JPH02114516A - Heat treatment device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the memory capacity of a memory mechanism in the device side and the cost for a basic device by constructing the memory mechanism to be exchangeable in accordance with the treatment content. CONSTITUTION:Film formation control is automatically carried out based on a film formation program stored in an internal memory 3a within a gas controller 3, and this film formation program is stored in an external memory 10 beforehand, and a treatment program is transferred from this external memory 10 to the internal memory 3a. In case of a heat treatment device having, for example, two reaction furnace bodies 2a, 2b, if two treatment programs are stored in one external memory 10, and the film formation program in each reaction furnace body 2a, 2b is divided, for example, in accordance with the steps, different film formation treatments are enabled for respective reaction furnace bodies 2a, 2b. Thus, the memory capacity of the memory mechanism in the device side and the cost for the basic device can be reduced.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [the invention's] target] (Industrial application field) The present invention relates to a heat treatment apparatus.

(Prior art) In recent years, heat treatment equipment used in the thermal diffusion process and film formation process in the semiconductor device manufacturing process has been developed to save space, save energy, automate the loading and unloading of wafer boards, and cover semiconductor wafers, etc. Vertical heat treatment equipment has been adopted because it is easy to handle large-sized processing objects and adapt to automation.

This vertical heat treatment apparatus includes a cylindrical reaction tube made of quartz or the like, a heater mechanism surrounding the tube,
A reactor body made up of soaking tubes, heat insulating materials, etc. (1) is arranged almost vertically, and inside this reaction tube are wafer boats made of quartz etc. in which a large number of semiconductor wafers are stored on shelves at predetermined intervals. This wafer boat is mounted on a cylindrical heat-insulating tube inserted at the bottom of the reaction tube.
The wafer boat is configured to be loaded and unloaded from below inside the reaction tube, integrally with this heat insulating cylinder, by a transport mechanism that is movable up and down.

Processing work in such a vertical heat treatment apparatus is automatically performed based on a processing program for performing predetermined processing that is stored in advance in the processing control system of the apparatus.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) In recent years, in the field of semiconductor manufacturing, there has been an increase in high-mix, low-volume production, and in order to cope with the production of a wide variety of products, a single heat treatment device has to store a large number of processing programs. It needed to be processed. However, in order to store such a large number of processing programs in the internal storage mechanism of the device, a storage mechanism with a large storage capacity is required, which not only increases the cost of the device, but also increases the capacity of the storage mechanism (increasing the storage capacity). There is also the problem that the calling/writing time, that is, the loading time of the processed processing program becomes long, which slows down the processing time.

The present invention was made in response to the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and can easily be applied to various manufacturing processes.Moreover, it is possible to reduce the storage capacity of the storage mechanism inside the device, thereby reducing device manufacturing costs. The object of the present invention is to provide a heat treatment apparatus that can shorten loading time.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The heat treatment apparatus of the present invention includes a storage mechanism that stores predetermined processing information, and a storage mechanism that stores predetermined processing information in the storage mechanism. This heat treatment apparatus is equipped with a process control mechanism for subjecting a workpiece to a series of heat treatments, and is characterized in that the process content can be changed by replacing the storage mechanism.

(Function) In the heat treatment apparatus of the present invention, by configuring the storage mechanism to be replaceable according to the processing content, the storage capacity of the storage mechanism on the apparatus side can be reduced, and the cost of the apparatus itself can be reduced. By reducing the storage capacity, the time required to retrieve stored processing information can be shortened. In addition, if a storage mechanism is prepared in advance according to the type of processing content, different film formation processes can be performed simply by replacing the storage mechanism, making it easy for special manufacturing processes such as high-mix low-volume production and interrupt production. This will help improve productivity.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example in which the present invention is applied to a double-barrel vertical heat treatment apparatus will be described with reference to the drawings.

The reactor body consists of a cylindrical reaction tube 1 made of quartz or the like.
It has a double structure in which a first reactor main body 2a that accommodates a reactor tube 1a and a second reactor main body 2b that similarly accommodates a second reaction tube 1b are arranged side by side.

Each reaction tube 1a, lb contains a processing gas, for example, 5ill 2
C12, IIcI, B2If6, PII3
a gas controller 3 for supplying a predetermined amount of the like into each reaction tube 1a, lb according to the processing content, and an exhaust system controller for maintaining the inside of each reaction tube 1a, 1b at a predetermined degree of vacuum during the film forming process. 4 are provided.

Furthermore, heater mechanisms 6a and 6 are provided on the outer periphery of each reaction tube 1a and lb, respectively, and are controlled by temperature controllers 5a and 5b.
b are arranged around the temperature controllers 5a, 5.
b and heater mechanism 6a s6b for each reaction tube 1a.
, 1b are heated to a predetermined processing temperature, such as semiconductor wafers 7a and 7b.

In a process in such a heat treatment apparatus, for example, a Si epitaxial film forming process, first, each reaction tube 1a is processed.

After setting the inside of 1b to a predetermined degree of vacuum, a predetermined processing gas is introduced into the reaction tube 1aqlb while being controlled by the gas controller 3. At this time, the exhaust system controller 4
a-, 1b has a predetermined degree of vacuum, e.g. 1 to 1 O Tor.
Exhaust is controlled so that r. Then, the semiconductor wafer groups 7a, 7b are processed by the temperature controllers 5a, 5b while controlling the heater mechanisms 6a, 6b so that the semiconductor wafer groups 7a, 7b reach a predetermined processing temperature, for example, 850 to 1050°C.

In addition, a group of semiconductor wafers 7a, into each reaction tube 1a, lb,
The wafers 7b are transferred by a transfer mechanism and a transfer mechanism (not shown), and the wafers are transferred to and from the group 7a s 7 by a transfer groove, for example, to a semiconductor urchin housed in a wafer cassette.
After transferring the wafers 8a and 8b to the wafer boats 8a and 8b, the wafer boats 8a and 8b are transported by the transport mechanism and accommodated in the respective reaction tubes 1a and 1b. The operation of these transport mechanisms and transfer mechanisms is controlled by a transport system controller 9.

By the way, the film deposition control in this embodiment is automatically performed based on a film deposition program stored in the internal memory 3a in the gas controller 3.

This film forming program is stored in advance in the external memory 10, and the processing program is read from the external memory 10 to the internal memory 3a.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a program cassette 21 used in this embodiment as an example of this external memory 10. In a housing 22 made of a resin member or the like, there are a plurality of storage elements (not shown), for example. Rewritable ROM (Program
mablc ROM) is built-in.

A cassette-side connector 23 is provided on the back of the housing 22, and by connecting this connector 23 to a controller-side connector 24 provided on a control device such as a gas controller 3 of a heat treatment apparatus, the program cassette 2
The data in 1 is stored in the internal memory 3a in the gas controller 3.
is memorized.

The program cassette 21 of this embodiment uses a ROM whose memory can be rewritten, so if you want to store another processing program, you can release the protect switch 25 provided on the surface of the casing 22. , it is possible to rewrite to a new film deposition program. Furthermore, the EI? provided on the surface of the program cassette 21? RO1? The display section 26 is for notifying abnormalities during writing and reading.
The usy display section 27 is for notifying write and call operations.

The processing program stored in such a program cassette 21, as shown in FIG. It is sufficient to memorize each step based on the process.

The program cassette 21 of this embodiment has a storage capacity capable of storing up to 20 lost steps, but a suitable storage capacity is selected depending on the content of the film forming program.

In addition, in a heat treatment apparatus having two reactor bodies 2a, 2b as in this embodiment, it is conceivable to perform different treatments for each reactor body 2a, 2b, or in such a case, the first As shown in FIG. 4, two processing programs may be stored in one program cassette 21. For example, step O to step n are the film forming program for the reactor main body 2a, and step n+1 to step 119
If the above steps are taken as a film forming program for the reactor main body 2b, different film forming processes can be performed for each of the reactor main bodies 2a and 2b using one program cassette 21.

By storing a series of film deposition programs in an external memory such as the program cassette 21 in this way, it is possible to reduce the storage capacity of the internal memory 3a on the apparatus side, reduce the cost of the apparatus body, and further improve the storage capacity. By reducing the capacity, the loading time of the film deposition program can be shortened.

In addition, if you prepare the external memories 10 in advance for the types of processing contents, you can perform different film forming processes just by replacing or replacing the external memories 10, and it can also be used for special manufacturing processes such as high-mix low-volume production and interrupt production. It can be easily handled and productivity can be improved. Further, the size of the program cassette 21 as in this embodiment is, for example, a width (W) of approximately 9011 II.
11. Depth (L) approx. 80cm, height (H) approx. 25ffi
Because it is small and lightweight, it does not require a lot of storage space.

In the above embodiment, an example was explained in which the processing gas controller 3 is automatically controlled based on the film formation program, but the present invention also provides similar control for other controllers such as the temperature controllers 5a and 5b and the exhaust system controller 4. It is also possible to apply this method to heat treatment processes other than film forming processes.

Furthermore, the external memory 10 used in the present invention is not limited to the program cassette 21 of the embodiment,
For example, other storage media such as fixed disks or floppy disks may be used, but ROM and RAM as in this example are suitable for the present invention because of their quick loading times.

In the above-described embodiments, the present invention was applied to a vertical heat treatment apparatus, but the present invention is also applicable to other heat treatment apparatuses such as a horizontal heat treatment apparatus.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the heat treatment apparatus of the present invention can easily be applied to various manufacturing processes, and furthermore, it is possible to reduce the storage capacity of the apparatus control system, reduce the apparatus manufacturing cost, and reduce the load. It is now possible to save time! Productivity can be improved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a control system of a vertical heat treatment apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the external appearance of a program cassette, which is an example of the external memory shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a processing program stored in the program cassette of FIG. 2. la, lb...reaction tube, 2a, 2b...
・Reactor main body, 3... Gas controller, 3a
...Internal memory, 4...Exhaust system controller, 5a, 5b...Temperature controller, 7a
, 7b... Semiconductor wafer group, 9... Transfer system controller, 10... External memory, 21...
...Program cassette. Applicant Chill Sagami Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A storage mechanism that stores predetermined processing information, and a processing control mechanism that performs a series of heat treatments on a workpiece in a reactor based on the predetermined processing information stored in the storage mechanism. A heat treatment apparatus, characterized in that the heat treatment apparatus is configured such that processing contents can be changed by replacing the storage mechanism.