JP4282208B2 - Heat treatment apparatus, boat, heat treatment method, and semiconductor manufacturing method - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus equipped with a vertical reaction furnace such as a vertical diffusion apparatus and a vertical CVD apparatus, and more particularly, to a vertical boat on which a large number of substrates are mounted and taken in and out of the vertical reaction furnace. The present invention relates to a provided semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In this type of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, a vertical boat is used as a means for loading and unloading wafers into and from a vertical reactor. Conventionally, a large number of wafers are mounted on a vertical boat in multiple stages in the vertical direction in a horizontal position. Process.
[0003]
FIG. 5 shows an example of a conventional semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.
In the figure, 1 is a vertical reactor, 2 is a gas outlet provided at the upper end of the vertical reactor 1, 3 is a gas supply passage for supplying a processing gas to the gas outlet 2, and 4 is a vertical reactor A gas discharge path 5 provided at the lower portion of 1 is a boat cap that closes the lower end opening of the vertical reactor 1, and 10 is a vertical boat mounted on the cap 5.
[0004]
The wafer (substrate) W is loaded into the reaction furnace 1 while being mounted on the vertical boat 10 in a horizontal posture. The vertical boat 10 is provided with a large number of wafer support portions 11 as shown in FIG. 6 in the vertical direction, and a plurality of peripheral portions of the wafer W are placed on the wafer support portion 11, so that the wafers W is held in a horizontal posture.
[0005]
The wafer W is processed in a high-temperature atmosphere, for example, while a processing gas flows through the gas supply path 3 → the gas outlet → the reaction furnace 1 → the gas discharge path 4.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
As described above, in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus equipped with the conventional vertical reactor 1, a predetermined process is performed in a state where a large number of wafers W are mounted on the vertical boat 10 in a horizontal posture. During the high temperature heat treatment, as shown in FIG. 6, due to the load P of the wafer W itself, the wafer W is bent due to heat, so that there is a problem that the wafer W is slipped in the wafer support portion 11. .
[0007]
In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus provided with a vertical boat that can prevent a wafer from being bent due to its own weight during a high-temperature heat treatment so that slip can be eliminated.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
According to the first aspect of the present invention, in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus provided with a vertical boat on which a large number of substrates are mounted and taken in and out of the vertical reaction furnace, the small number of substrates are each set up substantially vertically. It is characterized by comprising a child boat that holds the child boats arranged in the horizontal direction in a posture and a parent boat that holds the plurality of child boats in multiple stages in the vertical direction.
[0009]
In the present invention, a large number of substrates can be held in a vertical posture by mounting the substrates on the child boat in an upright posture and mounting the child boats in multiple stages on the parent boat. By holding the substrate in a substantially vertical posture in this way, the direction of the weight of the substrate during the high-temperature heat treatment becomes a direction along the surface of the substrate, and it is difficult for the substrate to be bent due to heat, thereby supporting the substrate and the substrate. It is possible to eliminate the slip generated between the parts.
[0010]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing a configuration of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus (for example, a vertical CVD apparatus) according to an embodiment. In the figure, 1 is a vertical reactor, 2 is a gas outlet provided at the upper end of the reactor, 3 is a gas supply passage for sending a processing gas to the gas outlet 2, and 4 is a gas for discharging the gas in the reactor 1 The discharge path, 5 is a boat cap, and 20 is a new type of vertical boat.
[0011]
The vertical boat 20 is placed on the boat cap 5 and is taken in and out of the reaction furnace 1 through the lower end opening of the vertical reaction furnace 1. The difference from the conventional boat is that the vertical boat 20 is composed of a parent boat 21 and a plurality of child boats 30, and a process wafer (substrate) Wa is placed vertically on the child boat 30. It is a point that comes to be installed.
[0012]
This will be described in detail below.
In the vertical boat 20, a central main region 22 in the height direction has a region 22 on which a process wafer Wa is mounted, and small regions 23 and 24 on the upper and lower sides of the central main region 22 have dummy wafers Wb mounted thereon. It is an area to do.
[0013]
As shown in FIG. 3, the parent boat 21 has a plurality of shelves 25 to secure a space for placing the child boat 30 in the central main region 22. Further, by providing the wafer support portions 26 in the upper region 23 and the lower region 24 of the main region 22, the dummy wafer Wb can be mounted on the wafer support portions 26 in a horizontal posture.
[0014]
The child boat 30 is placed on each shelf 25 of the parent boat 21, and as shown in FIG. 4, a plurality of wafers Wa can be held side by side in a vertically standing posture. Yes. Although the structure of the child boat 30 is not particularly limited, the child boat 30 shown in FIG. 4 has a triangular shape in a side view including a side frame 31, a bottom frame 32, and a back frame 35, and the bottom frame 32 and the back surface. A holding groove 33 having a constant pitch for holding the wafer Wa is formed in the frame 35.
[0015]
Note that the child boat 30 and the parent boat 21 are made of, for example, SiC, and an opening and a window are sufficiently secured only by a support column and a frame so that gas can be easily passed.
[0016]
Next, the operation will be described.
When this vertical boat 20 is used, first, as shown in FIG. 4, a predetermined number of process wafers Wa are arranged vertically on the child boat 30. Next, the child boat 30 on which a predetermined number of process wafers Wa are mounted is mounted on each shelf 25 of the parent boat 21 shown in FIG. Further, the dummy wafer Wb is mounted in a horizontal posture on the wafer support portions 26 in the upper and lower regions 23 and 24 of the parent boat 21.
[0017]
Then, as shown in FIG. 1, the vertical boat 20 on which the wafers Wa and Wb are mounted is loaded into the reaction furnace 1 in the same manner as in the prior art and processed.
[0018]
In this case, since the process wafer Wa is held in an upright posture, as shown in FIG. 2, the direction of the weight of the process wafer Wa during the high temperature heat treatment is a direction along the plate surface of the wafer Wa. As a result, bending due to heat is less likely to occur, and as a result, slip generated between the wafer Wa and the portion supporting the wafer Wa can be eliminated. Further, although the process wafer Wa is held in a vertical posture, the dummy wafer Wb can be held in the same horizontal posture as in the past.
[0019]
After the treatment in the reaction furnace 1, the vertical boat 20 is extracted from the reaction furnace 1. Then, the child boats 30 are sequentially taken out from the shelves 25 of the parent boat 21, and then the wafers Wa are taken out from the child boats 30.
[0020]
The above-described loading and unloading operations of the wafers Wa and Wb may be performed manually, or may be performed using an automatic device if there is an automatic device.
[0021]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, the substrates are mounted in a vertical posture on the child boat, and the child boats are mounted in multiple stages on the parent boat, so a large number of substrates are held in a vertical posture. can do. Therefore, the substrate does not bend due to its own weight during high temperature processing, and the conventional substrate slip problem can be solved. In addition, since the board is mounted in a vertical posture with respect to the child boat that can be taken in and out of the parent boat, the board can be easily loaded and unloaded. In addition, by adopting a structure in which child boats are mounted in multiple stages on the parent boat, it is possible to reduce external differences from conventional vertical boats, loading and unloading substrates to and from the child boats, and child boats. Except for the loading / unloading process for the parent boat, the process can be carried out in almost the same manner as in the prior art and is easy to implement.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a side view showing a schematic configuration of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a view for explaining the direction of self-weight acting on a wafer to be processed in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.
FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrams showing a configuration of a parent boat that is a component of a vertical boat that holds a large number of wafers in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, where FIG. 3A is a plan view and FIG. 3B is a side view;
4A and 4B are diagrams illustrating a configuration of a child boat mounted on the parent boat of FIG. 3, in which FIG. 4A is a plan view, FIG. 4B is a side view, and FIG.
FIG. 5 is a side view showing a schematic configuration of a conventional semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.
FIG. 6 is a view for explaining the direction of self-weight acting on a wafer to be processed in the conventional semiconductor manufacturing apparatus;
[Explanation of symbols]
Wa process wafer (substrate)
1 Vertical reactor 20 Vertical boat 21 Parent boat 30 Child boat

Claims (6)

In a heat treatment apparatus having a boat on which a plurality of substrates are mounted and taken in and out of a reaction furnace, the boat is held in a horizontal position in a posture in which the substrates are set up vertically, and the child boat rod is A heat treatment apparatus comprising a plurality of stages in the vertical direction and a parent boat that holds a substrate in a horizontal posture . The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the parent boat includes a substrate support portion that holds the substrate in a horizontal posture in each of the upper and lower regions than the region that holds the child boat. 3. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the process substrate is held by the child boat and the dummy substrate is held in a horizontal posture by the parent boat. 4. And have your boat is out of the plurality of substrates into the mounting to the reactor, and the holding child boat side by side in a horizontal direction in a posture in which the substrate placed vertically perpendicular to a plurality of stages holds a plurality of child boat vertically And a parent boat that holds the substrate in a horizontal posture. A step of arranging a plurality of substrates vertically in a horizontal position and holding them by a child boat, a step of holding the child boats holding a plurality of substrates in a plurality of stages in a vertical direction by a parent boat, and a substrate in a horizontal posture A step of holding by the parent boat, a step of charging a plurality of substrates held by a boat constituted by the child boat and the parent boat into a reaction furnace, and a plurality of substrates charged in the reaction furnace Holding the substrate in a vertically upright position and heat-treating the substrate in a horizontal posture while holding the substrate in a horizontal posture, and extracting a plurality of processed substrates held by the boat from the reaction furnace, The heat processing method characterized by having. A step of arranging a plurality of substrates vertically in a horizontal direction and holding them by a child boat, a step of holding the child boats holding a plurality of substrates by a plurality of stages in the vertical direction by the parent boat, and a substrate in a horizontal posture A step of holding by the parent boat, a step of charging a plurality of substrates held by the boat constituted by the child boat and the parent boat into a reaction furnace, and a plurality of charges charged in the reaction furnace A step of heat-treating the substrate while holding the substrate in a vertical position while holding the substrate by the parent boat in a horizontal posture; and a step of extracting a plurality of processed substrates held by the boat from the reaction furnace; A method for manufacturing a semiconductor, comprising:

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