JP5390213B2 - boat - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a boat for mounting and supporting a substrate in a batch heat treatment apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to a boat including first and second support loads that support the long side of a substrate in a batch heat treatment apparatus to prevent the substrate from being deformed by its own weight during the heat treatment. It is.

  A large area substrate processing system used in manufacturing a flat display can be divided into a vapor deposition apparatus and an annealing apparatus.

  The vapor deposition apparatus is an apparatus used in a step of forming a transparent conductive layer, an insulating layer, a metal layer, or a silicon layer, which is a central component of a flat display. For example, LPCVD (Low Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition) or PECVD ( There is a chemical vapor deposition apparatus that performs plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition) and a physical vapor deposition apparatus that performs sputtering. On the other hand, the annealing apparatus is an apparatus used in the step of improving the characteristics of the deposited film after the deposition process, and includes, for example, a heat treatment apparatus for crystallizing or phase-changing the deposited film.

  Generally, the heat treatment apparatus includes a single wafer type that performs heat treatment on one substrate and a batch type that performs heat treatment on a plurality of substrates. The single wafer type has the advantage that the configuration of the apparatus is simple, but the productivity is low. For this reason, a batch system is often used for mass production.

  In a batch-type heat treatment apparatus, it is essential to arrange a boat for mounting and supporting a plurality of substrates in a chamber that provides a heat treatment space capable of simultaneously heat-treating a plurality of substrates.

  On the other hand, in recent years, the need for a boat that stably mounts and supports a large-area substrate is increasing as the size of a flat display increases. However, the conventional boat has a problem that the substrate is deformed such that the substrate is bent by its own weight during the heat treatment, and there is a disadvantage that the display characteristics of the flat display are deteriorated or non-uniform.

  Accordingly, the present invention, which has been made to solve the above-described problems, prevents the deformation of the substrate by dispersing the substrate load when performing the heat treatment process on a plurality of substrates in a batch heat treatment apparatus. Thus, there is an object to provide a boat including first and second loads that support the long side of a substrate to be mounted.

  In order to achieve the above-described object, a boat according to the present invention is a boat in which a plurality of substrates are mounted and disposed in a chamber that provides a space for performing a heat treatment process in a batch heat treatment apparatus, A lower frame, an upper frame, a plurality of vertical frames connecting the upper frame and the lower frame, and a horizontal direction formed on one side of each vertical frame so as to extend inward of the substrate. It includes a plurality of first support loads and a second support load that connects the first support loads in the horizontal direction.

  Here, it is preferable that the first support load and the second support load are orthogonal to each other.

  The first support load and the second support load preferably support the long side of the substrate.

  The substrate is preferably in contact with and supported by at least one of the first support load and the second support load.

  Furthermore, the substrate is preferably in contact with and supported by both the first support load and the second support load.

  According to the present invention, in the batch heat treatment apparatus, when the boat is provided with the first and second loads that support the long side of the substrate to be mounted, when performing the heat treatment process on the substrate, By dispersing the load, an effect of preventing the deformation of the substrate can be obtained. In addition, according to the present invention, since the heat treatment process can be performed on the substrate mounted on the boat of the batch heat treatment apparatus without deforming the substrate, the display characteristics of the flat display formed on the substrate are displayed. Is obtained.

It is a perspective view showing composition of a boat concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view showing composition of the 1st and 2nd support load of a boat concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view which shows the state in which the board | substrate was mounted in the boat which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, the configuration of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  The boat according to the present invention can be used in a batch type heat treatment apparatus for simultaneously performing heat treatment on a plurality of substrates. The batch heat treatment apparatus includes a chamber in which a heat treatment space is provided, a heater for heating the substrate, and a gas supply pipe and a gas exhaust pipe for supplying or exhausting atmospheric gas to adjust the atmosphere of the heat treatment process. Can be configured with. Since the configuration of such a batch heat treatment apparatus and the heat treatment process using the batch heat treatment apparatus are well-known techniques widely known in the field, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a boat 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a configuration of first and second support loads 210 and 220 of the boat 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state in which the substrate 10 is mounted on the boat 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the boat 100 includes a lower and upper frames 110 and 120, a vertical frame 200 provided to connect the lower and upper frames 110 and 120, and a plurality of first frames formed on the vertical frame 200. The load 210 is configured to include a plurality of second support loads 220 which are orthogonal to the plurality of first loads 210 and are provided so as to connect the plurality of first loads 210 to each other.

  In the batch heat treatment apparatus, the heat treatment process can be performed after the substrate 10 is mounted in a state where the boat 100 is installed inside a chamber (not shown) that provides a heat treatment space. Alternatively, after the substrate 10 is mounted on the boat 100 installed outside the chamber and the boat 100 is introduced into the chamber in this state, the heat treatment process can be performed.

  The lower frame 110 and the upper frame 120 form a basic skeleton of the boat 100 together with a vertical frame 200 described later.

  Each of the lower frame 110 and the upper frame 120 has a rectangular shape having a predetermined size. It is preferable that the structures including the lower frame 110 and the upper frame 120 are arranged on both sides of the boat 100 in parallel with a predetermined distance from each other.

  The sizes of the lower frame 110 and the upper frame 120 are usually determined in consideration of the size of the rectangular substrate 10 mounted in a batch heat treatment apparatus for manufacturing a flat display.

  The vertical frame 200 is combined with the lower frame 110 and the upper frame 120 to form a basic skeleton of the boat 100.

  Both ends of the vertical frame 200 are coupled to the lower frame 110 and the upper frame 120, respectively. The vertical frame 200 is disposed on the long side of the substrate 10 mounted on the boat 100 and is coupled to the lower and upper frames 110 and 120.

  Usually, the boat 100 is provided with a plurality of vertical frames 200. In this case, it is preferable that the plurality of vertical frames 200 have the same shape and length. In FIG. 1, the number of the vertical frames 200 provided on the boat 100 is illustrated as three in total, three on each of the long sides of the substrate 10, but is not limited thereto, and is not limited thereto. Can be changed in various ways. In addition, in order to stably support the substrate 10 mounted on the boat 100, at least the entire boat 100 is connected so that the ends of the lower frame 110 and the upper frame 120 disposed on both sides of the boat 100 can be connected to each other. It is preferable to provide four vertical frames 200.

  The first support load 210 is formed on one side of the vertical frame 200 and plays a role of supporting the long side of the substrate 10 mounted on the boat 100. At this time, the first support load 210 is formed to extend in the inner direction of the substrate 10.

  In each vertical frame 200, the same number of first support loads 210 are preferably formed at the same interval. The number of first support loads 210 formed on each vertical frame 200 is preferably equal to the total number of substrates 10 that can be mounted on the boat 100. Therefore, in this embodiment, the total number of first support loads 210 formed on one boat 100 is six times the number of substrates 10 that can be mounted. That is, when 27 substrates 10 are mounted on the boat 100, the total number of first support loads 210 formed on the vertical frame 200 is 162.

  The length and width of the first support load 210 can be variously changed within a range in which the long side of the substrate 10 can be stably supported.

  The second support load 220 supports a long side of the substrate 10 mounted on the boat 100 together with the first support load 210 by connecting a plurality of first support loads 210 provided on each vertical frame 200 to each other. To play a role. The second support load 220 is formed so as to be orthogonal to each first support load 210.

  The second support load 220 is bonded to each first support load 210 by welding or the like after one side surface thereof is brought into close contact with the side end portion of each first support load 210, whereby each first support load 210. However, the present invention is not necessarily limited to this. For example, a plurality of first support loads 210 and second support loads 220 located in the same layer (vertical position) may be integrally formed and then disposed on one side of each vertical frame 200.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, since one second support load 220 is combined with three first support loads 210, the number of second support loads 220 formed in one boat 100 is the number of boats. The number is preferably twice the number of substrates 10 that can be mounted on 100. For example, when 27 substrates 10 are mounted on the boat 100, the total number of second support loads 220 is 54.

  The length and width of the second support load 220 can be variously changed within a range in which the long side of the substrate 10 can be stably supported.

  With the above configuration, the first and second support loads 210 and 220 are provided correspondingly for each substrate 10 mounted on the boat 100, so that each substrate 10 is attached by the first and second support loads 210 and 220. Supported. That is, since the upper surface portions of the first and second support loads 210 and 220 are substantially in the same plane, the long side of the substrate 10 is simultaneously supported by both the first and second support loads 210 and 220. Can do. However, the method of supporting the long side of the substrate 10 is not necessarily limited to this, and the upper surface portion of the second support load 220 is configured to be higher than the upper surface portion of the first support load 210. The long side of the substrate 10 may be supported only by the two support loads 220.

  Further, the portions of the first and second support loads 210 and 220 that are in contact with the bottom surface of the substrate 10 are processed into a flat shape so that the substrate 10 is more stably placed on the first and second support loads 210 and 220. It is preferable to support it.

  The material of the lower and upper frames 110 and 120, the vertical frame 200, and the first and second support loads 210 and 220 constituting the boat 100 is preferably quartz, but is not necessarily limited thereto. Further, the boat 100 can be created by combining the lower and upper frames 110 and 120 and the vertical frame 200 by an assembly method or by welding.

  Moreover, the boat 100 can also be created by forming a plurality of groove portions continuously and parallel to each other at equal intervals on the bottom surface and side surface of the bottomed box. Grinding can also be used to form the groove.

  The boat 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention configured as described above supports the long side of the substrate 10 by the first and second support loads 210 and 220 as shown in FIG. The load of is distributed. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the substrate 10 from being deformed by its own weight during the heat treatment, and there is an advantage that the display characteristics of the flat display can be prevented from being deteriorated.

  In particular, in the boat 100 according to the present invention, since the contact between the substrate 10 and the first and second support loads 210 and 220 is a line contact, the boat 100 and the substrate 10 are subjected to heat treatment during the heat treatment of the substrate 10. It is possible to prevent a predetermined stress (or thermal stress) from concentrating on the contact portion and causing damage (damage) to the substrate 10, thereby preventing display characteristics of the flat display from deteriorating. There is an advantage that you can.

  As described above, according to the present invention, in the batch heat treatment apparatus, the boat includes the first and second loads that support the long side of the substrate to be mounted, so that the heat treatment process is performed on the substrate. In doing so, the load on the substrate can be dispersed to prevent the substrate from being deformed. In addition, since the heat treatment process can be performed on the substrate mounted on the boat of the batch type heat treatment apparatus without deforming the substrate, the display characteristics of the flat display formed on the substrate can be improved. . Therefore, it can be said that the industrial applicability of the present invention is extremely high.

  As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated in detail using specific embodiment, this invention can be variously deform | transformed in the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention. Therefore, the scope of rights of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but should be determined based on the description of the claims and equivalents thereof.

10 Substrate 100 Boat 110 Lower frame 120 Upper frame 200 Vertical frame 210 First support load 220 Second support load

Claims (5)

A boat in which a plurality of substrates are mounted and disposed in a chamber that provides an execution space for a heat treatment process in a batch type heat treatment apparatus,
Each is
A lower frame,
An upper frame,
A plurality of vertical frames connecting the upper frame and the lower frame;
Wherein the hand side of each vertical frame, and a plurality of first support rod which is formed in the horizontal direction so as to extend toward the inside of the substrate,
The second support rod and the including connecting together said respective first support rod horizontally, includes first and second structure being arranged opposite to each other, said first and second constructs A boat characterized by separation .   The boat according to claim 1, wherein the first support load and the second support load are coupled so as to be orthogonal to each other.   The boat according to claim 1, wherein the first support load and the second support load support a long side of the substrate.   The boat according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the first support load and the second support load is in contact with and supports the substrate.   The boat according to claim 1, wherein both the first support load and the second support load are in contact with and support the substrate.

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