JP2008177211A - Vertical heat treatment apparatus and particle adhesion preventing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To electrify a substrate to be processed at the time point when the substrate to be processed is carried into a heat treatment furnace and at the same time, cause the particles in the heat treatment furnace to charge the same polarity. <P>SOLUTION: When a wafer W1 on the uppermost stage reaches a furnace port 140A, an ionized nitrogen gas 412 contacts the surface of the wafer W1 and the surface is electrified to be negative. At the same time, the ionized nitrogen gas 412 also contacts the particles 414 to electrify the particles to be negative and a repulsion occurs between them, so that the particles 414 can be surely prevented from adhering on the wafer W1. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vertical heat treatment apparatus for performing a predetermined heat treatment on a substrate to be processed and a method for preventing particle adhesion to the substrate to be processed.

  In a semiconductor device manufacturing process, for example, a vertical heat treatment apparatus is used to heat-treat a substrate to be processed such as a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter also simply referred to as “wafer”). In this vertical heat treatment apparatus, a holding means such as a wafer boat that holds a plurality of wafers in multiple stages is accommodated in a thermal heat treatment furnace, and impurity diffusion treatment, oxide film formation treatment, CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) treatment, etc. Various heat treatments are performed.

  In such a vertical heat treatment apparatus, when a predetermined heat treatment is repeated on the wafer, reaction by-products may accumulate on members in the heat treatment furnace, for example, the inner wall or the wafer boat. If this reaction by-product is peeled off and becomes particles and adheres to the wafer surface, there is a risk that the manufacturing throughput of the wafer will be reduced.

  Although the above description relates to the vertical heat treatment apparatus, the problem that particles adhere to the wafer also occurs in other types of substrate processing apparatuses. For this reason, conventionally, a technique for preventing particles from adhering to the wafer has been devised for various apparatuses. For example, Patent Document 1 describes a technique for preventing particles from adhering to a wafer in a transfer device that transfers the wafer. This is because particles are charged using a particle charging device and an electric field forming device is used to form an electric field having the same polarity as the charged polarity of the particles around the wafer, thereby generating repulsive force between the wafer and the particles. This prevents particles from adhering to the wafer.

JP-A-2005-116823

  However, in the case of the invention described in Patent Document 1, since the wafer and the particles are charged by being charged from separate devices, there is a problem that it is not easy to match the timing of charging the both. If one of the wafer and the particle is charged first, the period until the other is charged to the same polarity, despite the fact that a repulsive force is originally generated between the wafer and the particle, Attracting force is generated between the particles, which in turn causes the particles to adhere to the wafer.

  In the vertical heat treatment apparatus, since the temperature in the heat treatment furnace is about 400 ° C., for example, when the wafer boat holding the wafer is loaded into the heat treatment furnace, the wafer and the wafer boat are slightly expanded by the furnace temperature. To do. At this time, there is a difference in the coefficient of thermal expansion between the silicon constituting the wafer and the material constituting the wafer boat, for example, quartz glass, so that the contact portion between the wafer and the wafer boat is rubbed and deposited on the wafer boat. There is a possibility that an object will come off and this will become particles and adhere to the wafer.

  However, in the invention described in Patent Document 1, since the wafer can be charged only after the loading of the wafer is completed and the electric field forming apparatus is operated, the invention described in Patent Document 1 is longitudinally applied. Even if it is applied as it is to the mold heat treatment apparatus, particles may adhere to the wafer while being carried into the heat treatment furnace.

  Furthermore, according to the invention described in Patent Document 1, it is necessary to draw a power supply line made of, for example, metal into the room in order to form an electric field around the wafer. On the other hand, in the case of a vertical heat treatment apparatus in which the temperature in the furnace becomes high during the heat treatment, it is not preferable to dispose metal in the furnace because it causes metal contamination.

  As described above, the invention described in Patent Document 1 cannot be applied as it is to a heat treatment furnace of a vertical heat treatment apparatus, and even if it is applied, adhesion of particles to a wafer cannot be prevented accurately. The problem remains.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and the object thereof is to charge the substrate to be processed from the point of time when the substrate to be processed is carried into the heat treatment furnace. It is to provide a vertical heat treatment apparatus and a particle adhesion preventing method capable of charging the particles with the same polarity.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, according to an aspect of the present invention, holding means for holding a plurality of substrates to be processed in a vertical direction at a predetermined interval, and holding the holding means from a lower furnace port, A heat treatment furnace for performing heat treatment on the substrate to be treated, a lifting mechanism for supporting the holding means on a lid that closes a furnace port of the heat treatment furnace, and carrying in and out of the heat treatment furnace; and a predetermined gas There is provided a vertical heat treatment apparatus comprising ionized gas supply means for ionizing to generate ionized gas and supplying the ionized gas from the side surface of the heat treatment furnace to the vicinity of the furnace port.

  Also, a holding means for holding a plurality of substrates to be processed in a vertical direction at predetermined intervals, a heat treatment furnace for accommodating the holding means from a lower furnace port, and performing a heat treatment on each of the substrates to be processed, and the heat treatment An elevating mechanism that supports the holding means on a lid that closes the furnace port of the furnace and carries in and out of the heat treatment furnace, and ionizes a predetermined gas to generate an ionized gas, and the ionized gas is subjected to the heat treatment. An ionized gas supply means that is supplied from the side of the furnace to the vicinity of the furnace mouth, and the holding means is raised by the elevating mechanism, so that the uppermost substrate to be processed among the plurality of substrates to be processed held by the holding means When the substrate reaches the furnace port, the ionized gas supply means supplies the ionized gas from the side surface of the heat treatment furnace to the vicinity of the furnace port, so that the substrate is successively carried from the furnace port. Vertical heat treatment apparatus is provided, characterized in that toward the substrate and a control unit for supplying the ionized gas.

  According to this vertical heat treatment apparatus, since the substrate to be processed is brought into contact with the ionized gas in the vicinity of the furnace opening immediately after being carried into the heat treatment furnace, the substrate to be processed is charged to a predetermined polarity at that time. Even if particles are floating in the vicinity of the furnace port, these particles also come into contact with the ionized gas and are charged to the same polarity as the substrate to be processed. Therefore, repulsive force is generated between the substrate to be processed and the particles, and adhesion of particles to the substrate to be processed is prevented.

  It is preferable that the ionized gas supply means ionizes the predetermined gas to either minus or plus. According to this, the substrate to be processed and the particles can be reliably charged to the same polarity.

  The ionized gas supply means preferably supplies the ionized gas along the opening surface of the furnace port. In this way, the ionized gas spreads over the entire surface of the substrate to be processed, and the entire surface can be uniformly charged. Therefore, particles can be prevented from adhering to any part of the surface of the substrate to be processed.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the said ionized gas supply means supplies the said ionized gas from the supply port provided over the side surface perimeter of the said heat processing furnace. And you may make it comprise the said supply port by the some hole provided in the side wall of the said heat processing furnace. According to such a configuration, since the ionized gas can be stably supplied to the entire region near the furnace port, the entire surface of the substrate to be processed can be more uniformly charged. Therefore, it is possible to more reliably prevent particles from adhering to the surface of the substrate to be processed.

  The vertical heat treatment apparatus further includes an exhaust means at the top of the heat treatment furnace, and exhausts the exhaust gas while supplying the ionized gas into the heat treatment furnace from the ionized gas supply means. It is preferable that the ionized gas supplied in the vicinity of the furnace port of the heat treatment furnace is filled in the heat treatment furnace, and further the flow of the ionized gas toward the uppermost exhaust means is formed. According to this configuration, the ionizing gas can be filled into the heat treatment furnace without causing the ionized gas to flow out of the heat treatment furnace from the furnace port. Therefore, all particles floating in the heat treatment furnace can be charged with the same polarity as the substrate to be processed. As a result, even when the substrate to be processed is carried to a predetermined position in the heat treatment furnace, particle adhesion to the surface of the substrate to be processed can be prevented.

  In order to solve the above problems, according to another aspect of the present invention, a holding unit that holds a plurality of substrates to be processed in a vertical direction at a predetermined interval, and the holding unit are received from a lower furnace port, and A vertical furnace provided with a heat treatment furnace for performing heat treatment on each substrate to be processed, and an elevating mechanism for supporting the holding means on a lid that closes the furnace port of the heat treatment furnace and carrying in and out of the heat treatment furnace In a mold heat treatment apparatus, a method of preventing adhesion of particles to each of the substrates to be processed accommodated in the heat treatment furnace, wherein the holding means is lifted by the lifting mechanism and held by the holding means Supplying ionized gas obtained by ionizing a predetermined gas by the ionized gas supply means from the side surface of the heat treatment furnace to the vicinity of the furnace port after the uppermost substrate of the plurality of substrates to be processed reaches the furnace port. To do It, particle adhesion preventing method, which comprises supplying the ionized gas toward the substrate to be processed will be carried one after another from the furnace opening is provided.

  According to this method, since the substrate to be processed is brought into contact with the ionized gas in the vicinity of the furnace port immediately after being carried into the heat treatment furnace, the substrate to be processed is charged to a predetermined polarity at that time. Even if particles are floating in the vicinity of the furnace port, these particles also come into contact with the ionized gas and are charged to the same polarity as the substrate to be processed. Therefore, repulsive force is generated between the substrate to be processed and the particles, and adhesion of particles to the substrate to be processed is prevented. In addition, each substrate to be processed that is successively carried into the heat treatment furnace from the furnace port can be charged. Therefore, it is possible to efficiently prevent particles from adhering to all the substrates to be processed carried into the heat treatment furnace.

  The ionization gas supplied to the vicinity of the furnace port of the heat treatment furnace is exhausted by an exhaust means provided at the top of the heat treatment furnace while supplying the ionized gas into the heat treatment furnace from the ionized gas supply means. It is preferable to fill the heat treatment furnace with a gas and to form a flow of the ionized gas toward the uppermost exhaust means. As a result, the ionizing gas can be filled in the heat treatment furnace without causing the ionized gas to flow out of the heat treatment furnace from the furnace port. Therefore, all particles floating in the heat treatment furnace can be charged with the same polarity as the substrate to be processed. As a result, even when the substrate to be processed is carried to a predetermined position in the heat treatment furnace, particle adhesion to the surface of the substrate to be processed can be prevented.

  According to the present invention, since the substrate to be processed and the particles in the heat treatment furnace can be charged to the same polarity at the same time from when the substrate to be processed is carried into the heat treatment furnace, the adhesion of particles to the substrate to be processed is prevented. It is surely prevented.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the present specification and drawings, components having substantially the same functional configuration are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

(Configuration example of vertical heat treatment equipment)
First, a configuration example of a vertical heat treatment apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section schematically showing a vertical heat treatment apparatus according to this embodiment.

  The vertical heat treatment apparatus 100 includes a load port 110 for loading / unloading a carrier 102 containing a plurality of substrates, for example, 25 substrates to be processed, such as semiconductor wafers W, into / from a housing 104, and the load A carrier stage 120 for storing and storing a plurality of carriers 102 carried from the port 110 and a wafer boat (holding means) 130 for holding multiple wafers, for example, 75 wafers in multiple stages, are accommodated in the wafer W for a predetermined heat treatment, for example. A heat treatment furnace 140 for performing the CVD process, a FIMS port 150 on which the carrier 102 that accommodates the wafer W to be transferred to the wafer boat 130 is placed, and a control unit 160 are provided.

  The carrier 102 can store a plurality of wafers W in the container body in a horizontal state in multiple stages at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction, and is a so-called hermetically sealed type provided with a detachable lid (not shown) on the front surface of the container body. It is a transport container. The carrier 102 is transported by, for example, OHT (ceiling travel type transport device), AGV or RGV (floor travel type transport device), and PGV (hand-held transport device).

  The heat treatment furnace 140 is installed above the rear part in the housing 104, and is provided so as to cover the reaction tube 142 as a vertically long processing container whose lower part is opened as a furnace port 140A and the periphery of the reaction tube 142, A heater 144 is provided as a heating mechanism capable of controlling the atmosphere in the reaction tube 142 to a predetermined temperature, for example, 300 to 1200 ° C. The reaction tube 142 is made of, for example, quartz glass having high heat resistance and electrical insulation. Moreover, the heater 144 is comprised, for example with a resistance heating element.

  The reaction tube 142 of the heat treatment furnace 140 is connected to a plurality of gas introduction tubes for introducing a processing gas and an inert gas for purging, and adjusts the pressure inside the reaction tube 142. A vacuum pump and a pressure control valve are connected via an exhaust pipe. Details of the configuration of the heat treatment furnace 140 will be described later.

  In the housing 104, for example, a base plate 106 made of stainless steel for installing the heat treatment furnace 140 is horizontally provided. An opening (not shown) is formed in the base plate 106 at a position corresponding to the furnace port 140 </ b> A of the heat treatment furnace 140. The wafer boat 130 is loaded into the heat treatment furnace 140 through the opening and unloaded from the heat treatment furnace 140.

  A loading area 170 surrounded by the housing 104, the base plate 106, and the partition wall 108 is provided below the heat treatment furnace 140. The wafer boat 130 loaded in the heat treatment furnace 140 stands by in this loading area 170. Also, in the loading area 170, a cover 172 for sealing the furnace port 140A of the heat treatment furnace 140 from below, a lifting / rotating mechanism 174, and a shutter for shielding (heat shielding) the furnace port 140A when the cover 172 is lowered. A mechanism (not shown), a transfer mechanism 176 for transferring the wafer W between the unloaded wafer boat 130 and the carrier 102 on the FIMS port 150, and an opening (not shown) formed in the partition wall 108. A door mechanism 178 capable of sealing is provided.

  The wafer boat 130 includes a boat main body 130A that supports wafers W having a large diameter, for example, 300 mm in a horizontal state in multiple stages at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction, and leg portions 130B that support the boat main body 130A. As a material of the wafer boat 130, quartz glass or the like can be employed.

  An elevating / rotating mechanism 174 is attached to the lid 172. For this reason, the lid 172 can be moved up and down in the vertical direction, and the furnace port 140A of the heat treatment furnace 140 can be opened or closed. The lid 172 is provided with a mechanism (not shown) for heating or keeping the furnace port 140A.

  The leg portion 130 </ b> B of the wafer boat 130 is connected to the rotation shaft of the lifting / lowering rotation mechanism 174. With this configuration, the wafer boat 130 can move up and down in the vertical direction in conjunction with the lid 172, and can also rotate horizontally. Accordingly, the wafer boat 130 is loaded into the heat treatment furnace 140 with the horizontal rotation angle adjusted.

  A transport and storage area 180 for transporting and storing the carrier 102 is provided in the front part of the housing 104. The transport storage area 180 and the loading area 170 are separated by a partition wall 108.

  A FIMS port 150 is disposed below the transfer storage area 180. The FIMS port 150 includes a base 150A on which the carrier 102 is placed, a fixing mechanism (not shown) that fixes the carrier 102 so that the front peripheral edge of the container body of the carrier 102 abuts against the partition wall 108, and the carrier 102. And a lid opening / closing mechanism (not shown) for opening and closing the lid. Two FIMS ports 150 may be provided in parallel.

  A carrier stage 120 is provided in the upper rear portion of the transfer storage area 180. The carrier stage 120 includes, for example, first to third placement shelves 120A, 120B, and 120C, and is configured to place and store the carrier 102 on each.

  A carrier transfer 182 that transports and transfers the carrier 102 between the load port 110, the carrier stage 120, and the FIMS port 150 is provided in the upper front portion of the transport storage area 180.

  The load port 110 includes a table 110 </ b> A on which the carrier 102 is placed and an opening 110 </ b> B for carrying the carrier 102 into and out of the transport storage area 180. The conveyance of the carrier 102 to the load port 110 and the unloading of the carrier 102 from the load port 110 are performed by, for example, a floor traveling type conveyance device or a worker.

  The control unit 160 performs various types of control of the vertical heat treatment apparatus 100, such as carrier 102 transfer control, wafer W transfer control, heat treatment process control, and the like. Further, for example, a touch panel type display device 123 that functions as an input / output display unit of the control unit 160 may be provided on the front wall portion above the load port 110.

  Note that a second load port may be provided above the display device 123. Moreover, you may make it provide a 4th mounting shelf using the space of the back surface side of the display apparatus 123. FIG.

(Configuration example of heat treatment furnace)
Next, a configuration example of the heat treatment furnace 140 will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 shows a longitudinal section of the heat treatment furnace 140 and shows a configuration example of the ionized gas supply means 200 and the exhaust means 300 connected to the heat treatment furnace 140.

  As described above, the heat treatment furnace 140 mainly includes the reaction tube 142 and the heater 144 that covers the reaction tube 142. An air supply port 146 is formed at the bottom of the side surface of the reaction tube 142, and an exhaust port 148 is formed at the top of the reaction tube 142.

The ionized gas supply means 200 supplies ionized gas to the inside of the reaction tube 142 of the heat treatment furnace 140 through the air supply port 146. As the gas to be ionized, for example, dry air or inert gas can be used. Hereinafter, the present embodiment will be described in accordance with the case where nitrogen (N ₂ ) gas is used. In selecting a gas, it may be considered that the gas contains an element (molecule) having a small ionization energy.

  The ionized gas supply means 200 having such a function includes a nitrogen gas supply source 202, an air supply valve 204, a gas supply pipe 206, and an ion generator 210. The nitrogen gas supply source 202 is connected to the air supply port 146 of the reaction tube 142 via the gas supply tube 206. The gas supply pipe 206 is provided with an air supply valve 204.

  The ion generator 210 includes an electrode 212 having a needle-like tip and a power source 214 that is electrically connected to the electrode 212. The electrode 212 is disposed so that the tip thereof is located in the gas supply pipe 206. For example, when a high-voltage AC pulse voltage is applied to the electrode 212 from the power source 214, the nitrogen gas flowing through the gas supply pipe 206 can be negatively ionized and positively ionized. Thus, the ion generator 210 according to the present embodiment is configured as a so-called pulse discharge type ionizer. Alternatively, a corona discharge type ionizer may be employed.

  Moreover, as the ion generator 210, an ionizer that generates only one of positive ions and negative ions may be used, or an ionizer that can change the ratio of both generated ions may be used.

  The exhaust means 300 has a function of controlling the pressure in the reaction tube 142 by discharging the atmosphere in the reaction tube 142 to the outside when performing a predetermined heat treatment on the wafer W in the heat treatment furnace 140. According to the exhaust unit 300, the ionized nitrogen gas (hereinafter referred to as “ionized nitrogen gas”) supplied to the lowermost part of the reaction tube 142 by the ionized gas supply unit 200 is filled in the reaction tube 142, and further After leading to the top, it can be discharged to the outside. Further, by providing the exhaust means 300, it is possible to prevent ionized nitrogen gas from flowing into the loading area 170 from the furnace port 140A.

  If particles are floating in the loading area 170, if ionized nitrogen gas flows into the loading area 170, the particles are first ionized, and an attractive force is generated between the ionized particles and the members that are not yet ionized. There is a possibility that particles adhere to the member. By providing the exhaust means 300, such a problem can be avoided.

  The exhaust means 300 having such a function includes a vacuum pump 302, a main exhaust pipe 304, a main exhaust valve 306, a sub exhaust pipe 308, and a sub exhaust valve 310. The vacuum pump 302 is connected to the exhaust port 148 of the reaction tube 142 via the main exhaust tube 304. The main exhaust pipe 304 is provided with a main exhaust valve 306. A sub exhaust pipe 308 is connected to the main exhaust pipe 304 so as to bypass the main exhaust valve 306. A sub exhaust valve 310 is connected to the sub exhaust pipe 308.

  The nitrogen gas supply source 202, the supply valve 204, and the ion generator 210 that constitute the ionized gas supply means 200, and the vacuum pump 302, the main exhaust valve 306, and the sub exhaust valve 310 that constitute the exhaust means 300 are controlled. The operation is controlled by the unit 160.

(Principle of particle adhesion prevention)
According to the heat treatment furnace 140 according to the present embodiment configured as described above, it is possible to accurately prevent particles from adhering to the wafer W loaded in the reaction tube 142. The principle of preventing particle adhesion in the heat treatment furnace 140 will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram for explaining the contents of an experiment conducted to confirm the effect of this particle adhesion preventing method.

  One of the features of the technique for preventing adhesion of particles to the wafer W according to the present embodiment is to supply ions generated by a single device (ionizer) to the wafer and the particles. The inventors have said that according to such a method, the particles and the wafer are collectively charged to the same polarity to generate a repulsive force between them, and as a result, the adhesion of the particles to the wafer can be prevented. Estimated. In order to confirm the correctness of this prediction, the following experiment was conducted.

  First, as shown in FIG. 3, two measurement chambers 400A and 400B having an open top are prepared, and experimental wafers WA and WB of the same size are placed on each of them. Next, negative ions 402 are generated by an ionizer (not shown). The negative ions 402 are supplied only to the measurement chamber 400A. In this way, it is considered that the negative ion 402 is filled in the measurement chamber 400A, and the surface of the experimental wafer WA is negatively charged by the negative ion 402.

  Thereafter, the particles 404 are supplied to the measurement chamber 400A and the measurement chamber 400B. At this time, the conditions such as the size and number of the particles 404 are the same between the measurement chamber 400A and the measurement chamber 400B.

  The results obtained from this experiment are shown in FIG. The vertical axis of the graph shown in FIG. 4 indicates the ratio of the number of particles 404 attached to the surface of the experimental wafer WA to the number of particles 404 attached to the surface of the experimental wafer WB. Therefore, when this ratio is “1”, the same number of particles 404 are attached to the experimental wafer WA and the experimental wafer WB. If the ratio is smaller than “1 time”, the number of particles 404 adhering to the experimental wafer WA is smaller than that of the experimental wafer WB. On the other hand, the horizontal axis of the graph shown in FIG. 4 indicates the ratio of negative ions to all ions generated by the ionizer. When the ionizer generates only negative ions, this ratio is “100%”.

  In this experiment, when the ionizer generates ions of one polarity (minus here) at a high rate, the number of particles 404 attached to the experimental wafer WA is larger than the number of particles 404 attached to the experimental wafer WB. The result was about 30% less. In other words, it has been clarified that if ions of the same polarity are supplied to the wafer and the particles, the adhesion of the particles to the wafer can be significantly suppressed.

  On the other hand, of all the ions generated by the ionizer, for example, when 70% are negative ions and the remaining 30% are positive ions, the experimental wafer WA is compared with the experimental wafer WB as shown in FIG. However, the number of adhered particles increases. If negative ions and positive ions are mixed, the wafer and particles are charged with opposite polarities, and there is a possibility that attractive force is generated in both.

  From the above experimental results, based on the principle that if either negative ions or positive ions are supplied to the wafer and the particles, a repulsive force is generated between the two charged objects of the same polarity, the particles adhere to the wafer. It became clear that could be prevented.

(Method for preventing particle adhesion to wafer in heat treatment furnace)
A method for preventing adhesion of particles to the wafer W in the heat treatment furnace 140 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. Here, a case where the ionized nitrogen gas 412 is charged to a negative polarity will be described.

  FIG. 5A shows a state in which the wafer boat 130 is lifted and the uppermost wafer W1 of the 75 wafers W1 to W75 held on the wafer boat 130 reaches the furnace port 140A of the heat treatment furnace 140, for example. The state of the ionized nitrogen gas 412 near the furnace port 140A is shown. 5B, the wafer boat 130 is further lifted from the state of FIG. 5A, and for example, all 75 wafers W1 to W75 held in the wafer boat 130 are loaded into the reaction tube 142, and the lid 172 The state of the ionized nitrogen gas 412 in the reaction tube 142 when the furnace port 140A is blocked is shown. FIG. 6 is a timing chart for explaining the steps of the method for preventing the adhesion of the particles 414 to the wafers W1 to W75 when the wafers W1 to W75 are loaded into the reaction tube 142. In FIGS. 5A and 5B, the wafer boat 130 is not shown for the sake of simplicity.

  As shown in FIG. 6, first, at time T <b> 1, the control unit 160 controls the elevating / rotating mechanism 174 to raise the wafer boat 130. At this time, the control unit 160 opens the sub exhaust valve 310 and exhausts the atmosphere in the reaction tube 142 to the outside via the exhaust port 148, the main exhaust pipe 304, the sub exhaust pipe 308, and the vacuum pump 302. To do. As a result, a relatively weak updraft (indicated by a black arrow in FIG. 5A) is generated in the reaction tube 142.

  Next, at time T <b> 2, the control unit 160 gives a command to the nitrogen gas supply source 202 to send out nitrogen gas therefrom, and opens the air supply valve 204. In addition, the control unit 160 gives a command to the ion generator 210 so that a pulse voltage is applied from the power source 214 to the electrode 212. As a result, the nitrogen gas flowing through the gas supply pipe 206 is ionized in the vicinity of the electrode 212 to become the ionized nitrogen gas 412 and supplied into the reaction pipe 142. At this time, it is preferable that all the nitrogen molecules constituting the ionized nitrogen gas 412 are ionized to one polarity (here, minus).

  Incidentally, an air supply port 146 for taking in the ionized nitrogen gas 412 into the reaction tube 142 is formed at the lowermost portion of the reaction tube 142. Further, the gas ejection direction of the air supply port 146 is adjusted to be parallel to the planar direction of the wafer W held on the wafer boat 130. According to such a configuration, the ionized nitrogen gas 412 introduced into the reaction tube 142 from the air supply port 146 can be spread over the entire opening surface of the furnace port 140A.

  When this state is reached, as shown in FIG. 5A, when the uppermost wafer W1 reaches the furnace port 140A, the ionized nitrogen gas 412 contacts the entire surface of the wafer W1, and the surface is negatively charged. To do. Further, when the particle 414 floats in the vicinity of the furnace port 140A, the particle 414 also contacts the ionized nitrogen gas 412 and is negatively charged. Thus, since the wafer W1 and the particle 414 are negatively charged with the same polarity, a repulsive force is generated between them. Therefore, the adhesion of the particles 414 to the wafer W1 is prevented.

  Further, after time T2, the sub exhaust valve 310 remains open. For this reason, the ionized nitrogen gas 412 continuously introduced into the reaction tube 142 rises toward the exhaust port 148. Therefore, the particles floating in the reaction tube 142 are negatively charged one after another.

  When the wafer boat 130 rises from time T2 to time T3, the second and lower wafers W2 to W75 also sequentially reach the furnace port 140A. Then, it comes into contact with the ionized nitrogen gas 412 and is negatively charged.

  Next, at time T3, as shown in FIG. 5B, when all the wafers W1 to W75 are loaded into the reaction tube 142, the ascent of the wafer boat 130 stops and the furnace port 140A is closed by the lid 172. . At this time, the surfaces of all the wafers W1 to W75 are negatively charged by the ionized nitrogen gas 412 filled in the reaction tube 142, and the particles 414 are also negatively charged. Therefore, the adhesion of the particles 414 to all the wafers W1 to W75 is prevented.

  At this time T3, the sub exhaust valve 310 is closed, and instead, the main exhaust valve 306 starts to open. At time T4, the main exhaust valve 306 is fully opened, and the gas in the reaction tube 142 is exhausted and adjusted to a predetermined pressure. At this time, the particles 414 floating without adhering to the wafers W1 to W75 are discharged to the outside of the reaction tube 142 together with the ionized nitrogen gas 412 and other gases in the reaction tube 142.

  At the subsequent time T5, the supply valve 204 is closed and the supply of the ionized nitrogen gas 412 into the reaction tube 142 is stopped. At this time, in the ion generator 210, the application of the pulse voltage from the power source 214 to the electrode 212 is also stopped.

  After time T5, when the inside of the reaction tube 142 is adjusted to a predetermined pressure, the temperature in the reaction tube 142 is subsequently adjusted by the heater 144, and a predetermined heat treatment is performed on the wafers W1 to W75.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the wafer W reaches the furnace port 140A, the surface of the wafer W can be charged to a predetermined polarity by the ionized nitrogen gas 412. Further, if there is a particle 414 floating in the vicinity of the furnace port 140A, the particle 414 can be charged to the same polarity at the same time. Therefore, the adhesion of the particles 414 to the wafer W can be reliably prevented.

  Further, the ionized nitrogen gas 412 introduced into the reaction tube 142 is guided upward in the reaction tube 142 without flowing out into the lower loading area 170. Therefore, particles can be prevented from adhering to each member in the loading area 170 and all the particles floating in the reaction tube 142 can be charged to a predetermined polarity. As a result, even if the wafer W is loaded into the reaction tube 142, the adhesion of the particles 414 to the wafer W is prevented.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, the wafer W and the particles 414 are charged by coming into contact with the ionized nitrogen gas 412 generated by the single ion generator 210. Therefore, both can be charged simultaneously and to the same polarity without performing complicated control. For this reason, the adhesion of the particles 414 to the wafer W is more reliably prevented.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, it is not necessary to provide a metal wiring or the like in the reaction tube 142 in order to charge the wafer W and its periphery. Therefore, the problem of metal contamination does not occur.

  Incidentally, the air supply port 146 shown in FIG. 2 is configured by a single hole provided in the lowermost side surface of the reaction tube 142. Instead, a plurality of holes may be provided over the entire circumference of the lowermost side surface of the reaction tube 142 to configure the air supply port for the ionized nitrogen gas 412. According to this configuration, the ionized nitrogen gas 412 can be uniformly distributed over the entire opening surface of the furnace port 140A. Therefore, the surface of the wafer W is more uniformly charged, and it is possible to more reliably prevent particle adhesion thereto.

  As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of this invention was described referring an accompanying drawing, it cannot be overemphasized that this invention is not limited to the example which concerns. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made within the scope of the claims, and these are naturally within the technical scope of the present invention. Understood.

  For example, the same effect can be obtained not only when the ionized nitrogen gas 412 is negatively charged as described above but also when the ionized nitrogen gas 412 is positively charged.

  The present invention is applicable to a vertical heat treatment apparatus provided in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus or the like and a method for preventing particle adhesion to a substrate to be processed in this apparatus.

1 is a longitudinal sectional view schematically showing a vertical heat treatment apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the structure of the heat processing furnace concerning the embodiment. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating the content of the experiment conducted in order to confirm the effect of the particle adhesion prevention method concerning the embodiment. It is a graph which shows the experimental result of FIG. It is a schematic diagram showing a state of ionized nitrogen gas in the vicinity of the furnace port when the uppermost wafer reaches the furnace port of the heat treatment furnace. It is a schematic diagram which shows the state of the ionized nitrogen gas in the reaction tube when all the wafers are loaded in the reaction tube. It is a timing chart for demonstrating the process of the adhesion prevention method of the particle to the wafer concerning this embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Vertical heat processing apparatus 102 Carrier 104 Case 106 Base plate 110 Load port 110B Opening part 120 Carrier stage 120A-120C Mounting shelf 123 Display apparatus 130 Wafer boat 130A Boat main body 130B Leg part 140 Heat treatment furnace 140A Furnace 142 Reaction tube 144 Heater 146 Air supply port 148 Exhaust port 150 FIMS port 150A stand 160 Control unit 170 Loading area 172 Lid body 174 Lifting and rotating mechanism 178 Door mechanism 180 Transport storage area 182 Carrier transfer 200 Ionized gas supply means 202 Nitrogen gas supply source 204 Air supply valve 206 Gas supply pipe 210 Ion generator 212 Electrode 214 Power supply 300 Exhaust means 302 Vacuum pump 304 Main exhaust pipe 306 Main exhaust valve 308 sub exhaust pipe 310 sub exhaust valve 400A, 400B measurement chamber 402 negative ion 412 ionized nitrogen gas 404, 414 particles W wafer WA, WB test wafer

Claims (9)

Holding means for holding a plurality of substrates to be processed at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction;
A heat treatment furnace that houses the holding means from a lower furnace port and heat-treats each of the substrates to be treated;
An elevating mechanism that supports the holding means on a lid that closes a furnace port of the heat treatment furnace and carries in and out of the heat treatment furnace;
An ionized gas supply means for ionizing a predetermined gas to generate an ionized gas, and supplying the ionized gas from the side surface of the heat treatment furnace to the vicinity of the furnace port;
A vertical heat treatment apparatus comprising: 2. The vertical heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ionized gas supply unit ionizes the predetermined gas into one of minus and plus. 2. The vertical heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ionized gas supply means supplies the ionized gas along an opening surface of the furnace port. 4. The vertical heat treatment apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the ionized gas supply means supplies the ionized gas from a supply port provided over the entire side surface of the heat treatment furnace. The vertical heat treatment apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the supply port includes a plurality of holes provided in a side wall of the heat treatment furnace. Further, an exhaust means is provided at the top of the heat treatment furnace, and the ionization gas is supplied from the ionization gas supply means to the vicinity of the furnace opening of the heat treatment furnace by exhausting with the exhaust means while supplying the ionized gas into the heat treatment furnace. 2. The vertical heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ionized gas to be filled is filled in the heat treatment furnace, and the flow of the ionized gas toward the uppermost exhaust unit is formed. A holding means for holding a plurality of substrates to be processed at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction; a heat treatment furnace for accommodating the holding means from a lower furnace port; In a vertical heat treatment apparatus provided with an elevating mechanism that supports the holding means on a lid that closes the furnace port and carries in and out of the heat treatment furnace, each substrate to be processed accommodated in the heat treatment furnace A method for preventing the adhesion of particles,
The holding means is raised by the elevating mechanism, and when the uppermost substrate to be processed among the plurality of substrates to be processed held by the holding means reaches the furnace port, the ionized gas supply means performs a predetermined process. By supplying an ionized gas obtained by ionizing the gas from the side surface of the heat treatment furnace to the vicinity of the furnace port, the ionized gas is supplied toward the substrate to be processed that is successively carried from the furnace port. Particle adhesion prevention method. The ionized gas supplied to the vicinity of the furnace port of the heat treatment furnace is exhausted by an exhaust means provided at the top of the heat treatment furnace while supplying the ionized gas into the heat treatment furnace from the ionized gas supply means. 8. The particle adhesion preventing method according to claim 7, wherein the ionizing gas flow toward the uppermost exhaust means is formed by filling the heat treatment furnace. Holding means for holding a plurality of substrates to be processed at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction;
A heat treatment furnace that houses the holding means from a lower furnace port and heat-treats each of the substrates to be treated;
An elevating mechanism that supports the holding means on a lid that closes a furnace port of the heat treatment furnace and carries in and out of the heat treatment furnace;
An ionized gas supply means for ionizing a predetermined gas to generate an ionized gas, and supplying the ionized gas from the side surface of the heat treatment furnace to the vicinity of the furnace port;
The holding means is raised by the elevating mechanism, and when the uppermost substrate to be processed among the plurality of substrates to be processed held by the holding means reaches the furnace port, the ionized gas supply means A controller for supplying the ionized gas toward the substrate to be processed that is successively carried from the furnace port by supplying the ionized gas from the side surface of the heat treatment furnace to the vicinity of the furnace port;
A vertical heat treatment apparatus comprising:

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