JPH01117021A - Semiconductor manufacturing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To restrain the irregularity of concentration of reaction gas, by alternately arranging half-round rectifying bodies up and down, at a plurality of specified positions between semiconductor wafers inserted in a reaction pipe, and making an adequate quantity of the reaction gas flow between the semiconductor wafers. CONSTITUTION:A boat 1 on which many semiconductor wafers W are mounted in parallel is inserted in a reaction pipe 2. Reaction gas G supplied from the front end of the reaction tube 2 is discharged from the rear end. At a plurality of specified positions between wafers W, half-round rectifying bodies 10a, 10b along the inner peripheral surface of the reaction pipe 2 are alternately arranged up and down. The reaction gas flowing from the front end toward the rear end is prevented from straight traveling by the rectifying bodies 10a, 10b, and the flow direction is compulsorily changed. As a result, an adequate quantity of the reaction gas flows between wafers, and the irregularity of concentration of the reaction gas is restrained.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus used in a diffusion process or an oxidation process in semiconductor manufacturing, and particularly relates to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus in which a large number of semiconductor wafers are mounted in parallel in an upright position. The present invention relates to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus in which a boat is loaded into a reaction tube and the semiconductor wafers are processed using a reaction gas supplied from the front end of the reaction tube.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, as this type of semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, one whose schematic configuration is shown in FIG. 4 has been known.

This semiconductor manufacturing equipment is equipped with a boat 1 made of quartz and a cylindrical reaction tube 2 made of quartz into which the boat 1 is charged. Wafers W, . . . are mounted in parallel in an upright position with their surfaces facing forward and backward.

Further, a semiconductor wafer W is placed on the outer periphery of the reaction tube 2.

... to a predetermined temperature, and a reaction gas G whose flow rate is adjusted by a gas supply control device 4 is supplied from the front end of the reaction tube 2.

This reaction gas G flows between the semiconductor wafers W charged in the reaction tube 2, performs a predetermined processing treatment on the surface of each semiconductor wafer W, and then flows between the semiconductor wafers W charged in the reaction tube 2. It is discharged to the outside through a duct 5 disposed at the end. Note that the reference numeral 6 in the figure is a power supply control device that controls the current flowing through the heater 3, and the reference numeral 7 is a lid that closes a boat charging opening provided at the rear end of the reaction tube 2.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

Incidentally, although the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus has the advantage of being able to process a large number of semiconductor wafers W, . . . at the same time, most of the reaction gas G supplied into the reaction tube 2 is It flows straight through the gap area A formed by the outer peripheral edge of the semiconductor wafers W, . . . and the inner peripheral surface of the reaction tube 2, and the semiconductor wafers W, . There is a problem in that only a portion of the reaction gas G flows in the vertical direction due to diffusion or convection. Therefore, by effectively controlling the reaction gas G flowing inside the reaction tube, the semiconductor wafers W,
...It becomes difficult to flow an appropriate amount of reactive gas G between the semiconductor wafers W, and the concentration of the reactive gas G on the surface of each semiconductor wafer W varies and becomes disordered.
This has been disadvantageous in that the characteristics of semiconductor devices manufactured from these materials are significantly impaired and the yield of non-defective products is reduced.

Therefore, as one means to solve such problems, for example, the semiconductor wafers W, etc. are mounted on the boat 1 with the distance between them widened as much as possible, and the reactive gas G flows between them. Although it is conceivable to make it easier, this would cause a different problem in that the amount of semiconductor wafers W, etc. to be processed would be reduced on the boat 1, resulting in a decrease in production efficiency. Put it away. In addition, in order to avoid such problems and maintain production efficiency, the overall length of each component such as the reaction tube 2 must be increased, resulting in the inconvenience of increasing the size of the apparatus.

The present invention was devised in view of the current situation, and can be achieved without reducing production efficiency or increasing the size of the equipment.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus that can effectively control the amount of reactive gas flowing between semiconductor wafers, effectively prevent characteristic deterioration of the semiconductor wafers, and improve yield.

Means for Solving Problem c] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes loading a boat on which a large number of semiconductor wafers are mounted vertically in parallel into a reaction tube, and In a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus in which a reaction gas supplied from a front end of a reaction tube is discharged from a rear end, semicircular flow regulators are arranged vertically and alternately along the inner peripheral surface of the reaction tube at a plurality of predetermined locations between the semiconductor wafers. It is characterized by its configuration.

[Effect]

According to the above configuration, the reaction gas flowing in the reaction tube from the front end to the rear end is forced to change its direction by blocking the straight flow of the reaction gas by the flow regulators arranged vertically and alternately. Therefore, most of the reaction gas flows between the semiconductor wafers. Therefore, the reaction gas flowing in the reaction tube can be effectively controlled to flow an appropriate amount of reaction gas between the semiconductor wafers, and variations in the concentration of the reaction gas G on the surface of each semiconductor wafer W are suppressed.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view showing the configuration of a semiconductor manufacturing device.
FIGS. 2(a) and 2(b) are enlarged cross-sectional views showing an example of the mounting structure of the flow regulator. Note that the configuration of this semiconductor manufacturing equipment is basically the same as the configuration of the conventional example except for the provision of a flow regulator, which will be described later. A reference numeral is given and the explanation thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of flow regulators 10a and 10b are arranged vertically and alternately at a plurality of predetermined locations between a large number of semiconductor wafers W, . . . mounted on a boat 1 in this embodiment. There is. These rectifying fluids 10a.

Each of 10b is a plate-shaped body made of a heat-resistant material such as quartz, and as shown in FIGS. 2(a) and (b),
It is formed in a semicircular shape with its outer peripheral edge as close to the inner peripheral surface of the reaction tube 2 as possible.

A fluid regulator 10a disposed below the reaction tube 2,
. . are directly fitted into a pair of grooves 1a, . . ., formed for fitting the semiconductor wafer W, .

On the other hand, each of the flow regulators 10b arranged above has a pair of left and right legs 11. ... has been formed,
These legs 11. The lower end of ... is the groove 1a of the boat 1.

It is directly inserted into and removably supported. Note that the mounting structure of these flow regulators 10a and 10b does not necessarily have to be removable, and may be formed integrally with the port 1 itself, as shown in FIG. 3, for example.

According to the above configuration, the reaction gas G supplied from the front end of the reaction tube 2 first flows into the space defined by the inner circumferential surface of the reaction tube 2 and the first flow regulator 10a disposed below the inner peripheral surface of the reaction tube 2. A
1 flows toward the rear side along the semiconductor wafers W, . . . , and a second rectifying fluid 1 disposed above the reaction tube 2
0b forces it to change direction downward. Then, the direction-changed reaction gas G flows from the space A2 formed by the inner circumferential surface of the reaction tube 2 and the second straightener 10b toward the rear side along the semiconductor wafers W, . . . , the direction is forcibly changed upward by the third flow regulator 10a disposed below the reaction tube 2.

After that, this reaction gas G is passed through the rectifiers 10a and 1ob arranged alternately above and below the reaction tube 2, as described above.
While repeatedly changing direction, the semiconductor wafer W,
. . . The semiconductor wafer W flows in a zigzag pattern vertically along the vertical direction between the semiconductor wafers W, .
It is discharged from duct 5.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, the semicircular flow regulators are arranged vertically and alternately at a plurality of predetermined locations between the semiconductor wafers loaded into the reaction tube, so that the flow is not supplied from the front end of the reaction tube. The reaction gas flowing toward the rear end is prevented from flowing in a straight direction by the rectifying fluid and is forcibly changed direction, so that most of the reaction gas flows through the semiconductor wafer. Therefore, it becomes possible to effectively control the reaction gas flowing in the reaction tube to flow an appropriate amount of reaction gas between the semiconductor wafers, and the oxygen remaining between the semiconductor wafers is effectively exhausted and the reaction gas flows between the semiconductor wafers. Variations in the concentration of the reactant gas on the surface of W are significantly suppressed compared to the conventional example.

Therefore, deterioration of the characteristics of semiconductor wafers can be effectively prevented without reducing production efficiency or increasing the size of equipment in semiconductor wafer processing, and it is possible to improve the yield of non-defective products.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 3 relate to embodiments of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing the configuration of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, and FIG. 2(a)
, (b) is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part showing an example of the mounting structure of the fluid regulator, and FIG. 3 is a partially omitted perspective view showing a modified example of the mounting structure of the fluid regulator. Further, FIG. 4 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view showing the configuration of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to a conventional example. In the figure, 1 is a boat, 2 is a reaction tube, 10a, 1
0b is a rectifier, W is a semiconductor wafer, and G is a reactive gas. In addition, the same reference numerals in the drawings indicate the same or equivalent parts,
shows the part.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) In a semiconductor manufacturing device in which a boat on which a large number of semiconductor wafers are mounted vertically in parallel is loaded into a reaction tube, and a reaction gas supplied from the front end of the reaction tube is discharged from the rear end, A semiconductor manufacturing apparatus characterized in that semicircular flow regulators are arranged vertically and alternately along the inner peripheral surface of the reaction tube at a plurality of predetermined locations between the semiconductor wafers. (2) The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the flow regulator is removably attached to the boat.