JP2005032880A - Substrate treatment equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide substrate treatment equipment wherein the temperature of a heater or a treatment chamber can be accurately measured due to the equality or similarity of the thermoelectromotive force property of a bonding member with or to that of a first conductor, because the bonding member can reduce a thermal impact on part of a pair of conductors which is near a temperature detector. <P>SOLUTION: Hot wall type heat treatment equipment 10 is such that a protecting tube 34 is inserted into the treatment chamber 14 formed by an inner tube 12, and a thermo-couple 35a is inserted into the protecting tube 34. In the hot wall type heat treatment equipment 10, on one principal plane of the bonding member 40 which is formed of platinum the same quality as that of the first conductor 41 of the thermo-couple 35a and is formed into a disk-like shape, one end of the first conductor 41 is bonded at the center, and a second conductor 42 is bonded by electric welding at the periphery. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus, and more particularly to a heat treatment apparatus that performs processing in a state in which an object to be processed is accommodated in a processing chamber and heated by a heater, for example, a semiconductor integrated circuit device (hereinafter referred to as an IC). Used for semiconductor wafers (hereinafter referred to as wafers) for oxidation treatment, diffusion treatment, carrier activation after ion implantation, reflow for planarization, annealing, and film formation treatment by thermal CVD reaction (hereinafter referred to as heat treatment). The present invention relates to an effective heat treatment apparatus.
[0002]
[Prior art]
A batch type vertical hot wall heat treatment apparatus (hereinafter referred to as a hot wall heat treatment apparatus) is widely used for heat treatment of wafers in IC manufacturing methods. As a conventional hot wall type heat treatment apparatus, a process tube which is composed of an inner tube forming a processing chamber into which a wafer is loaded and an outer tube surrounding the inner tube and is installed in a vertical shape, and is laid outside the process tube. A heater that heats the inside of the process tube, and a plurality of wafers are loaded into the inner tube from the bottom furnace port (boat loading) in a state where the wafers are long aligned and held by the boat. Some wafers are configured to be heat-treated by being heated. In such a hot wall type heat treatment apparatus, a profile thermocouple (hereinafter referred to as a thermocouple) is arranged between a process tube and a boat to measure the temperature in the vicinity of the wafer, and the heater is installed based on the measurement result. The heat treatment is appropriately controlled by feedback control (see Patent Document 1).
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-8-124898
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Since the joints arranged at both ends of a pair of conductors of a thermocouple used in a conventional heat treatment apparatus are formed by electric welding, the joints have a spherical shape, and the diameter is the number of diameters of the cross section of the conductors. Double. Such a thermocouple has a problem that the temperature measurement accuracy is lowered because the temperature measuring part (thermal contact) of the pair of conductors is thermally affected by the heat capacity of the joint.
[0005]
An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing apparatus capable of accurately measuring the temperature of a processing chamber.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
Means for solving the above-described problem is that a pair of conductors of a thermocouple that measures the temperature of a heater or a processing chamber has a thermoelectromotive force characteristic that is equal to or approximate to any one of the pair of conductors of the thermocouple. It is characterized by being respectively joined to the joining member.
[0007]
According to the above-described means, the thermoelectric property of the joining member is equal to or close to that of the pair of conductors of the thermocouple. Therefore, the current actual temperature of the temperature detection target can be measured with good responsiveness.
[0008]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0009]
In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention is a hot wall type heat treatment apparatus (batch type vertical hot wall type heat treatment apparatus) for performing a heat treatment step in an IC manufacturing method. 10.
[0010]
A hot wall heat treatment apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1 includes a vertical process tube 11 that is vertically arranged so that the center line is vertical and is fixedly supported. The process tube 11 is composed of an inner tube 12 and an outer tube 13, and the inner tube 12 is integrally formed into a cylindrical shape using quartz glass or silicon carbide (SiC), and the outer tube 13 is made of quartz glass. Used to be integrally formed into a cylindrical shape. The inner tube 12 is formed in a cylindrical shape with both upper and lower ends opened, and the cylindrical hollow portion of the inner tube 12 forms a processing chamber 14 into which a plurality of wafers held in a long alignment state by a boat are carried. Yes. An inner diameter of the inner tube 12 is set to be larger than a maximum outer diameter (for example, a diameter of 300 mm) of a wafer to be handled.
[0011]
The outer tube 13 is formed in a cylindrical shape whose inner diameter is larger than the outer diameter of the inner tube 12 and whose upper end is closed and whose lower end is opened, and the inner tube 12 is covered with a concentric circle so as to surround the outer side. A lower end portion between the inner tube 12 and the outer tube 13 is hermetically sealed by a manifold 16 constructed in a multistage cylindrical shape, and the lower end opening of the manifold 16 constitutes a furnace port 15 for taking in and out the wafer. ing. The manifold 16 is detachably attached to the inner tube 12 and the outer tube 13 for replacement of the inner tube 12 and the outer tube 13, respectively. Since the manifold 16 is supported by the housing 2 of the hot wall heat treatment apparatus, the process tube 11 is vertically installed.
[0012]
An exhaust pipe 17 is connected to an upper portion of the side wall of the manifold 16, and the exhaust pipe 17 is connected to an exhaust device (not shown) so that the inside of the process tube 11 can be exhausted. The exhaust pipe 17 is in a state of communicating with a gap formed between the inner tube 12 and the outer tube 13, and the exhaust passage 18 has a cross-sectional shape having a constant width by the gap between the inner tube 12 and the outer tube 13. It is configured in a circular ring shape. Since the exhaust pipe 17 is connected to the manifold 16, the exhaust pipe 17 is formed in a cylindrical hollow body and is disposed at the lowermost end portion of the exhaust passage 18 extending vertically.
[0013]
A gas introduction pipe 19 is connected below the manifold 16 so as to communicate with the furnace port 15. The gas introduction pipe 19 is connected to a raw material gas supply device, a carrier gas supply device, and a purge gas supply device (all shown). Connected). The gas introduced into the furnace port 15 by the gas introduction pipe 19 flows through the processing chamber 14 of the inner tube 12, passes through the exhaust path 18, and is exhausted to the outside by the exhaust pipe 17.
[0014]
A seal cap 20 that closes the lower end opening is brought into contact with the manifold 16 from the lower side in the vertical direction. The seal cap 20 is constructed in a disk shape substantially equal to the outer diameter of the manifold 16, and is configured to be vertically moved by a boat elevator (not shown) vertically installed outside the process tube 11. Yes. On the center line of the seal cap 20, the boat 21 is vertically supported and supported.
[0015]
The boat 21 includes a pair of end plates 22 and 23 at the top and bottom, and three holding members 24 that are installed between the end plates 22 and 23 and arranged vertically. A plurality of holding grooves 25 are arranged at equal intervals in the longitudinal direction so as to be opened facing each other. The boat 21 inserts the peripheral portions of the wafers 1 between the holding grooves 25 of the three holding members 24 so as to hold the plurality of wafers 1 in a state of being aligned horizontally and centered with each other. It has become. Between the boat 21 and the seal cap 20, a heat insulation cap portion 26 in which a heat insulating material (not shown) is sealed is disposed, and the heat insulation cap portion 26 lifts the boat 21 from the upper surface of the seal cap 20. By supporting in the state, the lower end of the boat 21 is separated from the position of the furnace port 15 by an appropriate distance.
[0016]
As shown in FIG. 1, the outside of the process tube 11 is entirely covered with a heat insulating tank 31, and a heater 32 for heating the inside of the process tube 11 is provided inside the heat insulating tank 31 with the outer tube 13. It is installed in a concentric circle so as to surround the surroundings. The heat insulating tank 31 is a cylindrical shape in which a heat insulating material such as glass wool is enclosed in a case formed in a cylindrical shape from a thin plate of stainless steel or the like, and has a diameter larger than the outer diameter of the process tube 11 and the same length. And is installed vertically by being supported by the case 2 of the hot wall heat treatment apparatus. The heater 32 is formed of a linear electric resistor such as a nichrome wire, and is wound spirally around the inner peripheral surface of the heat insulating tank 31. The heater 32 is divided into a first heater part 32a, a second heater part 32b, a third heater part 32c, a fourth heater part 32d, and a fifth heater part 32e in order from the upper side, and these heater parts 32a to 32e are divided into five parts. The temperature controller 33 is configured to perform sequence control in cooperation with each other and independently.
[0017]
As shown in FIG. 1, a protective tube 34 extends horizontally with respect to the seal cap 20 so as not to interfere with the boat 21 at the lower portion of the side wall of the manifold 16 and rises at a right angle at a position where it does not interfere with the heat insulating cap portion 26. The protection tube 34 is positioned between the inner peripheral surface of the inner tube 12 and the outer peripheral surface of the boat 21 when the boat 21 is carried into the processing chamber 14. Five thermocouples 35a, 35b, 35c, 35d and 35e are collectively enclosed in the protective tube 34. The five thermocouples 35a, 35b, 35c, 35d, and 35e are connected to the temperature controller 33, and the thermocouples 35a to 35e send the temperature measurement results to the temperature controller 33 via the receiver 37 and the electric wiring 38. Each is to send. The temperature controller 33 feedback-controls each heater part 32a-32e based on the measured temperature from each thermocouple 35a-35e. That is, the temperature controller 33 obtains an error between the target temperature of each of the heater units 32a to 32e and the measured temperature of each of the thermocouples 35a to 35e, and if there is an error, executes a feedback control for eliminating the error. ing.
[0018]
The heights of the temperature detecting portion side ends 36a to 36e of the five thermocouples 35a to 35e are set so as to correspond to the heights of the five heater portions 32a to 32e, respectively. The joining members 40a-40e are being fixed to 36e, respectively. Next, the structure of the thermocouple bonding member and the pair of conductive wires will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2A shows a thermocouple 35a corresponding to the uppermost heater section 32a.
[0019]
As shown in FIG. 2 (b), one of the pair of conductors of the thermocouple 35a (hereinafter referred to as the first conductor) 41 uses a platinum wire and has a diameter of 0.5 mm. The other conducting wire (hereinafter referred to as the second conducting wire) is made of a platinum / rhodium wire and formed into a circular cross-section wire having a diameter of 0.5 mm. The joining member 40 is formed in a disc shape using platinum which is the same material as the first conductor 41. The diameter of the joining member 40 is set to be twice or more the thickness and sufficiently larger than the diameters of the first conducting wire 41 and the second conducting wire 42 (for example, 10 times or more). One main surface of the joining member 40 has one end of the first conducting wire 41 on the center and the second conducting wire 42 joined to the peripheral portion by electric welding. As shown in FIG. 2 (a), at the position facing the heater portion 32a inside the protective tube 34, the joining member 40a is opposite to the main surface where the first conducting wire 41 and the second conducting wire 42 are joined. Is arranged so that the main surface thereof faces the heater portion 32a side.
[0020]
Next, the heat treatment process of the IC manufacturing method using the hot wall heat treatment apparatus according to the above configuration will be described.
[0021]
As shown in FIG. 1, a boat 21 in which a plurality of wafers 1 are aligned and held is placed on a seal cap 20 in a state in which the direction in which the group of wafers 1 is arranged is vertical, and is lifted by a boat elevator. Then, it is carried into the processing chamber 14 from the furnace port 15 (boat loading), and remains in the processing chamber 14 while being supported by the seal cap 20.
[0022]
The inside of the process tube 11 is exhausted by the exhaust pipe 17, and the inside of the process tube 11 is heated to the target temperature (for example, 600 to 1200 ° C.) of sequence control of the temperature controller 33 by the heater portions 32 a to 32 e of the heater 32. Is done. At this time, the error between the actual temperature rise inside the process tube 11 due to the heating of the heater portions 32a to 32e of the heater 32 and the target temperature of the sequence control of each heater portion 32a to 32e is the thermocouple 35a to 35e. Each is corrected by feedback control based on the temperature measurement result.
[0023]
Here, the thermocouple is a temperature measuring means that uses the Seebeck effect in which a thermoelectromotive force is generated when a temperature difference occurs between the joints at both ends in a closed circuit formed by two different conductive wires, and one of the thermocouples. With the temperature of one end (hereinafter referred to as the reference portion) known, the other end (hereinafter referred to as the temperature detection portion) is adjusted to the temperature of the temperature detection target, and the reference is determined by the thermoelectromotive force generated at this time. The temperature difference between the temperature sensor and the temperature detector is obtained, and the temperature of the temperature detector is obtained by adding the temperature of the reference part to the temperature difference value. And if the temperature detector is familiar with the temperature to be measured, the temperature of the determined temperature detector can be handled as the temperature of the temperature detected, but if the temperature detector is not familiar with the temperature state of the temperature target The obtained temperature of the temperature measuring unit cannot be handled as the temperature to be measured. In particular, when the temperature detection target is changing and the temperature measurement unit does not quickly adapt to the change, it is not possible to accurately measure the temperature. When the temperature measurement unit adapts to the temperature of the temperature measurement target, it means that the heat transfer between the temperature measurement unit and the temperature measurement target is stable, but in the process up to that state, the temperature measurement unit and the temperature measurement target The area contributing to heat transfer and the heat capacity have a great influence. This will be described below.
In general, heat transfer depends on three types of heat transfer: radiation, convection and conduction. Here, if the other conditions are the same, the area contributing to heat transfer and the amount of heat transferred are proportional in any heat transfer mode. This means that the amount of heat transferred to the temperature detection unit increases as the area contributing to heat transfer between the temperature detection unit and the temperature detection target in the thermocouple temperature measurement increases. Further, when a certain amount of heat is applied to the temperature measuring unit, the temperature change rate is inversely proportional to the heat capacity of the temperature measuring unit. This means that the temperature change rate becomes faster as the heat capacity of the temperature measuring part becomes smaller. For the above reasons, it is effective to increase the area contributing to heat transfer with the temperature detection target or to reduce the heat capacity so that the temperature measurement unit can quickly adjust to the temperature state of the temperature detection target. That is, the smaller the ratio of the calorific value of the temperature sensing part to the area contributing to heat transfer with the temperature sensing object of the temperature sensing part (hereinafter referred to as heat capacity / area), the faster the response of the thermocouple. Further, since the heat capacity is proportional to the volume, the same can be said for the ratio of the volume of the temperature detection section to the area contributing to heat transfer with the temperature detection target of the temperature detection section (hereinafter referred to as volume / area).
Furthermore, the volume / area of the temperature measuring part depends on its shape. In the case of the spherical temperature measuring part 39 shown in FIG. 3A, the volume / area of the temperature detecting part 39 is the smallest among the solid bodies without the hollow part. FIG. 3B shows a graph of the volume / area (surface area) of the sphere. According to this graph, when the area is increased, the volume / area increases and becomes infinite at the limit. Assuming that the surface area of the sphere is the surface area contributing to the heat transfer of the temperature detection unit 39 with the temperature detection target, the responsiveness of the thermocouple improves as the size of the temperature detection unit 39 is reduced and the area is reduced. .
The temperature detection unit has been described so far, but since the pair of conductors are joined to the temperature detection unit, the temperature detection unit is thermally influenced by the pair of conductors. It can be considered that the portion of the pair of conductors in the vicinity of the temperature detector is in the same temperature environment as the temperature detector, but if the shape and dimensions of the temperature detector and the pair of conductors are different, the same response as the temperature detector Does not necessarily indicate. 3A is a sphere in which one end portions of the pair of conductors 41 and 42 are formed by electric welding, the diameter of the sphere temperature detector 39 is the conductor 41, 42 times the diameter of 42. However, since it is formed by electric welding, it is difficult to form a sphere temperature detector having a diameter that is extremely larger than the diameter of the conducting wire. Therefore, in the thermocouple shown in FIG. 3A, the heat capacity of the portion of the pair of conductors 41, 42 in the vicinity of the temperature detection unit 39 tends to be a non-negligible magnitude with respect to the temperature detection unit 39. Therefore, the thermocouple temperature detecting portion 39 shown in FIG. 3A is affected by a thermal effect that cannot be ignored from the pair of conductors 41 and 42, and as a result, the thermoelectric shown in FIG. Pairs are difficult to detect accurately.
[0024]
On the other hand, in each thermocouple 35a-35e which concerns on this Embodiment, as FIG.2 (b) shows, the 1st conducting wire 41 and the 2nd conducting wire 42 are the same quality as the 1st conducting wire 41. The thermocouples 35a to 35e accurately measure the temperature because they are hardly affected by heat from the pair of conductive wires by being joined to the joining members 40a to 40e formed into a disk shape by the material. be able to.
Hereinafter, the thermal influence from the conducting wire in the thermocouple according to the present embodiment will be described. As shown in FIG. 2B, the joining member 40 formed in a disk shape has dimension elements of radius and thickness. FIG. 4 shows a graph of the volume / area of the joining member when the area is changed with the thickness unchanged. Even in this case, the volume / area increases as the area increases. However, if it is a sphere, it becomes infinite in the limit, but in a joining member formed in a disk shape, it converges to half the thickness in the limit. Here, assuming that the surface area of the joining member is the surface area of the joining member, assuming that the area of the joining member that contributes to the heat transfer is the surface area of the joining member, changing the dimensions other than the thickness of the joining member to reduce the surface area makes it easier to adapt to the temperature state of the temperature sensing object. On the other hand, even if the surface area is gradually increased, the familiarity with the temperature state of the temperature detection object does not change. Here, as shown in FIG. 2B, the temperature detecting portion 39 formed on the joining member 40 is thermally affected by the first conducting wire 41 and the second conducting wire 42. On the other hand, since the temperature measuring unit 39 is formed on the bonding member 40, the temperature measuring unit 39 is also thermally influenced by the bonding member 40. Here, when assuming that the surface area of the joining member is the surface area of the joining member that is assumed to be the surface area of the joining member, the surface area and the volume are increased by increasing the surface area and the volume. The heat capacity of the member 40 can be greatly increased to such an extent that the heat capacities of the portions near the temperature detecting portions of the first conducting wire 41 and the second conducting wire 42 can be ignored. On the other hand, the thermal influence which the part which exists in the vicinity of the temperature detection part of the 1st conducting wire 41 and the 2nd conducting wire 42 can reduce. And in this joining member 40, even if it enlarges dimensions other than thickness and enlarges a surface area and a volume, the influence on the familiarity with respect to the temperature state of the temperature measuring object is small. Therefore, in the thermocouples 35a to 35e according to the present embodiment, the temperature to be measured can be accurately measured.
[0025]
As described above, in the present embodiment, each thermocouple 35a to 35e accurately measures the temperature change of each heater unit 32a to 32e that is a temperature detection target, so the temperature measurement result of each thermocouple 35a to 35e is used. Based on the current actual temperature of the wafer 1, the temperature controller 33 that performs feedback control of the heater units 32 a to 32 e based on the feedback control of the heater units 32 a to 32 e with good responsiveness.
[0026]
When the entire processing chamber 14 is stabilized at the preset processing temperature by the above temperature control, the processing gas is introduced into the processing chamber 14 from the gas introduction pipe 19. The processing gas introduced into the processing chamber 14 moves up the processing chamber 14, then flows into the exhaust path 18 from the upper end opening of the inner tube 12, and is exhausted from the exhaust pipe 17 through the exhaust path 18. As the processing gas flows through the processing chamber 14, the surface of the wafer 1 is heat-treated by contacting the group of wafers 1.
[0027]
When the heat treatment is performed on the wafer group 1 and a preset heat treatment time elapses, the heating action of the heater units 32a to 32e is stopped by the sequence control of the temperature controller 33, and the temperature inside the process tube 11 is preset. The temperature is lowered to a standby temperature (for example, 150 ° C. to 300 ° C. lower than the processing temperature). Even in this case, the error between the actual lowering temperature inside the process tube 11 by the heater portions 32a to 32e of the heater 32 and the target temperature of the sequence control of the heater portions 32a to 32e is different from each thermocouple 35a to 35e. Each is corrected by feedback control based on the temperature measurement result. Also here, since each thermocouple 35a to 35e accurately measures the temperature change, the temperature controller 33 feedback-controls each heater unit 32a to 32e with good responsiveness based on the current actual temperature of the wafer 1.
[0028]
When a preset standby temperature is reached or when a preset temperature drop time has elapsed, the seal cap 20 is lowered, the furnace port 15 is opened, and the wafer 1 is held in the boat 21. The group is unloaded from the furnace port 15 to the outside of the process tube 11 (boat unloading).
[0029]
By repeating the above operation, the heat treatment by the hot wall heat treatment apparatus is batch-processed on the wafer 1.
[0030]
According to the embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
[0031]
1) Since the thermocouple can accurately measure the temperature change by joining the pair of thermocouple conductors to a joining member whose thermoelectromotive force characteristics are equal to or similar to one of the pair of conductors of the thermocouple, The temperature controller that feedback-controls the heater based on the temperature measurement result of the thermocouple can feedback-control the heater with good responsiveness based on the current actual temperature of the wafer. Heat treatment can be performed properly.
[0032]
2) The performance of the thermocouple can be improved by using the same material as that of the conventional thermocouple by forming the joining member with the same material as that of one of the conductors. Equivalent performance and reliability can be expected, and the same conditions can be applied to the usage atmosphere.
[0033]
3) Joining strength equivalent to that of a conventional thermocouple can be obtained by joining a pair of conducting wires to a joining member by electric welding.
[0034]
FIG. 5 is a front sectional view showing a single wafer hot wall heat treatment apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a plan sectional view.
[0035]
In the present embodiment, the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention is configured as a single wafer type hot wall heat treatment apparatus for performing a heat treatment step in an IC manufacturing method.
[0036]
As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the single wafer type hot wall heat treatment apparatus 50 includes a process tube 51 that includes a processing chamber 52 that can accommodate the wafer 1 and is rectangular in plan view. 51 is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape using quartz glass or silicon carbide, and is horizontally supported by a housing (not shown). A pair of side walls facing each other among the four side walls of the process tube 51 are opened, and a furnace port flange 53 and a furnace end flange 54 are fixed to both openings. The furnace port flange 53 is provided with a furnace port 55 for carrying the wafer 1 in and out of the processing chamber 52, and the furnace port 55 is opened and closed by a gate valve 56. A gas inlet pipe 57 for introducing processing gas is connected to the furnace port flange 53 so as to communicate with the furnace port 55, and an exhaust pipe 58 for exhausting the processing chamber 52 is connected to the furnace end flange 54. ing. The furnace end flange 54 is closed by a cap 54a. That is, the processing gas supplied from the gas introduction pipe 57 flows through the processing chamber 52 and is exhausted by the exhaust pipe 58. A wafer table 59 is mounted on the bottom surface of the processing chamber 52, and the wafer table 59 is configured to hold the wafers 1 one by one horizontally. A heater 60 is laid outside the process tube 51 so as to heat the processing chamber 52 uniformly or with a predetermined temperature distribution. The heater 60 is subjected to sequence control and feedback control by a temperature controller 61.
[0037]
As shown in FIG. 6, three protective tubes 62 a, 62 b, and 62 c are arranged adjacent to each other on a horizontal plane on the cap 54 a of the furnace end flange 54 and are respectively inserted and fixed in the horizontal direction. The insertion-side tip portions of the three protective tubes 62a, 62b, and 62c are positioned at three locations on the periphery of the wafer 1 just below the wafer 1 held on the wafer mounting table 59, respectively. Two thermocouples 63a and 63b are respectively sealed in the protective tubes 62a and 62b at both ends, and three thermocouples 63c, 63d and 63e are collectively sealed in the central protective tube 62c. Yes. The five thermocouples 63a, 63b, 63c, 63d, and 63e are connected to the temperature controller 61, and the thermocouples 63a, 63b, 63c, 63d, and 63e transmit temperature measurement results to the temperature controller 61, respectively. It has become. The temperature controller 61 performs feedback control of the heater 60 based on the measured temperatures from the thermocouples 63a, 63b, 63c, 63d, and 63e. That is, the temperature controller 61 obtains an error between the target temperature of the heater 60 and the measured temperature of each thermocouple 63a, 63b, 63c, 63d, 63e, and executes feedback control for eliminating the error if there is an error. It has become.
[0038]
As shown in FIG. 6, the three protective tubes 62a, 62b, and 62c have five bonding members 65a, 65b, 65c, 65d, and 65e, which are cross-shaped with the center of the wafer 1 and the center as the starting point. The five bonding members 65a, 65b, 65c, 65d, 65e have five thermocouples 63a, 63b, 63c, 63d, respectively. The temperature measuring unit side ends 64a, 64b, 64c, 64d, and 64e of 63e are fixed, respectively. Since the relationship between the thermocouple and the joining member and the fixing structure are the same as those in the above embodiment, a detailed description is omitted.
[0039]
Next, the heat treatment process of the IC manufacturing method according to an embodiment of the present invention when the single wafer type hot wall heat treatment apparatus according to the above configuration is used will be described.
[0040]
The wafer 1 as the object to be processed is handled by a wafer transfer device (not shown) and is carried into the processing chamber 52 from the furnace port 55. As shown in FIGS. Placed on top.
[0041]
After the furnace port 55 is closed by the gate valve 56, the processing chamber 52 is exhausted by the exhaust pipe 58 and heated by the heater 60 to a target temperature (for example, 600 to 1200 ° C.) for sequence control of the temperature controller 61. . At this time, the error between the actual temperature rise in the processing chamber 52 due to the heating of the heater 60 and the target temperature for the sequence control of the heater 60 is based on the temperature measurement results of the thermocouples 63a, 63b, 63c, 63d, 63e. Each is corrected by feedback control.
[0042]
Also in the present embodiment, the thermoelectromotive force characteristics of the bonding members 65a to 65e are equal to or approximate to those of the first conductor, so that the temperatures of the bonding members 65a to 65e are good for the temperature change of the wafer 1. Follow with responsiveness. Therefore, the thermocouples 63a to 63e follow the temperature change of the bonding members 65a to 65e with good responsiveness, thereby measuring the temperature change of the wafer 1 with good responsiveness. That is, the temperature controller 61 that feedback-controls the heater 60 based on the temperature measurement results of the thermocouples 63 a to 63 e performs feedback control of the heater 60 with good responsiveness based on the current actual temperature of the wafer 1. Become.
[0043]
When the entire processing chamber 52 is stabilized at the preset processing temperature by the above temperature control, the processing gas is introduced into the processing chamber 52 from the gas introduction pipe 57. The processing gas introduced into the processing chamber 52 is exhausted from the exhaust pipe 58 after flowing down the processing chamber 52. As the processing gas flows through the processing chamber 52, the surface of the wafer 1 is subjected to heat treatment by contacting the group of wafers 1.
[0044]
When the heat treatment is performed on the group of wafers and a preset heat treatment time elapses, the heating action of the heater 60 is stopped by the sequence control of the temperature controller 61, and the temperature of the processing chamber 52 is set to a preset standby temperature (for example, The temperature is lowered to 150 to 300 ° C. lower than the processing temperature.
[0045]
When the preset standby temperature is reached or when the preset temperature drop time elapses, the furnace port 55 is opened by the gate valve 56 and the wafer 1 is picked up from the wafer table 59 by the wafer transfer device. It is carried out of the processing chamber 52.
[0046]
By repeating the above operation, the heat treatment by the single-wafer hot wall heat treatment apparatus 50 is performed on the wafer 1 by single wafer processing. The effect in the present embodiment is the same as that in the previous embodiment.
[0047]
Needless to say, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.
[0048]
For example, the joining member is not limited to being formed in a disc shape, but may be formed in a polygonal flat plate shape or the like. In particular, when the heat transfer between the temperature measurement target and the thermocouple is exclusively due to radiation, the amount of heat transfer can be increased by adjusting the shape of the joining member and increasing the shape factor. This is effective for improving responsiveness. Furthermore, the surface area may be increased by applying sand blasting or the like to the surface of the joining member that contributes to the temperature measurement and the surface that contributes to heat transfer to provide unevenness.
[0049]
If the thickness of the joining member is set to be extremely thin, non-negligible thickness non-uniformity may occur or holes may be opened during electrical welding of the conducting wire. After electric welding, these occurrences can be prevented beforehand by a method in which the joining member is thinly finished by pressing or cutting.
[0050]
As a means for joining one conductor of the thermocouple and the joining member, not only electric welding but also a pressure welding method, an adhesion method, or the like may be used.
[0051]
Not only the temperature detection part (thermal contact) side of the pair of conductors of the thermocouple is joined to the joining member, but the reference part side may also be joined to the joining member.
[0052]
The thermocouple is not limited to be disposed near the wafer in the processing chamber, but may be disposed between the inner tube and the outer tube or between the process tube and the heater. The thermocouple may be inserted into the heater through the heater. Furthermore, you may insert so that a heat insulating material may be penetrated and it may be located in the outer peripheral part of a heater.
[0053]
The heat treatment is not limited to oxidation treatment, diffusion treatment, and diffusion, but is not limited to carrier activation after ion implantation and reflow and annealing treatment for planarization, and may be heat treatment such as film formation treatment.
[0054]
The workpiece is not limited to a wafer, but may be a photomask, a printed wiring board, a liquid crystal panel, an optical disk, a magnetic disk, or the like.
[0055]
The present invention is not limited to a batch type vertical hot wall type heat treatment apparatus and a single wafer type hot wall type heat treatment apparatus, but also includes general heat treatment apparatuses such as a batch type horizontal hot wall type heat treatment apparatus and vertical and horizontal hot wall type reduced pressure CVD apparatuses, and substrates. The present invention can be applied to all processing apparatuses.
[0056]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, temperature control can be appropriately executed by appropriately measuring the current actual temperature by the heater.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a front sectional view showing a batch-type vertical hot wall heat treatment apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2A is a detailed view of a part of FIG. 1, and FIG. 2B is a perspective view showing a temperature detection side end part of a thermocouple.
FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrams for explaining the volume / area, where FIG. 3A is a perspective view showing the connection between the temperature sensing portion of the sphere and the conductor, and FIG. 3B is the volume / area of the sphere when the area is changed; It is a graph which shows.
FIG. 4 is a graph for explaining the volume / area of the thermocouple according to the present embodiment, and shows the volume / area when the thickness is unchanged and the area is changed.
FIG. 5 is a front cross-sectional view showing a single wafer hot wall heat treatment apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a plan sectional view thereof.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Wafer (substrate), 2 ... Housing, 10 ... Hot wall type heat treatment apparatus (batch type vertical hot wall type heat treatment apparatus), 11 ... Process tube, 12 ... Inner tube, 13 ... Outer tube, 14 ... Processing chamber, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 15 ... Furnace port, 16 ... Manifold, 17 ... Exhaust pipe, 18 ... Exhaust path, 19 ... Gas introduction pipe, 20 ... Seal cap, 21 ... Boat, 22, 23 ... End plate, 24 ... Holding member, 25 ... Holding groove , 26 ... heat insulation cap part, 31 ... heat insulation tank, 32 ... heater, 32a to 32e ... heater part, 33 ... temperature controller, 34 ... protective tube, 35a to 35e ... thermocouple, 36a to 36e ... temperature detection part side end part, 37 ... Receiver, 38 ... Electrical wiring, 39 ... Temperature detector, 40, 40a to 40e ... Joining member, 41 ... First conducting wire, 42 ... Second conducting wire, 50 ... Single wafer type hot wall heat treatment apparatus ( Processing apparatus, semiconductor manufacturing), 51 ... process tube, 52 ... processing chamber, 53 ... furnace port flange, 54 ... furnace end flange, 54a ... cap, 55 ... furnace port, 56 ... gate valve, 57 ... gas introduction pipe, 58 ... Exhaust pipe, 59 ... wafer mounting table, 60 ... heater, 61 ... temperature controller, 62a, 62b, 62c ... protection pipe, 63a to 63e ... thermocouple, 64a to 64e ... temperature detection side end, 65a to 65e ... joining member .

Claims (1)

A pair of conductors of a thermocouple for measuring the temperature of a heater or a processing chamber are respectively joined to a joining member whose thermoelectromotive force characteristics are equal to or approximate to one of the pair of conductors of the thermocouple. A substrate processing apparatus.

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