JP2003303872A - Substrate treatment apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce thermal conductivity from a reaction chamber to a transportation chamber. <P>SOLUTION: A first surface and a second surface protruding from the first surface are formed on the reaction chamber. The second surface makes contact with a part of a transportation chamber surface and a seal member makes contact with the first surface, so that the reaction chamber and the transportation chamber are connected. The substrate treatment apparatus thus configured reduces heat transfer from the reaction chamber to the transportation chamber, and reduces a temperature increase in the driving section of the transportation chamber. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus for heat-treating a substrate such as a wafer, and more particularly to a method for connecting a processing chamber to a transfer chamber adjacent to the processing chamber. It is. 2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional method for connecting a reaction chamber provided with a heater for heating a wafer and a transfer chamber provided with a wafer transfer robot, as shown in FIG. In order to maintain the airtight state, a seal member 5 such as a rubber or resin O-ring or a metal seal is disposed between the outer walls of the reaction chamber 1 and the transfer chamber 2. In order to stabilize the crushing force of the sealing member, the contact portions 11 of both chambers are increased as much as possible.
The two chambers were fixed by a fixing means such as a bolt or a clamp 4 by making them contact in a flat state. [0004] Since the reaction chamber heats the wafer to a high temperature by a heater for processing the wafer, the temperature of the reaction chamber itself is also high, while the wafer is not stored in the transfer chamber. A transfer robot for transferring is arranged, and the driving unit of the transfer robot needs to maintain a low temperature due to heat resistance restrictions. In addition, an aluminum material is often used as a material of the chamber from the viewpoint of strength, workability, and weight reduction, and the aluminum material has a characteristic of high thermal conductivity. However, in the conventional structure, since there are many contact portions of the outer wall of the chamber, there is a problem that heat from the high-temperature reaction chamber is conducted through the chamber wall and reaches the transfer chamber, thereby increasing the temperature of the transfer chamber. As a result, the driving portion of the transfer robot is damaged and leaks from the oil seal portion occur. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a connection method for minimizing heat conduction from a reaction chamber to a transfer chamber,
An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing apparatus having a structure. [0007] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention is characterized by a first chamber and a second chamber connected to the first chamber via a seal member. A substrate processing apparatus that heat-treats a substrate in the first or second chamber, wherein the first chamber includes a first surface and a second surface protruding from the first surface. A second surface is formed, the second surface contacts a part of the second chamber surface, and the seal member contacts the first surface, thereby forming the first and second chambers. The substrate processing apparatus is characterized by being connected. According to the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention configured as described above, heat transfer from the reaction chamber to the transfer chamber is suppressed, and a rise in the temperature of the driving unit in the transfer chamber is suppressed. FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a reaction chamber and a transfer chamber in a substrate processing apparatus.
3 and 4 are enlarged views of a portion A in FIG. 1 and each show another embodiment. FIG. 1 shows a part of a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. A vacuum chamber 2 as a transfer chamber is connected to a vacuum chamber 1 as a processing chamber via a sealing member 5.
Bolts 4 connect both chambers. The processing chamber 1 is provided with a heater 2 which is a heating means for heating a substrate (for example, a wafer) (not shown), and the transfer chamber 2 is provided with a cooling means 3 for preventing a rise in the temperature of the transfer chamber. Is provided. The processing of a wafer using the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention is performed as follows. That is, a wafer is taken out from a cassette (not shown) by a transfer robot (not shown) installed in the transfer chamber 2 and transferred into the processing chamber 1. The wafer transported into the processing chamber 1 is heated by the heater 13 and subjected to a desired process to form a semiconductor device on the wafer surface. (First Embodiment) A first embodiment of the chamber connection structure of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the first embodiment, a step 6 is provided in the processing chamber 1, the sealing member 5 is kept in contact with the first surface 8 to maintain the sealing property, and a portion in contact with the transfer chamber 2 is formed by the step 6. Only the second surface 7 to be formed. Both chambers are fixed using bolts 4 at the step 6. With the above configuration, the contact portion between the processing chamber 1 and the transfer chamber 2 is only on the second surface 7, so that the heat conduction from the processing chamber 1 can be greatly reduced as compared with the conventional case. (Second Embodiment) A second embodiment of the chamber connection structure of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the second embodiment, a spacer 9 having a thermal conductivity smaller than that of the material of the processing chamber 1 is provided, and the processing chamber 1 and the transfer chamber 2 are connected via the spacer 9. The processing chamber 1 uses an aluminum material from the viewpoints of temperature, workability, weight reduction, and heating uniformity. In this case, the spacer 9 is preferably made of an iron-based metal such as stainless steel. The spacer 9 is not limited to the above, and may be a ceramic material having a low thermal conductivity. The use of a ceramic material can also enhance the heat insulating effect. The bolt 4 for fixing the chamber is provided with a spacer 9
Are provided so as to penetrate through and fix the chamber. The spacer 9 is press-fitted into the outer wall of the processing chamber 1 and fixed, so that the work of mounting the processing chamber 1 and the transfer chamber 2 can be facilitated. With the above configuration, the contact portion between the processing chamber 1 and the transfer chamber 2 is only on the second surface 7, so that the heat conduction from the processing chamber 1 can be greatly reduced as compared with the conventional case, and furthermore, Since the contact portion between the chamber 1 and the transfer chamber 2 is the spacer 9 having a low thermal conductivity, the heat conduction from the processing chamber 1 is further suppressed. (Third Embodiment) A third embodiment of the chamber connection structure of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the third embodiment, a clamp 10 is used instead of the bolt 4 used in the first embodiment, and the chamber is fixed by being gripped by the convex portions 12 of the processing chamber 1 and the transfer chamber 2. , And the same as the first embodiment. As is common to the first to third embodiments, as shown in FIG. 1, by providing a cooling means 3 configured by circulating cooling water or oil in the transfer chamber 2, as shown in FIG. The temperature rise of the transfer chamber 2 may be further reduced. According to the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention, the heat transfer from the reaction chamber to the transfer chamber is suppressed, and the temperature rise of the drive section in the transfer chamber is suppressed.
Further, it is possible to prevent breakage of the drive unit and leakage of the oil seal portion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a reaction chamber and a transfer chamber of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a portion A in FIG. 1 (first embodiment). FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of part A of FIG. 1 (second embodiment). FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of part A of FIG. 1 (third embodiment). FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional chamber connection structure. Processing chamber 2 Transfer chamber 3 Cooling means 4 Bolt 5 Seal member 6 Step 7 Second surface (contact surface) 8 First surface (contact surface) 9 Spacer 10 Clamp 11 Contact surface 12 Convex portion 13 Heater

Claims (1)

Claims: 1. A device comprising: a first chamber; and a second chamber connected to the first chamber via a seal member.
In a substrate processing apparatus configured to heat-treat a substrate in a first or second chamber, a first surface and a second surface protruding from the first surface are formed in the first chamber. The first surface and the second chamber are connected by a second surface being in contact with a part of the second chamber surface, and the sealing member being in contact with the first surface. Substrate processing equipment.