heat on the wafer, the accuracy of the heat treatment of the CVD apparatus can be improved, and the quality and reliability of the semiconductor device manufactured from the wafer can be improved.

(10) The first retreat stage and the second retreat stage for waiting the processed boat in the high-temperature state face the clean air outlet of the clean unit, so that the processed boat in the high-temperature state can be cooled very effectively. The cooling time can be shortened.

(11) The wafer transfer device is configured to transfer wafers to both the first boat and the second boat in the heat treatment stage which is a boat loading / unloading position below the process tube. Therefore, the wafer can be transferred to both the first boat and the second boat at one place of the heat treatment stage, so that the movement area of the wafer transfer device can be reduced and the footprint can be reduced. Can be.

(12) The first boat elevator and the second boat elevator are arranged on both sides of a straight line passing through the wafer transfer device and the process tube, and the first boat elevator connects the first boat to the wafer transfer device side. The second boat elevator is configured to move the second boat to the opposite side of the wafer transfer device, so that everything can be arranged substantially in a straight line,
The footprint can be further reduced.

(13) The wafer transfer device and the wafer transfer device are positioned so that the center of the process tube is located inside a triangle formed by connecting the position of the wafer transfer device with the positions of the first boat elevator and the second boat elevator. By arranging the first boat elevator and the second boat elevator, the interval between the first boat elevator and the second boat elevator can be suppressed to be narrow, so that the width of the CVD apparatus can be reduced. Can be.

(14) By configuring the wafer transfer device so that wafers can be transferred to both the first boat and the second boat at the boat loading / unloading position below the process tube, Since the wafer can be transferred to both the first boat and the second boat at one place, the moving area of the wafer transfer device can be reduced, and the footprint can be reduced.

(15) By locating the center of the first boat and the center of the second boat on one side (left side) of a straight line connecting the wafer transfer device and the process tube, the first boat elevator and the second boat elevator Can be set small, so that the lateral dimension of the CVD apparatus can be reduced.

FIGS. 9 to 12 are partially omitted perspective views showing a method of operating a CVD apparatus in a film forming process of an IC manufacturing method according to another embodiment of the present invention.

The difference between the method of operating the CVD apparatus according to the present embodiment and the method of operating the CVD apparatus according to the above embodiment is that a wafer is transferred to another boat during processing of one boat, and thereafter, By retreating the transferred boat to the upper part of the retreat stage, the heat influence of the processed boat on new wafers is more reliably prevented.

That is, as shown in FIG. 9, while the first boat 30 supported by the first boat elevator 20 is being processed in the processing chamber 12 of the process tube 11, the second boat elevator 20A A new wafer W to be processed next is transferred to the supported second boat 30A in the heat treatment stage 4, and the second boat 30A holding the new wafer W is second retracted from the heat treatment stage 4 by the rotary actuator 24A. It is moved to the stage 5A and is moved to the upper part of the second retreat stage 5A by the second boat elevator 20A to be retreated.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 10, the processed first boat 30 is lowered by the first boat elevator 20. At this time, the second boat 30A holding the new wafer W is sufficiently separated from the heat treatment stage 4 by being retracted to the upper part of the second retreat stage 5A. Thermal effects can be reliably avoided.

Similarly, as shown in FIG. 11, the second boat 30 supported by the second boat elevator 20A.
While A is being processed in the processing chamber 12 of the process tube 11, a new wafer W to be processed next is transferred to the first boat 30 supported by the first boat elevator 20 in the heat treatment stage 4. The first boat 30 holding a new wafer W is a rotary actuator 2
4 moves from the heat treatment stage 4 to the first evacuation stage 5, and is moved by the first boat elevator 20 to an upper portion of the first evacuation stage 5 to be evicted.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 12, the processed second boat 30A is moved to the second boat elevator 20A.
Lowered by A. At this time, since the first boat 30 holding the new wafer W is sufficiently separated from the heat treatment stage 4 by being retracted to the upper part of the first retreat stage 5, the new wafer W is stored in the processed boat 30A.
Can reliably avoid the heat effect.

According to the method of operating the CVD apparatus according to the present embodiment, in addition to the effects of the method of operating the CVD apparatus according to the above-described embodiment, the thermal influence of the processed boat on a new wafer can be more reliably achieved. The effect that it can be prevented can be obtained.

FIG. 13 is a partially omitted plan sectional view showing a CVD apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

The difference between the CVD apparatus according to the present embodiment and the CVD apparatus according to the above-described embodiment is that two process tubes (including a heater unit and the like), two boat elevators and four boats, and a retreat stage are provided. Are provided at three places, respectively. Hereinafter, the CVD apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the following description, the pod stage 8 side in FIG. 13 is the front side, and the opposite side is the rear side.

A first heat treatment stage 4 and a second heat treatment stage 4A are set symmetrically in the rear region of the housing 2, and the first heat treatment stage 4 A tube 11 is provided, and a second process tube 11A is provided on the second heat treatment stage 4A on the right side. For the first process tube 11 on the left side, the first boat elevator 20 for moving the first boat 30 and the second boat elevator 20A for moving the second boat 30A are installed at diagonal positions, respectively. The third boat elevator 20 for moving the third boat 30B with respect to the second process tube 11A on the right side.
B and a fourth boat elevator 20C for moving the fourth boat 30C are installed at diagonal positions. The first retreat stage 5 where the first boat 30 retreats is set in front of the first heat treatment stage 4, and the second retreat stage 5A where the second boat 30A retreats is on the right side of the first heat treatment stage 4. Is set to Third boat 3
The third evacuation stage 5B for evacuation of 0B is set in front of the second heat treatment stage 4A, and the fourth boat 30C
The fourth evacuation stage 5C is set to the left of the second heat treatment stage 4A.

As shown in FIG. 13, the second retreat stage 5A and the fourth retreat stage 5C are shared between the first heat treatment stage 4 and the second heat treatment stage 4A. I have. Further, the wafer loading stage 7 is set at one position in the front central portion of the housing 2, and the wafer transfer device 40 installed on the wafer loading stage 7 includes a first heat treatment stage 4 and a second heat treatment stage. The wafer W is configured to be transferred between the pod stage 8 and the pod stage 8.

The operating method of the CVD apparatus according to the present embodiment is similar to the operating method of the CVD apparatus according to the above embodiment.

According to the present embodiment, the following effects can be obtained in addition to the effects of the CVD apparatus according to the above embodiment.

(1) By providing two process tubes, four boat elevators and four boats,
The throughput of the VD device can be further increased.

(2) By configuring the second retreat stage 5A and the fourth retreat stage 5C to be shared between the first heat treatment stage 4 and the second heat treatment stage 4A, three retreat stages are provided. Therefore, the internal space of the housing 2 can be reduced.

(3) The wafer loading stage 7 is set at one location on the front center of the housing 2, and the wafer transfer device 40 installed on the wafer loading stage 7 is moved to the first heat treatment stage 4 and the second heat treatment stage. By configuring so that the wafer W is transferred between the stage 4A and the pod stage 8, the wafer transfer device 40 can be shared between the first heat treatment stage 4 and the second heat treatment stage 4A. Therefore, the internal space of the housing 2 can be reduced, and the number of wafer transfer devices 40 to be installed can be reduced.

(4) According to the above (2) and (3), C
Since the initial cost and running cost of the VD device can be significantly reduced, COO can be reduced.

FIG. 14 is a partially omitted plan sectional view showing a CVD apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 15 is a side sectional view thereof.

The difference between the CVD apparatus according to the present embodiment and the CVD apparatus according to the above-described embodiment is that the space under the heat treatment stage 4, the space of the first evacuation stage 5, and the space of the second evacuation stage 5 A in the housing 2. Are configured in the load lock chamber structure 60. Hereinafter, the CVD apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described mainly with respect to the load lock chamber structure 60. In the following description, the pod stage 8 side is the front side, the opposite side is the rear side, the notch aligning device 9 side is the left side, and the opposite side is the right side.

As shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, a load lock chamber (hereinafter, referred to as a chamber) 61 constituting an airtight chamber 62 is provided in a lower space on the rear side of the interior of the housing 2. The heat treatment stage 4 is provided at the front center of the hermetic chamber 62, the first evacuation stage 5 is provided at the left rear of the heat treatment stage 4 of the hermetic chamber 62, and the second evacuation stage 5A is provided at the right rear of the heat treatment stage 4. Each is set. A process tube 11 is installed at a position facing the heat treatment stage 4 on the ceiling wall of the chamber 61 so as to communicate with the airtight chamber 62. A first boat elevator 20 for moving the first boat 30 is installed on the left side of the heat treatment stage 4 and in front of the first evacuation stage 5, on the right side of the heat treatment stage 4, and A second boat elevator 20A for moving the second boat 30A is located in front of the second evacuation stage 5A.
Is installed.

As shown in FIG. 15, the chamber 6
An inert gas supply pipe 64 for supplying an inert gas 63 such as nitrogen gas is connected to the ceiling wall of the first chamber 1 so as to supply the inert gas 63 to the hermetic chamber 62. Is connected to an exhaust pipe 65 for exhausting the airtight chamber 62. That is, the hermetic chamber 62 of the chamber 61 is purged by the inert gas 63. A wafer loading / unloading port 66 is opened above the front wall of the chamber 61 so as to connect the airtight chamber 62 with the front chamber of the housing 2. A gate valve 67 that opens and closes is provided. That is, the gate valve 67 is connected to the wafer loading / unloading port 6.
6, the wafer transfer device 4 installed on the wafer loading stage 7 in the front chamber of the housing 2
Numeral 0 transfers (charges or discharges) the wafer W to the first boat 30 or the second boat 30A transferred to the heat treatment stage 4 through the wafer loading / unloading port 66.

The operation method of the CVD apparatus according to the present embodiment is the same as the operation method of the CVD apparatus according to the embodiment except that the chamber is purged with an inert gas. That is, at normal times, the wafer loading / unloading port 66
Is closed by a gate valve 67, the airtight chamber 62 of the chamber 61 is purged by an inert gas 63 supplied from an inert gas supply pipe 64 and exhausted from an exhaust pipe 65. Then, the first boat 30 or the second boat 30A in which the wafer W has been transferred to the heat treatment stage 4
When the wafer is transferred by the wafer transfer device 40, the wafer transfer port 66 is opened by the gate valve 67.

According to the present embodiment, the following effects can be obtained in addition to the effects of the CVD apparatus according to the above embodiment.

(1) The space between the heat treatment stage, the first evacuation stage, and the second evacuation stage is formed in a load lock chamber structure and purged with an inert gas, so that the wafer after and before the heat treatment comes into contact with the atmosphere. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent the wafer from being naturally oxidized by oxygen and moisture contained in the atmosphere to form an unnecessary oxide film (hereinafter, referred to as a natural oxide film). .

(2) According to the above (1), the accuracy of the heat treatment of the CVD apparatus can be further improved, so that the quality and reliability of the semiconductor device manufactured from the wafer can be further improved.

(3) Simultaneous transfer of wafers to the other boat during heat treatment for one boat can reduce the time required for replacement of the inert gas purge. The heat treatment time can be reduced, and as a result, the performance of the CVD apparatus can be improved and the running cost can be reduced.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it goes without saying that various changes can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

For example, in this embodiment, the case of the batch type vertical hot wall type CVD apparatus has been described.
The present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to heat treatment apparatuses such as a batch type vertical hot wall type diffusion apparatus and other general semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses.

In the above embodiment, the case where the wafer is subjected to the heat treatment has been described. However, the substrate to be processed may be a photomask, a printed wiring board, a liquid crystal panel, a compact disk, a magnetic disk, or the like.

[0088]

As described above, according to the present invention,
In addition to being able to increase the throughput, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of particles and accidents of falling,
Footprint can be suppressed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially omitted plan sectional view showing a CVD apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along the line II-II in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a state during the processing.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are side views showing the wafer transfer device, and FIG.
Shows the time of contraction, and (b) shows the time of expansion.

FIG. 5 shows a method of operating a CVD apparatus in a film forming process of an IC manufacturing method according to an embodiment of the present invention;
It is a perspective view which shows the state during the process of a 2nd boat.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the state after the boat is unloaded.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the boat after evacuation.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a wafer transfer operation to a first boat.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a method of operating a CVD apparatus in a film forming step of an IC manufacturing method according to another embodiment of the present invention, and showing a state in which a second boat is being retracted from an upper portion.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a state after the first boat is carried out.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a state in which an upper part of the first boat is retracted.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing a state after the second boat is carried out.

FIG. 13 is a partially omitted plan sectional view showing a CVD apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a partially omitted plan sectional view showing a CVD apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a side sectional view thereof.

[Explanation of symbols]

W: wafer (substrate), 1: CVD apparatus (semiconductor manufacturing apparatus), 2: housing, 3: clean unit, 4, 4A: heat treatment stage, 5: first evacuation stage, 5A: second evacuation stage, 5B ... Third evacuation stage, 5C: Fourth evacuation stage, 7: Wafer loading stage, 8: Pod stage, 9: Notch aligning device, 11: Process tube, 11A: Second process tube, 12: Processing chamber, 13: Furnace Mouth, 14: manifold, 15: seal ring, 16: exhaust pipe, 17: gas inlet pipe, 18: heater unit, 20: first boat elevator, 20A: second boat elevator, 20B: third boat elevator, 2
0C: fourth boat elevator, 21: feed screw shaft, 22
... Electric motor, 23, 23A ... Elevating table, 24, 24A ...
Rotary actuator, 25, 25A ... arm, 2
6, 26A cap, 27 fixing part, 30 first boat, 30A second boat, 30B third boat, 30C
... 4th boat, 31 ... upper end plate, 32 ... lower end plate, 33
... holding member, 34 ... holding groove, 35 ... heat insulating cap part, 3
6 base, 40 wafer transfer device, 41 base, 4
2 rotary actuator, 43 first linear actuator, 44 second linear actuator, 45
Mounting stand, 46 ... Tweezer, 47 ... Elevator, 50 ... Pod (carrier), 51 ... Door, 60 ... Load lock chamber structure, 61 ... Chamber (load lock chamber), 62 ... Airtight chamber, 63 ... Inert gas (nitrogen) gas),
64: inert gas supply pipe, 65: exhaust pipe, 66: wafer loading / unloading port, 67: gate valve.

Continued on the front page F term (reference) 4K030 CA04 CA12 FA10 GA13 5F031 CA02 FA01 FA07 FA09 FA12 GA04 GA45 HA67 MA03 MA06 MA09 MA13 MA28 MA29 MA30 NA02 NA05 NA09 PA02 PA11 PA23 5F045 AA03 BB15 BB20 DP19 DQ05 EN04 EN05 EN06

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A process tube for processing a substrate, a pair of boats for holding a plurality of the substrates, a position for carrying each of the boats into and out of the process tube, and a position for carrying in and out the process tube. A pair of boat elevators that move between the other positions, and a substrate transfer device that transfers the substrate to the boat, wherein the substrate transfer device and the pair of boat elevators The process tube is arranged so that the center of the process tube is located inside a triangle formed by connecting the position of the transfer device and the position of each of the pair of boat elevators, and the boat is loaded below the process tube. The semiconductor device is configured to transfer the substrate to each of the boats at an unloading position. Body manufacturing equipment. 2. A process tube for processing a substrate, a pair of boats for holding a plurality of the substrates, a position for carrying each of the boats into and out of the process tube, and a position for carrying in and out the process tube. A pair of boat elevators that move between a position other than the position, and a substrate transfer device that transfers the substrate to the boat. While being arranged on both sides of a straight line passing through the center of the process tube, one boat elevator moves the boat to the substrate transfer device side, and the other boat elevator transfers the boat to the substrate transfer device. A semiconductor manufacturing apparatus configured to be moved to opposite sides. 3. The substrate transfer device according to claim 2, wherein the substrate transfer device is configured to transfer the substrate to each of the boats at a loading / unloading position below the process tube. Semiconductor manufacturing equipment. 4. The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the center of each of the pair of boats is located on one side of a straight line passing through the substrate transfer device and the process tube. 5. A position other than the position where the boat is carried in and out of the process tube is a retreat stage for retreating the boat, and the retreat stage includes clean air in the retreat stage. 5. The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a clean unit for blowing air. 6. Two process tubes for processing a substrate, four boats for holding a plurality of the substrates, and loading and unloading these boats into and out of the two process tubes, respectively. It has four boat elevators for moving between a position for carrying in and out and other positions, and a substrate transfer device for transferring the substrate to the boat, and the boat is transferred to the process tube. A semiconductor manufacturing apparatus characterized in that three positions other than the positions for carrying in and out are set. 7. A process tube for processing a substrate, a pair of boats for holding a plurality of said substrates, and a position for loading and unloading said boats to and from said process tube, respectively. A pair of boat elevators that move between a position other than the position, and a substrate transfer device that transfers the substrate to the boat. While being disposed on both sides of a straight line passing through the center of the process tube, one boat elevator moves the boat to the substrate transfer device side, and the other boat elevator uses the boat as the substrate transfer device. Treating the substrate using semiconductor manufacturing equipment each configured to move to the opposite side. A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device. 8. After processing the substrate held by one of the pair of boats by the process tube, the boat is unloaded from the process tube and moved to a position other than the loading / unloading position, 8. The method according to claim 7, further comprising transferring the substrate to be processed next time to another one of the boats. 9. While the substrate held by one of the pair of boats is being processed by the process tube, the substrate to be processed next is transferred to another of the boats. The method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 7, wherein: 10. After the substrate to be processed next is transferred to another of the pair of boats, the boat is moved by the boat elevator to a position other than the loading / unloading position of the process tube. The method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 9, wherein: