JP2010056294A - Thermal processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a thermal processing apparatus which has high cooling effect and can shorten cycle time of product manufacture. <P>SOLUTION: When a heating processing is terminated, an elevating apparatus 18 raises a cylindrical heating member 10. A reaction chamber 9 is exposed and the reaction chamber 9 (semiconductor wafer) is cooled to about 400°C. Since a cylindrical heat insulation object 11 exists outside the reaction chamber 9, peripheral equipment is not adversely affected by heat of the reaction chamber 9. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vertical heat treatment apparatus for simultaneously heat treating a plurality of substrates to be processed such as semiconductor wafers.

  Conventionally, a vertical heat treatment apparatus has been used when a film is formed on a surface of a semiconductor wafer by baking. As disclosed in Patent Document 1, a general heat treatment apparatus has an outer tube for uniformly distributing heat outside a reaction chamber (core tube) in which a substrate to be processed is inserted. A cylindrical heat insulator provided with a heater on the inner surface is disposed outside the outer tube.

  Recently, high-temperature treatment at 800 ° C. to 1000 ° C. is required in the pre-process of metal wiring. However, if a semiconductor wafer is heated to 800 ° C. to 1000 ° C. to form a film and then immediately removed from the heat treatment apparatus, the semiconductor wafer is thermally strained or oxidized by being in contact with the atmosphere (oxygen) at a high temperature. Problems such as film formation occur.

  In order to prevent the formation of an oxide film due to thermal distortion or contact with the atmosphere (oxygen) at a high temperature, the semiconductor wafer may be taken out after cooling to a temperature at which these disadvantages do not occur. This takes time and processing efficiency is poor. Therefore, Patent Documents 2 and 3 have been proposed.

In Patent Documents 2 and 3, a cylindrical heating member is disposed outside the reaction chamber (core tube), and the cylindrical cooling member is moved up and down relatively between the reaction chamber (core tube) and the cylindrical heating member. When the semiconductor wafer in the reaction chamber (core tube) is processed at high temperature, the cylindrical cooling member is retracted from between the reaction chamber (core tube) and the cylindrical heating member. A cylindrical cooling member is inserted between the reaction chamber (core tube) and the cylindrical heating member so that the semiconductor wafer in the reaction chamber (core tube) is rapidly cooled.
JP 2001-168047 A JP-A-5-218007 JP-A-9-199436

  As described above, the wafer can be rapidly cooled by providing the cylindrical cooling member so as to be movable up and down between the reaction chamber (core tube) and the cylindrical heating member. However, a sufficient space must be provided between the reaction chamber (core tube) and the cylindrical heating member in order to arrange the cylindrical cooling member. On the other hand, if a sufficient space is provided, the space between the heater and the heat treatment efficiency decreases.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a heat treatment apparatus according to the present invention has a cylindrical heating member coaxially disposed outside a reaction chamber in which a substrate to be processed is inserted, and a cylindrical heat insulation outside the cylindrical heating member. The body was coaxially arranged, and the reaction chamber and the tubular heat insulator were integrated, and the body could be moved up and down relatively with respect to the tubular heating member.

  The cylindrical heat insulator may have a cooling gas jet formed on the inner side surface. By doing so, the semiconductor wafer in the reaction chamber can be actively cooled, and the tact time can be further shortened.

  According to the heat treatment apparatus according to the present invention, the cylindrical heating member is raised relative to the reaction chamber (core tube) while maintaining the distance between the conventional reaction chamber (core tube) and the cylindrical heating member. Even if the reaction chamber (furnace core tube) is lowered and exposed, a cylindrical heat insulator is present outside the reaction chamber, so that adverse effects on peripheral devices due to the heat of the reaction chamber (furnace core tube) can be suppressed.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view during processing of the heat treatment apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an elevating mechanism, and the heat treatment apparatus forms an opening 2 in a base plate 1, and the opening 2 is used as a vacuum evacuation apparatus. A connecting pipe 3 is attached, and a mounting table 4 made of synthetic quartz or aluminum is fixed on the base plate 1 so as to straddle the opening 2, and a boat 5 made of synthetic quartz or aluminum is also detachable on the mounting table 4. Is set. 25 to 50 semiconductor wafers W are stored in the boat 5 in a state of being held at equal intervals.

  A bell jar type reaction chamber 9 made of synthetic quartz or the like is arranged outside the boat 5, and a cylindrical heating member 10 and a cylindrical heat insulator 11 are coaxially arranged outside the reaction chamber 9.

  A cylindrical heat insulator 11 formed by molding the reaction chamber 9 and ceramic fibers is supported by a common plate 12 at the lower end, and the common plate 12 is attached to an arm 14 of an elevating device 13 disposed on the side of the base plate 1. The reaction chamber 9 and the cylindrical heat insulator 11 are integrally moved up and down by the lifting device 13. A seal member 15 is attached to the lower surface of the plate 12 to make the reaction chamber 9 a secret space when the reaction chamber 9 is lowered.

  The tubular heating member 10 is provided with a coil heater 16 on the inner peripheral surface, and the inner side of the coil heater 16 is made of synthetic quartz or silicon carbide for eliminating the influence of heating spots caused by the coil heater so as to equalize the temperature. A tube 17 is disposed, and the cylindrical heating member 10 and the tube 17 are supported by an arm 19 of an elevating device 18 disposed on the side of the base plate 1, and the cylindrical heating member 10 and the tube 17 are integrally formed by the elevating device 18. Move up and down.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the cylindrical heat insulator 11 may have a configuration in which the inside is hollow to form a cooling gas passage 20 and a cooling gas injection hole 21 is formed on the inner surface. In this way, the reaction chamber 9 (semiconductor wafer) can be actively cooled.

  In the above, the heat treatment is performed in a state where the reaction chamber 9 and the tubular heat insulator 11 are lowered by the lifting device 13 and the tubular heating member 10 is lowered by the lifting device 18. In this process, the pressure in the reaction chamber 9 has already been reduced, and the solvent in the coating film applied to the surface of the semiconductor wafer W has been removed by evaporation.

  In the heat treatment, the coil heater 16 is energized to raise the ambient temperature to around 800 ° C., and a film is formed on the surface of the semiconductor wafer W. When the heat treatment is completed, as shown in FIG. 4, the cylindrical heating member 10 is raised by the lifting device 18 to expose the reaction chamber 9 and cool the reaction chamber 9 (semiconductor wafer) to about 400 ° C. To do.

  In this case, since the cylindrical heat insulator 11 exists outside the reaction chamber 9, peripheral devices are not adversely affected by the heat of the reaction chamber 9.

  Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 5, the reaction chamber 9 and the tubular heat insulator 11 are lowered by the lifting device 13 to expose the mounting table 4. Then, the boat 5 on which the processed semiconductor wafer W is mounted on the mounting table 4 is replaced with the boat 5 on which the unprocessed semiconductor wafer W is mounted. Thereafter, the above operation is repeated.

  FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 1 showing another embodiment. In this embodiment, the cylindrical heating member 10 is fixed on the base plate 1, and the mounting table 4 and the reaction chamber 9 can be moved up and down independently. .

  That is, a nut 32 is screwed onto a ball screw 31 that is rotated by a motor 30, and the common plate 12 to which the reaction chamber 9 and the tubular heat insulator 11 are attached is moved up and down by an arm 33 attached to the nut 32. A nut 36 is screwed onto a ball screw 35 that is rotated by a motor 34, and the mounting table 4 is moved up and down by an arm 37 attached to the nut 36.

  Even in this embodiment, when the heat treatment is completed, as shown in FIG. 7, the reaction chamber 9 and the tubular heat insulator 11 are integrally lowered to escape from the inside of the tubular heating member 10. Thus, it is cooled to a predetermined temperature in a short time. At this time, since the cylindrical heat insulator 11 exists outside, the heat of the reaction chamber 5 is not scattered outside and does not adversely affect peripheral devices.

  When the temperature drops to a predetermined temperature at which no oxide film is formed, the reaction chamber 9 and the cylindrical heat insulator 11 are raised to expose the mounting table 4 and the boat 5 is replaced as shown in FIG.

Longitudinal sectional view during processing of the heat treatment apparatus according to the present invention Plan view showing the lifting mechanism Sectional drawing which shows another Example of a cylindrical heat insulator Longitudinal sectional view of a state in which the reaction chamber and the cylindrical heat insulator of the heat treatment apparatus are integrally lowered with respect to the cylindrical heating member Longitudinal section during transfer of wafer boat of the same heat treatment equipment Sectional view similar to FIG. 1 showing another embodiment The longitudinal cross-sectional view of the state which lowered | hung the reaction chamber and the cylindrical heat insulator of the heat processing apparatus which concerns on another Example integrally with respect to the cylindrical heating member Longitudinal sectional view during transfer of wafer boat of heat treatment apparatus according to another embodiment

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Base plate, 2 ... Opening formed in base, 3 ... Piping connected to vacuum drawing apparatus, 4 ... Mounting table, 5 ... Boat, 9 ... Reaction chamber, 10 ... Cylindrical heating member, 11 ... Cylindrical heat insulator, 12 ... Common plate, 13 ... Lifting device, 14 ... Arm, 15 ... Sealing member, 16 ... Coil heater, 17 ... Tube, 18 ... Lifting device, 19 ... Arm, 20 ... Cooling gas passage, 21 ... Cooling gas ejection Hole, 30, 34 ... motor, 31, 35 ... ball screw, 32, 36 ... nut, 33, 37 ... arm, W ... semiconductor wafer.

Claims (2)

In the heat treatment apparatus, in which a cylindrical heating member is coaxially disposed outside a reaction chamber into which a substrate to be processed is inserted, and a cylindrical heat insulator is coaxially disposed outside the cylindrical heating member, the reaction chamber A heat treatment apparatus characterized by being capable of moving up and down relatively with respect to the tubular heating member in a state in which the tubular heat insulator is integrated. 2. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an outlet of a cooling gas is formed on an inner surface of the cylindrical heat insulator.

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