JP2003037109A - Heat treatment device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To rapidly heat or heat-treat the entire surface to be treated, even of a large substrate, with highly accurate temperature uniformity. SOLUTION: This resistance heating heater 60 comprises a planar upper face resistance heating part 62, lower face resistance heating part 64, left side face resistance heating part 66, and right side face resistance heating part 68 respectively adjacent and opposed to the upper face, lower face, left face, and right face of a reaction tube 58 taking the form of an almost flat hexahedron. Each of the upper face resistance heating part 62 and the lower face resistance heating part 64 is divided as viewed from an inlet side of a chamber into a plurality of zones, for example, three zones of front zones 62a, 64a, middle zones 62b, 64b, and rear zones 62c, 64c, and energizing control is independently carried out in each zone. Each of the left side face resistance heating part 66 and the right side face resistance heating part 68 independently works as a single side zone.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a semiconductor wafer, L
The present invention relates to a heat treatment apparatus for heat treating a substrate to be processed such as a CD (liquid crystal display) substrate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In manufacturing processes for semiconductor devices, LCDs and the like, heat treatments are used in various steps such as oxidation, diffusion and hot wall CVD. Recent design rules are becoming finer from 0.2 μm to 0.1 μm,
With the increase in diameter of semiconductor wafers from 200 mm to 300 mm, the development of a rapid thermal processing system that can be applied to a large area ultra thin film forming technology has become an urgent issue.

Specifically, in thermal diffusion doping and formation of an extremely thin film such as a gate oxide film and a capacitor insulating film, rapid or short-time heat treatment is required to reduce the thermal budget (thermal history). Also in the PN junction, in order to reduce the resistance of the PN junction surface and enable the formation of the PN junction on the surface of an arbitrary shape by making the PN junction surface shallow, it is necessary to prevent the film deterioration and the occurrence of crystal defects during the junction. For that purpose, rapid or short-time heat diffusion treatment is required.

In the formation of the LOCOS oxide film, if the compressive stress of the adjacent LOCOS oxide film increases due to the synergistic effect of the thermal cycle, fluctuations in surface potential, leak current, lowering of withstand voltage, etc. are likely to occur. Therefore, it is necessary to reduce the thermal cycle by rapid thermal processing.

In the present situation where the diameter of the semiconductor wafer is increasing from 200 mm to 300 mm,
There is a demand for prevention or reduction of slip, distortion, and warpage that are likely to occur in a semiconductor wafer. For that purpose, it is necessary to reduce the temperature difference between the central portion and the peripheral portion of the semiconductor wafer and uniformly perform rapid thermal processing.

FIG. 15 shows the structure of a conventional heat treatment apparatus for handling large-diameter wafers. In this heat treatment apparatus, for example, a flat reaction tube 102 is housed substantially horizontally in a hexahedral housing 100, and sheet-like resistance heating units 104 and 106 arranged to face each other above and below the reaction tube 102.
In the longitudinal direction or the front-back direction (X direction) of the reaction tube 102, that is, three zones, namely, the front zone (104a, 106a) and the middle zone (104b, 1).
06b) and rear zones (104c, 106c).

Of the above three zones, the middle zone (1
04b, 106b) is the substrate support portion 10 in the reaction tube 102.
Covering almost the entire area of the semiconductor wafer W arranged in
The zones are set so that the front zones (104a, 106a) and the rear zones (104c, 106c) cover the front and rear peripheral portions of the semiconductor wafer W.

In the front zone (104a, 106a) and the rear zone (104c, 106c), as shown in FIG. 16, a large number of coiled resistance heating elements 110 having constant leads are spread in the X direction. Is provided. Meanwhile, the middle zone (104
b, 106b), as shown in FIG. 16, a large number of coil-shaped resistance heating elements 112 having dense leads at both ends and coarse leads in the middle are provided so as to be spread in the X direction. These resistance heating elements 110 and 112 are electrically connected in series within each zone, and are electrically separated or connected in parallel between different zones.

Each zone (104a, 106a), (10
4b, 106b) and (104c, 106c) are individually energized and controlled by a heater circuit (not shown). If heat of uniform intensity is radiated from the entire surface of the resistance heating units 104 and 106 toward the semiconductor wafer W, the temperature tends to be relatively lower at the peripheral edge portion than at the central portion of the semiconductor wafer W. . In this heat treatment apparatus, as described above, the resistance heating units 104 and 106 are connected to the three zones (104a and 106).
a), (104b, 106b), (104c, 106
c) and divided into the front zone (104a, 104a, 106b) rather than the resistance heating element 112 in the middle zone (104b, 106b).
106a) and the resistance heating elements 110 in the rear zones (104c, 106c) are configured with leads of relatively high density (small pitch) so that the heating temperature is made uniform in the front-back direction (X direction) of the reaction tube 102. ing. Further, in the middle zones (104b, 106b), by making the lead density of the resistance heating element 112 relatively higher at both end portions than at the central portion, the heating temperature is made uniform in the left-right width direction (Y direction). I have to.

Between the resistance heating units 104 and 106 and the reaction tube 102, for example, high-purity silicon carbide (SiC) is used.
Is provided with a soaking plate or a heat diffusion plate 114. Further, a gas pipe 116 for introducing a processing gas and discharging an exhaust gas is connected to the back surface of the reaction tube 102.

[0011]

However, as described above, the resistance heating system in which the resistance heating element 112 is provided with the rough portion and the dense portion of the lead not only increases the manufacturing cost of the resistance heating element 112 but also increases the manufacturing cost. , It is difficult to adjust the soaking in both the front-back direction (X direction) and the lateral direction (Y direction) at the same time, and the optimum value of the lead density ratio changes depending on the heating temperature, so that a uniform temperature distribution can be obtained. It was very difficult.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems of the prior art, and provides a heat treatment apparatus capable of heating a substrate to be processed with a uniform temperature distribution with a simple and low-cost structure. To aim.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a heat treatment apparatus capable of rapidly heating or heat treating the entire surface to be treated with high precision temperature uniformity even for a large substrate to be treated.

[0014]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the heat treatment apparatus of the present invention includes a reaction tube for arranging and accommodating a substrate to be processed at a predetermined position, and a reaction tube. A first resistance heating unit which is provided in a planar shape so as to face the substrate to be processed and which gives radiant heat substantially perpendicular to the surface of the substrate to be processed; and the substrate to be processed housed in the reaction tube. And a second resistance heating part that is provided in a planar shape around the first resistance heating part in a direction orthogonal to the first resistance heating part and applies radiant heat substantially parallel to the surface of the substrate to be processed.

In the above structure, the radiant heat of the first resistance heating section alone tends to cause the temperature to be lower in the end portion than in the central portion of the substrate to be processed in a certain direction, but in the second resistance heating portion. The non-uniformity of the temperature distribution in the same direction can be effectively corrected by the heat radiation from the.

In the heat treatment apparatus of the present invention, for efficient high temperature heating, preferably the first resistance heating section may be provided on the front surface side and the back surface side of the substrate to be processed. In terms of the size and function of the device, it is preferable that the second resistance heating units are provided on both left and right sides in the lateral direction orthogonal to the front-back direction in which the substrate to be processed is taken in and out of the reaction tube.

In order to obtain a more uniform temperature distribution, it is preferable that the first resistance heating section is spatially divided into a plurality of zones, and resistance heating is performed by independent energization control for each zone. In this zone division, preferably, the first resistance heating part covers substantially the entire area or a large part of the substrate to be processed in the front-back direction when the substrate to be processed is taken in and out of the reaction tube, and the first zone. It may be divided into a second zone and a third zone which are respectively arranged before and after the zone. With this configuration, it is possible to correct the non-uniformity of the temperature distribution in the front-rear direction.

In the energization control of the resistance heating part of the present invention,
In order to perform more precise temperature distribution correction, it is preferable that the second resistance heating section be configured to generate heat by resistance control independently of each zone of the first resistance heating section. The pair of second resistance heating units arranged on the left and right may be resistance-heated by independent energization control.

In each resistance heating part, in order to simplify the structure of the resistance heating part, coil-shaped resistance heating elements having substantially constant leads over the entire length may be distributed in a plane. In the first resistance heating unit, each resistance heating element is provided so as to extend in the lateral direction orthogonal to the front-back direction in which the substrate to be processed is put in and out of the reaction tube, and a plurality of resistance heating elements are arranged side by side in the front-back direction. The configuration is preferred. In the second resistance heating unit, each resistance heating element is provided so as to extend in the front-rear direction in which the substrate to be processed is put in and out of the reaction tube, and a plurality of resistance heating elements are arranged side by side in the vertical direction orthogonal to the front-rear direction. The configuration is preferred.

Further, in order to improve the accuracy of energization control or temperature control of the resistance heating section, temperature detection for feeding back the heating temperature to each energization control for each resistance heating section or zone which generates resistance by independent energization control. A means may be provided.

Further, in order to improve the heating efficiency, it is preferable that the outer sides of the first and second resistance heating parts are surrounded by a heat insulating member. A heat diffusion member may be provided between the reaction tube and the first resistance heating section and / or the second resistance heating section.

[0022]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

1 and 2 show the overall structure of a processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. This processing apparatus is used for oxidation, diffusion, annealing, thermal CVD (Chemical Vapor Depositio) in the manufacturing process of semiconductor devices and LCDs.
It is configured as a rapid thermal processing apparatus that performs thermal processing such as n) by rapid heating.

This rapid thermal processing system comprises five sections: a cassette station 10, a loader / unloader section 12, a load lock module 14, a transfer module 16 and a process module 18.
have.

At the cassette station 10, one or a plurality of cassette mounting bases 20 are provided side by side in the horizontal direction, for example, the Y direction, and one cassette (or carrier) CR is mounted on each cassette mounting base 20. Cassette C
The R is configured so that substrates to be processed, for example, semiconductor wafers W are accommodated in a plurality of stages in a horizontal posture at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction and can be arbitrarily taken in and out through an opening on one side surface. For example, an automated guided vehicle (not shown) such as an AGV (Automatic Guided Vehicle) or an RGV (Rail Guided Vehicle) accesses the cassette station 10,
The cassette CR containing the unprocessed semiconductor wafer W is set on a predetermined cassette mounting table 20, or the cassette CR containing the processed semiconductor wafer W is unloaded from the predetermined cassette mounting table 20.

The loader / unloader unit 12 is provided with a wafer transfer mechanism 22 for transferring the semiconductor wafers W one by one between the cassette station 10 and the load lock module 14. The wafer transfer mechanism 22 is arranged in the cassette arrangement direction (Y direction) of the cassette station 10.
It has a carrier 24 movable along the carrier 24 and a carrier arm 26 mounted on the carrier 24 and movable in the Z direction, the θ direction, and the X direction. The transfer arm 26 accesses the desired cassette CR from the front at a desired height position,
One semiconductor wafer W can be taken out from the corresponding wafer storage position in the cassette CR, or one semiconductor wafer W can be inserted into the corresponding wafer storage position.

The load lock module 14 includes two sets (28H, 28L), (30H, 3) of left and right load lock chambers, for example, a plurality of load lock chambers vertically arranged in multiple stages vertically.
0L) is provided. More specifically, the pair of load lock chambers 28H and 28L, which are vertically arranged in multiple stages to the left when viewed from the loader / unloader unit 12 side, are unprocessed semiconductor wafers W.
Of the unprocessed substrates for temporarily retaining the wafers, and the pair of load-lock chambers 30H and 30L arranged vertically on the right side are used for temporarily retaining the processed semiconductor wafers W. A processed substrate multi-stage arrangement unit is configured. In this embodiment, the load lock chambers 30H and 30L of the processed substrate multi-stage arrangement portion also serve as cooling chambers or stages for cooling the processed semiconductor wafer W to a predetermined temperature.

Each load lock chamber 28H, 28L, 30
A plurality of, for example, three support pins 3 are provided in the H and 30L chambers.
A wafer mounting part composed of two is provided. In addition, a vacuum pump (not shown) and an inert gas supply unit (not shown) are connected to each load lock chamber, so that it is possible to create a vacuum or an inert gas atmosphere in the indoor space.
Further, the load lock chambers 30H and 30L of the processed substrate multi-stage arrangement portion functioning as a cooling chamber may be provided with, for example, a water cooling or air cooling type cooling mechanism (not shown).

Load-lock chamber 2 for unprocessed substrate multi-stage arrangement
In 8H and 28L, the opening with the opening / closing door 34 provided on the side surface facing the loader / unloader unit 12 forms an inlet (wafer carrying-in port), and the opening is connected to the transfer module 16 via the gate valve 36. Form an outlet (wafer carrying-out port). The wafer transfer mechanism 22 of the loader / unloader unit 12 is designed to load the unprocessed semiconductor wafers W into the load lock chambers 28H and 28L with the opening / closing door 34 open at different timings.

Load-lock chamber 3 for multi-stage arrangement of processed substrates
At 0H and 30L, the opening with the opening / closing door 34 provided on the side surface facing the loader / unloader unit 12 forms the outlet (wafer carrying-out port), and is connected to the transfer module 16 via the gate valve 36. Form an entrance (wafer carry-in entrance). The wafer transfer mechanism 22 of the loader / unloader unit 12 is configured to carry out the processed semiconductor wafers W one by one from the load lock chambers 30H and 30L in which the opening / closing door 34 is open at different timings.

Load lock chambers 28H, 28L, 30H,
An alignment unit 38 accessible by the wafer transfer mechanism 22 of the loader / unloader unit 12 is provided adjacent to 30L. This alignment unit 3
8 includes an alignment mechanism (not shown) for aligning the notch or orientation flat of the semiconductor wafer W with a predetermined direction.

The transfer module 16 has a cylindrical transfer chamber 40 whose upper surface and lower surface are closed, and inside the transfer chamber 40, a rotatable transfer arm 42 that can move forward and backward or expand and contract is provided. The transfer arm 42 has two upper and lower stages or a pair of tweezers 44H and 44L that horizontally move in parallel at a predetermined height position. Two semiconductor wafers W and W are vertically moved by the two tweezers 44H and 44L.
It is designed to be held in stages and to be conveyed in parallel at the same time.
A machine chamber 46 that houses a drive source for driving the transfer arm 42 is provided below the transfer chamber 40.

On the side surface of the transfer chamber 40, the load lock chamber 2
8H, 28L, 30H and 30L, respectively, openings for connecting via gate valves 36, and process chambers 54H and 54L of the process module 18, which will be described later.
Is formed with an opening for connection via the gate valve 52.

The transfer chamber 40 may be hermetically sealed,
Further, it is also possible to connect to a vacuum pump (not shown) or an inert gas supply unit (not shown) to make the room space a vacuum or an inert gas atmosphere.

3, 4, and 5, tweezers 44 (44H, 44H, 44H) of the transfer arm 42 provided in the transfer chamber 40 are shown.
44L).

The tweezers 44 is a Y extending in the horizontal direction.
The base portion 46 having a character shape, a pair of tubular arm portions 48, 48 extending horizontally and in parallel forward from a pair of tip portions of the base portion 46, and an intermediate portion or tip portions of both arm portions 48, 48 are suitable. And a plurality of claw portions 50 for holding the wafer, which project substantially horizontally toward the inside at different intervals. Each part (46, 48, 50) of the tweezers 44 is made of a highly heat resistant material such as quartz glass.

The plate thickness d of each claw portion 50 is, for example, 0.8.
It consists of a plate piece of about mm, and the arm surface 4 with the plate surface vertical.
It is welded to 8. The upper end surface of each pawl portion 50 is inclined downward from the base end portion toward the distal end portion with some convex roundness, and the contact portion 50 is formed on the middle side of the rounded inclined surface.
a is set. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the peripheral edge portion of the semiconductor wafer W is horizontally mounted on the contact portion 50a of each of the claw portions 50 substantially in line contact.

The transfer arm 42 supports and transfers the semiconductor wafer W between both arm portions 48 of the tweezers 44. At that time, the semiconductor wafer W comes into contact with the pawl portion 50 at the peripheral portion of the wafer, that is, in the peripheral exclusion region. This allows the process module 18 described later
Even if the semiconductor wafer W immediately after being subjected to the high-temperature rapid thermal processing of 00 ° C. or higher is unloaded by the transfer arm 42,
It is difficult for crystal defects such as slips to occur.

In the process module 18, each process chamber 54 (54H, 54L) is configured as a heat treatment device for rapid heating, and has, for example, a box-shaped housing 56 having a rectangular parallelepiped shape, and a reaction described later in the housing 56. It contains a tube 58 and a resistance heater 60.

Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, the process chamber 54
The structure of the resistance heater 60 in FIG. The resistance heater 60 of this embodiment has a planar upper surface resistance heating section 62 which is adjacent to and opposes the upper surface, the lower surface, and the left and right side surfaces of the reaction tube 58 formed in a flat and substantially hexahedral shape.
It has a lower surface resistance heating part 64, a left side surface resistance heating part 66 and a right side surface resistance heating part 68. Each sheet resistance heating unit 62
˜68 generate radiant heat due to resistance heat generation, and the reaction tube 5
The semiconductor wafer W in 8 is heated. It is also possible to provide a heat equalizing plate or a heat diffusing plate (not shown) made of, for example, high-purity silicon carbide (SiC) in front of the heat radiating surface of each of the sheet resistance heating units 62 to 68.

Each of the upper surface resistance heating portion 62 and the lower surface resistance heating portion 64 has a plurality of zones, for example, front zones 62a, 6 in the front-rear direction (X direction) when viewed from the chamber inlet side.
4a, middle zones 62b, 64b and rear zone 6
It is divided into three zones, 2c and 64c, and independent energization control is performed for each zone.
Of these three zones, middle zones 62b and 64b
Covers almost the whole area of the semiconductor wafer W accommodated in the reaction tube 58, and the front zones 62a, 64a and the rear zones 62c, 64c are set so as to cover the front and rear peripheral portions of the semiconductor wafer W. The left side resistance heating section 66 and the right side resistance heating section 68 each function as a single side zone.

In such a structure, for the semiconductor wafer W in the reaction tube 58, the middle zones 62b and 64b of the upper surface resistance heating portion 62 and the lower surface resistance heating portion 64 give radiant heat almost vertically to the entire surface of the wafer. However, the radiant heat of the middle zones 62b and 64b alone tends to relatively lower the temperature in the peripheral portion of the semiconductor wafer W than in the central portion, and it is difficult to obtain a uniform temperature distribution over the entire wafer.

In the present embodiment, the front zones 62a, 64 of the upper surface resistance heating portion 62 and the lower surface resistance heating portion 64 are arranged.
Radiation heat to the wafer peripheral portion in the front-rear direction (X direction) is reinforced by a and the rear zones 62c and 64c, and the left side surface resistance heating section 66 and the right side surface resistance heating section 68 are provided.
By radiating heat to the peripheral portion of the wafer in the left-right lateral direction (Y direction) by means of the middle zones 62b, 64b.
It is possible to effectively correct the non-uniformity of the temperature distribution due to only heating and obtain a uniform temperature distribution over the entire wafer.

In particular, the left-side resistance heating section 66 and the right-side resistance heating section 68 are provided on both left and right sides as planar resistance heating sections orthogonal to the wafer surface of the semiconductor wafer W.
Process chamber 5 with minimum required space
It is possible to realize highly accurate temperature uniformity without increasing the size of No. 4, and it is possible to cope with an increase in the diameter of the semiconductor wafer.

8 and 9 show a specific structure of the resistance heater 60 according to one embodiment. In this embodiment, for example, the housing 56 made of stainless steel and the sheet-like resistance heating portions 62, 64, 66, 68 of the resistance heater 60.
A heat insulating member 70 made of, for example, ceramic is inserted between and.

Each sheet resistance heating section 62, 64, 66, 68
Is a resistance heating wire made of, for example, molybdenum disilicide (MoSi2) on a core rod made of ceramic, or iron (Fe), chromium (Cr) and aluminum (Al).
A large number of coil-shaped resistance heating elements RE in which resistance heating wires such as a Kanthal (trade name) wire which is an alloy wire are wound at a constant pitch or leads are arranged in a plane (two-dimensional direction).

More specifically, in the upper surface resistance heating portion 62 and the lower surface resistance heating portion 64, the respective resistance heating elements RE are provided so as to extend in the left and right lateral directions (Y direction), and are arranged in the front-back direction (X direction). A plurality of resistance heating elements RE are arranged side by side. In the left side resistance heating section 66 and the right side resistance heating section 68, each resistance heating element RE extends in the front-rear direction (X direction) from the end of the upper surface resistance heating section 62 and the lower surface resistance heating section 64. A plurality of resistance heating elements RE are arranged side by side in the vertical direction (Z direction) so as to fill the gap between the upper surface resistance heating portion 62 and the lower surface resistance heating portion 64.

Each zone 62a, 62b, 62c, 64
All of the resistance heating elements RE may be electrically connected in series within a, 64b, 64c, 66 and 68. Basically, different zones may be electrically separated or connected in parallel. Of course, the upper surface resistance heating portion 62 and the lower surface resistance heating portion 64 are opposed to each other in the front zones 62.
Alternatively, the a, 64a, the middle zones 62b and 64b, and the rear zones 62c and 64c may be electrically connected in series. Further, the left side resistance heating section 66 and the right side resistance heating section 68, which face each other as the left and right side zones, may be connected in series to perform common energization control, but preferably the left and right spatial zones. The two (66, 68) may be electrically separated or connected in parallel so that the deviation can be corrected, and independent energization control may be performed.

For each zone where independent energization control is performed,
A temperature sensor, such as a thermocouple TC, is attached to feed back the heat generation temperature to the temperature control circuit. In this embodiment, the front zone (62a, 64a), the middle zone (62b, 64b) and the rear zone (62c,
The thermocouples TCa, TCb and TCc are attached to 64c), and the thermocouples TCL and TCR are attached to the left and right side zones 66 and 68, respectively.

In FIGS. 8 and 9, the transfer
On the front surface of the housing 56 as viewed from the chamber 40 side, an opening (opening) 56a for inserting and removing the semiconductor wafer W is formed. Further, on the back surface of the housing 56, through holes 56b and 56c for respectively passing a processing gas supply pipe 88 and an exhaust pipe 90 (FIGS. 11 to 13) connected to a reaction pipe 58 described later, and the reaction pipe 58 are provided. Attached thermocouples TCd, TCe, TCf, TCg (Fig. 11, Fig. 13, Fig. 1
4) through holes 56d and 56e for passing the respective holes are formed.

In the resistance heater 60 of this embodiment,
Since the resistance heating units 66 and 68 are provided on both the left and right sides of the upper surface resistance heating unit 62 and the lower surface resistance heating unit 64, the temperature uniformity in the left and right lateral directions (Y direction) is realized. The resistance heating elements arranged in 66 and 68 can have the same standard or specifications. Particularly, in the configuration in which the leads of all the coil-shaped resistance heating elements RE are constant as in this embodiment, not only the manufacturing cost is reduced, but also the adjustment between the lead dense parts is not required, and the energization control is performed. Will also be easier. However, if necessary, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which the leads of the coil-shaped resistance heating element arranged in a desired zone are appropriately densified.

FIG. 10 shows an example of the configuration of the energization control system of the resistance heater 60. In this embodiment, the front zones (62a, 64a) and the middle zones (62b, 64) are
b), the rear zone (62c, 64c), the left side zone 66 and the right side zone 68 are provided with separate temperature control switching circuits such as SSRs (solid state relays) 72a, 72b, 72c, 74, 76. Each SSR performs a switching (ON / OFF) operation under the control of the control circuit 78 to supply the power from the AC power supply 80 to each zone. The control circuit 78 controls each zone (62
a, 64a), (62b, 64b), (62c, 64
c), 66, 68 exothermic temperature (control amount) for each thermocouple TC
a, TCb, TCc, TCL, and TCR are fed back, and each SSR 72a, 72 is adjusted so as to match each set value.
b, 72c, 74, 76 are turned on / off. On the other hand, the control circuit 78 is a main controller (not shown).
And a required signal or data relating to the energization control of the resistance heater 60.

11 to 14 show the structure of the reaction tube 58 in one embodiment. The entire reaction tube 58 is made of a highly heat-resistant material such as quartz, and is formed in a flat and substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. More accurately, the upper wall surface 58a and the lower wall surface 58b are located between the left and right side wall parts 58c and 58d. It is arched. Upper wall surface 58a and lower wall surface 5
Beam portions 58e and 58f extending horizontally in a plane between the left and right side wall portions 58c and 58d are formed inside the 8b as a ceiling portion and a floor plate portion, respectively. The ceiling portion 58e, the floor plate portion 58f, and the left and right side wall portions 58e, 58
A processing space or processing chamber 82 having a flat rectangular parallelepiped shape is formed together with f. Leg portions 83 are provided at both ends of the left and right side wall portions 58c and 58d.

Spaces 84 and 86 formed between the upper wall surface 58a and the lower wall surface 58b and the ceiling portion 58e and the floor plate portion 58f function as a buffer chamber for the processing gas or the exhaust gas, respectively. A process gas supply pipe 88 made of, for example, a quartz pipe is connected to the upper buffer chamber 84 via a gas introduction port formed on the back surface of the reaction pipe. An exhaust pipe 90 made of, for example, a quartz pipe is connected to the lower buffer chamber 86 via an exhaust port formed on the back surface of the reaction tube. The processing gas supply pipe 88 is a processing gas supply unit (not shown).
The exhaust pipe 90 leads to an exhaust duct or a vacuum pump (not shown).

The ceiling portion 58e and the floor plate portion 58f are provided with one or a plurality of vent holes or slits for passing the processing gas and the exhaust gas, respectively. In the illustrated configuration example, a slit 92 extending in the left-right lateral direction (Y direction) is formed at an end portion of the ceiling portion 58e near the rear surface of the reaction tube, that is, a portion near the outlet of the processing gas supply pipe 88, and the floor plate portion 58f.
A slit 94 extending in the lateral direction (Y direction) is formed at the front opening of the reaction tube, that is, in the vicinity of the wafer loading / unloading port 96.

In such a gas flow mechanism, the processing gas supplied from the processing gas supply pipe 88 is first introduced into the upper buffer chamber 84, and then the upper slit 9 on the rear side of the reaction tube.
2 is introduced into the processing chamber 82, and flows into the processing chamber 82 toward the wafer loading / unloading port 96 side. The exhaust gas in the processing chamber 82 is drawn into the lower buffer chamber 86 from the lower slit 94 on the wafer loading / unloading port 96 side, and then discharged to the exhaust pipe 90 through the exhaust port on the rear side of the reaction tube. There is.

As a modification, it is also possible to widely disperse the ventilation holes for passing the processing gas and the exhaust gas in the ceiling portion 58e and the floor plate portion 58f, respectively. With such a porous plate structure, the processing gas can be uniformly poured in a shower shape from the upper buffer chamber 84 toward the semiconductor wafer W in the processing chamber 82, and the exhaust gas in the processing chamber 82 can be further poured. The floor board part 5
It can be discharged uniformly and quickly throughout the entire area 8f.

In the processing chamber 82, the floor plate 58f is
Plural, for example, three projecting support portions 98 made of, for example, quartz for supporting the semiconductor wafer W substantially horizontally are discretely provided at predetermined positions. The transfer arm 42 in the transfer chamber 40 inserts the tweezers 44 into the processing chamber 82 from the wafer loading / unloading port 96, and unprocesses the semiconductor wafer W.
Is placed on the projecting support part 98, or the processed semiconductor wafer W is taken out from the projecting support part 98.

A temperature sensor for measuring the temperature inside the processing chamber 82 as an approximate value can be attached to the upper buffer chamber 84 and / or the lower buffer chamber 86. In this embodiment, two long and short quartz tubes 100 and 102 are inserted from the back side of the reaction tube in the lower buffer chamber 86 and attached to the lower surface of the floor plate portion 58f by, for example, welding, and one quartz tube 100 and 102 is attached to each quartz tube 100 and 102. Alternatively, a plurality of thermocouples TCd to TCg are inserted.

More specifically, the quartz tube 100 is extended in the X direction from the rear surface of the reaction tube to the vicinity of the front portion at a position slightly displaced from the center line in the left-right lateral direction (that is, a position avoiding the gas tubes 88 and 90). , Three thermocouples TCd, TCe, TCf having different lengths are inserted in the tube. These three thermocouples TCd, TCe, and TCf have a temperature-sensing portion (temperature-measuring contact) which is located in the front zone (62) of the resistance heater 60.
a, 64a), middle zones (62b, 64b), rear zones (62c, 64c), respectively,
It is used to monitor the effects of radiant heat from the three zones in the front-back direction (X direction).

Further, at the left or right end position of the processing chamber 82, the quartz tube 102 is extended in the X direction from the rear surface of the reaction tube to the vicinity of the central portion, and one thermocouple TCg is inserted into the tube. There is. The thermocouple TCg is used to monitor the influence of radiant heat from the side zone (left side zone 66 in this example) near the peripheral portion of the wafer in the lateral direction (Y direction). A thermocouple for monitoring the influence of radiant heat received from the opposite side zone (right side zone 68) may be added.

The output signals of the thermocouples TCd, TCe, TCf, TCg are given to the main controller, for example, and may be given from the main controller to the control circuit 78 of the resistance heating heater 60 as a feedback signal or a correction signal, if necessary. .

In the reaction tube 58 of this embodiment, in the flat and substantially hexahedral structure as described above, the upper wall surface 58a and the lower wall surface 58b are formed in an arch shape between the left and right side wall portions 58c and 58d, and the upper wall surface is formed. Since the ceiling part 58e and the floor plate part 58f are formed as horizontally extending beam parts between the left and right side wall parts 58c and 58d inside the 58a and the lower wall surface 58b, the entire pipe or the pipe itself is formed. It has a full pressure resistance structure, and there is no risk of damage even if stress is generated due to the pressure difference between the inside and the outside of the reaction tube 58 when decompressing the inside of the reaction tube 58, for example.

Next, the overall operation of the processing apparatus of this embodiment will be described. As an example, both process chambers 54H and 54L of the process module 18 are subjected to rapid heat treatment such as oxidation and diffusion at a high temperature, for example, 1150 ° C. The operation of the entire apparatus described below is controlled by the main controller or system controller.

In the cassette station 10, an unprocessed semiconductor wafer W is stored or can be stored in a cassette C.
R is carried in, and the carried-in cassette CR is placed on one of the cassette placing tables 20. The wafer transfer mechanism 22 of the loader / unloader unit 12 accesses an arbitrary cassette storage position in an arbitrary cassette CR carried in the cassette station 10 and takes out an unprocessed semiconductor wafer W from the cassette storage position. You can

The wafer transfer mechanism 22 of the loader / unloader section 12 takes out one unprocessed semiconductor wafer W from the cassette station 10 in a substantially horizontal direction.
After rotating 6 about 180 °, it is moved to the front of the alignment unit 38, and the semiconductor wafer W is loaded into the alignment unit 38. In the alignment unit 38, the semiconductor wafer W undergoes notch or orientation flat alignment and centering.

The wafer transfer mechanism 22 carries out the semiconductor wafer W whose alignment has been completed from the alignment unit 38, and then, the load lock chamber 28 of the unprocessed substrate multistage arranging section.
The transfer arm 26 is moved in the Y direction to the front of the H and 28L, and the transfer arm 26 is moved up and down to one of the load lock chambers 28H and 28L, which is the loading destination, for example, to the height position of the load lock chamber 28H. The load lock chamber 28H is provided with an opening / closing door 3 at the wafer loading port.
The wafer transfer mechanism 22 is welcomed in a state in which 4 is opened. The wafer transfer mechanism 22 advances or extends the transfer arm 26 into the load lock chamber 28H, and the support pin 32 in the chamber is moved.
Then, the semiconductor wafer W is transferred in a predetermined direction.

Thereafter, the wafer transfer mechanism 22 returns to the cassette station 10, and another unprocessed semiconductor wafer W is transferred to an arbitrary cassette C by the same procedure and operation as above.
The wafer is taken out from an arbitrary wafer storage position in R and is then carried into the other load lock chamber 28L. Thus
Two unprocessed semiconductor wafers W and W are loaded into the load lock chambers 28H and 28L at different timings, and the two semiconductor wafers W and W are retained in a state in which the semiconductor wafers W and W are horizontally arranged in upper and lower two stages. . In addition, each load lock chamber 28
In H and 28L, the door 34 on the entrance side may be closed after the completion of the loading of the semiconductor wafer W, and the inside of the chamber may be decompressed or replaced with an inert gas atmosphere as necessary.

On the other hand, in the process module 18, in each of the process chambers 54H and 54L, the temperature inside the heating furnace, more accurately, the temperature inside the reaction tube 58 is maintained at the set temperature (1150 ° C.) by the resistance heater 60. Temperature control is performed.

When the two semiconductor wafers W are accommodated and arranged in the upper and lower two stages in the load-lock chambers 28H and 28L of the unprocessed substrate multi-stage arrangement section as described above, or prior to the above, the transfer module 16 of the transfer module 16 is accommodated. The transfer arm 42 moves in the transfer chamber 40 to move both tweezers 44H and 44H.
L is attached in front of the load lock chambers 28H and 28L, respectively. Then, when the gate valves 36, 36 on the carry-out side of the load lock chambers 28H, 28L are opened, the carrying arm 42 is opened.
, The tweezers 44H and 44L are advanced or extended to be inserted into the load lock chambers 28H and 28L, and the semiconductor wafers W and W are taken out from the support pins 32 and 32 in the upper and lower two-stage arrangement state. Next, both tweezers 44H, 44
The semiconductor wafers W, W are supported by the upper and lower two stages by L and are rotated by a predetermined angle, and both process chambers 54H, 54L of the process module 18 are equipped with both tweezers 44H, 44L and stand by.

Then, both process chambers 54H, 54
When both gate valves 54, 54 open at the same time before L,
The transfer arm 42 immediately loads the unprocessed semiconductor wafers W into the both process chambers 54H and 54L without a gap. More specifically, both tweezers 44H, 44
L is a reaction chamber 58 of both process chambers 54H, 54L,
When the unprocessed semiconductor wafer W is transferred to the protruding support parts 98, 98 after being inserted into the process chamber 58, both tweezers 44H, 44L are quickly pulled to remove both process chambers 54.
Exit from H and 54L respectively. Immediately after this, both gate valves 54 and 55 are closed.

In both process chambers 54H and 54L, the unprocessed semiconductor wafers W and W loaded into the reaction chambers 58 and 58 are immediately set to the set temperature (11).
It is placed under 50 ° C. and subjected to high temperature rapid heat treatment. It should be noted that the supply of a predetermined processing gas to the both reaction chambers 58, 58 may be started according to the processing content, for example, immediately after the loading, in accordance with the loading timing.

By the way, when the unprocessed semiconductor wafers W are unloaded from the load lock chambers 28H and 28L of the unprocessed substrate multi-stage arranging section in the upper and lower two stages as described above, both load locks are performed. Chambers 28H and 28L are emptied. Then, the wafer transfer mechanism 22 of the loader / unloader unit 12 looks at an appropriate timing, and the two unprocessed wave conductor wafers W, W are transferred from the desired cassette CR of the cassette station 10 by the same procedure and operation as above. 1
The sheets are individually loaded into both load lock chambers 28H and 28L.

In both process chambers 54H and 54L, when a preset processing time elapses from the time when the unprocessed semiconductor wafers W and W are loaded as described above, both gate valves 54 and 54 open simultaneously. At this time, the transfer arm 42 on the transfer module 16 side has both process chambers 54H and 54L.
Waiting in front of 4. Therefore, when both gate valves 54, 54 are opened at the same time immediately after the end of the heat treatment, the transfer arm 42 is immediately spaced and both process chambers 54H, 5H are immediately opened.
High temperature semiconductor wafers W and W are simultaneously unloaded from 4L. More specifically, if both tweezers 44H and 44L are inserted into the reaction chambers 58 and 58 of both process chambers 54H and 54L and the processed semiconductor wafers W and W are taken from the respective projecting support portions 98 and 98, , Quickly pull out both tweezers 44H, 44L to remove both process chambers 54H,
Exit from 54L. Immediately after this, both gate valves 54 and 55 may be closed.

When the processed semiconductor wafer W is unloaded from each process chamber 54, the transfer arm 42 comes into contact with the semiconductor wafer W in a high temperature state at a relatively low temperature, for example, room temperature. In this embodiment, as described above, the transfer arm 42 comes into line contact with the peripheral exclusion region of the semiconductor wafer W at the claws 50 attached to both arm parts 48, 48 of the tweezers 44, so that the semiconductor wafer W It is unlikely that crystal defects such as slip will be caused in the above, and even if such crystal defects occur, they will not affect the yield because they are in the peripheral exclusion region.

In the transfer module 16,
When the transfer arm 42 carries out the semiconductor wafers W, W immediately after the high-temperature rapid thermal processing is performed from the process chambers 54H, 54L as described above, the semiconductor wafers W, W are moved by the tweezers 44H, 44L. While being supported by the upper and lower two stages, it is swung by a predetermined angle, and the load lock chamber of the processed substrate multi-stage arrangement portion, that is, the cooling chamber 30H,
Can be attached to the 30L side. At this time, both cooling chambers 30
Both gate valves 52, 5 on the wafer loading side of H, 30L
2 can be open.

Therefore, the transfer arm 42 promptly inserts both tweezers 44H and 44L into both cooling chambers 30H and 30L, and both chambers 30H and 30L are inserted.
Both semiconductor wafers W, which are still in a high temperature state immediately after processing, can be placed on the support pins 32 in L. And
Both tweezers 44H and 44L are cooling chambers 30.
When exiting from H, 30L, both gate valves 52, 52
Closes.

Thus, both process chambers 54H, 5H
Both the semiconductor wafers W and W that have been simultaneously subjected to the high-temperature rapid thermal processing at 4 L are simultaneously cooled in both cooling chambers 30H and 30L installed in the middle of the processed wafer transfer path between the transfer chamber 40 and the cassette station 10. Each is cooled to a predetermined temperature, for example, room temperature.

Then, both cooling chambers 30H, 3
After the both processed semiconductor wafers W, W in 0 L have been cooled to a predetermined temperature, the wafer transfer mechanism 22 of the loader / unloader unit 12 accesses both cooling chambers 30H, 30L from the wafer unloading side to perform the processing. Both semiconductor wafers W and W are unloaded one by one.

When the wafer transfer mechanism 22 takes out the processed semiconductor wafers W from the cooling chambers 30H and 30L one by one, the transfer arm 26 is rotated by about 180 °, and then the desired cassette CR in the cassette station 10 is rotated. , And the processed semiconductor wafer W is inserted into an arbitrary wafer storage position of the cassette CR. If necessary, the semiconductor wafer W processed by the alignment unit 38 may be aligned before being stored in the cassette CR.

On the other hand, in the transfer module 16, the transfer arm 42 transfers the two semiconductor wafers W and W, which have been processed as described above, to the cooling chambers 30H and 3H.
When the loading to 0L is completed, preferably immediately thereafter, the tweezers 44H and 44L are emptied (no-load state) and turned by a predetermined angle, and both load-lock chambers 28H and 28L side of the unprocessed substrate multi-stage arrangement part. You may attach to At this point, new unprocessed semiconductor wafers W and W are arranged in two stages in the upper and lower stages in both load lock chambers 28H and 28L. Therefore, when both gate valves 36, 36 are opened, the transfer arm 42 places both the semiconductor wafers W, W in the upper and lower two-stage states from the load lock chambers 28H, 28L on the tweezers 44H, 44L in the same manner as above. And then carried in to both process chambers 54H and 54L.

Thereafter, similarly to the above, between the cassette station 10 and the load lock module 14, the unprocessed or processed semiconductor wafers W are transferred one by one through the loader / unloader section 12 and loaded. Lock·
Between the module 14 and the process module 18, the unprocessed or processed semiconductor wafers W are transferred in pairs in upper and lower stages via the transfer module 16.

In the processing apparatus of this embodiment, since the wafer transfer mechanism 22 of the loader / unloader unit 12 needs to carry the semiconductor wafer W into and out of the cassette station 10 one at a time, any cassette CR can be used. It is possible to select an arbitrary wafer storage position in the access destination, and it is possible to quickly and accurately take out and insert the wafer even if the wafer storage position interval in the cassette CR is relatively narrow. In addition, since the alignment unit 38 can be configured by an alignment mechanism for one wafer, the unit 38 can be downsized, and the wafer transfer mechanism 22 can easily access it quickly.
However, an alignment mechanism for aligning a plurality of semiconductor wafers W at the same time in multiple stages is used as the alignment unit 3.
It is also possible to provide the structure in FIG.

Further, since the wafer transfer mechanism 22 only needs to load and unload the semiconductor wafers W into and from the load lock module 14 at a time, the wafer transfer mechanism 22 is flexible in a time division manner with respect to each load lock chamber. The wafer W can be loaded and unloaded by accessing at a timing.

On the other hand, the transfer arm 42 of the transfer module 16 has an unprocessed or processed semiconductor wafer W in the transfer chamber 40 directly connected to the process module 18.
By supporting and transporting a plurality of semiconductor wafers W in the vertical direction, a plurality of semiconductor wafers W can be subjected to simultaneous single-wafer processing efficiently and accurately.

Particularly, in this embodiment, in the process module 18, both upper and lower two process chambers 5 are provided.
The inside of the reaction chambers 58 of 4H and 54L is maintained at a high temperature for heat treatment, and a pair of upper and lower tweezers 44
Since two unprocessed or processed semiconductor wafers W and W are simultaneously loaded or unloaded using H and 44L, the surface to be processed of the semiconductor wafer is heated at a higher speed in the high-temperature rapid heating process, and thus at a higher speed. Can be deheated.

Further, in this processing apparatus, load lock chambers 28H, 2H for placing and holding a plurality of unprocessed semiconductor wafers W in the load lock module 14 are arranged.
8L and load lock chambers 30H and 30L for arranging and retaining the processed semiconductor wafers W in multiple stages are installed in parallel. With this configuration, the unprocessed substrate transfer operation and the processed substrate transfer operation can be performed in parallel or simultaneously to improve the throughput.

Then, both load lock chambers 30H and 30L of the processed substrate multi-stage arrangement portion are used as cooling chambers, and both semiconductor wafers W and W which have been subjected to high temperature rapid thermal processing in both process chambers 54H and 54L are transferred into the transfer chamber 40. Both cooling chambers 30H, 30 installed in the middle of the processed wafer transfer path between the cassette and the cassette station 10.
While being kept in L, it is cooled to a predetermined temperature. This eliminates the need for a dedicated cooling chamber that requires a special occupied space, and realizes a reduction in device cost and a reduction in footprint.

In the above embodiment, in the process chamber 54, the upper surface resistance heating part 62 and the lower surface resistance heating part 64 are arranged in the front zone 62a,
64a, middle zones 62b and 64b, and rear zones 62c and 64c. However, zone division of any form is possible, zone division of two divisions or four or more divisions is possible, and zone division in the lateral direction (Y direction) is also possible. Further, it is possible to omit either one of the upper surface resistance heating portion 62 and the lower surface resistance heating portion 64, if necessary. Further, the left side resistance heating section 66 and the bottom surface resistance heating section 64 can also be divided into zones in any form.

Further, in the above embodiment, both process chambers 54H and 54L in the process module 18 are used.
Was configured as a chamber for rapid thermal processing. However, it may be configured as another processing chamber, for example, as a processing chamber for plasma processing or etching processing.

The treatment method of the present invention can be applied to any of a normal pressure process, a reduced pressure process and a vacuum process. The substrate to be processed is not limited to a semiconductor wafer, but L
A CD substrate, a glass substrate, a CD substrate, a photomask, a printed substrate, etc. are also possible.

[0092]

As described above, according to the heat treatment apparatus of the present invention, the substrate to be processed can be heated with a more uniform temperature distribution with a simple and low-cost structure. In addition, even for a large substrate to be processed, the entire surface to be processed can be rapidly heated or heat-treated with highly accurate temperature uniformity.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional schematic side view showing an overall configuration of a processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing the overall configuration of the processing apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a configuration of tweezers of a transfer arm in the transfer module according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view showing a configuration of a main part of tweezers of the transfer arm in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a partially enlarged side view showing the configuration of the claw portion of the tweezers of the transfer arm in the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view schematically showing the configuration of the resistance heater in the process chamber of the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view schematically showing the configuration (assembly) of the resistance heater in the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a vertical cross-sectional plan view showing a specific configuration of the resistance heater in the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional plan view showing a specific configuration of the resistance heater in the embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a circuit configuration of an energization control unit of the resistance heater in the embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a plan view showing a configuration of a reaction tube in the process chamber of the embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a structure of a reaction tube in the embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a rear view showing the configuration of the reaction tube in the embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of the reaction tube in the embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of a conventional heat treatment apparatus.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a configuration of a resistance heating element used in a conventional heat treatment apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 cassette station 12 loader / unloader 14 loadlock module 16 transfer module 18 process module 22 wafer transfer mechanism 28H, 28L loadlock chamber (unprocessed substrate multistage arrangement part) 30H, 30L loadlock chamber (processed substrate multistage arrangement) 32) Support pin 34 Opening / closing lid 36 Gate valve 40 Transfer chamber 42 Transfer arms 44H, 44L Tweezers 52 Gate valve 54 (54H, 54L) Process chamber 58 Reaction tube 60 Resistance heating heater RE Resistance heating element

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) H05B 3/62 H01L 21/26 JF term (reference) 3K058 AA02 AA86 CA12 CA23 CA69 CE02 CE16 CE23 3K092 PP09 QA04 QB02 QB11 QB27 QB51 RE01 5F045 AA03 AA20 DP02 EB08 EK22 EN04 GB05

Claims (14)

[Claims] 1. A reaction tube for arranging and accommodating a substrate to be processed in a predetermined position, and a planar surface provided so as to face the substrate to be processed housed in the reaction tube substantially in parallel. A first resistance heating unit that applies radiant heat almost perpendicularly to the surface of the substrate, and a planar shape are provided around the substrate to be processed housed in the reaction tube in a direction orthogonal to the first resistance heating unit. A second resistance heating unit that applies radiant heat substantially parallel to the surface of the substrate to be processed. 2. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first resistance heating unit is provided on a front surface side and a back surface side of the substrate to be processed. 3. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second resistance heating units are provided on both left and right sides in a lateral direction orthogonal to a front-rear direction in which the substrate to be processed is taken in and out of the reaction tube. 4. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first resistance heating unit is spatially divided into a plurality of zones, and resistance heat is generated by independent energization control for each zone. 5. The first resistance heating unit covers substantially the entire area or most of the substrate to be processed in the front-rear direction in which the substrate to be processed is taken in and out of the reaction tube.
The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the heat treatment apparatus is divided into two zones, a second zone and a third zone, which are respectively arranged before and after the first zone. 6. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the second resistance heating section generates resistance heat by controlling energization independently of each zone of the first resistance heating section. 7. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the pair of second resistance heating units arranged on the left and right sides of the substrate to be processed generate resistance heat by independent energization control. 8. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first resistance heating portion is provided with a coil-shaped resistance heating element having leads that are substantially constant over the entire length in a planar distribution. 9. In the first resistance heating unit, each resistance heating element is provided so as to extend in a lateral direction orthogonal to a front-back direction in which the substrate to be processed is put in and taken out of the reaction tube, and the resistance heating element is arranged in the front-back direction. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 8, wherein a plurality of the resistance heating elements are lined up and lined up. 10. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second resistance heating portion is provided with a coil-shaped resistance heating element having leads that are substantially constant over the entire length in a planar distribution. 11. In the second resistance heating unit, each resistance heating element is provided so as to extend in the front-rear direction for loading and unloading the substrate to be processed into and out of the reaction tube, and in the vertical direction orthogonal to the front-rear direction. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 10, wherein a plurality of the resistance heating elements are lined up and lined up. 12. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein temperature detection means for feeding back a heating temperature to each energization control is provided for each resistance heating section or zone that generates resistance heat by independent energization control. . 13. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a heat insulating member that surrounds the outside of the first and second resistance heating units. 14. A heat diffusion member for diffusing radiant heat between the first resistance heating section and / or the second resistance heating section and the reaction tube is provided. The heat treatment apparatus according to.