JPH0237086B2 - HANDOTAIKISOSEICHOSOCHI - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an apparatus for growing a semiconductor thin film single crystal layer, that is, a so-called epitaxial layer, in a vapor phase.

Epitaxial growth equipment uses induction heating of a susceptor supporting a thin piece of semiconductor material, such as silicon, to grow an epitaxial layer on the thin piece of semiconductor material in the presence of a mixture of hydrogen and a gas such as silicon tetrachloride or silane. grow. Conventionally, as this type of semiconductor vapor phase growth apparatus, one with a single bell gear structure as shown in Fig. 1, and one with a double bell gear structure as shown in Fig. 2 have been adopted. Furthermore, in the case of a single layer structure, the bell gear may be made of metal such as stainless steel, or it may be made of quartz glass. If only a metal bell gear is used, there is a problem in that HCl corrodes the metal and the rust falls off, causing crystal defects in the semiconductor wafer.In the case of a quartz bell gear, there is also a problem with the sealing structure and in the unlikely event that the expensive quartz bell gear is damaged. There was a problem. For this reason,
As shown in Figures 2 and 3, a metal bell gear is used on the outside, and this is airtightly placed on a base plate to constitute a reaction chamber, and a quartz bell gear is attached to a support fixed to the inner peripheral surface of the metal bell gear. A device on which a wafer is placed has been proposed and put into practical use.
However, in order to obtain semiconductor wafers of good quality and free of crystal defects, dirt adhering to the quartz bell gear must be cleaned in a relatively short period of time. However, in conventional semiconductor vapor phase growth equipment that has been put into practical use, it is not easy to attach and detach the quartz bell gear.
It has the disadvantage of easily damaging the expensive quartz bell gear.

For example, in the semiconductor vapor phase growth apparatus shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, when the quartz bell gear is removed from the metal bell gear, the protrusion of the quartz bell gear fitted into the cut groove of the support fixed to the metal bell gear is removed. The quartz bell gear is lifted up to a height position where it is removed from the cut groove, and then rotated to a position where the protrusion of the quartz bell gear separates from the support, and the quartz bell gear is taken out.

However, since quartz bell gears are weak against shock and easily break, there are many accidents in which they collide with metal bell gears and break if handled incorrectly, and are not suitable for attaching and removing expensive quartz bell gears. Furthermore, when handling the quartz bell gear, the quartz bell gear tends to devitrify if it is touched directly by hands and oils and fats adhere to it, so special gloves or the like are used, but these are not perfect and are not preferable.

Therefore, in a semiconductor vapor phase growth apparatus equipped with a metal bell gear and a quartz bell gear, we have conducted extensive research to find a means to easily and safely remove the quartz bell gear from the metal bell gear without directly touching the metal bell gear. It has been found that by swingably mounting a plurality of quartz bell gear holders at predetermined intervals along the lower inner peripheral surface of the bell gear, the quartz bell gear can be reliably removed from the metal bell gear with a simple operation.

That is, a general object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor vapor phase growth apparatus in which a quartz bell gear can be easily and automatically removed from a metal bell gear.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention airtightly places a metal bellgear on a base, and also places a quartz bellgear inside the metal bellgear on the base or on the metal bellgear to form a reaction chamber. configure,
In a semiconductor vapor phase growth apparatus for growing an epitaxial layer on a semiconductor wafer by feeding a mixed gas into the reaction chamber, a semiconductor vapor phase growth apparatus is provided at a predetermined circumferential interval on the inner peripheral surface of the lower part of the metal bell gear. A swing holder is constituted by the mounting members and a support arm whose one end is pivotally attached to these mounting members so as to be swingable at a predetermined angle, and the support arm of the swing holder is at one swing end position. When the other end of the support arm engages with the lower part of the quartz bell gear so as to hold it, the swing holder is disposed in a position where the other end of the support arm releases the engagement when the other end of the support arm is at the other swing end position. It is characterized by

The swing holder has one end of its support arm pivoted to the mounting member so as to be able to swing freely in the radial direction, and either supports the quartz bell gear at the upper end of the support arm or supports the quartz bell gear at the lower end of the support arm. configured to hold. Further, the swing holder can have one end of its support arm pivotally attached to the mounting member so as to be swingable in the horizontal direction. Further, one end of the support arm can be pivotally attached to the mounting member so as to be swingable in the vertical direction.

The lower peripheral portion of the quartz bell gear may be provided with a notch for engagement with the support arm, or the lower outer peripheral surface of the quartz bell gear may be provided with a protrusion for engagement with the support arm. Furthermore, spacers may be provided on the inner peripheral surface of the metal bell gear at predetermined intervals so that the quartz bell gear is not damaged when the quartz bell gear is inserted into the metal bell gear.

Further, the semiconductor vapor phase growth apparatus according to the present invention is provided with a lifting device for suspending and rotating the bell gear unit. It is preferable to provide a mounting table on which the bell gear unit suspended and rotated by this lifting device is placed. Furthermore, it is preferable that the mounting table is provided with a pedestal for elastically supporting the quartz bell gear. Further, a spring member for swinging the support arm can be attached to the mounting table.
Furthermore, a push rod member for swinging the support arm may be movably provided within the mounting table. Also,
It is also possible to provide an opening in the mounting table so that the support arm can be manually operated.

Further, a flanged annular support member is interposed between the support arm and the lower end edge of the quartz bell gear,
It can also be configured to hold a quartz bell gear.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the detailed description below.

Next, a typical configuration example of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

4 to 6, the semiconductor vapor phase growth apparatus according to the present invention has an O-ring 12 mounted on a base 10.
a metal bell gear 14 airtightly placed through the
A swing holder 16 installed at a predetermined interval on the inner peripheral surface of the metal bell gear 14, and a swing holder 1
A reaction chamber 20 is formed with a quartz bell gear 18 supported by It basically consists of a susceptor 26 supported by a tubular strut 24 and a coil 28 for inductively heating the susceptor 26.

5, 6, and 7, the swing holder 16, the mounting plate 32 fixed to the lower inner peripheral surface of the metal bell gear 14 by fasteners 30,
32, and a pin 34 between these mounting plates 32, 32.
The support arm 36 is pivotally connected in the radial direction via the support arm 36, and the tip of the support arm supports the quartz bell gear 18 (Fig. 5), or the lower end of the support arm supports the quartz bell gear 18. 18 (Figure 7). It is preferable that the bolt insertion holes 31 formed in the mounting plates 32, 32 be formed in an elongated shape so that the position of the mounting plates can be adjusted up and down (FIG. 6).

In the embodiment shown in FIG.
A mounting plate 37 is fixed to the inner peripheral surface of the flange portion of 4, and a support arm 40 is attached to this mounting plate 37 via a pin 38.
The support arm 40 is pivotably mounted horizontally.
The quartz bell gear 1 is rotated outwardly.
8.

In addition, in FIGS. 9 and 10, a mounting plate 42 is fixed to the flange portion of the metal bell gear 14, and a support arm 46 is pivotably pivoted vertically to this mounting plate 42 via a pin 44. The tip of the arm is configured to support a protrusion 48 provided on the outer periphery of the quartz bell gear 18.

The means for holding the quartz bell gear 18 by the support arm 36 may be the case where the quartz bell gear is held at the lower end of the support arm 36 as shown in FIG. When used, the quartz bell gear 18 does not require any special means for engaging the support arm, but in the embodiment shown in FIGS. An opening 50 is provided and the support arm 36 is configured to support the top end of the opening 50 . Further, in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 11 and 14, a protrusion 48 is provided on the outside of the quartz bell gear. Furthermore, the fifth
In the figures and FIG. 6, a plurality of spacers 54 are provided at predetermined intervals on the inner peripheral surface of the metal bell gear 14,
To prevent a quartz bell gear from being damaged when charging the quartz bell gear 18 into a metal bell gear.

Next, in FIGS. 4, 12, and 13, a lifting device 56 for suspending and rotating a bell gear unit consisting of a metal bell gear 14 and a quartz bell gear 18 is attached to the semiconductor vapor phase growth apparatus, This elevating device 56 includes a rotating arm 58 for suspending and rotating the bell gear unit, and an elevating column 6.
0 and a drive device 62, and further includes a mounting table 64 on which the swiveling and transferred bellgear unit is placed.
(Fig. 12) is provided.

In FIG. 13, the mounting table 64 is provided with an elastic pedestal 66 that supports the lower end of the quartz bell gear 18, and is further rotatably provided with a spring 68 that presses the support arm 36. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 14, a push rod 70 for swinging the support arm 36 is movably provided on the mounting table 64.
One end of this push rod 70 is connected to an operating rod 74 via a connecting arm 72.

Further, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 15, the outer flange portion 78 of the flanged support ring 76 is held by the support arm 36, and the inner flange portion 80 is configured to hold the lower end of the quartz bell gear.

Next, the operation of the semiconductor vapor phase growth apparatus according to the present invention will be explained below.

When a predetermined semiconductor vapor phase growth operation is completed and the metal bell gear 14 is raised by the bell gear lifting device 56, the quartz bell gear 18 is raised together with the metal bell gear 14 with the quartz bell gear 18 placed on the support arm 36. As a standard operation for performing semiconductor vapor phase growth, a semiconductor wafer 27 is placed on a susceptor 26,
The metal bellgear 14 is lowered again, but when removing the quartz bellgear 18 from the metal bellgear for cleaning, the entire bellgear is rotated about the support 60 of the lifting device 56 while the bellgear unit remains raised. Only the quartz bell gear 18 is placed on an elastic pedestal 66 that is lowered at a predetermined position and is attached to a mounting table 64 that is installed independently from the base 10, and a support arm is mounted by a spring 68 that is attached to the mounting table 64. 36 is pushed up toward the metal bell gear (see Figure 13). If the lifting device is raised while the support arm 36 remains pushed up, only the metal bell gear will rise.
The quartz bell gear 18 remains on the mounting table 64. In this way, the quartz bell gear 18 is easily and safely removed from the metal bell gear 14.

When reinstalling the quartz bell gear 18 with the metal bell gear 14 after cleaning, first rotate the spring 68 to the imaginary line position or remove it so that the spring 68 does not push the support arm 36. When the metal bellgear 14 is lowered at a predetermined position and reaches the lowering limit, the support arm 36 is returned, and when the metal bellgear 14 is raised again, the quartz bellgear 18 rides on the support arm 36, and in this state, the bellgear unit is rotated to its original position. It then descends and abuts against the base 10 in an airtight manner.

At this time, if it is necessary to adjust the positional relationship between the support arm 36 and the quartz bell gear 18, the mounting plate 32
The vertical position can be adjusted using the bolt insertion hole 31 provided in the.

Note that when the quartz bell gear 18 is attached to the metal bell gear 14, if the pedestal 66 is removed after the support arm 36 returns to its original position at the lowering limit, the quartz bell gear 8 will rest on the support arm 36 and absorb the impact when rising. It can be relaxed.

According to the semiconductor vapor phase growth apparatus according to the present invention,
To automatically attach and detach an expensive quartz bell gear safely and easily and without directly touching the quartz bell gear during operation.

Although the typical configuration and operation of the semiconductor vapor phase growth apparatus according to the present invention have been explained above, the present invention is not limited to these explanations, and various designs may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. Of course, modifications can be made. for example,
It is also possible to provide an opening in the mounting table of the quartz bell gear and to manually operate the support arm through this opening.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front cross-sectional view of a conventional single-structure semiconductor vapor phase growth apparatus, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional double-structure semiconductor vapor-phase growth apparatus, and FIG. 4 is a front sectional view of the semiconductor vapor phase growth apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 5 is an enlarged side view of the quartz bell gear holder according to the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a side view of a quartz bellgear holder according to another embodiment, FIG. 8 is a plan view of a quartz bellgear holder according to yet another embodiment,
FIG. 9 is a side view of a quartz bell gear holder according to another embodiment, FIG. 10 is a front view of the quartz bell gear holder shown in FIG. 9, and FIG. 11 is a side explanatory view showing the engaged state of the holder and the quartz bell gear. , FIG. 12 is a plan view showing the bell gear unit elevating device and the mounting table, FIG. 13 is an enlarged explanatory view showing the state in which the quartz bell gear unit is placed on the mounting table, and FIG. 14 is a plan view showing the mounting table according to another embodiment. FIG. 15 is a side cross-sectional view showing a state in which the bell gear unit is placed on the stand, and FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the quartz bell gear is supported by a holder via a support member. 10... Base, 12... O-ring, 14... Metal bell gear, 16... Rocking holder, 18... Quartz bell gear, 20... Reaction chamber, 22... Gas feed pipe, 24... Tubular support , 26...susceptor, 2
7...Semiconductor wafer, 28...Coil, 30...
Tightening tool, 31... Bolt insertion hole, 32... Mounting plate, 34... Pin, 36... Support arm, 37...
...Mounting plate, 38...Pin, 40...Support arm,
42...Mounting plate, 44...Pin, 46...Support arm, 48...Protrusion, 50...Opening, 54...
...Spacer, 56... Lifting device, 58... Swivel arm, 60... Lifting column, 62... Drive device, 6
4... Placement stand, 66... Elastic base, 68... Spring, 70... Push rod, 72... Connection arm, 74
...Operating rod, 76...Support ring with flange, 78...
...outer flange part, 80...inner flange part.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1 A reaction chamber is constituted by placing a metal bellgear airtightly on a base and placing a quartz bellgear inside the metal bellgear on the base or on the metal bellgear, and forming a reaction chamber. In a semiconductor vapor phase growth apparatus for growing an epitaxial layer on a semiconductor wafer by feeding a mixed gas into a chamber, a mounting member is provided at a predetermined circumferential interval on the lower inner peripheral surface of the metal bell gear. and a support arm whose one end is pivotally attached to these mounting members so as to be able to swing at a predetermined angle, and when the support arm of this swing holder is at one swing end position, it is not supported. The swing holder is arranged in a position where the other end of the arm engages with the lower part of the quartz bell gear so as to hold the lower part, and releases the engagement when the other end of the arm is at the other swing end position. Semiconductor vapor phase growth equipment. 2. A semiconductor vapor phase growth apparatus according to claim 1, in which the swing holder has one end of a support arm pivoted to the mounting member so as to be swingable in the radial direction. 3. A semiconductor vapor phase growth apparatus according to claim 2, which is configured to support a quartz bell gear at an upper end of a support arm. 4. The semiconductor vapor phase growth apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the quartz bell gear is supported at the lower end of the support arm. 5. A semiconductor vapor phase growth apparatus according to claim 1, in which the swing holder has one end of a support arm pivoted to the mounting member so as to be swingable in the horizontal direction. 6. A semiconductor vapor phase growth apparatus according to claim 1, in which the swing holder has one end of a support arm pivoted to the mounting member so as to be swingable in a vertical direction. 7. In the semiconductor vapor phase growth apparatus according to any one of claims 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6, a support arm is provided at a predetermined interval below the quartz bell gear. A semiconductor vapor phase growth apparatus comprising an engaging notch. 8. In the semiconductor vapor phase growth apparatus according to any one of claims 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6, there is provided a support arm on the lower outer peripheral surface of the quartz bell gear. A semiconductor vapor phase growth apparatus comprising a mating protrusion. 9. A semiconductor vapor phase growth apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, which comprises providing spacers at predetermined intervals on the inner peripheral surface of the metal bell gear. 10. A semiconductor vapor phase growth apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a lifting device for suspending and rotating the bell gear unit. 11. A semiconductor vapor phase growth apparatus according to claim 1 or 10, which comprises a mounting table for a bell gear unit suspended and rotated by an elevating device. 12. A semiconductor vapor phase growth apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the mounting table is provided with a pedestal for elastically supporting the quartz bell gear. 13. The semiconductor vapor phase growth apparatus according to claim 11, wherein a spring member for swinging the support arm is attached to the mounting table. 14. The semiconductor vapor phase growth apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the mounting table is provided with a movable push rod member for swinging the support arm. 15. A semiconductor vapor phase growth apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a flanged annular support member is interposed between the support arm and the lower end of the quartz bell gear.