JP4733405B2 - Heat treatment apparatus and heat treatment method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a heat treatment apparatus and a heat treatment method for heating a substrate with a lamp, and more particularly to a rotation mechanism for rotating a substrate.

  The heat treatment apparatus heats the substrate in a hermetic container that is cut off from the atmosphere under vacuum or normal pressure, and rotates the substrate to heat the substrate soaking. In general, a rotation mechanism that rotates a substrate has a rotation axis that rotates a substrate holding means (susceptor) that holds the substrate and a rotation transmission shaft that transmits the rotation to the rotation axis on a central axis of the substrate as a single axis configuration. Yes.

  However, if the rotation shaft and the rotation transmission shaft are configured as a single axis and overlapped on the central axis of the substrate, the temperature measurement point of the substrate heated by the lamp unit cannot be provided on the central axis of the substrate. If the temperature measurement point is not on the central axis of the substrate, the temperature of the central portion of the substrate cannot be measured, so that the lamp unit cannot be controlled effectively, which is not preferable for heating the substrate uniformly.

  Therefore, in order to avoid this, conventionally, as shown in FIG. 5, the rotating shaft of the susceptor 22 is formed by a cylindrical rotating body 15 having a hollow inside, and the rotation transmission shaft is provided outside the cylindrical rotating body 15. By forming the rotary shaft 18 of the arranged motor 17 to have a two-axis configuration, a temperature measurement point by the radiation thermometer 21 is also secured in the central portion of the bottom wall 11, and the measured temperature at the central portion of the bottom wall is fed back. I can do it.

  Specifically, the heat treatment apparatus includes a container 10 and a lamp unit 30 that heats the wafer W in the container 10. Above the wafer W is a heat treatment space. The bottom wall central portion 12 of the bottom wall 11 in the container 10 is made higher than the bottom wall peripheral portion 13 to form a storage space 14 that is one step lower than the bottom wall central portion 12 on the bottom wall peripheral portion 13. . The cylindrical rotating body 15 is fitted on the bottom wall central portion 12 and is rotatably supported by a bearing 16 provided between the cylindrical rotating body 15 and the peripheral wall of the bottom wall central portion 12. Further, the rotation shaft 18 of the motor 17 serving as a rotation transmission shaft passes through the bottom wall 11 of the container 10 and is inserted into the storage space 14 in the container 10. A gear 19 attached to the end of the rotating shaft 18 meshes with a gear 20 provided on the outer periphery of the cylindrical rotating body 15 to constitute a rotation transmission mechanism. As described above, since the rotation shaft and the rotation transmission shaft have a two-axis configuration, even if the wafer W is heated by the lamp unit 30 while rotating the cylindrical rotating body 15 by the rotation of the motor 17, the center of the bottom wall central portion 12 is maintained. A space is secured for the part, and the radiation thermometer 21 can be installed in the center part 12 of the bottom wall together with the peripheral part of the bottom wall 11.

  However, the above-described conventional apparatus has a problem that the rotation transmission mechanism is present in the container and thus becomes a source of contamination, and the generated contamination contaminates the substrate. In addition, it is difficult to maintain a good seal between the rotation transmission shaft and the container bottom.

  In addition, since the storage space for storing the rotation transmission mechanism is exposed to the heat treatment space, the area receiving the radiated light from the lamp unit increases, the substrate outer periphery cannot be heated sufficiently, and the wafer is soaked. It was difficult to heat.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a heat treatment apparatus and a heat treatment method capable of solving the above-described problems of the prior art, causing less contamination of the substrate and improving the sealing performance of the container. Another object of the present invention is to provide a heat treatment apparatus capable of soaking a substrate.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a container having an airtight structure including a cylindrical side wall, an upper wall, and a bottom wall, a bottom wall central portion set higher than an outer peripheral portion of the bottom wall on the bottom wall in the container, A substrate holding means for holding the substrate stored in the center of the bottom wall, a lamp unit for heating the substrate stored in the container through the upper wall of the container, and an outer periphery of the container A cylindrical outer rotor provided and rotated around the vertical axis of the container, and a cylindrical shape fitted on the outer periphery of the bottom wall central portion in the container and rotating the substrate holding means concentrically with the external rotor Magnetic coupling means for magnetically coupling the inner rotor to the outer rotor and the inner rotor through the side wall of the container and transmitting the rotational motion of the outer rotor to the inner rotor to rotate the substrate holding means. The heat processing apparatus provided with these.
In order to secure the space at the center of the bottom wall, it is a rotating mechanism using a cylindrical inner rotor that rotates around the vertical axis of the container, but by using non-contact type magnetic coupling means, contact type coupling Compared with the means, the occurrence of contamination in the container can be reduced. Further, by using the magnetic coupling means, the rotational motion can be transmitted from the outside of the container to the inside of the container through the side wall of the container, so that the container sealing structure is simplified and the sealing performance can be improved.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the outer peripheral portion of the bottom wall is provided with a ring-shaped storage chamber for accommodating the inner coupling portion of the inner coupling portion and the outer coupling portion constituting the magnetic coupling means, An upper opening communicating with the heat treatment space formed above the substrate support means is provided in the storage chamber, and the upper opening is covered with a gap allowing rotation of the inner rotor fitted to the outer periphery of the central portion of the bottom wall. It is the heat processing apparatus characterized by having made it.
Since the area for receiving the radiated light from the lamp unit is reduced by covering the upper opening of the storage chamber while leaving a gap allowing the rotation of the internal rotor, the substrate can be heated uniformly.

According to a third invention, in the second invention, the internal coupling portion of the magnetic coupling means includes a radial receiver that receives a radial load of the internal rotor, and a thrust receiver that receives an axial load of the internal rotor. It is the heat processing apparatus characterized by having.
Since the internal coupling portion of the magnetic coupling means includes a radial receiver and a thrust receiver that receive the load of the internal coupling portion, the internal coupling portion can be stably supported, the rotation of the substrate holding means is more stable, and the substrate is further layered. Soaking is possible.

A fourth invention is a heat treatment apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth inventions, wherein the magnetic coupling means causes the internal rotor to magnetically float and rotates the substrate holding means.
Since the internal rotor is levitated, the contamination of the substrate can be further reduced.

The fifth means includes a step of carrying the substrate into a hermetically sealed container having a bottom wall whose center is set higher than the periphery of the bottom wall, and a cylindrical external rotor provided on the outer periphery of the container Is transferred to a cylindrical internal rotor fitted on the outer periphery of the central portion of the bottom wall in the container by magnetic coupling, and the substrate carried into the container by rotating the internal rotor. And a step of heat-treating the rotating substrate by lamp heating from the outside of the container, and a step of unloading the substrate out of the container after the heat treatment.
Since the rotational motion is transmitted from the outside of the container to the inside of the container by non-contact type magnetic coupling, the occurrence of contamination in the container can be greatly reduced as compared with the contact type coupling. Further, since the rotational motion can be transmitted from the outside of the container to the inside of the container through the side wall of the container, the sealing performance of the container can be improved.

  According to the present invention, there is little contamination to the substrate, and the sealing performance of the container can be improved.

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a heat treatment apparatus according to this embodiment. The heat treatment apparatus is a lamp heating type single wafer rapid heat treatment apparatus (RTP).
This heat treatment apparatus includes a heating container 100 as an airtight container and a circular lamp unit 200 disposed above the heating container 100. The heating container 100 includes a cylindrical side wall 110, a circular upper wall 120 that closes the upper opening, and a substantially circular bottom wall 130 that closes the lower opening.

  The lamp unit 200 constitutes a heat radiation light source. The lamp unit 200 includes a reflector 201 having a plurality of concentric grooves, and a plurality of ring-shaped lamps 202 supported in the grooves of the reflector 201. The lamp 202 is composed of a halogen lamp. The lamp unit 200 is detachably mounted on a mounting portion 140 formed on the upper portion of the side wall 110 of the heating container 100.

  The side wall 110 of the heating container 100 is provided with a gas supply port and a gas exhaust port (both not shown). For example, the gas supply port is provided in the upper side wall 112 and the gas exhaust port is provided in the storage chamber 170 (described later). Further, a wafer loading / unloading port 150 is provided at an appropriate position on the side wall 110 of the heating container 100. The wafer loading / unloading port 150 can be opened and closed by a gate valve 160.

  The upper wall 120 of the heating container 100 is made of a quartz member that transmits light from the lamp unit 200. The side wall 110 and the bottom wall 130 are made of a non-magnetic material such as austenitic stainless steel (SUS-304) or aluminum.

  A ring-shaped storage chamber 170 and a cylindrical gap 190 that extends upward in the vertical axis direction from the storage chamber 170 and communicates with the heat treatment space 180 are provided at the lower portion of the inner periphery of the heating container 100.

The ring-shaped storage chamber 170 has, for example, a central portion (bottom wall central portion 131) of the bottom wall 130 of the heating container 100 that is higher than the bottom wall peripheral portion 132 and a bottom wall peripheral portion 132 that is higher than the bottom wall central portion 131. Is formed one step lower.
Further, the cylindrical gap 190 is formed as narrow as possible so that only a storage space that allows rotation of the rotary drum 403 (described later) without contact is left. The narrow gap 190 is formed, for example, by thinning the lower side wall 111 of the heating vessel 100 constituting the vacuum wall of the storage chamber 170 and forming the upper side wall 112 positioned at the upper part of the storage chamber 170 thick. It is formed by protruding toward the wall central portion 131 and narrowing the interval between the side wall upper portion 112 and the peripheral wall of the bottom wall central portion 131. Thus, the upper opening of the storage chamber 170 is covered with the upper side wall 112 to reduce the area for receiving the radiated light from the lamp unit 202.

Therefore, the heat treatment space 180 described above is constituted by the bottom wall central portion 131 set higher than the bottom wall peripheral portion 132, the upper wall 120, and the side wall upper portion 112. Further, the storage chamber 170 described above is configured to be divided into a bottom wall peripheral portion 132 set lower than the bottom wall central portion 131, a side wall lower portion 111, a bottom wall central portion 131, and a side wall upper portion 112. become.
The bottom wall 130 of the heating container 100 has a cylindrical skirt 134 whose vertical axis coincides with that of the heating container 100 at the lower part of the bottom wall peripheral part 132 constituting the bottom of the storage chamber 170.

  In the heating container 100 described above, the susceptor 500 that supports the wafer W, the cylindrical inner rotor 400 that supports the susceptor 500 is hollow, and the inner rotor 400 rotates about the vertical axis of the heating container 100. And a susceptor rotating mechanism for rotating the wafer W in such a manner as to be supported. The susceptor rotation mechanism is configured by a magnetic coupling unit 600, and the magnetic coupling unit 600 includes an external coupling unit 610 and an internal coupling unit 620. The internal coupling portion 620 is installed in a ring storage chamber 170 formed in the lower portion of the heating container 100. The external coupling portion 610 is provided in the atmosphere outside the heating container 100.

  A cylindrical outer rotor 300 is provided to be rotatable about the vertical axis of the heating container 100 along the outer periphery of the skirt 134 and the side wall lower portion 111 of the heating container 100. The external rotor 300 is connected to a driving pulley 702 attached to a rotational driving shaft 701 of a rotational driving means 700 such as a motor and a belt 703 so as to rotate.

  The bottom wall 130 of the heating container 100 lifts the wafer W by mounting holes 138 for mounting a plurality of radiation thermometers for measuring the temperature of the wafer W, a cooling passage 133 constituting a cooling mechanism for cooling the bottom wall 130, and the wafer W. Pins 135 are provided. The bottom wall central portion 131 is formed to be equal to or thicker than the side wall upper portion 112 of the heating container 100 in order to attach the cooling passage 133. In addition, it is preferable to provide a cooling passage also in the side wall upper portion 112.

  The mounting holes 138 for the radiation thermometer are provided at a plurality of locations (four locations in the illustrated example) at the center portion and the peripheral portion of the bottom wall 130. A radiation thermometer (not shown) is introduced into the mounting hole 138 provided in the bottom wall 130 from the bottom surface to the top surface of the bottom wall 130, and the tip of the radiation thermometer is a predetermined distance from the back surface of the susceptor 500 or the back surface of the wafer W. It is installed with a gap. The radiation thermometer is composed of a combination of a rod made of quartz and an optical fiber, and detects radiation light emitted from the back surface of the susceptor 500 or the back surface of the wafer W, and calculates the back surface temperature of the susceptor 500 or the wafer W. Based on the calculation result, the control means 80 controls the heating condition of the lamp unit 200.

  The cooling passage 133 enters the bottom wall 130 from approximately the center of the bottom surface of the bottom wall 130, reaches the vicinity of the top surface of the bottom wall 130, and circulates in a spiral shape so that substantially the entire top surface can be cooled. It is provided so as to come out from the outer periphery of the lower surface of 130. A cooling medium such as cooling water is introduced into the cooling passage 133 from a cooling source (not shown) through a pipe to cool the upper surface of the bottom wall 130.

The pin 135 is inserted into a through hole 136 provided in the bottom wall 130 in the vertical direction. The pin 135 can be pushed up by an elevating mechanism 90 attached below the bottom wall 130.
The elevating mechanism 90, for example, fixes the circular mounting base 91 horizontally to the bottom wall 130 of the heating container 100 by a plurality of rods 97, and rotates the screw shaft 93 by a motor 92 provided on the circular mounting base 91. An elevating table 94 screwed to the shaft 93 and a pin 135 whose lower end is in contact with the elevating table 94 are raised or lowered. The guides 96 are configured by loosely fitting the plurality of rods 97 described above into the plurality of insertion holes 98 provided in the lifting platform 94 so that the lifting platform 94 can be moved up and down while maintaining a horizontal balance. Further, the pin 135 inserted into the through hole 136 is sealed by a bellows 95 provided between the lower surface of the bottom wall 130 of the heating container 100 and the upper surface of the lifting platform 94.

  The elevating mechanism 90 having the mounting hole 138 for the radiation thermometer described above, the cooling passage 133 constituting the cooling mechanism, and the pin 135 indispensable for the transfer of the wafer W has a hollow rotating shaft for rotating the susceptor 500 inside. Since it is configured by the inner rotor 400 so that a space can be secured in the bottom wall 130, both can be installed with a margin.

FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of the heating container.
The cylindrical heating container 100 includes an outer rotating ring 303 of the outer rotor 300, a number of permanent magnets 304 attached to the outer rotating ring 303, and a lower side wall 111 (vacuum wall) of the heating container 100 in order from the outer side to the inner side. , A large number of magnetic bodies 404, an inner rotating ring 401 of the inner rotor 400 to which these magnetic bodies 404 are attached, a plurality of thrust receivers 800 attached to the inner rotating ring 401, a radial receiver 900, and a gap 190. A rotating drum 403 and a side wall 137 at the center of the bottom wall are provided.

  The large number of permanent magnets 304 are arranged at equal intervals along the inner periphery of the outer rotating ring 303 so that N poles and S poles are alternately arranged in a ring shape. A large number of magnetic bodies 404 magnetically coupled via a large number of permanent magnets 304 and lower side walls (vacuum walls) 111 are arranged annularly at equal intervals along the outer periphery of the internal rotating ring 401. Further, the thrust receiver 800 and the radial receiver 900 are alternately arranged along the inner rotor 400.

  A circular susceptor 500 that holds the wafer W is provided in the center of the heating container 100. The susceptor 500 is attached to the top of the rotating drum 403 at equal intervals in the circumferential direction and supported by four susceptor mounting plates 405 extending inward in the radial direction. A belt 703 is wound between a drive pulley 702 attached to the rotary drive shaft 701 and a skirt 134 (see FIG. 1).

FIG. 3 shows a partially enlarged view of the vicinity of the thrust receiver 800.
A cylindrical outer rotor 300 is rotatably provided along the outer periphery of the skirt 134, the bottom wall 130, and the side wall 110. The external rotor 300 includes a ring-shaped pulley 301 and an external rotating ring 303 connected by an external bracket 302 that extends above the ring-shaped pulley 301.
The ring-shaped pulley 301 is rotatably supported via ball bearings 70 provided on the upper and lower sides of the outer periphery of the skirt 134. The ring-shaped pulley 301 is connected to the belt 703 and rotates the external rotor 300.

  The upper and lower ball bearings 70 are respectively installed at the upper and lower ends of the skirt 134 of the storage chamber 170, and a gap for absorbing the thermal expansion of the heating container 100 is appropriately set in the upper and lower ball bearings 70. The gap between the ball bearings 70 is set so as to absorb the thermal expansion of the heating container 100 while suppressing the minimum rattling. The clearance of the ball bearing 70 means a clearance generated on the opposite side when the ball is brought to either the outer race or the inner race.

  The external rotating ring 303 is disposed with a gap in the lower portion 111 of the side wall of the heating container 100 that is a vacuum wall of the ring-shaped storage chamber 170. A large number of permanent magnets 304 are fixed to the inner peripheral surface of the outer rotating ring 303.

  The inner rotor 400 includes an inner rotating ring 401 and a rotating drum 403 connected by an inner bracket 402 that extends above the inner rotating ring 401. The inner rotating ring 401 is disposed concentrically with the outer rotating ring 303 in the ring-shaped storage chamber 170. A large number of magnetic bodies 404 are fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the internal rotating ring 401. The large number of magnetic bodies 404 are arranged with a gap from the outer wall (side wall lower portion 111) among the inner and outer walls in the storage chamber 170.

A thrust receiver 800 is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the internal rotation ring 401 stored in the storage chamber 170. The thrust receiver 800 includes a horizontal shaft 801 slightly inclined downward toward the center of the heating container 100 and a rotor 802 that rotates about the horizontal shaft 801. The rotor 802 contacts the bottom surface in the storage chamber 170, that is, the bottom wall peripheral portion 132 of the heating container 100, and receives the axial load of the inner rotor 400. The thrust receiver 800 automatically aligns the inner rotor 400 by the inclination of the horizontal shaft 801.
An external coupling portion 610 is composed of the external rotating ring 303 and the permanent magnet 304 described above. Further, an internal coupling portion 620 is constituted by the internal rotation ring 401 and the magnetic body 404.

FIG. 4 shows a partially enlarged view of the vicinity of the radial receiver 900.
The internal configuration of the lower portion of the heating vessel 100, the external configuration of the lower portion of the heating vessel 100, and the configuration of the ring-shaped inner rotor 400 and the magnetic body 404 in the storage chamber 170 are the same as the configuration of FIG. .
A plurality of radial receptacles 900 are provided on the ring-shaped inner bracket 402 stored in the storage chamber 170. The radial receiver 900 includes a vertical shaft 901 and a rotor 902 that rotates about the vertical shaft 901. The rotor 902 is an inner wall of the storage chamber 170, that is, a bottom wall central portion 131 of the heating container 100. In contact with the side wall 137, the radial load of the inner rotor 400 is received.

  The external rotating ring 303 attached with the permanent magnet 304 can be rotated in a state where it is lifted higher than the internal rotating ring 401 attached with the magnetic body 404. By rotating the permanent magnet 304 in a state where it is raised above the magnetic body 404, the internal rotor 400 can be floated in the storage chamber 170 using the attractive force of the permanent magnet 304 and the magnetic body 404, that is, magnetically levitated. It can be done. Due to this magnetic levitation, the load stress of the thrust receiver 800 and the radial receiver 900 can be reduced. In order to cause magnetic levitation, it is necessary to balance the force of the permanent magnet 304 acting on the internal rotor 400 and the gravity of the internal rotor 400, and the balance is obtained by calculation and verification.

  For convenience of explanation, the side wall lower portion 111 and the bottom wall peripheral portion 132 of the bottom wall 130 are described as separate members, and the bottom wall peripheral portion 132, the bottom wall central portion 131, and the skirt 134 are described as the same member. However, in an actual manufacturing example, the side wall lower portion 111 and the bottom wall peripheral portion 132 are integrally formed of a L-shaped member, and the thick bottom wall central portion 131, the bottom wall peripheral portion 132, and the skirt 134 are separate members. It consists of. The thick bottom wall central part 131 is fitted to the vicinity of the central part in the heating container 100 while holding the gap 190 between the thick wall side upper part 112 (see FIG. 1). A bottom wall peripheral portion 132 is connected to a lower portion of the bottom wall central portion 131 via a connecting member. This connecting member constitutes the inner wall of the storage chamber 170. A skirt 134 is connected to the lower portion of the bottom wall peripheral portion 132.

  Next, a method for heat-treating the wafer W using the heat treatment apparatus described above will be described. Note that various mechanisms, for example, the rotation driving means 700 constituting the susceptor rotation mechanism, the motor 92 constituting the elevating mechanism 90, the gate valve 160, and the like are controlled by the control means 80.

  First, as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 1, the lifting platform 94 is raised by the lifting mechanism 90. At this time, the lower end of the pin 135 is pushed up by the raised elevator 94, whereby the top of the pin 135 protrudes above the susceptor 500. The position of the top of this pin 135 is the wafer loading / unloading position where the wafer is loaded / unloaded. The gate valve 160 is opened. The wafer W is loaded into the heating container 100 by the substrate transfer mechanism (not shown) via the wafer loading / unloading port 150 opened in the side wall 110 of the heating container 100, and the pins 135 protruding above the susceptor 500 are loaded. It is mounted on the top as shown by the two-dot chain line. After mounting, the gate valve 160 is closed.

  When the lifting platform 94 is lowered by the lifting mechanism 90, the height of the pin 135 relative to the susceptor 500 decreases, and when the lifting platform 94 comes to the position indicated by the solid line, the top of the pin 135 is below the upper surface of the susceptor 500. Thus, the wafer W is mounted on the susceptor 500 indicated by the solid line position.

Cooling water is passed through the cooling passage 133 in the bottom wall 130 to cool the bottom wall 130. Further, the heating container 100 is exhausted from an exhaust port (not shown) provided in the storage chamber 170 while supplying an inert gas such as N ₂ gas from the gas supply port (not shown) into the heating container 100. The heat treatment space 180 inside is an inert gas atmosphere.

When the rotation drive unit 700 is driven and the rotation drive shaft 701 rotates, the rotation is transmitted from the drive pulley 702 to the external rotor 300 including the ring-shaped pulley 301, the external bracket 302, and the external rotation ring 303 via the belt 703. 300 rotates. The rotation of the outer rotor 300 is magnetically transmitted from the permanent magnet 304 fixed to the outer rotating ring 303 to the magnetic body 404 in the storage chamber 170, and the inner rotor 400 including the inner rotating ring 401, the inner bracket 402, and the rotating drum 403. The susceptor 500 rotates. The wafer W is rotated by the rotation of the susceptor 500.
At this time, the outer rotor 300 is rotated in a state of being lifted higher than the inner rotating ring 401, and the inner rotor 400 is magnetically levitated in the storage chamber 170 using the attractive force between the permanent magnet 304 and the magnetic body 404.

  When the rotation is stabilized, the lamp unit 200 is turned on to turn on the plurality of ring-shaped lamps 202 at the same time, and from the lamp 202 toward the bottom wall 130 of the heat treatment space 180 through the upper wall 120 of the heating container 100. Radiation light is irradiated to heat the wafer W in the heat treatment space 180 at a high speed. At this time, since the storage chamber 170 exists in the back of the narrow gap 190, the area of the bottom wall 130 does not increase even by the presence of the storage chamber 170, so that the wafer W is uniformly heated. Further, the temperature of the wafer W is measured by a plurality of radiation thermometers provided from the central part to the peripheral part of the bottom wall 130 and feedback-controlled to the lamp unit 200, and the cooling provided on substantially the entire surface of the bottom wall 130. Since the bottom wall 130 is uniformly cooled in a well-balanced manner by the cooling mechanism having the passage 133, the wafer W is uniformly heated. Thereby, the wafer W is heat-treated.

  After the heat treatment, the operation of the rotation driving means 700 is stopped to stop the rotation of the susceptor 500 and the wafer W. After the heat treatment of the wafer W is completed, the lift 94 is raised by the lift mechanism 90, and the lower end of the pin 135 is lifted together with the lift 94 and pushed up by the lift 94. As a result, the top of the pins 135 protrudes above the susceptor 500, and the wafer W is mounted on the top of the protruding pins 135. The position of the top of the pin 135 is the wafer loading / unloading position where the wafer is loaded / unloaded, the gate valve 160 is opened, and the substrate transfer mechanism (not shown) is opened via the wafer loading / unloading port 150 opened on the side wall 110 of the heating container 100. .) Is carried out of the heating container 100.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the external rotor 300 and the internal rotor 400 are magnetically coupled via the side wall 110 of the heating container 100 to transmit the rotational motion of the external rotor 300 to the internal rotor 400. As a result, the occurrence of contamination in the heating container 100 can be greatly reduced and contamination of the wafer W can be reduced as compared with gear coupling. In addition, by using the magnetic coupling means 600, the rotational motion can be transmitted from the outside of the heating container 100 to the inside of the heating container 100 via the side wall 110 of the heating container 100. Therefore, the sealing structure of the heating container 100 is simplified and the sealing property Can be improved. Accordingly, the wafer W can be effectively heat-treated in a hermetic heating container 100 that is shielded from the atmosphere under vacuum or normal pressure.

  A narrow gap 190 is formed between the side wall upper portion 112 and the bottom wall central portion 131 of the heating container 100 corresponding to the upper portion of the storage chamber 170 so that the lamp unit 200 cannot see all of the storage chamber 170. Since the area of the bottom wall 130 that receives light is reduced, the presence of the storage chamber 170 can correct the substrate outer peripheral portion from being insufficiently heated, and the wafer W can be heated uniformly.

  Further, since the gas introduced into the heat treatment space 180 is exhausted from the storage chamber 170, even if contamination occurs in the storage chamber 170 by the internal coupling portion 620 of the magnetic coupling means 600, the heat treatment from the storage chamber 170 is performed. Leakage into the space 180 can be effectively prevented. Therefore, contamination of the wafer W can be further reduced.

  Further, the internal coupling portion 620 of the magnetic coupling means 600 receives a radial receiver 900 that receives the radial load of the internal rotor 400 in the storage chamber 170, and a thrust receiver that receives the axial load of the internal rotor 400 in the storage chamber 170. 800, the internal coupling portion 620 that supports the susceptor 500 can be stably supported, and the rotation of the susceptor 500 is more stable. Therefore, the wafer W can be heated more uniformly.

  In addition, the outer rotor 300 is rotated in a state where it is lifted higher than the inner rotating ring 401, and the inner rotor 400 is magnetically levitated in the storage chamber 170 by utilizing the attractive force of the permanent magnet 304 and the magnetic body 404, thereby susceptor. Since 500 is rotated, the load stress of the thrust receiver 800 and the radial receiver 900 can be reduced, contamination in the storage chamber 170 can be further reduced, and contamination of the wafer W can be further reduced.

  In the heat treatment method of the embodiment, the process of loading the wafer W into the heating container 100 and the rotational movement of the external rotor 300 to the inner rotor 400 by magnetic coupling from the outside of the heating container 100 into the heating container 100 are performed. And the step of rotating the wafer W carried into the heating container 100, the step of heat-treating the wafer W rotated by the lamp unit 200 from the outside of the heating container 100, and the outside of the heating container 100 after the heat treatment. And unloading the wafer W. In the rotation process, since the rotational motion is transmitted into the heating container 100 by non-contact type magnetic coupling, the occurrence of contamination in the heating container 100 can be greatly reduced as compared with the contact type coupling. Moreover, since the rotational motion can be transmitted from the outside of the heating container 100 to the inside of the heating container 100 through the side wall 110 of the heating container 100 by magnetic coupling, the sealing performance of the heating container 100 can be improved. Further, since the series of steps described above is performed by the control means 80, the series of steps can be easily performed.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the inner rotor 400 includes both the thrust receiver 800 and the radial receiver 900 has been described. However, if the ideal magnetic levitation can be realized, the thrust receiver 800 may be omitted. good.

  In the embodiment, the case where the storage chamber 170 is provided in the bottom wall outer peripheral portion 132 set lower than the bottom wall central portion 131 in the bottom wall 130 in the heating container 100 has been described. The outer peripheral portion of the bottom wall is not limited to the bottom wall. The outer peripheral portion of the bottom wall includes, for example, a wall that can form a storage chamber between the bottom wall and the side wall of the heating container.

It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the heat processing apparatus in embodiment. It is a cross-sectional view of the heat processing apparatus in embodiment. It is a principal part enlarged view of the heat processing apparatus in embodiment. It is a principal part enlarged view of the heat processing apparatus in embodiment. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the heat processing apparatus in a prior art example.

Explanation of symbols

100 Heating container 110 Side wall 120 Upper wall 130 Bottom wall 135 Susceptor (substrate holding means)
200 Lamp unit 300 External rotor 400 Internal rotor 600 Magnetic coupling means W substrate

Claims (4)

An airtight container composed of a cylindrical side wall, an upper wall, and a bottom wall;
A bottom wall central portion set higher than the outer peripheral portion of the bottom wall in the bottom wall in the container;
Substrate holding means for holding the substrate housed in the container above the center of the bottom wall;
A lamp unit that passes through the upper wall of the container and heats the substrate accommodated in the container;
A cylindrical outer rotor that is provided on the outer periphery of the container and rotates about a vertical axis of the container;
A cylindrical inner rotor that is fitted to the outer periphery of the central portion of the bottom wall in the container and rotates the substrate holding means concentrically with the outer rotor;
Magnetic coupling means for magnetically coupling the external rotor and the internal rotor through the side wall of the container, and transmitting the rotational movement of the external rotor to the internal rotor to rotate the substrate holding means ,
The magnetic coupling means includes a magnet provided in the external rotor, and a magnetic body provided in the internal rotor,
When rotating the substrate holding means, the side surface of the magnet provided on the external rotor and the side surface of the magnetic body provided on the internal rotor overlap in the height direction, and the magnet provided on the external roller A heat treatment apparatus that holds the upper surface of the magnetic body at a position higher than the position of the upper surface of the magnetic body provided on the internal rotor, causes the internal rotor to magnetically float, and rotates the substrate holding means . A ring-shaped storage chamber is provided in the outer peripheral portion of the bottom wall to store the inner coupling portion of the outer coupling portion and the inner coupling portion constituting the magnetic coupling means,
2. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an upper portion of the storage chamber is covered with a gap allowing rotation of the internal rotor fitted to an outer periphery of the center portion of the bottom wall.   The internal coupling portion of the magnetic coupling means includes a radial receiver that receives a radial load of the internal rotor, and a thrust receiver that receives an axial load of the internal rotor. The heat treatment apparatus as described. A step of carrying the substrate into an airtight container having a bottom wall that is set to have a center part of the bottom wall higher than the periphery of the bottom wall;
The rotational motion of the cylindrical outer rotor provided on the outer periphery of the container is transmitted by magnetic coupling to the cylindrical inner rotor fitted on the outer periphery of the bottom wall central portion in the container to rotate the inner rotor. A step of rotating the substrate carried into the container by
Heat-treating the rotating substrate by lamp heating from outside the container;
A step of carrying out the substrate out of the container after the heat treatment ,
In the step of rotating the substrate, the side surface of the magnet provided in the external rotor and the side surface of the magnetic body provided in the internal rotor overlap in the height direction, and the top surface of the magnet provided in the external rotor A heat treatment method in which is held at a position higher than the position of the upper surface of the magnetic body provided on the internal rotor, the internal rotor is magnetically levitated and the substrate holding means is rotated .

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