JP3538225B2 - Method and apparatus for crushing bulk semiconductor material using thermal plasma - 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 crushing a bulk semiconductor material using thermal plasma, and more particularly to a method for manufacturing a semiconductor material such as a single crystal silicon rod using a thermal plasma in a crucible. The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for introducing a silicon material to be melted into a crucible from a columnar raw material and crushing the silicon material into a size or a particle size suitable for melting.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a method of crushing a massive semiconductor material of this kind, a semiconductor material, for example, a columnar raw material of silicon is heated in an electric furnace or the like, and the heated material is rapidly cooled in a refrigerant. Finally, a method of mechanically crushing a relatively coarsely crushed silicon material to a required size or particle size is used.

[0003]

However, the conventional method described above has the following problems. (1) The surface of the silicon lump is oxidized or nitrided due to rapid cooling in a refrigerant, or is contaminated by doping with impurities. (2) A step of cleaning the silicon surface with an acid is required to remove these oxides and impurities. (3) In order to remove the acid remaining in the above item (2), a step of cleaning silicon with pure water is required. (4) The total amount of silicon is reduced by the cleaning of the above item (2), and the yield is deteriorated. (5) The waste liquid treatment equipment described in the above items (2) and (3) is required. (6) When mechanically crushed by the hammer, the crushed fine material of the hammer itself is mixed into the silicon material. (7) The time required for final crushing is long. Among the above problems, the items (1), (4), and (6) are technical problems, and the other are problems related to equipment and implementation costs.

[0004] The present invention has been made in view of such a point,
One object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problem and use thermal plasma that requires a short time for crushing without oxidizing, nitriding or contaminating the surface of the crushed semiconductor material, and without labor. An object of the present invention is to propose a method for crushing a massive semiconductor material.

Another object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and to reduce the time required for crushing without oxidizing, nitriding, or contaminating the surface of the crushed semiconductor material, and without labor. An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for crushing a massive semiconductor material using thermal plasma.

[0006]

The constitution of the present invention for achieving the above object is as follows.

(1) Silicon, germanium, and selenium in a lump are formed on a movable table movably disposed therein.
Placing the semiconductor material of Zureka a plasma torch equipped with a high-frequency coil, and a gas supply port to the end is provided above <br/> one end of the moving base, cooler above the other end to a chamber and a gas outlet is provided with a said gas outlet and a single inert gas or hydrogen gas from the gas supply port or blow their mixed gases, and supplies, by evacuating the gas while substantially retaining the pressure equal to atmospheric pressure, and by supplying high frequency power to the high frequency coil, together to generate a high-frequency thermal plasma in the plasma torch, the high frequency by the gas flow within the torch
A thermal plasma is formed in the direction of the moving table, and the moving table is driven by moving means to reciprocate the semiconductor material on the table between the plasma torch and the gas outlet, and heating the semiconductor material by the high-frequency thermal plasma, are alternately repeated and cooling by the gas which has been cooled by the cooler, expansion of the semiconductor material, the shrinkage, Ru method der of crushing the semiconductor material.

(2) Instead of the high frequency coil provided in the plasma torch in the above (1), a cavity and a waveguide are provided, and microwave power is supplied to the waveguide to provide the plasma torch. A microwave thermal plasma is generated in the semiconductor material, and heating of the semiconductor material by the microwave thermal plasma and cooling by the gas cooled by the cooler are alternately repeated, and expansion and contraction of the semiconductor material,
Ru method der of crushing the semiconductor material.

[0009] (3) (1) or (2) Te odor <br/>, a pre-Symbol method is either inert gas helium, neon, argon, xenon, krypton.

(4) A lump of silicon or germanium is placed on a movable table which is movably arranged by a moving means.
, Selenium, a plasma torch provided with a high-frequency coil above one end of the moving table and a gas supply port at one end , and a plasma torch above the other end. A gas outlet provided with a cooler, a chamber provided with a gas outlet located at a position distant from the gas outlet, a single inert gas or hydrogen gas, or a mixed gas thereof, the consists of a high-frequency power source connected to the high frequency coil, into the chamber, blowing the single gas or the mixed gas from said gas outlet and said <br/> gas supply port,
While supplying the gas from the gas exhaust port, the gas is maintained at a pressure substantially equal to the atmospheric pressure, and high-frequency power is supplied from the high-frequency power source to the high-frequency coil, so that the high-frequency thermal plasma is supplied into the plasma torch. And the gas flow in the torch causes the high frequency
The thermal plasma is formed in the direction of the moving table, and the moving table is driven by the moving means, and the semiconductor material on the table is reciprocated between the plasma torch and the gas outlet. and heating the semiconductor material by the high-frequency thermal plasma, repeatedly alternately cooling and by the gas cooled by the cooler, expansion of the semiconductor material, the shrinkage, Ru apparatus der of crushing the semiconductor material.

(5) A cavity, a waveguide, and a microwave power supply are provided in place of the high-frequency coil and the high-frequency power supply provided in the plasma torch in the above (4), and the microwave power supply is provided in the waveguide. Supplying microwave power from to generate microwave thermal plasma in the plasma torch,
Heating the semiconductor material with the microwave thermal plasma;
Repeating the cooling by the gas which has been cooled by the cooler alternately, expansion of the semiconductor material, the shrinkage, Ru apparatus der of crushing the semiconductor material.

[0012] (6) the (4) or (5) Te odor <br/>, a pre-Symbol device is either inert gas helium, neon, argon, xenon, krypton.

[0013]

The present invention is configured as described above, and its operation is as follows. (1) Since high-frequency thermal plasma or microwave thermal plasma is used as a heating source,
Rapid heating by an extremely high temperature of 000 ° C. is possible, and since the discharge mode is electrodeless, there is no contamination on the object to be heated. In addition, in combination with the following item (2), the crushing particle size can be controlled to a required particle size, so that mechanical crushing with a hammer or the like can be omitted.

(2) The cooling rate of the object to be crushed can be adjusted by setting each supply power for obtaining each of the thermal plasmas and a set temperature of a cooler provided in the gas outlet. In particular, extreme temperature gradients are obtained.

(3) When an inert gas such as argon and hydrogen is used for the plasma gas and the atmosphere in the chamber, nitriding at 800 ° C. during heating of silicon;
Oxidation at 900 ° C. can be prevented.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing one embodiment of a device for crushing a massive semiconductor material using thermal plasma according to the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a cylindrical chamber, and a rotatable moving table 2 is provided inside the chamber 1 so as to be movable or rotatable.
a, which is gently rotated by a motor (not shown) arranged outside, and a bulk silicon 4 which is a semiconductor material is placed on the upper end of the moving table 2. Is done.

A high-frequency plasma torch 5 is formed in the upper part of the chamber 1 near one end of the moving table 2, a high-frequency coil 6 is provided outside the torch 5, and a gas supply port 5a is provided at the end.
A gas outlet 8 having a cooler 7 is formed near the other end of the moving table 2. Further, a gas exhaust port 9 is provided in a lower portion of the chamber 1 at a position away from the gas outlet 8.

Reference numeral 10 denotes a gas supply device. The supply device 10 stores an inert gas (helium, neon, argon, xenon, krypton, etc.), a hydrogen gas alone, or a mixed gas thereof. Is supplied to the chamber 1 via the gas pipe 11, the gas outlet 8 and the gas supply port 5a. The gas is supplied from the gas exhaust port 9 of the chamber 1 to the gas pipe 1.
2. The gas is released to the atmosphere via an exhaust valve 13, or the gas is exhausted to the atmosphere by a vacuum device 16 via a gas pipe 14 communicating with the gas exhaust port 9 and an exhaust valve 15.

The high-frequency coil 6 provided outside the high-frequency plasma torch 5 is connected to a high-frequency power supply 19 via an electric wire 18 to generate high-frequency thermal plasma 17 in the high-frequency plasma torch 5, and is supplied with high-frequency power. You.

Next, in order to operate the crushing device,
The bulk silicon 4 is placed on the end of the rotary type moving table 2,
After operating the vacuum device 16, the gas supply device 1
0, the gas supply is stopped, and the exhaust valve 13 is closed, and the exhaust valve 15 is opened to open the chamber 1,
The pressure inside the high-frequency plasma torch 5 and the cooler 7 is reduced. Here, the position where the bulk silicon 4 is placed on the end on the rotary type moving table 2 is such that when the moving table 2 is moved, the bulk silicon 4 is applied to the high-frequency thermal plasma 17 at one end. It is desirable to have a position where it is contacted and, at the other end, is exposed to the cooling gas from the gas outlet 8.

Thereafter, for example, argon gas is supplied from the gas supply device 10 to the chamber 1, and the pressure in the chamber 1 is set to approximately atmospheric pressure. And the exhaust valve 1
3, the exhaust valve 15 is closed, and the vacuum device 16 is stopped.
Is rotated via a rotation shaft 3 by a motor (not shown).

When generating the high-frequency thermal plasma 17 in the high-frequency plasma torch 5, a mixed gas of argon gas and hydrogen gas is introduced into the chamber 1 from the gas supply device 10, The high-frequency power is supplied to the high-frequency coil 6 to generate the high-frequency thermal plasma 17, and the gas flow in the torch 5 causes the torch 5 to trail toward the moving table 2.

As described above, the high-frequency plasma torch 5
A high-frequency thermal plasma 17 is generated therein, and the high-frequency thermal plasma 17 is formed by the gas flow in the torch 5 so as to trail right below. The massive silicon 4 is reciprocated between the high-frequency plasma torch 5 and the gas outlet 8 while being continuously rotated by the moving table 2, and is heated by the high-frequency thermal plasma 17. And the cooling by the mixed gas cooled by the cooler 7 are alternately repeated. The lump of silicon 4 repeats rapid expansion and contraction due to repetition of the heating and cooling, and collapses and is crushed by itself.

In order to obtain the final required crushed particle size of the bulk silicon 4, the setting of the high-frequency power (the temperature of the high-frequency thermal plasma 17) to be supplied to the high-frequency coil 6 of the high-frequency plasma torch 5 and the setting of the cooler 7 In addition to the set temperature,
It is also determined by the cooling gas flow rate, heating and cooling time, heating and cooling cycle, and the like. When releasing the hydrogen gas into the atmosphere, care must be taken in terms of safety management.

FIG. 2 shows a modification of the crushing apparatus shown in FIG.
Instead of a, a moving table 20 and a moving frame 21 are provided in the chamber 1, and the same members as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

That is, the movable table 20 on which the massive silicon 4 is placed is disposed so as to be movable on the movable frame 21, and the massive silicon 4 is moved to one end by a known method. At the other end, it is reciprocated between positions exposed to the cooling gas from the gas outlet 8 at the other end. The known method is, for example, as shown in FIG.
Through the sealing member 22a fixed to the rope 22
Are respectively led to the outside, and the movable table 20 is reciprocated by being pulled in each direction.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the bulk semiconductor material crushing apparatus using thermal plasma according to the present invention. The same members as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

In FIG. 3, at the upper part of the chamber 1,
A microwave plasma torch 30 is formed near one end of the moving table 2, and a cavity 31 and a waveguide 32 are provided outside thereof, and a gas supply port 30 a is provided at an end of the torch 30.
And is provided. The gas supply port 30a is connected to the gas pipe 1
1 is connected to the gas supply device 10. Further, a microwave power supply 33 is connected to the waveguide 32.

When microwave power is supplied from a microwave power supply 33 through the waveguide 32, the microwave resonates in the cavity 31 and generates a microwave thermal plasma 34 in the microwave plasma torch 30. Let it. At the same time, the microwave thermal plasma 34 is
The gas flow in the torch 30 causes the trail to extend toward the moving table 2.

The operation of the crushing apparatus shown in FIG. 3 is performed in accordance with the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, and the microwave thermal plasma 34 is used instead of the high-frequency thermal plasma 17.
Should be generated. In order to obtain the final required crushed particle size of the bulk silicon 4, the setting of the microwave power (the temperature of the microwave thermal plasma 34) to be supplied to the cavity 31 of the microwave plasma torch 30 and the cooling of the cooler 7 In addition to the set temperature, depending on the cooling gas flow rate, heating and cooling time, heating and cooling cycle, etc.
It is determined. When releasing the hydrogen gas into the atmosphere as in the above-described embodiment, caution must be exercised in terms of safety management.

The technique of the present invention is not limited to the technique in the above-described embodiment, but may be implemented by means of other modes that perform the same function. Can be changed or added.

[0033]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the first , second and third aspects of the present invention relate to
In a simple substance of inert gas or hydrogen gas, or a mixed gas of these, a semiconductor material of any of silicon , germanium, and selenium is alternately heated by high-frequency thermal plasma or microwave thermal plasma and cooled by a cooling gas. Repeatedly, since the semiconductor material is crushed by expansion and contraction of the semiconductor material, the surface of the semiconductor material to be crushed is not oxidized, nitrided or contaminated, and is crushed without labor. This has the effect that the time required is short.

According to the present invention, claims 4, 5, and 6 are provided.
About lump , silicon, germanium, selenium
Any one of the semiconductor materials described above, in an inert gas or a hydrogen gas alone, or a mixture thereof, alternately repeating heating by high-frequency thermal plasma or microwave thermal plasma and cooling by a cooling gas, Is a device for crushing the semiconductor material by expansion and contraction of the semiconductor material, so that the surface of the semiconductor material to be crushed is not oxidized, nitrided or contaminated, requires no manual labor, and requires a short time for crushing. It works.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing one embodiment of a bulk semiconductor material crushing apparatus using thermal plasma according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing a modified example of the crushing device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the apparatus for crushing a massive semiconductor material using thermal plasma according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 chamber 2 rotary type moving table 3 Rotation axis 4 Lump silicon 5 High frequency plasma torch 6 High frequency coil 7 Cooler 8 Gas outlet 9 Gas outlet 10 Gas supply device 17 High frequency thermal plasma 19 High frequency power supply 30 microwave plasma torch 31 cavities 32 waveguide 33 Microwave power supply 34 Microwave Thermal Plasma

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. A lump-shaped semiconductor material of silicon, germanium, or selenium is placed on a movable table movably disposed therein, and one end of the movable table is mounted on the movable table. A gas torch provided with a high-frequency coil above and a gas supply port at one end , and a gas outlet with a cooler above the other end provided in a chamber provided with the gas outlet and
Single inert gas or hydrogen gas from the gas supply port,
Or blow out and supply their mixed gas,
While exhausting the gas, maintained at a pressure substantially equal to atmospheric pressure, and said high-frequency power is supplied to the RF coil, together to generate a high-frequency thermal plasma in the plasma torch, wherein the gas flow within the torch High frequency heat plastic
A semiconductor is formed in the direction of the moving table, and the moving table is driven by moving means so that the semiconductor material on the table is reciprocated between the plasma torch and the gas outlet, thereby forming the semiconductor. Heating the material by the high-frequency thermal plasma;
A method of crushing a massive semiconductor material using thermal plasma, wherein the semiconductor material is crushed by expansion and contraction of the semiconductor material alternately with cooling by the gas cooled by the cooler. 2. A bulk semiconductor material of silicon, germanium, or selenium is placed on a movable table movably disposed therein, and one end of the movable table is mounted on the movable table. The gas blower is provided in a chamber provided with a cavity and a waveguide above and a gas supply port provided at one end , and a gas blowout port provided with a cooler above the other end. outlet and a single inert gas or hydrogen gas from the gas supply port or blow their mixed gas supplies, while exhausting the gas, maintained at a pressure substantially equal to atmospheric pressure, and the waveguide the supplied microwave power, with generating a microwave thermal plasma in the plasma torch, wherein the gas flow within the torch
The microwave thermal plasma is formed up to the direction of the moving table, and the moving table is driven by moving means to reciprocate the semiconductor material on the table between the plasma torch and the gas outlet. Heating the semiconductor material by the microwave thermal plasma and cooling by the gas cooled by the cooler are alternately repeated, and the semiconductor material is crushed by expansion and contraction of the semiconductor material. A method for crushing bulk semiconductor materials using thermal plasma. 3. A pre-Symbol inert gas helium, neon, argon, xenon, disruption methods of bulk semiconductor material using a thermal plasma according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that any one of krypton. 4. A lump of silicon, germanium, or the like , on a movable table provided inside the movable table by a moving means .
Either a semiconductor material of selenium is placed, a high-frequency coil is provided above one end of the moving table, and a plasma torch provided with a gas supply port at one end , and a cooler is provided above the other end. A gas outlet, a chamber provided with a gas outlet at a position distant from the gas outlet, and an inert gas or hydrogen gas alone, or a mixed gas thereof,
The consists of a high-frequency power source connected to the high frequency coil, into the chamber, blowing the single gas or the mixed gas from the gas outlet and the gas supply port supplies, exhausting the gas from the gas exhaust port while doing,
Held in pressure substantially equal to atmospheric pressure, and the high frequency coil from the high frequency power source supplying high frequency power, together with generating a high-frequency thermal plasma in the plasma torch, the high-frequency thermal plasma by the gas flow within the torch
Was formed to a direction of the moving table, the semiconductor material on該台by driving the moving base by the moving means and is reciprocated between the torch and the gas outlet, the semiconductor Heating the material by the high-frequency thermal plasma;
An apparatus for crushing a massive semiconductor material using thermal plasma, wherein the semiconductor material is crushed by expansion and contraction of the semiconductor material alternately with cooling by the gas cooled by the cooler. 5. A lump of silicon, germanium, or the like , on a movable table provided inside the movable table by a moving means .
Placing one of the semiconductor material of selenium, and a cavity and the waveguide above the one end of the moving base, and a plasma torch gas supply port is provided on the end, on the other end
A gas outlet provided with a cooler towards a chamber and a gas exhaust port provided at a position away from the said gas outlet,
Single inert gas or hydrogen gas or a mixed gas thereof, a micro-wave power source and connected to the waveguide, in the chamber, said single gas from the gas outlet and the gas supply port or While blowing and supplying the mixed gas, while exhausting the gas from the gas exhaust port,
While maintaining a pressure substantially equal to the atmospheric pressure, and supplying microwave power from the microwave power supply to the waveguide to generate microwave thermal plasma in the plasma torch, and by the gas flow in the torch The microwave
The thermal plasma is formed in the direction of the moving table, and the moving table is driven by the moving means, and the semiconductor material on the table is reciprocated between the plasma torch and the gas outlet. Heating the semiconductor material by the microwave thermal plasma and cooling by the gas cooled by the cooler are alternately repeated, and the semiconductor material is crushed by expansion and contraction of the semiconductor material. A device for crushing massive semiconductor materials using plasma. 6. Before SL inert gas helium, neon, argon, xenon, crushing device massive semiconductor material using the thermal plasma according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that any one of krypton.