JP3017786B2 - Heat treatment equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a heat treatment apparatus.

[Prior art] In recent years, in semiconductor manufacturing, with the high integration of IC chips, fine dust adheres to the chips during the manufacturing process, resulting in defective products. I have. For this reason, the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is arranged in a clean room in which air sent from an air blower is blown from a ceiling through a filter and exhausted from a floor surface to form a vertical flow of clean air.

Among the semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses arranged in such a clean room, a vertical heat treatment apparatus, in particular, uses a quartz boat 2 to store a wafer 1 stored in a carrier (not shown) as shown in FIG.
And a heat treatment furnace 4 for heat-treating the wafer 1 supported by the quartz boat 2. When such a vertical heat treatment apparatus is installed in a clean room 5 having a clean air flow 7 from a filter 6 provided on the ceiling to the floor, the transfer apparatus 3 for the wafer 2 is vertically moved from the ceiling by the heat treatment furnace 4. The clean air stream 7 of the stream could not be run.

In particular, when the quartz boat 2 on which the processing agent wafer 1 is placed is taken out from the heat treatment furnace 4 to the transfer device 3 after the heat treatment, air entrainment due to high temperature occurs, and especially the wafer 1
Was susceptible to contamination.

Therefore, the filter 8 is also provided on the side of the transfer device 3,
The horizontal clean air flow was blown so that the clean air flow 9 reached the wafer 1. Further, the side surface on which the filter 8 is provided is a door 10 that can be opened and closed from the rear side for performing maintenance of the transfer device 3.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, when the number of processed wafers in the heat treatment furnace 4 is increased and the diameter of the wafer is increased, a large transfer device is required. Therefore, a large amount of clean air must be supplied. did not become. The energy for supplying a large amount of clean air has increased, the energy loss has increased, and the treatment of a large amount of clean air has been difficult. For this reason, there has been a method of circulating the clean air in the apparatus. However, in the method of circulating the clean air, the temperature of the clean air rises, which causes inconvenience, and the dust gradually mixes with the air, and becomes a contamination source.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks, and is provided with a heat treatment apparatus having a clean air device that generates a clean air flow in a device with a small amount of power and does not need to process a large amount of air. The purpose is to provide.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, a heat treatment apparatus of the present invention is provided in a clean room, a heat treatment furnace arranged at an upper part, and a heat treatment furnace arranged at a lower part of the heat treatment furnace, In a heat treatment apparatus including a support that supports the object to be processed in the heat treatment furnace and a transfer device that transfers the object to be processed between the storage container of the object to be processed, A clean air device is provided to surround the space where the transfer of the object to be processed is performed between the storage container, and the clean air device is provided on the side of the transfer space and the duct that takes in the clean air flow of the clean room. A clean air delivery unit, a side duct provided on a side surface facing the clean air delivery unit, and a bottom duct connecting the clean air delivery unit and the side duct. Clean air, which consists of a plate suspended between the surface ducts, merges the clean air flow taken in from the duct from the clean air delivery unit and is delivered to the transfer space, is sent to the side duct, and is cleaned from the bottom duct. A circulation path returning to the air delivery section;
It has an exhaust path for discharging the same amount of clean air taken in from the duct.

[Operation] The clean air delivery portion provided on the side surface and the side duct provided on the side surface facing the clean air delivery portion are connected by a bottom duct, and air taken in from the clean air delivery portion from the outside is also joined. Send out clean air. Most of the discharged clean air is taken into the side duct and forms a circulation path from the bottom duct to the clean air discharge section again. The remaining clean air that is not sent into the side duct is exhausted outside the device. In this way, a small amount of clean air is taken in, and the amount of clean air taken out is exhausted, which eliminates the need for treatment when a large amount of clean air is taken in. A good clean air flow can be generated in the apparatus.

In addition, since the bottom duct is constructed by suspending a plate-shaped body between the clean air delivery unit and the side duct, maintenance can be performed easily from the top without performing any difficulties from the side. Yes, very efficient.

Embodiment An embodiment in which the heat treatment apparatus of the present invention is applied to a vertical heat treatment apparatus will be described with reference to the drawings.

The vertical heat treatment apparatus S shown in FIG. 1 mainly includes a carrier 11 which is a storage container for accommodating a wafer 1 which is a processing object before and after a heat treatment and a quartz boat 2 which is a support for supporting the wafer 1 during the heat treatment. Transfer device 30 for transferring wafers 1 by using
And a heat treatment furnace 4 for heat treating the wafer 1. The heat treatment furnace 4 is provided with a heater (not shown) divided into several zones so that each wafer can be uniformly heated in a plane, and further connected to a reaction gas supply system and an exhaust system (not shown) to be heated to a desired temperature. Processing, for example, film formation, can be performed on the wafer 1 by using a reactive gas.

A transfer device 30 for forming a transfer space K for transferring the wafer 1 between the carrier 11 and the quartz boat 2 includes a carrier mounting table 12 on which the carrier 11 is mounted and a transfer mechanism for transferring the wafer 1.
14 are provided. The transfer mechanism 14 has a horizontal movement mechanism connected to a fork (not shown) that supports a part of the wafer 1, and further includes a transfer arm 15. The transfer arm 15 is connected to a vertical movement mechanism and a rotation movement mechanism 16 and is inserted into the carrier 11 by the horizontal movement mechanism.
When the wafer 15 is raised by the vertical movement mechanism and supports the wafer 1, it is returned to the outside of the carrier 11 by the horizontal mechanism, rotated by the rotation mechanism, and furthermore, the horizontal and vertical mechanisms are operated to sequentially move the wafers to the empty stage of the quartz boat 2. The transfer will be performed. Such a vertical heat treatment apparatus S has a clean air flow 7.
And a clean air device C as shown in FIG.

The clean air device C is provided with a clean air flow inlet 19 formed of a mesh-like metal on the upper surface.
The air flow A1 from 19 is sucked from the slit 36A and the filter 2
0 air stream from the air delivery surface S1 of the attached e.g. area 1 m ² A2
The first with a built-in blower fan (not shown)
Duct 21 is provided. Also, in the first duct 21,
A slit 36B is provided to form a circulating air flow path in which a part of the air flow A2 flows and passes through the filter 20 again to become the air flow A2. Air flow A2 delivered from first duct 21
The carrier that houses the wafer set in the transfer device 30
11 through the first duct so as to generate an air flow A3 introduced into a bottom duct 24 provided at the bottom of the vertical heat treatment apparatus S.
Similar to 21, with a built-in blower fan, for example, area 0.25 m ²
Second duct 23 with filter 22 attached to air delivery surface S2
Is provided. The bottom duct 24 connects the clean air delivery unit 25 and the side duct 26 facing the clean air delivery unit 25, and is provided so as to surround the transfer space K. Clean air delivery unit 25 is attached to the filter 27 to the air delivery surface S3 of the example 2m ^2, the slit 28 provided in the side duct 26, air slits sent through the filter 27 from the clean air delivery unit 25 A clean air flow A4 introduced into the side duct 26 from 28 is formed in the transfer space K. The bottom duct 24, the clean air delivery section 25, and the side duct 26 are packed with the clean air delivery section 25 as shown in FIG.
A connection pipe 31 is connected via the connection pipe 31. A plate 32 is suspended between the connection pipe 31 and the other side duct 26 to form a bottom duct 24 with the bottom plate 33 of the apparatus, and are connected. A blower fan 34 is provided in the side duct 25, and an opening 35 of the bottom duct 24 is provided.
(FIG. 2) is an inlet for the clean air sent from the second duct 23. In the bottom duct 24, a control device of the transfer device 30, a moving mechanism 16 of the transfer arm 15, and other electronic components are arranged.

The operation of the vertical heat treatment apparatus S configured as described above will be described.

When the carrier 11 accommodating the wafer 1 is set on the carrier mounting table 12 of the transfer device 30, the blower fan of the first duct 21 starts operating. At this time, when flowing air having a desired flow rate, for example, 0.3 m / s, through the vertical heat treatment apparatus S, the air flow rate flowing through the narrowest air delivery surface S2 (0.25 m ² ) per minute
4.5 m ³ are taken into the apparatus from outside as clean air flow A1. Further, the clean air flow A1 taken from the slit 36A is passed through the filter 20 and the air around the first duct 21 taken from the slit 36B through the filter 20 at an air flow of 18 m ^{3 /} min.
Transmit as A2. The delivered air flow A2 is in the second duct
The filter taken into the second duct 23 by the operation of the blower fan inside 23 and also attached to the air delivery surface S2
From 22 it is delivered as an air flow A3 of 4.5 m ³ per minute. The air delivery surfaces of the first duct 21 and the second duct 23 are the first duct 21
Is larger, the air that cannot be taken into the second duct 21 is taken into the first duct 21 again through the slit 36B. The air flow A3 delivered from the second duct 23 is a carrier
Through the opening 11, the air is taken in from the opening 35 of the bottom duct 24 by the operation of a blower fan provided in the side duct 26. The air taken into the bottom duct 24 is
The air is guided to 25 and is blown out from the filter 27 of the clean air delivery unit 25 as an air flow A4 of 36 m ³ per minute. The air flow A4 passes through the transfer space K, forms a clean flow, and flows into the side duct 26 from the slit 28. The clean air that has flowed into the side duct 26 passes through the bottom duct 24 and returns to the clean air delivery section.
Returning to 25, the air is sent from the clean air sending unit 25 to form a circulation path. In addition, a part of the air sent from the clean air sending unit 25 is the amount of clean air taken in, for example, 4.
5 m ³ is exhausted from the back of the transfer device 30 to the outside of the device as an exhaust path of the air flow A5. In this way, a small amount of air is taken into the device, and a large amount of clean air is circulated in the device.
Filter contamination is also reduced, and a large amount of clean air can be supplied with little power.

The wafer 1 is mounted on the quartz boat 2 from the carrier 11 by the transfer arm 15 in the transfer space K where such a clean air flow is formed. Thereafter, the quartz boat 2 supporting the wafer 1 is inserted into the heat treatment furnace 4 and a desired heat treatment is performed. After the heat treatment, the quartz boat is transported from the heat treatment furnace 4, and similarly, the wafer is transferred from the quartz boat to the carrier by the transfer air K in which the clean air flow is formed, and the process is completed.

In addition, when performing maintenance of the control device of the transfer device disposed in the bottom duct 24, the plate-like body 32 of the bottom duct 24 can be removed, and maintenance can be easily performed from above. Further, when maintenance must be performed by removing the clean air delivery unit 25, the connection pipe 31 is provided, so that alignment can be easily performed, and the packing 29 can be removed without damage.

Further, even in a multiple system in which such a vertical heat treatment apparatus is provided with a plurality of side surfaces adjacent to each other, maintenance can be performed very easily as compared with a conventional system in which maintenance can be performed only from the side surface.

The present invention is not limited to the above, and can be suitably used for a horizontal heat treatment apparatus and other apparatuses in which a clean room does not flow vertically.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above description, according to the heat treatment apparatus of the present invention, the opposed clean air delivery unit and the side duct are connected by the bottom duct, and the amount of clean air taken in from the clean room is reduced. The clean air flow was formed and the rest was circulated between the clean air delivery section, side duct, and bottom duct.
And a large amount of clean air can be supplied with a little power.

Further, even if a control device or the like is arranged in the bottom duct, maintenance can be easily performed from above.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment in which the heat treatment apparatus of the present invention is applied to a vertical heat treatment apparatus, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a clean air apparatus, and FIG. FIG. 4 shows a conventional example. 24 Bottom duct 25 Clean air outlet 26 Side duct 32 Plate C Clean air device A4 Air flow (circulation path) A5 Air flow (exhaust path)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A heat treatment furnace disposed in a clean room and disposed at an upper portion thereof, a support member disposed at a lower portion of the heat treatment furnace, and supporting an object to be processed in the heat treatment furnace, and accommodating the object to be processed. In a heat treatment apparatus comprising a transfer device for transferring the object to and from a container, the object to be processed is transferred between the support of the transfer device and the storage container. Equipped with a clean air device that surrounds the space
The clean air device, a duct for taking in the clean air flow of the clean room, a clean air sending unit provided on a side surface of the transfer space, and a side duct provided on a side surface facing the clean air sending unit, A bottom duct that connects the clean air delivery unit and the side duct, wherein the bottom duct is formed of a plate-like body suspended between the clean air delivery unit and the side duct,
The clean air which joins the clean air flow taken in from the duct from the clean air sending section and is sent out to the transfer space is sent to the side duct and returned from the bottom duct to the clean air sending section. And an exhaust path for discharging the same amount of air as the clean air taken in from the duct.