JP7211476B2 - silicon nitride substrate - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a silicon nitride substrate used for semiconductor modules or power modules.

A circuit board obtained by laminating a ceramic substrate and a metal plate is used for semiconductor modules, power modules, and the like. Silicon nitride is used for this ceramic substrate, and recently, a silicon nitride substrate with high thermal conductivity is being studied.

A silicon nitride substrate with high thermal conductivity (on the order of 120 W/m·K) is disclosed, for example, in Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2018-184333).

JP 2018-184333 A

When the high thermal conductivity silicon nitride substrate described in Patent Document 1 is manufactured in a large size exceeding 100 mm on a side, for example, the thermal conductivity is sometimes uneven within the silicon nitride substrate. For example, a difference occurs between the thermal conductivity of the central portion of the silicon nitride substrate and the thermal conductivity of the edge portion. If there is a portion of the silicon nitride substrate with low thermal conductivity, the heat dissipation of the portion of low thermal conductivity will deteriorate, which may affect the heat dissipation of the substrate as a whole. In addition, in the case where a plurality of circuit board regions are formed on a silicon nitride substrate with high thermal conductivity and cut into a plurality of circuit boards, if there is a portion with low thermal conductivity, it is formed from that portion. There is a possibility that the heat dissipation of the circuit board may be affected. When a large silicon nitride substrate with high thermal conductivity is produced, there is a problem that the thermal conductivity is uneven and the yield (acceptance rate) is lowered.

An object of the present invention is to provide a silicon nitride substrate with a high yield by suppressing unevenness in thermal conductivity within the substrate.

The inventors discovered that when manufacturing a silicon nitride substrate, by suppressing uneven nitridation of Si within the substrate in the nitriding process, a silicon nitride substrate in which uneven thermal conductivity within the substrate is suppressed can be manufactured. Found it.

In the silicon nitride substrate of the present invention, the ratio λe/λc between the thermal conductivity λc at the center of the substrate and the thermal conductivity λe at the edges of the substrate is 0.85 to 1.15.

The silicon nitride substrate of the present invention preferably has a size of 150 mm×150 mm or more.

The silicon nitride substrate of the present invention preferably has λc and λe of 100 W/m·K or more.

According to the present invention, it is possible to suppress unevenness in thermal conductivity within the substrate and obtain a silicon nitride substrate with a high yield.

It is a schematic diagram explaining the lamination state of a green sheet. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a lamination state following FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram for explaining a state of stacking following FIG. 2 and a state of being carried into a nitriding apparatus; 3A and 3B are (a) a top view and (b) a schematic cross-sectional view taken along line A1-A1 for explaining a member 30a according to an embodiment. 3A and 3B are (a) a top view, (b) a schematic cross-sectional view along A2-A2, and (c) a front view for explaining a vertical frame member 30b according to a reference example. 3, FIG. 3 is (a) a top view, (b) a schematic cross-sectional view taken along line A3-A3, and (c) a front view for explaining a member 30c according to a reference example.

Embodiments of the invention are described below, but the invention is not necessarily limited thereto. The description regarding each embodiment can also be applied to other embodiments unless otherwise specified.

[1] Manufacturing method of silicon nitride substrate
(1) Step of preparing slurry In the method of the present invention, raw material powder obtained by adding rare earth element oxides and magnesium compounds as sintering aids to silicon powder is pulverized by a method such as media dispersion to obtain a slurry. to make.

(a) Silicon As the silicon used in the present invention, industrial grade silicon powder can be used. The silicon before pulverization is a powder having a median diameter D50 of 6 μm or more, a BET specific surface area of 3 m ² /g or less, an oxygen content of 1.0% by mass or less, and an impurity C content in silicon of 0.15% by mass or less. More preferably, the powder has a median diameter D50 of 7 μm or more, a BET specific surface area of 2.5 m ² /g or less, an oxygen content of 0.5% by mass or less, and an impurity C content in silicon of 0.10% by mass or less. The purity of the silicon powder is preferably 99% or higher, more preferably 99.5% or higher. Impurity oxygen contained in silicon is one of the factors that hinder the heat conduction of the silicon nitride substrate obtained by reaction sintering, so it is preferable that the amount of impurity oxygen is as small as possible. Furthermore, in the present invention, as will be described later, by limiting the amount of oxygen from the magnesium compound, the total amount of impurity oxygen contained in the silicon powder and oxygen from the magnesium compound is 0.1 per silicon converted to silicon nitride. It is preferable to adjust the raw material powder so that the content is in the range of up to 1.1% by mass. In addition, impurity carbon contained in silicon inhibits the growth of silicon nitride grains in the silicon nitride substrate obtained by reaction sintering. As a result, the densification is insufficient, which is one of the factors that reduce heat conduction and insulation.

In the present specification, the BET specific surface area (m ² /g) is measured by the BET one-point method (JIS R 1626: 1996 "Method for measuring specific surface area by gas adsorption BET method of fine ceramic powder") with a BET specific surface area meter. The median diameter D50 (μm) is the obtained value, and the median diameter D50 (μm) is the particle diameter when the cumulative frequency is 50% in the particle size distribution obtained by the laser diffraction/scattering method.

Although not essential in the manufacturing method of the present invention, the raw material powder may contain silicon nitride powder. However, since silicon nitride is more expensive than silicon, the amount of silicon nitride used should be as small as possible. The amount of silicon nitride used is preferably 20 mol % or less, more preferably 10 mol % or less, and even more preferably 5 mol % or less of silicon (in terms of silicon nitride).

(b) Rare Earth Element Oxides As the rare earth element oxides used in the present invention, oxides of Y, Yb, Gd, Er, Lu, etc., which are readily available and stable as oxides, are preferred. Specific examples of rare earth element oxides include Y ₂ O ₃ , Yb ₂ O ₃ , Gd ₂ O ₃ , Er ₂ O ₃ and Lu ₂ O ₃ . The content of rare earth element oxides is 0.5 mol% or more and less than 2 mol% of the total of silicon (converted to silicon nitride), rare earth element oxides (converted to trivalent oxide) and magnesium compounds (converted to MgO). is. If the content of the rare earth element oxide is less than 0.5 mol %, the effect as a sintering aid will be insufficient and the density will not be sufficiently increased, which is not preferable. When the content of rare earth element oxides is 2 mol% or more, grain boundary phases with low thermal conductivity increase, thereby lowering the thermal conductivity of the sintered body and increasing the amount of expensive rare earth element oxides used. It is not preferable. The content of the rare earth element oxide is preferably 0.6 mol% or more and less than 2 mol%, more preferably 1 mol% or more and 1.8 mol% or less.

In the present application, the number of moles of silicon nitride (Si ₃ N ₄ ) obtained when all the silicon is nitrided and the rare earth element oxide to the trivalent oxide RE ₂ O ₃ (RE is a rare earth element) The sum of the number of moles when converted and the number of moles when the magnesium compound is converted to MgO is simply "silicon (converted to silicon nitride), rare earth element oxide (converted to trivalent oxide) and magnesium compound (MgO conversion) total".

(c) Magnesium compound As the magnesium compound, one or more magnesium compounds containing Si, N or O can be used. In particular, it is preferable to use magnesium oxide (MgO), magnesium silicon nitride (MgSiN ₂ ), magnesium silicide (Mg ₂ Si), magnesium nitride (Mg ₃ N ₂ ), and the like. Here, it is chosen so that at least 87% by weight of MgSiN ₂ is based on the total of the magnesium compounds. By using 87% by mass or more of MgSiN ₂ , the oxygen concentration in the resulting silicon nitride substrate can be reduced. If the content of MgSiN ₂ in the magnesium compound is less than 87% by mass, the amount of oxygen in the silicon nitride particles after sintering increases, which undesirably results in a low thermal conductivity of the sintered body. MgSiN ₂ in the magnesium compound is preferably 90% by weight or more.

The magnesium compound content (in terms of MgO) in the silicon nitride substrate is 8% against the total of silicon (in terms of silicon nitride), rare earth element oxides (in terms of trivalent oxides) and magnesium compounds (in terms of MgO). mol% or more and less than 15 mol%. If the content of the magnesium compound is less than 8 mol %, the effect as a sintering aid will be insufficient and the density will not be sufficiently increased, which is not preferable. If the content of the magnesium compound is 15 mol % or more, the grain boundary phase with low thermal conductivity increases, which undesirably lowers the thermal conductivity of the sintered body. The content of the magnesium compound is preferably 8 mol% or more and less than 14 mol%, more preferably 9 mol% or more and less than 13 mol%.

(d) Grinding To the silicon powder, a rare earth element oxide and a magnesium compound are added as sintering aids in a predetermined ratio, a dispersion medium (organic solvent) and, if necessary, a dispersant are added, and ball milling is performed. to prepare slurry (dispersion of raw material powder). It is preferable that the media have a diameter of 5 mm or more, the concentration of the raw material powder in the slurry (also referred to as slurry concentration) is 40% by mass or more, and the pulverization is preferably carried out for 6 hours or more. The media is preferably made of a material that does not contain Al or Fe as main components, which are factors that lower the thermal conductivity of silicon nitride, and is particularly preferably made of silicon nitride. The types of dispersion medium and dispersant are not particularly limited, and can be arbitrarily selected according to the sheet forming method and the like.

Ethanol, n-butanol, toluene, MEK, MIBK and the like can be used as dispersion media, and sorbitan ester type dispersants, polyoxyalkylene type dispersants and the like can be used as dispersants. The amount of the dispersion medium used is, for example, preferably 40 to 70% by mass relative to the total amount of the powder, and the amount of the dispersant used is, for example, 0.3 to 2% by mass relative to the total amount of the powder. is preferred. After dispersion, if necessary, the dispersion medium may be removed or replaced with another dispersion medium.

The time for pulverization is not particularly limited because it varies depending on the milling apparatus to be used, the amount and characteristics of the starting materials, etc., but it is preferable to select the time so that the raw material powder can be sufficiently pulverized and mixed. The grinding time is, for example, preferably 6 hours or more and 48 hours or less, more preferably 12 hours or more and 24 hours or less. If the pulverization time is too short, sufficient pulverization may not be achieved and the pulverized silicon powder satisfying the conditions of the present invention may not be obtained. If the pulverization time is too long, the amount of impurity oxygen gradually increases, and the thermal conductivity of the silicon nitride substrate may decrease.

The pulverized silicon particles preferably have an oxygen content of 1.0% by mass or less, more preferably 0.7% by mass or less. The thermal conductivity of silicon nitride can be improved by using silicon particles with as little oxygen as possible. Since it is difficult to measure the oxygen content of only the silicon particles after mixing with the sintering aid, a slurry of only silicon particles without the sintering aid was prepared under the same grinding conditions as a sample. can be used to measure the oxygen content of silicon particles. For example, silicon particles are extracted from the slurry, and the oxygen content of the silicon particles is measured using an inert gas fusion-nondispersive infrared absorption method oxygen analyzer.

The BET specific surface area (m ² /g), median diameter D50 (μm), and oxygen content of the silicon particles in the slurry obtained by pulverization were determined by comparing the silicon particles pulverized in the same manner except that the rare earth element oxide and magnesium compound were not added. It is a value measured using Since the rare earth element oxide powder and the magnesium compound powder are added in very small amounts to the silicon powder, they hardly affect the pulverization efficiency. are considered to be substantially the same.

(2) Step of obtaining a sheet-like compact (forming step)
A dispersion medium, an organic binder, a dispersing agent, etc. are added to the obtained slurry as necessary, vacuum defoaming is performed as necessary, the viscosity is adjusted within a predetermined range, and the slurry for coating is prepared. make. The slurry viscosity is preferably adjusted within the range of 1 Pa·s or more and less than 15 Pa·s. The viscosity of the slurry is a value measured using a rotary viscometer at a temperature of 25°C and a rotation speed of 10 rpm. In some cases, removal or replacement of the dispersion medium may be performed as described above. The prepared coating slurry is formed into a sheet by using a sheet forming machine, cut into a predetermined size, and dried to obtain a sheet-shaped formed body. The organic binder used to prepare the slurry for coating is not particularly limited, but examples thereof include PVB resin (polyvinyl butyral resin), ethyl cellulose resin, acrylic resin and the like. It is preferable to appropriately adjust the amount of the dispersion medium, organic binder, dispersant, etc. added according to the coating conditions.

The method for forming the coating slurry into a sheet is not particularly limited, but sheet forming methods such as a doctor blade method and an extrusion method can be used. In the method for manufacturing a silicon nitride substrate according to the present embodiment, no deteriorated layer is formed and does not need to be removed, so there is no need to consider the thickness of the deteriorated layer. For this reason, sheet molding that can be easily molded into a thin sheet shape can be preferably used.

When forming a sheet by a doctor blade method or an extrusion method, the forming speed of the coating slurry is preferably 600 mm/min or less. Since the coating slurry used in the present invention has thixotropy, when the coating slurry passes through the doctor blade of the doctor blade method or the die of the extrusion method, shear stress is applied to the coating slurry, A decrease in the viscosity of the industrial slurry occurs. Therefore, if the molding speed exceeds 600 mm/min, the coating slurry will flow easily, and bubbles that cause voids will easily be involved, which may hinder densification.

The drying rate of the coating slurry is preferably 0.8% by mass/min or less. If the drying rate of the coating slurry exceeds 0.8% by mass/min, the dispersion medium will rapidly volatilize, which can easily cause air bubbles to form in the sheet. After the coating, the sheet is passed through a drying zone so that it is gradually heated and dried. Therefore, it is preferable that the maximum drying rate does not exceed 0.8 mass %/min.

The thickness of the sheet-shaped molding formed in the molding process is, for example, 0.15-0.8 mm. The obtained sheet-like molded article can be cut into a predetermined size by, for example, a punching machine, if necessary.

(3) Step of sintering compact (sintering step)
By heating the obtained sheet-like compact, silicon contained in the compact is nitrided and then densified. The sintering process includes a degreasing process for removing the organic binder in the molded body, a nitriding process for nitriding by reacting Si contained in the molded body with nitrogen, and a densifying sintering process for densification after nitriding. . These steps may be performed sequentially in separate furnaces or continuously in the same furnace. Regarding the laminated assembly in which the sheet-shaped compacts (green sheets) are laminated, the conditions of the members (for example, plates and frames) provided around them can be changed between the nitriding process and the densifying sintering process.

For example, the prepared sheet-like molded body is stacked on a BN plate on either side of a separation material, placed in an electric furnace, degreased (removed organic binders, etc.), and then placed in a nitriding device. It can be decarbonized at 900 to 1300° C., heated to a predetermined temperature in a nitrogen atmosphere for nitriding, and then sintered in a sintering apparatus. At this time, it is preferable to heat the compact while applying a load of 10 to 1000 Pa. Degreasing is preferably carried out at a temperature of 800°C or less.

When a plurality of sheet-like compacts are laminated, it is preferable to use boron nitride (BN) powder having a thickness of about 3 to 20 μm as the separation material. The BN powder layer is for facilitating the separation of the silicon nitride sintered body substrate after sintering, and a BN powder slurry is applied, for example, by spraying, brush coating or screen printing on one surface of each sheet-shaped compact. can be formed by The BN powder preferably has a purity of 95% or higher and an average particle size (D50) of 1-20 μm.

In the nitriding step, the nitrogen partial pressure during nitriding is preferably 0.05 to 0.7 MPa, more preferably 0.07 to 0.2 MPa. The nitriding temperature is preferably 1350-1500°C, more preferably 1400-1450°C. The holding time after heating to the nitriding temperature is preferably 3-12 hours, preferably 5-10 hours. When the nitriding temperature is less than 1350°C or when the holding time is less than 3 hours, unreacted silicon powder remains in the sheet-like molded body, and a dense body cannot be obtained by the densifying sintering process performed after the nitriding process. Sometimes you can't. If the nitriding temperature is higher than 1500°C, the silicon powder may melt before nitriding and may remain without nitriding, or the sintering aid components may volatilize and be sintered during the sintering process. In some cases, it becomes difficult to obtain a dense sintered body due to a shortage of the cohesive agent component. If the holding time is longer than 12 hours, the sintering aid component may volatilize and the sintering aid component may run short in the sintering step, making it difficult to obtain a dense sintered body.

The nitrogen partial pressure during compaction sintering is preferably 0.1 to 0.9 MPa, more preferably 0.5 to 0.9 MPa. The sintering temperature is preferably 1800-1950°C, more preferably 1850-1900°C. The holding time (sintering time) after heating to the sintering temperature is preferably 3 to 12 hours, preferably 5 to 12 hours. If the sintering temperature is less than 1800° C. or if the holding time is less than 3 hours, the growth and rearrangement of the silicon nitride particles may be insufficient and a dense body may not be obtained. If the sintering temperature is higher than 1950° C. or if the holding time is longer than 12 hours, the sintering aid component may volatilize and become insufficient, making it difficult to obtain a dense sintered body.

[2] Silicon Nitride Substrate In the silicon nitride substrate of the present invention, the ratio λe/λc between the thermal conductivity λc at the center of the substrate and the thermal conductivity λe at the edge of the substrate is 0.85 to 1.15. is. Note that the silicon nitride substrate has a shape having a first main surface, a second main surface, and four side surfaces. The first main surface or the second main surface has a center portion and an end portion within the plane.

(1) Composition The silicon nitride substrate after sintering contains β-phase silicon nitride as a main component, and also contains rare earth elements and magnesium. The rare earth element may be in a single state, or may form a compound with another substance. Magnesium contained in the silicon nitride substrate may be in a single state or in a compound with other substances.

A silicon nitride substrate of the present invention is a silicon nitride sintered body having silicon nitride particles and a grain boundary phase forming grain boundaries of the silicon nitride particles. The content of rare earth elements (in terms of trivalent oxide RE ₂ O ₃ (RE is a rare earth element)) in the grain boundary phase is 0.5 to 2.3 mol%, and the content of magnesium (in terms of MgO) is 0.5 to 10 mol%. is preferred. In the silicon nitride substrate of the present application, the content of the rare earth element and the content of magnesium are determined by the number of moles of silicon nitride (Si ₃ N ₄ ) and the trivalent oxide RE ₂ O ₃ (RE is (rare earth element) and the sum of the number of moles when the magnesium is converted to MgO is 100 mol%. Hereinafter, the total may be simply referred to as "the total of silicon nitride, rare earth elements (calculated as trivalent oxides) and magnesium (calculated as MgO)".

Here, the sum of the contents of rare earth elements (in terms of trivalent oxides RE ₂ O ₃ (RE is a rare earth element)) and magnesium (in terms of MgO) in the grain boundary phase (total amount of grain boundary phases) is preferably 1.0 to 12.3 mol %.

The contents of silicon nitride, rare earth element and magnesium in the silicon nitride substrate depend on the amount of silicon powder added during production and the amount of rare earth element oxide and magnesium compound added as sintering aids. In the method of the present invention, the content of magnesium in the silicon nitride substrate after sintering is reduced with respect to the amount added during production, since magnesium compounds are mainly reduced by volatilization during firing. On the other hand, since rare earth element oxides hardly volatilize, the content of silicon nitride, rare earth elements (converted to trivalent oxides) and magnesium (converted to MgO) may slightly increase due to the decrease in magnesium compounds. There is The volatilization amount of the magnesium compound varies depending on the shape of the compact, firing conditions, and the like.

The oxygen content in the silicon nitride particles is 0.05% by mass or less. If the oxygen content exceeds 0.05% by mass, high thermal conductivity cannot be obtained. Two silicon nitride substrates under the same conditions are prepared as samples, one silicon nitride substrate can be used as a substrate, and the other silicon nitride substrate can be used for measuring the amount of oxygen. For example, the other silicon nitride substrate is pulverized and pickled to extract silicon nitride particles (the grain boundary phase is removed by pickling). Measure the amount of oxygen using the oxygen analyzer.

(3) Others The silicon nitride substrate preferably has a dense structure with a relative density of 98% or more. If the relative density of the silicon nitride substrate is less than 98%, high thermal conductivity cannot be obtained. In such a dense silicon nitride substrate, voids are less likely to impede thermal conduction, and in particular, the silicon nitride substrate of the present invention has a thermal conductivity of 115 W/m·K or more in the thickness direction.

The bending strength of the silicon nitride substrate is, for example, 600 MPa or more. When making a silicon nitride circuit board for a power module in which a circuit such as a copper plate is bonded to a silicon nitride board through a brazing material, high stress is applied during mounting and driving, so depending on the method, the bending strength is 600 MPa or more. is preferably Moreover, since the bending strength is as high as 600 MPa or more, it is possible to make the silicon nitride substrate thinner.

The thickness of the silicon nitride substrate is not particularly limited, and can be any thickness. , more preferably 0.1 to 1 mm, and more preferably 0.2 to 0.6 mm for silicon nitride circuit substrates for power modules. The thickness of the silicon nitride substrate after sintering can be adjusted by adjusting the thickness of the sheet compact formed in the sheet forming step.

The present invention will be explained in more detail by examples, but the present invention is not limited to them.

(1) Preparation of silicon nitride substrate of Example 1 (slurry preparation step)
A silicon powder having a BET specific surface area of 2.1 m ² /g, a median diameter D50 of 8.2 μm, and an oxygen content of 0.3% by mass was added with silicon (calculated as silicon nitride), rare earth element oxides (calculated as trivalent oxides), and magnesium compounds. 1.2 mol % of Y ₂ O ₃ powder and 9.8 mol % of MgSiN ₂ powder were added as sintering aids to the total (in terms of MgO) to obtain raw material powder. To this raw material powder, 0.5% by mass of a dispersant (sorbitan acid trioleate) is added to the total of the dispersion medium (toluene) and the raw material powder to make a slurry with a concentration of 42% by mass. A silicon nitride 5φ ball was used as the material, and pulverization was performed for 24 hours. The addition amount of the magnesium compound is indicated by mol % when all magnesium compounds are converted to MgO. The BET specific surface area, median diameter D50, and oxygen content of the silicon powder before pulverization were measured using a BET single-point BET specific surface area meter, a laser diffraction/scattering particle size distribution meter, and an inert gas fusion-nondispersive infrared absorption method, respectively. was measured using an oxygen analyzer.

(Sheet Forming Step) To the resulting slurry, a dispersion medium and an organic binder (acrylic resin) were added to adjust the concentration, and defoaming treatment was performed to obtain a slurry-like coating liquid. This coating slurry was applied to a carrier film by a doctor blade method, molded into a sheet having a thickness of 0.38 mm, and cut into a size of 240 mm×200 mm to obtain a sheet-shaped molding. The speed at which the carrier film is fed during coating corresponds to the molding speed, and this molding speed was set at 600 mm/min or less.

A laminated assembly was prepared by laminating multiple sheets of the obtained sheet-like compact with a BN powder layer (thickness 4.5 μm) in between, and placed on a BN plate (mounting plate) to form a vertical frame member (made of BN). , and multistaged as shown in the schematic diagrams of FIGS. 1 and 2 .

As shown in FIG. 1, a mounting plate (made of BN) 20 is placed on the upper surface of a lower plate (holding plate) 10, and a laminated assembly 40 having a plurality of green sheets and an upper plate (weight plate) made of BN are placed thereon. 50 was placed. Next, a vertical frame member 30a made of BN (made of boron nitride) shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the mounting plate 20 of the next stage was placed on the vertical frame member 30a, and the laminated assembly 40 and the upper plate (weight plate) 50 were placed on the mounting plate 20. . In this manner, the desired number of stacked assemblies 40 and upper plates (weight plates) 50 are placed, and the placing plate 60 is placed on the uppermost vertical frame member 30a (type shown in FIG. 4). Then, the mounting plate assembly 70 was prepared. Here, the vertical frame member 30a of FIG. 4 has the shape of a rectangular frame as shown in (a) top view, and is made of BN as an integrated body. (b) The thickness of the vertical frame member 30a was made uniform, as indicated by the cross-sectional area hatched in the schematic diagram.

Next, the mounting plate assembly 70 is degreased in a nitrogen atmosphere (nitrogen partial pressure 0.1 MPa) and at 750° C. for 5 hours (degreasing step), and as shown in FIG. 0.5 MPa partial pressure) and 1400° C. for 10 hours (nitriding process). In this nitriding step, the mounting plate assembly 70 was not housed in the BN crucible in the nitriding device 80 (nitriding was performed without the crucible).

Next, after putting the mounting plate assembly 70 taken out of the nitriding device 80 into a BN crucible, it is carried into a sintering device and placed in a nitrogen atmosphere (nitrogen partial pressure 0.9 MPa ) and sintered at 1900° C. for 12 hours (densification sintering step), the BN powder layer was removed, and a substrate made of a silicon nitride sintered body was obtained.

Then, the surface of the silicon nitride substrate was subjected to liquid honing treatment for the purpose of cleaning and making it moderately rough. The honing treatment was carried out by adding an appropriate amount of alumina abrasive grains to water and spraying them onto the front and back surfaces of the sintered body at a pressure of 0.5 MPa. The obtained silicon nitride substrate had a size of 200 mm×170 mm and a thickness of 0.32 mm.

After cleaning and liquid honing, the thermal conductivity λc at the center of the silicon nitride substrate and the thermal conductivity λe at the edge were measured. Here, the central portion is within a radius of 30 mm from the center of the silicon nitride substrate (the intersection of the diagonal lines of the substrate), and a 10 mm square test piece was cut from within this central portion. The edge was within a radius of 40 mm from the corner of the silicon nitride substrate (one of the four corners), and a 10 mm square test piece was cut from within this edge. The thermal conductivity was measured by the flash method using each test piece cut into 10 mm square. Table 1 shows the results.

（注１）表１で例えば「1400℃-10h，0.5MPa」は、窒化装置８０内に収めて窒素雰囲気下（窒素分圧0.5MPa）及び1400℃で10時間窒化したことに対応する。
（注２）表１の窒化条件でカッコ内の図面の番号は、その図面の縦枠部材を用いたことを示す。

(Note 1) For example, "1400° C.-10 h, 0.5 MPa" in Table 1 corresponds to nitriding in a nitrogen atmosphere (nitrogen partial pressure 0.5 MPa) at 1400° C. for 10 hours.
(Note 2) In the nitriding conditions in Table 1, the drawing number in parenthesis indicates that the vertical frame member of that drawing was used.

In Example 1, when proceeding to the nitriding step, the mounting plate assembly 70 was not stored in a crucible corresponding to a container, but was carried into the nitriding apparatus as it was. In the nitriding step, the nitrogen (N element) in the atmosphere of the nitriding apparatus is not blocked by the crucible, and is properly supplied to the large sheet-like molded body of the laminated assembly 40. It is considered that the Si (silicon) in the sheet-like molded body is uniformly nitrided, and uneven nitridation within the substrate is suppressed.

(2) Fabrication of Silicon Nitride Substrates of Examples 2 to 5 In the same manner as in Example 1, except that the sintering aid, degreasing conditions, and nitriding conditions were changed as shown in Table 1 for Examples 2 to 5, respectively. A silicon nitride substrate was produced.

In the silicon nitride substrates of Examples 1 to 5 of the present invention, the thermal conductivity ratio λe/λc is within the range of 0.94 to 1.03, and the difference in thermal conductivity between the center and the edge is suppressed compared to the reference example. It became what was done. In the nitriding process, the vertical frame member of FIG. 4 is applied to FIGS. 1 to 3, and the nitriding process proceeds without placing the mounting plate assembly 70 in the crucible, thereby uniforming variations in nitriding in the substrate. is thought to have worked.

(3) Production of Silicon Nitride Substrate of Reference Example A silicon nitride substrate was produced in the same manner as in Example 1, except that the sintering aid, degreasing conditions, and nitridation conditions were changed as shown in Table 1 for Reference Example.

In the reference example, the vertical frame member 30b of FIG. 5 is applied to FIGS. The vertical frame member 30b in FIG. 5 has the shape of a rectangular frame as shown in (a) a top view, and convex portions 30b-1 which are rectangular (thin plate-shaped) when viewed from the top are located at the centers of each of the four sides. , 30b-2, 30b-3, and 30b-4. (b) In the schematic diagram, the thickness of the hatched cross-sectional locations (30b-4, 30b-2) is made larger than the thickness of the "frame" which is the main member of the vertical frame member 30b, so (c) the front As shown in the figure, recesses were formed between the protrusions. It is also possible to change the vertical frame member 30b of FIG. 5 to the vertical frame member 30c of FIG.

The vertical frame member 30c of FIG. 6 has the shape of a rectangular frame, as shown in (a) the top view. , 30c-3, and 30c-4, and the rectangular frame and the four projections are made of BN. (b) Since the thickness of the convex portions 30c-4 and 30c-3 in the front view (c) is made larger than the thickness of the hatched cross section in the schematic diagram, the convex portions are shown in the front view (c). A recess was formed between them.

The silicon nitride substrate of the reference example had a thermal conductivity ratio λe/λc of 0.83, resulting in a widening difference between the thermal conductivity at the center and the thermal conductivity at the edges. When the vertical frame member 30b of FIG. 5 is applied to FIGS. 1 to 3, nitrogen in the atmosphere is further supplied to the large sheet-like molded body of the laminated assembly 40 by passing through the recesses in the nitriding process, and the sheet-shaped molding is performed. It was expected that the nitriding of Si (silicon) in the body would be further accelerated and uniformed, but magnesium (Mg element) related to the sintering aid at the end was released into the atmosphere through the recesses. It is conceivable that the nitridation at the end portion was biased because it became easier.

10: Lower plate (holding plate),
20: Placement plate,
30a: Vertical frame member,
30b: vertical frame member, 30b-1, 30b-2, 30b-3, 30b-4: convex portion,
30c: vertical frame member, 30c-1, 30c-2, 30c-3, 30c-4: convex portion,
40: laminated assembly,
50: Upper plate (weight plate),
60: Placement plate,
70: Placement plate assembly,
80: Nitriding device

Claims (4)

A silicon nitride substrate obtained by nitriding a sheet-like formed body containing silicon so that silicon nitride is 20 mol % or less of silicon in terms of silicon nitride,
A size exceeding 100 mm x 100 mm,
Having silicon nitride particles and a grain boundary phase forming a grain boundary of the silicon nitride particles,
The oxygen content in the silicon nitride particles is 0.05% by mass or less,
A silicon nitride substrate having a ratio λe/λc between the thermal conductivity λc at the center of the substrate and the thermal conductivity λe at the edge of the substrate is 0.85 to 1.15. 2. The silicon nitride substrate according to claim 1, which has a size of 150 mm*150 mm or more. 3. The silicon nitride substrate according to claim 1, wherein said .lambda.c and said .lambda.e are 100 W/m.K or more. 4. The silicon nitride substrate according to claim 1, wherein said molded body contains said silicon so that said silicon nitride accounts for 5 mol % or less of said silicon in terms of silicon nitride. substrate.

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