JP2929260B2 - Method and apparatus for forming coating film - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for forming a coating film on a surface of an object to be processed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a semiconductor device manufacturing process, a predetermined circuit pattern is transferred onto a surface of an object to be processed such as a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter, referred to as a wafer) by using a photolithography technique.

In addition, with the recent increase in the degree of integration of circuit patterns, the number of circuit wiring layers has been increased, and in such a multilayer wiring structure, it is important to reduce the unevenness of the lower wiring as much as possible. Therefore, a technique for planarizing an interlayer insulating film for mutually insulating the lower wiring and the upper wiring is required.

Therefore, conventionally, as a flattening technique for forming an interlayer insulating film, coated glass [SOG;
Glass] is known. This SOG film coating method uses a film forming component (for example, a silanol compound (S
i (OH) 4)) and a processing solution (solution) in which a solvent (eg, ethyl alcohol) is mixed is applied onto a wafer to be processed, and the solvent is evaporated by a heat treatment to promote a polymerization reaction to form an insulating film. Technology. Specifically, first, the wafer is placed on the spin chuck, and the wafer is rotated (200
A solution of SOG is dropped and applied onto the wafer while the SOG film is formed at 0 to 6000 rpm to form an SOG film. Next, after evaporating the solvent by performing a heat treatment at a temperature of 100 to 140 ° C. in a preheating step, the wafer is loaded into a heating device and subjected to a heat treatment at a temperature of about 400 to 450 ° C., thereby forming the SOG film. It has a siloxane bond. Also, S
When an OG film is formed in multiple layers, the steps of applying the SOG solution onto the wafer and evaporating the solvent are repeated, and then the coated wafer is carried into a heating device and heat-treated, or After the SOG solution is applied on the wafer to evaporate the solvent, the process of carrying the SOG solution into the heating device and performing the heat treatment is repeated to form a multilayer SOG film.

[0005]

In the coating process for applying the SOG solution to the wafer surface, as described above, the SOG solution is applied to the wafer surface while rotating the wafer.
1 by spin coating method in which G solution is dropped and diffused
Single-wafer processing for applying an SOG solution to each wafer is performed. In the heat treatment step of heating the coated wafer, a batch process in which a plurality of wafers are held by a holding means such as a wafer boat and loaded into a heating device in terms of work efficiency is suitable. I have. for that reason,
Conventionally, the coating process of the single-wafer process and the heat treatment process of the batch process are performed by different apparatuses.

[0006] However, performing the coating process and the heat treatment process using different apparatuses not only requires a large installation space, but also heat-coats the object after temporarily transferring it to the outside of the coating apparatus after the coating process. There is a problem that the processing efficiency is reduced because the wafer is carried into the film formation. Furthermore, when the object to be processed is exposed to the air after the coating treatment, there is a possibility that organic matter, fine dust and the like may adhere to the coating surface, thereby lowering the yield.

Therefore, recently, as shown in FIG. 11, there has been proposed a system in which a single-wafer type coating processing unit and a batch type heat treatment unit are integrated. This system includes an input / output port 101 on which a wafer cassette C containing a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter, referred to as a “wafer”) is placed, an application processing unit 102 for applying an SOG solution to a wafer, and a solvent for the SOG solution. The coating unit includes a multi-stage hot plate 103 and a vertical heat treatment furnace 104. According to this system, the wafer W in the wafer cassette C on the input / output port 101 is transferred to the robot in the transfer area via the robot in the carry-in / out area,
After the SOG liquid is applied in the application processing section 102, the SOG liquid is preheated on a hot plate 103. Thereafter, the wafer W is mounted on a holder of the vertical heat treatment furnace 104 via the interface unit 106, and the number of the holders is a predetermined number, for example, 100.
The plurality of wafers are loaded and loaded into the heat treatment furnace 104. The inside of the heat treatment furnace 104 is previously heated to, for example, 400 to 450 ° C., and the SOG film applied to the wafer is burned.

[0008]

However, the above system has the following problems. (1) In order to utilize the advantages of the batch type heat treatment furnace for baking and tightening the SOG film, it is necessary to provide a large number of preheating hot plates. Plate 103
In addition, the coating unit is configured by providing the coating processing unit 102, but the coating unit occupies a large space, so that the entire apparatus becomes large. (2) A transfer robot for transferring the wafer to the carrier C of the input / output port 101, a transfer robot for the coating unit, and a transfer robot for transferring the wafer to the holder 104 of the heat treatment furnace 104 are required. Since an intermediate mechanism for transferring between robots is also required, the transport system is complicated. (3) In the case of baking the SOG film and forming an SOG film thereon to form a multilayer, a wafer taken out of a heat treatment furnace at 400 to 450 ° C. was provided on a part of an array shelf of a hot plate. Cool once with a cool plate, then
Since the OG liquid is applied to the wafer and then preheated on a hot plate and heat-treated, the throughput is low when such a process is repeated a plurality of times.

The present invention has been made under such circumstances, and an object thereof is to eliminate the need for a hot plate for preheating an object to be processed, to reduce the size of the apparatus and improve the throughput. It is to provide a coating film formation that can be performed.

[0010]

Means for Solving the Problems The invention of claim 1 comprises: a. A step of applying a treatment liquid to the object to be treated; b. Next, a plurality of the objects to be processed are held in a holder and carried into a batch-type heat treatment furnace, and the inside of the heat treatment furnace is heated to a first temperature to evaporate a solvent of a processing liquid; c. Thereafter, the inside of the heat treatment furnace is heated from the first temperature to the second temperature, and a component to be a film of the processing liquid is reacted to form a coating film; d. Subsequently, cooling the inside of the heat treatment furnace to a temperature lower than the first temperature; e. Then carrying out the holder from the heat treatment furnace; f. The object to be processed held by the holder is a to
e) repeating the step e) to form a plurality of coating films on the object to be processed.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a batch-type heat treatment furnace and a plurality of objects to be processed are held and carried into the heat treatment furnace.
A holder for unloading, an application processing unit for applying a processing liquid to the object to be processed, and a process for transferring the object to be processed between the coating processing unit and the holder and processing the object after the heat treatment from the holder. Transport means for taking out the body, and setting the inside of the heat treatment furnace to a first temperature in order to evaporate the solvent of the treatment liquid on the object to be treated carried into the heat treatment furnace, A control unit for controlling a heating unit of the heat treatment furnace so that the inside of the heat treatment furnace is heated to a second temperature in order to form a coating film by reacting. This coating film forming apparatus can be configured, for example, as follows.

The resistance heating element used in the heating section is, for example, molybdenum disilicide. Cooling means for forcibly cooling the inside of the heat treatment furnace is provided. An inlet and an outlet of the object to be processed are separately provided in the coating processing unit, and a transport unit for carrying the object into the coating processing unit is provided. The inlet of the coating section opens to the standby area of the workpiece, while the outlet of the coating section opens to a work area for transferring the workpiece to the holder. Provide a door. An intermediate transfer unit on which the object to be processed after the formation of the coating film is placed is provided between the standby area and the work area, and transport means for removing the object from the intermediate transfer unit is provided. The intermediate transfer unit is provided with means for partitioning the standby area and the work area. Temperature adjusting means for adjusting the temperature of the standby area is provided. Supply the inert gas to the standby area. The conveying means for carrying the object to be processed into the coating processing unit also serves as the conveying means for taking out the object from the intermediate transfer unit.

After applying, for example, a processing liquid for SOG to an object to be processed, a plurality of these objects to be processed are placed on a holder and carried into a heat treatment furnace, and preheated in the heat treatment furnace to evaporate a solvent. Thereafter, a coating film, for example, SOG is formed. Therefore, a hot plate is unnecessary because the preheating is performed in the heat treatment furnace, and if the object to be processed is cooled in the heat treatment furnace after forming the thin film, then the coating, preheating, and thin film (coating film) are performed.
When the formation process is repeated, the throughput increases.
The structure in which the temperature inside the heat treatment furnace can be raised and lowered at high speed can change the atmosphere in the heat treatment furnace between the first temperature, the second temperature and the cooling temperature at a high speed, so that high throughput can be achieved. can get.

[0013]

1 and 2 are a schematic perspective view and a plan view, respectively, showing the overall structure of a coating film formation according to an embodiment of the present invention. The coating film is formed by inputting / outputting a wafer cassette (hereinafter, referred to as a “cassette”) C containing a wafer W from / to the outside and an input / output port 1 for transferring the wafer W to / from the outside.
A coating processing unit 2 for applying the G solution, a vertical heat treatment furnace 3 for heat-treating the wafer W coated with the SOG solution, and an intermediate transfer unit for transferring the wafer W after the heat treatment to the input / output port 1 side 4 constitutes a main part.

The input / output port 1 is provided with a cassette stage 11 in which a plurality of, for example, four cassettes C are arranged in a row in a row with each opening facing the back. The coating processing section 2 and the intermediate transfer section 4 perform a first transfer of the wafer W.
Of the cassette stage 1 via the transfer area of the transfer means 40
1 is provided. The transporting means 40 includes, for example, five forks 41a to 41e as shown in FIG. 3, and these forks 41a to 41e are configured to be able to advance and retreat simultaneously by the drive unit 43 along the transport base 42, The middle fork 41c is configured to be able to advance and retreat alone. As will be described later, the transport base 42 is configured to be movable in the X, Z, and θ directions.

The coating processing section 2 is an apparatus for coating an SOG solution on the surface of the wafer W by a spin coating method. As shown in FIGS. A chuck 22 and a processing liquid supply nozzle 23 provided at a distal end of the processing liquid supply pipe 23a.
A rinsing liquid supply nozzle 24 provided at the distal end of the rinsing liquid supply pipe 24a; a movable arm 25 that grips the nozzles 23 and 24 and scans the wafer in the radial direction along a guide rod 25a; The exhaust pipe 27 includes a section 26a, a dummy dispense section 26b, and an exhaust pipe 27.

The coating processing in the coating processing section 2 will be described. When the wafer W mounted on the spin chuck 22 rotates together with the spin chuck 22, the processing liquid supply nozzle 23 is gripped by the movable arm 25 and And a SOG solution as a processing solution is dropped. This SOG solution is obtained by mixing a film forming component such as a silanol compound and a solvent such as ethyl alcohol. At this time, the wafer W rotates at a high speed (2000 to 6000 rpm).
Therefore, the SOG solution is diffused from the center of the wafer W toward the peripheral edge by the centrifugal force and
A G film is formed. Then, after the SOG film is formed, the side rinse supply nozzle 24 moves on the wafer W, and the SOG film on the peripheral portion of the wafer W is dissolved and removed by a rinsing liquid, for example, ethyl alcohol.

The housing 20 constituting the exterior of the coating processing section 2 has an inlet 28a and an outlet 29a on the near side (input / output port 1 side) and on the far side (working chamber side of a heat treatment furnace described later), respectively. Doors 28, 2 for opening and closing them and for separating the area on the side of the input / output port 1 from the work chamber.
9 are provided. In addition, when the stop position of the spin chuck 22 is always the same, or the positional relationship between the start position and the stop position is always set to be the same, and the orientation of the orientation flat (orientation flat) is already performed in the coating processing unit 2. Is so that the orientation of the orientation flat is not out of order. However, the application processing unit 2 may be provided with, for example, a light emitting / receiving sensor or the like that is exposed only at the time of alignment, and the orientation flat alignment may be performed here.

A boat stage 32 for mounting a wafer boat 31 is provided behind the coating processing section 2 via a transfer area of a second transfer means 10 for transferring a wafer. The wafer boat 31 is a holder for arranging and holding a large number of wafers W, for example, 100 shelves, and carrying the wafers W into the heat treatment furnace 3. The details of the structure will be described later.

In this example, two wafer boats 31, 31 stand on the boat stage 32 at positions (first position, second position) opposed to the coating section 2 and the intermediate transfer section 4, respectively. They are arranged side by side. The second transfer unit 10 has the same configuration as the first transfer unit 40, and transfers the wafer between the coating unit 2, the two wafer boats 31, 31, and the intermediate transfer unit 4. It is. At the back of the boat stage 32, the wafer boat 31 is placed in the heat treatment furnace 3 as shown in FIG.
Elevator 33 for loading and unloading
Is provided, and the wafer boat 31 is connected to a boat elevator 33 (specifically, the heat retaining cylinder 3 of the boat elevator 33).
3a), the first position (the position facing the coating processing unit 2) and the second position (the position facing the intermediate transfer unit 4).
And a boat transfer means 34 for transferring between the two. The boat transfer means 34 is configured to hold the lower surface of the bottom plate of the wafer boat 31 and to be able to rotate, move up and down, and advance and retreat.

The structure of the heat treatment furnace 3 will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. In FIG. 7, reference numeral 51 denotes a double-tube reaction tube comprising an inner tube 51a and an outer tube 51b made of, for example, quartz. A heating unit 6 is provided around the reaction tube 51 so as to surround the reaction tube 51, and the reaction tube 5
A metal manifold 52 is provided on the lower side of the unit 1. A gas supply pipe 53 and an exhaust pipe 54 are connected to the manifold 52, and a heating mechanism 55 and a liquid nitrogen source 56 are connected to the gas supply pipe 53 via a valve V1. And a gas supply source 57 to which nitrogen gas or other gas is supplied via a valve V2.

The heating section 6 is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the heat insulator 61.
A heating block provided along the circumferential direction while repeatedly bending the resistance heating wire 62 up and down is arranged in a plurality of stages. As the resistance heating wire 62, for example, molybdenum disilicide (MoSi2) can be used.
A large surface load of 20 W / cm @ 2 can be obtained at 200 DEG C., so that the temperature inside the reaction tube 2 can be raised at a high speed of 50 to 100 DEG C./min. The resistance heating wire used for the heating unit can be made of other materials,
In order not to lower the throughput very much, the surface load heat generation is preferably 10 W / cm 2 or more. Each heating block is controlled by a control unit 6 based on a temperature detected by a temperature detection unit such as a thermocouple (not shown).
0 controls the power. This power control raises the temperature inside the reaction tube 61 to a first temperature, for example, 100 to 140 ° C. in order to evaporate the solvent of the SOG solution applied on the wafer,
Next, in order to react the components of the SOG solution that will form a film, the temperature is raised to a second temperature, for example, 400 to 450 ° C. A heat retaining cylinder 36 is provided on the boat elevator 33 via a lid 35, and the wafer boat 31 is mounted on the heat retaining cylinder 36. The wafer boat 31 includes four columns arranged so that wafers can enter from between the front two, and each column is formed with a groove for holding a wafer.

Between the lower end of the heating section 6 and the reaction tube 51, an intake pipe 65 that opens to the outside of the apparatus via a shutter 63 or communicates with an air supply fan 64 is provided, for example, around the reaction pipe 51. The suction pipe 65 is provided with a nozzle 66 at the tip thereof. Further, an exhaust port 68 communicating with an exhaust duct 67 is provided on the upper surface of the heating unit 6.
The exhaust duct 67 has an exhaust port 6.
A shutter 69b that rotates about a support shaft 69a to open and close the shutter 8, a heat exchanger 69c, and an exhaust fan 69d are provided in this order from the upstream side. These intake pipes 65
The exhaust duct 67 constitutes a forced cooling means for forcibly cooling the inside of the reaction tube 51 after the heat treatment on the wafer W is completed.

In such an apparatus, after the heat treatment, the heating unit 6
Is turned off, the shutters 63 and 69b of the forced cooling means are opened, and the air sending fan 64 and the exhaust fan 6 are opened.
9d is actuated, whereby the gas quickly flows along the inner peripheral surface of the heating unit 6 from the nozzle 66 of the intake pipe 65 to the exhaust port 68, thereby cooling the inside of the reaction tube 51. By using such a forced cooling means, the temperature inside the reaction tube 51 can be lowered at a rate of 30 to 100 ° C./min. If necessary, for example, after the temperature in the reaction tube 21 reaches 100 ° C., the liquid nitrogen from the liquid nitrogen source 56 is adjusted to a predetermined temperature by the heating means 55 and supplied into the reaction tube 21 to increase the cooling capacity. Then, the temperature may be rapidly cooled to, for example, about 23 ° C.

The intermediate transfer section 4 mounts, for example, 25 wafers on a shelf, and a mounting shelf 41 configured to transfer wafers from front and rear (the input / output port 1 side and the work area side). It is stored in the body 42. The intermediate transfer section 4 is for temporarily placing the wafer on which the SOG film is formed in the heat treatment furnace 3 in order to return the wafer to the standby area (the area including the input / output port 1).

The work area is an area where the wafer W is transferred to the wafer boat 31 and the wafer boat 31 is transferred between the boat stage 32 and the boat elevator 33. When it is opened, heat is released from the inside of the heat treatment furnace 3 so that the temperature becomes considerably high,
Also, the temperature is unstable. On the other hand, in order to uniformly apply the SOG solution to each wafer, the temperature of the wafer is set to, for example, 23.
It is necessary to stabilize at a temperature of not more than ℃. Therefore, it is preferable that the transfer area of the cassette stage 11 and the first transfer means 40 (these areas are referred to as “standby areas”) and the work area are separated from each other. 2 are provided with doors 28 and 29, and doors 43 and 44 are also provided in the intermediate transfer unit 4 before and after the housing 42, respectively.

FIG. 9 shows a preferred example of the atmosphere adjustment in the standby area. In this example, the waiting area is temperature,
The humidity is adjusted and an inert gas such as N2 gas atmosphere is used. That is, the work area is surrounded by a housing 70 provided with a door 70a for opening and closing the loading / unloading opening of the cassette C, and N2 gas from the N2 gas supply source 71 is cooled by a fan 73 through a temperature / humidity controller 72 to the ceiling. The air is guided into the working atmosphere through the ULPA filter 74 and returned to the filter 74 via the circulation path 76 by the circulation fan 75 to be circulated. By adjusting the temperature and humidity of the working atmosphere in this way, even if the atmosphere outside the apparatus is unstable, the SOG solution can be uniformly applied to each wafer even in a clean room, for example. By setting the atmosphere, it is possible to prevent moisture adhering to the wafer from entering the coating film and causing cracks in the coating film during heat treatment. Further, if the working atmosphere is an N2 gas atmosphere, for example, when the cassette is carried into the input / output port 1 by a storage box in the N2 gas atmosphere, the growth of a natural oxide film on the wafer surface can be suppressed. This is effective in preventing a decrease in the withstand voltage of the insulating film and the like. 4 in FIG.
Reference numeral 3 denotes a rotation mechanism for rotating the transfer base 42 by θ, reference numeral 44 denotes an elevating mechanism of the transfer base 42, and reference numeral 45 denotes a guide mechanism in the X direction.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described. First, four cassettes C each containing, for example, 25 wafers W before processing are loaded onto the cassette stage 11 of the input / output port 1, and one wafer W is taken out of the cassette C by the first transfer means 40. It is carried into the coating processing unit 2 and the entrance-side door 28 is closed (at this point, the exit-side door 29 is closed). Next, as described above, the SOG solution is applied to the surface of the wafer W, and the peripheral edge of the wafer W is washed with the rinsing liquid. The wafer W is taken out and delivered to the wafer boat 31 placed at the first position. At this time, the exhaust gas is exhausted by the exhaust pipe 27 of the coating processing unit 2 to prevent the solvent volatiles in the coating processing unit 2 from flowing into the work area. In this embodiment, only one coating processing unit 2 is provided, but a plurality of coating processing units 2 may be provided, for example, side by side or vertically, and this improves the throughput.

After a predetermined number of wafers W, for example, 100 wafers W are mounted on the wafer boat 31, the boat transfer means 3
4, the wafer boat 31 is transferred from the first position onto the heat retaining cylinder 36 of the boat elevator 33, and the boat elevator 33 is raised to move the wafer boat 31 into the heat treatment furnace 3.
Carry in. FIG. 10 is an explanatory view showing a temperature profile in the heat treatment furnace 3, a heater power of the heating unit 6, a cooling mode by blowing air from the nozzle 66, and a cooling mode by N2 gas using liquid nitrogen. The heat treatment in the heat treatment furnace 3 will be described.

First, the inside of the heat treatment furnace 3 is at normal temperature (for example, 23 ° C.).
For example, after loading (loading in a wafer), power is supplied to the heating unit 6 under the control of the control unit 60, whereby the inside of the heat treatment furnace 3 is heated to a first temperature, for example, a temperature of 100 to 140 ° C. The temperature is maintained for, for example, 20 minutes to evaporate the solvent in the SOG solution. Thereafter, the heater power is increased to raise the temperature of the inside of the heat treatment furnace 3 to a second temperature, for example, 400 to 450 ° C., and this temperature is maintained for, for example, 10 minutes to cause a component to become a coated glass film in the SOG solution to react. Then, an SOG film is formed on the wafer surface.

Subsequently, the supply of the heater power is stopped, the shutters 63 and 69b are opened, and the blower fan 64 and the exhaust fan 69d are operated to supply air from the nozzle 66 to the heating unit 3.
Of the resistance heating wire 62 of the reaction tube 51
Quench inside. Then, after the temperature in the reaction tube 51 has dropped to a predetermined temperature, the valve V1 is opened, and N
2 The gas is supplied into the reaction tube 51 and exhausted by the exhaust tube 54 to further accelerate the temperature drop in the reaction tube 51. After the inside of the reaction tube 51 becomes, for example, 100 ° C. or less, the wafer boat 31 is unloaded, and the wafer transfer means 34 is transferred to the second position of the boat stage 32 by the boat transfer means 34. First, the wafer boat 3 at the first position
After 1 is transferred to the boat elevator 33, the other wafer boat 31 is transferred to the first position, and the next wafer is transferred to the other wafer boat 31.

Then, for example, five processed wafers are collectively taken out of the wafer boat 31 placed at the second position by the second transfer means 10 and placed in the mounting shelf 41 of the intermediate transfer section 4. Handed over. During this transfer operation, the door 43 on the standby area side of the intermediate transfer section 4 is closed, and after 25 wafers are placed on the mounting shelf 41, the door 44 on the work area side is closed. The door 43 is opened, and five wafers in the mounting shelf 41 are taken out at once by the first transfer means 40 and transferred to the cassette C on the cassette stage 11. Here, when the SOG film has a multilayer structure, the cassette C is transported one by one again to the coating processing unit 2 and the same processing is performed thereafter. In this case, you may make it convey directly from the intermediate transfer part 4 to the coating processing part 2.

According to the above-described embodiment, after applying the SOG solution to the wafer, the solvent in the SOG solution is volatilized (preheated) in the batch type heat treatment furnace 3, so that a multi-stage hot plate is not required. In addition, since it is not necessary to provide a wafer transfer mechanism between the multiple hot plates, the size of the apparatus can be significantly reduced. Then, the solvent volatilization step and the baking step are performed in a batch process in the same heat treatment furnace, and the heat treatment furnace can quickly raise and lower the temperature. The baking step can be performed at a temperature of
Since the temperature can be quickly lowered to a temperature equal to or lower than the temperature to unload the wafer and prepare for the next batch processing, a high throughput can be obtained.

Further, when the coating step and the heat treatment step are repeatedly performed to form a multilayered SOG film, a higher throughput can be obtained as compared with the case where a hot plate is used. Since the wafer can be taken out, the wafer quickly reaches a predetermined temperature, for example, the set temperature of the standby area without using a cooling plate or the like, so that the SOG solution can be subsequently applied, and the throughput is also high in this respect.

Further, since the coating processing section 2 is provided with an inlet and an outlet so as to open to the standby area and the working area, respectively, the wafer is taken out of the coating processing section 2 and then the next wafer is immediately processed. 2 can be transported into the work area 2 and the transfer efficiency is good. In addition, since the coating section 2 and the intermediate transfer section 4 are provided with doors to separate the work area from the standby area, the temperature is increased by heat radiation from the heat treatment furnace 3. Thus, the atmosphere in the standby area is stabilized without being affected by the atmosphere in the unstable work area, so that the application processing of the SOG solution is stabilized.

In the above, the temperature in the heat treatment furnace when unloading the wafer from the heat treatment furnace is arbitrary. For example, a method of unloading immediately after the baking step and cooling the inside of the heat treatment furnace may be used. The temperature inside the heat treatment furnace is preferably lower because the temperature of the wafer rises, and it takes a long time to cool the wafer. If the series of steps is repeated a plurality of times and the wafer after the heat treatment is already stable at the temperature of the standby area when it is carried out from the intermediate transfer section 4 to the standby area, the coating processing section 2
, And may be subjected to a coating process.

The heating rate and the cooling rate of the heat treatment furnace are 50 to 200 ° C. and 30 to 1, respectively, in consideration of securing the throughput and the limit of the thermal stress on the wafer.
00 ° C is preferred. The configuration of the apparatus is not limited to the embodiment. For example, the number of wafer boats is not limited to two. Further, a work area and a standby area are separated by a wall, and a carry-in / out door with a door is provided on the wall. And a coating processing unit may be provided on the standby chamber side, and the wafer after the coating processing may be delivered to the work area via the loading / unloading port.

[0037]

As described above, according to the present invention, after the treatment liquid is applied to the object to be treated, the solvent of the treatment liquid is evaporated in the batch type heat treatment furnace and the coating film is formed by the heat treatment. Therefore, a hot plate is not required, and the apparatus can be downsized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing the overall configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing the entire configuration of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an external view illustrating a main part of a first transport unit.

FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view showing a coating processing unit.

FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view showing a coating processing unit.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing a work area and a heat treatment furnace.

FIG. 7 is a vertical sectional side view showing an example of a heat treatment furnace.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a heating unit of the heat treatment furnace.

FIG. 9 is a longitudinal sectional side view showing an example of a means for adjusting an atmosphere in a work area.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a temperature profile in a heat treatment furnace and operations of a heating unit and a forced cooling unit.

FIG. 11 is a schematic plan view showing a conventional coating film forming apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 input / output port C wafer cassette W semiconductor wafer 2 coating processing unit 3 vertical heat treatment furnace 31 wafer boat 33 boat transfer unit 4 intermediate transfer unit 40 first transfer unit 10 second transfer unit 51 reaction tube 6 heating unit 60 Control unit 64 Blower fan 69d Exhaust fan

Claims (11)

(57) [Claims] 1. A method comprising: a. A step of applying a treatment liquid to the object to be treated; b. Next, a plurality of the objects to be processed are held in a holder and carried into a batch-type heat treatment furnace, and the inside of the heat treatment furnace is heated to a first temperature to evaporate a solvent of a processing liquid; c. Thereafter, the inside of the heat treatment furnace is heated from the first temperature to the second temperature, and a component to be a film of the processing liquid is reacted to form a coating film; d. Subsequently, cooling the inside of the heat treatment furnace to a temperature lower than the first temperature; e. Then carrying out the holder from the heat treatment furnace; f. The object to be processed held by the holder is a to
forming a plurality of coating films on the object to be processed by repeating step e). 2. A batch type heat treatment furnace, a holder for holding a plurality of objects to be processed and carrying them into and out of the heat treatment furnace, and a coating processing unit for applying a processing liquid to the objects to be processed. Conveying means for transferring the object to be processed between the coating processing unit and the holder and for removing the object to be processed after the heat treatment from the holder, and for transferring the object to be processed into the heat treatment furnace. Setting the inside of the heat treatment furnace to a first temperature in order to evaporate the solvent of the treatment liquid;
And a control unit that controls a heating unit of the heat treatment furnace so that the inside of the heat treatment furnace is heated to a second temperature in order to form a coating film by reacting film components of the treatment liquid. Coating film forming equipment. 3. The coating film forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the resistance heating element used in the heating section is molybdenum disilicide. 4. The coating film forming apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising cooling means for forcibly cooling the inside of the heat treatment furnace. 5. The coating processing section is provided with an inlet and an outlet for the object to be processed separately and provided with a conveying means for carrying the object into the coating processing section. Or the coating film forming apparatus according to 4. 6. An inlet of the coating section opens to a standby area of the workpiece, while an outlet of the coating section opens to a work area for transferring the workpiece to the holder. The coating film forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein doors are provided at the entrance and the exit. 7. An intermediate transfer section on which an object to be processed after the formation of a coating film is placed, is provided between the standby area and the work area, and transport means for taking out the object from the intermediate transfer section. The coating film forming apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 6, further comprising: 8. The coating film forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the intermediate transfer unit is provided with a unit for separating a standby area and a work area. 9. The coating film forming apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a temperature adjusting means for adjusting the temperature of the standby area. 10. The coating film forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein an inert gas is supplied to the standby area. 11. A transporting means for carrying in an object to be processed into a coating processing unit also serves as a transporting means for taking out an object to be processed from an intermediate transfer unit.
11. The coating film forming apparatus according to any one of items 10 to 10.