JP3099102B2 - Heat treatment equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a heat treatment apparatus, and more particularly, to a heat treatment apparatus that heats an object to be processed such as a semiconductor wafer by light irradiation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a semiconductor manufacturing process,
2. Description of the Related Art In order to form an integrated circuit on a surface of a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter, referred to as a wafer) as a processing target, a process of forming a thin film on a wafer is performed using a sputtering apparatus or a CVD apparatus.

In such a film forming process, it is important to heat and maintain the entire surface of the wafer uniformly and at a predetermined temperature and to supply a processing gas to the wafer in order to grow a thin film uniformly on the wafer. ing.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, a conventional heat treatment apparatus of this type includes a processing chamber a having an upper opening for accommodating a wafer W at a predetermined position, and a lid c for opening and closing an opening b of the processing chamber a. The main part is constituted by a heating means d such as a heating lamp arranged below the processing chamber a. And, in the processing chamber a, a support pin e for mounting and supporting the wafer W,
A vertically movable transfer pin f for transferring the wafer W to and from the support pin e is provided. In this case, since the transfer pin f particularly requires strength and corrosion resistance, it is formed of, for example, a stainless steel member. A processing gas supply port h is provided at the center of the lid 20 to connect to a processing gas supply means (not shown) via a flexible tube g, and an exhaust port i is provided in the processing chamber a. The inside of the processing chamber a is configured to have a predetermined vacuum atmosphere by exhaust means (not shown) connected to the exhaust port i.

To form a thin film on a wafer in the heat treatment apparatus configured as described above, a wafer W loaded into a processing chamber a by a transfer arm (not shown) is supported by support pins e, Heating means d on the back of W
In addition to heating the processing chamber to a predetermined temperature by irradiating the substrate with a light energy beam from the substrate, the processing gas supplied from the processing gas supply unit can be supplied from the processing gas supply port h onto the wafer to perform the processing. By irradiating such a light energy beam, the inside of the processing chamber a can be set to a predetermined temperature in a short time, so that the processing time can be reduced.

[0006]

However, in this type of conventional heat treatment apparatus, since the transfer pins f exist on the lower surface side of the wafer W in addition to the support pins e, these support pins e and the transfer pins The back surface of the wafer W is heated in a state where the light is blocked by f. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, there is a problem that the temperature distribution of the wafer W becomes non-uniform, and the film thickness of the film formed on the surface of the wafer W becomes non-uniform. Further, it is necessary to arrange the support pins e and the transfer pins f at positions where they do not interfere with each other, and to transfer the wafer W efficiently.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a heat treatment apparatus capable of reducing the influence of light and heat, making the film thickness uniform, and improving the yield and throughput. It is assumed that.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, a heat treatment apparatus according to the present invention comprises a processing chamber for accommodating an object to be processed at a predetermined position, and a heating means for heating the lower surface of the object to be processed by light irradiation. In the processing chamber, a support pin for placing and supporting the processing object, and a transfer pin for transferring the object to be processed between the support pin and the support pin are provided in the processing chamber. And the transfer pins are each formed of a transparent member.

In the present invention, for example, a quartz member can be used as the transparent member forming the support pin and the transfer pin.

In addition, a support pin is provided to project inward and upward from at least three places in the circumferential direction of the ring-shaped support,
A movable ring that can move up and down is disposed at an outer peripheral position of the ring-shaped support, and a transfer pin is attached to the movable ring, and the transfer pin intersects with the support pin in the ring-shaped support. It is preferable to project into the ring-shaped support through a slit provided at the position.

[0011]

According to the heat treatment apparatus of the present invention constructed as described above, the support pins for mounting and supporting the processing object and the transfer pins for transferring the object to be processed between the support pins are each formed of a transparent member. When heating by irradiating light energy rays from below the object placed on the support pins by the heating means by the heating means, the light is transmitted through the transfer pins and the support pins to be processed. Irradiated on the body. Therefore, the entire back surface of the object is irradiated with the light energy beam,
The object to be processed is heated to a uniform temperature, and the film thickness of the film becomes uniform.

A support pin is provided to project inward and upward from at least three places in the circumferential direction of the ring-shaped support, and a movable ring body which can move up and down is provided at an outer peripheral position of the ring-shaped support. The transfer pin is attached to the movable ring body, and the transfer pin is projected into the ring-shaped support through a slit provided at a position where the transfer pin intersects with the support pin in the ring-shaped support. Can be performed in a stable state, and the transfer of the object to the support pins can be performed smoothly.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. Here, a case where the heat treatment apparatus of the present invention is applied to a semiconductor wafer CVD apparatus will be described.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a heat treatment apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional perspective view of a main part of the heat treatment apparatus.

The heat treatment apparatus according to the present invention includes a processing chamber 10 having an opening 11 at an upper portion for accommodating a semiconductor wafer W (hereinafter, referred to as a wafer) to be processed in a predetermined position, and a processing chamber 1
And a lid 20 openably and closably mounted on the upper portion of the wafer W via a hinge (not shown) to open and close the opening 11, and a back surface (lower surface) of the wafer W disposed below the processing chamber 10 and accommodated in the processing chamber 10. A main part is constituted by a heating chamber 31 having a heating means 30 for irradiating the substrate with a light energy ray to heat the substrate to a predetermined temperature.

The processing chamber 10 is formed of, for example, a box-shaped chamber made of an aluminum alloy.
A purge gas supply passage 17 communicating with the inside of the processing chamber 10 is provided on the side wall 14 and the bottom portion 16 of the gas supply passage. The purge gas supply passage 17 is provided with, for example, nitrogen (N2) or argon (Ar).
And a purge gas supply source (not shown) such as an inert gas.

A cooling water circulation passage 18 is formed in the side wall 14 of the processing chamber 10, and a cooling water supply pipe and a discharge pipe (not shown) are connected to the circulation passage 18. Exhaust ports 12 are provided at four places at the bottom of the processing chamber 10, and an exhaust pipe 19 through which a vacuum pump (not shown) is interposed is connected to the exhaust ports 12, and the processing pump is operated by the vacuum pump. The inside of the chamber 10 has a predetermined degree of vacuum (for example, 1
0 Torr to 10 ^-6 Torr).

FIGS. 1 to 3 show the inside of the processing chamber 10.
As shown in the figure, a ring-shaped support member 40 and a movable ring member 41 which can be moved up and down and disposed at an outer peripheral position of the ring-shaped support member 40 are provided. In this case, the ring-shaped support 40 protrudes three support pins 42 at an interval of 120 ° in the circumferential direction toward the upper side of the inner circumference, and a slit 43 that opens upward is provided between the support pins 42. (Fig. 3
reference).

The movable ring body 41 has one
Three crank-shaped transfer pins 44 at intervals of 20 °
Are mounted so that each transfer pin 44 can protrude inward and downward into the ring-shaped support 40 via the slit 43 of the ring-shaped support 40. In addition, a part of the movable ring body 41 has a bracket portion 45 facing outward.
The two rods 46 attached to the lower surface of the bracket portion 45 penetrate through holes 16 a formed in the bottom portion 16 of the processing chamber 10, and are slidably driven by a motor disposed outside. It is connected to.
Therefore, the movable ring 41 moves up and down by the operation of the stepping motor 47, and the transfer pin 44 can move up and down inside the ring-shaped support 40. In addition,
A bellows-like sealing member 49 is provided between the externally exposed portion of the rod 46 and the guide portion 48 for accommodating the stepping motor 47.
Is covered and is shielded from the outside air.

The support pins 42 and the transfer pins 44 configured as described above are, for example, 4 mm square or circular rods, preferably 1 to 2 mm.
It is formed of a quartz transparent member of mm square or circular rod.
As described above, by forming the support pins 42 and the transfer pins 44 with a transparent member such as quartz, a shadow of light is applied to the wafer W when light energy rays from the heating unit 30 are applied to the wafer W. Since it hardly occurs, the influence of the shadow can be reduced. Moreover, since heat is hardly accumulated in quartz, the heat of the light energy beam is not absorbed, and the thermal influence on the wafer W can be reduced. In this embodiment, the case where the number of the support pins 42 and the transfer pins 44 is three is described. However, the number of the support pins 42 and the transfer pins 44 is not necessarily three, and at least an appropriate interval is provided in the circumferential direction. In addition, any number may be used as long as the number is three or more arranged in a crossed manner with each other.

A guide hole 51 is provided in a part of the ring-shaped support member 40 so as to be inclined upward toward the inner peripheral side.
The thermocouple 50 projects through the guide hole 51 toward the inside of the ring-shaped support member 40 (see FIG. 4). By protruding the thermocouple 50 inward and upward of the ring-shaped support member 40 in this manner, the thermocouple 50 can be reliably pressed against the back surface of the wafer W supported by the support pins 42, and during processing. Of the wafer W can be accurately measured.

In the outer peripheral position of the upper part of the ring-shaped support member 40, a ring-shaped shield plate 13 for closing the periphery of the wafer W supported by the support pins 42 and a number of small holes located on the outer periphery of the shield plate 13 are provided. Is disposed.

A transmission window 32 made of quartz is attached to a lower opening 16b provided at the bottom 16 of the processing chamber 10, and a heating chamber 31 is disposed through the transmission window 32. In the heating chamber 31, a plurality of heating lamps 30 as heating means are provided.
Are fixed at predetermined positions of the upper and lower rotating plates 33 and 34. The heating lamp 30 includes a lamp body 30a such as a tungsten lamp or a halogen lamp and a reflecting mirror 30b, and emits light energy rays in predetermined directions. The rotating plate 33,
Reference numeral 34 is connected to a drive motor 35 via a belt transmission mechanism 36 so as to be rotatable in a horizontal direction about a shaft 37. Further, a cooling air inlet 38 is provided at a side portion of the heating chamber 31, and by introducing cooling air from the cooling air inlet 38, overheating of the room and the transmission window 32 is prevented.

On the other hand, the lid 20 is connected to the processing chamber 10 by a bolt (not shown) between the lid base 22 made of an aluminum alloy and the lid base 22 via an insulating member 23 made of ceramics. ), And a processing gas connected by bolts (not shown) via a ceramic insulating member 27 between a processing gas guide 26 made of an aluminum alloy and an upper portion of the processing gas guide 26. A processing gas supply unit 28 having a hat-shaped cross section and having a supply port 21 is mounted so that the opening 11 of the processing chamber 10 can be opened and closed via a hinge (not shown). A processing gas rectifying / dispersing means 29 formed of a multi-stage perforated plate having a large number of small holes sequentially decreasing in diameter from the top to the bottom is provided at a portion of the processing gas guide section 26 facing the wafer W. The processing gas mixing chamber 24 is formed between the processing gas guide 26 and the processing gas supply unit 28. The processing gas mixing chamber 24 communicates with the processing chamber 10 via a passage 26 a provided at an upper portion of the processing gas guide 26, and is provided from processing gas supply means (not shown) connected to the processing gas supply port 21. After the supplied processing gas is mixed in the mixing chamber 24, it flows into the processing chamber 10 through the passage 26a. In this case, in order to form a tungsten film on the wafer W, as a processing gas, tungsten hexafluoride (WF6) is used as a processing gas for film formation, and hydrogen (H2) and monosilane (SiH4) are used as processing gases for reduction.
) Or dichlorosilane (SiH2 Cl2), and chlorine trifluoride (C
l F3) is used.

The processing gas guide 26 has a cooling water circulation passage 26b formed therein.
b is a cooling water supply pipe 26c and a drain pipe (not shown)
Is connected.

Next, the operation of the heat treatment apparatus configured as described above will be described. First, in a state where the lid 20 is closed and the opening 11 of the processing chamber 10 is closed, a gate valve (not shown) is opened, and as shown in FIG. It is carried into the processing chamber 10 which has been reduced in pressure to a predetermined vacuum atmosphere.
Next, after the transfer pins 44 are lifted to receive the wafer W on the transfer arm 52, the transfer arms 5
2 retreats out of the processing chamber 10 (see FIG. 5B). In this state, the transfer pins 44 descend and transfer the wafer W on the transfer pins 44 onto the support pins 42 (see FIG. 5C).

With the wafer W placed on the support pins 42, when a light energy beam is transmitted from the heating lamp 30 through the transmission window 32 and irradiated on the back surface of the wafer W, the light beam is transmitted to the transfer pins 44. Since the wafer W is irradiated through the support pins 42, the entire rear surface of the wafer W is uniformly heated. Therefore, the wafer W is heated from the room temperature to the film formation processing temperature (for example, 500 ° C.) in a short time (for example, about 30 seconds).
Then, after reaching a predetermined temperature, W for film formation of the processing gas is formed.
F6 gas and, for example, SiH4 gas for reduction are supplied from the processing gas supply port 21 into the processing gas mixing chamber 24 and mixed.

The gas mixed in the processing gas mixing chamber 24 is rectified / dispersed by the rectifying / dispersing means 29 of the processing gas guide 26 and is uniformly supplied to the upper surface of the wafer W to be subjected to a film forming process. At this time, for example, a purge gas such as N2 gas is supplied from the purge gas supply passage 17 into the processing chamber 10 to prevent a W film of a processing gas component from being formed on the peripheral portion and the back surface of the wafer W.

After performing the film forming process for a predetermined time as described above, the supply of the processing gas is stopped, and the power of the heating lamp 30 is turned off. Then, after the processing gas in the processing chamber 10 is exhausted from the exhaust port 12 by the exhaust means, the gate valve is opened again, and the wafer W on which the film forming process has been completed is carried out by the transfer arm 52 to the outside.

The wafer W having undergone the film forming process as described above
When cleaning the inside of the processing chamber 10 and the processing gas rectifying / dispersing means 29 after taking out the processing gas from the processing chamber 10, the processing gas for cleaning, that is, Cl F3 gas, is supplied from the processing gas supply port 21 into the processing chamber 10. , This Cl F
3 The gas component reacts with the rectifying / dispersing means 29 and the processing gas component adhering to the inside of the processing chamber 10 to remove the adhering processing gas component, and can be discharged from the exhaust port 12 by the exhaust means.

In the above embodiment, the case where the object to be processed is a semiconductor wafer has been described. However, the object to be processed is not necessarily limited to a semiconductor wafer. Etc. can also be applied. In the above embodiment,
The case where the heat treatment apparatus of the present invention is applied to a CVD apparatus has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to, for example, a sputtering apparatus.

[0032]

As described above, according to the heat treatment apparatus of the present invention, since it is configured as described above, the following effects can be obtained.

1) According to the heat treatment apparatus of the first aspect,
Since the support pins for mounting and supporting the processing object and the transfer pins for controlling the transfer of the processing object between the support pins are formed by transparent members, respectively, the lower part of the processing object mounted on the support pin is formed. When heating by irradiating light with heating means from
The object can be irradiated with light through the transfer pins and the support pins, the object can be heated to a uniform temperature, the film thickness can be made uniform, and the yield can be improved. Can be achieved.

2) According to the heat treatment apparatus of the second aspect,
Support pins protrude inward and upward from at least three places in the circumferential direction of the ring-shaped support, and a movable ring body that can move up and down is disposed at an outer peripheral position of the ring-shaped support. The transfer pin is attached to the body, and the transfer pin protrudes into the ring-shaped support through a slit provided at a position intersecting with the support pin in the ring-shaped support, so that processing and transfer of the processing target can be performed. This can be performed in a stable state, and the object can be smoothly delivered to the support pins, and the throughput can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a heat treatment apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional perspective view showing a main part of a heat treatment apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a mounting state of a support pin and a transfer pin according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a state where a thermocouple is attached to a ring-shaped support according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing an operation mode of a support pin and a transfer pin in the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic sectional view of a conventional heat treatment apparatus.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a temperature distribution of an object to be processed processed by a conventional heat treatment apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Processing chamber 30 Heating means 40 Ring support 41 Movable ring body 42 Support pin 43 Slit 44 Transfer pin W Semiconductor wafer (workpiece)

────────────────────────────────────────────────── (5) References JP-A-3-271193 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01L 21/205 H01L 21/203 C23C 16 / 00 C30B 25/00

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A heat treatment apparatus comprising: a processing chamber for accommodating an object to be processed at a predetermined position; and a heating means for heating a lower surface of the object to be irradiated by light irradiation, wherein the processing object is placed in the processing chamber. A support pin for placing and supporting, and a transfer pin for transferring the object to be processed between the support pin and the support pin, wherein the support pin and the transfer pin are each formed of a transparent member. Heat treatment equipment. 2. A ring-shaped support having at least three circumferential portions.
A support pin protrudes inward and upward from the location, a movable ring body that can move up and down is disposed at an outer peripheral position of the ring-shaped support body, and a transfer pin is attached to the movable ring body, and 2. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transfer pin protrudes into the ring-shaped support via a slit provided at an intersection of the ring-shaped support with the support pin.