JPH04162517A - Low-pressure treatment apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To surely prevent that a member, to be introduced, which has been introduced into a process tube is pulled into the inner part from a support position by a differential pressure even when a pressure inside the process tube is lowered by a method wherein a stopper which prevents the member to be introduced from being pulled into a treatment container when the pressure is lowered is installed at the member to be introduced. CONSTITUTION:At a low-pressure treatment apparatus, a treatment container is provided with a member 50, to be introduced, which is supported airtightly and introduced into the treatment container and a treatment is executed while the inside of the treatment container is lowered. At the apparatus, said member 50 to be introduced is provided with a stopper 110 which prevents the member 50 to be introduced from being pulled into the treatment container when a pressure is lowered. For example, a thermocouple introduction tube (T/C tube) introduction port 50 is composed of the following: an introduction guide member 60 on which a radiating fin is installed; an O-ring 70 for airtight sealing use; a cylindrical body member 80; a first cap member 90; and a second cap member 100. A T/C tube 40 is inserted into the T/C tube introduction port 50; a ring-shaped groove 40 is formed at the outer circumferential wall part at the outside end part of a horizontal shaft part 44 at the T/C tube 40; a stopper 110 whose cross-sectional shape is nearly C-shaped is fitted to the ring-shaped groove 46.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Purpose of the invention] (Industrial application field) The present invention relates to a reduced pressure processing apparatus.

(Prior art) Decompression processing equipment, for example, C which processes film deposition on semiconductor wafers.
In VD equipment, for example, a boat loaded with a large number of wafers is transported into a vertical process tube, sealed, and the inside of the process tube is evacuated to a predetermined degree of vacuum. After that, a process gas is introduced and heated to form a film by CVD. The attachment is being processed.

Here, various introduced members necessary for processing are introduced and supported in this type of process tube. Examples of this type of introduced member include an injector for supplying process gas, and a thermocouple for measuring the temperature of each heating zone in the vertical direction of the vertical process tube. This thermocouple is housed in a quartz tube and introduced from the lower end of the process tube, and is supported vertically toward the upper end. The end of the tube located outside the lower end of the process tube extends horizontally and is connected to a temperature measuring device.

Therefore, the thermocouple introduction tube is formed in an abbreviated shape consisting of a vertical shaft portion on the long side and a horizontal shaft portion on the short side.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) It has been confirmed that when the pressure inside the process tube is reduced, the above-mentioned member to be introduced, particularly the thermocouple introduction tube, is drawn into the process tube due to the differential pressure inside and outside the tube. This thermocouple introduction tube is sometimes installed by placing the entire oval-shaped tube inside the process tube, and then attaching it with the short side of the tube protruding outward from the process tube inlet. . After that, attach a camp that screws into the threaded part formed at the end of the inlet, and at this time install an O-ring that is crushed between the inner surface of the inlet and the outer surface of the horizontal shaft to create an airtight seal. administered. Therefore, conventionally, the thermocouple introduction tube was
It is positioned and supported only by friction with the ring,
Differential pressure mentioned above.

When a pulling force is applied to the thermocouple introduction tube,
It was not possible to hold the thermocouple introduction tube in that position only by the frictional force with the O-ring.

If the thermocouple introduction tube is pulled in beyond its supporting position, it will not only be damaged due to collision with other parts, but also
Since it would have been introduced all at once into the atmosphere or into the process tube under reduced pressure, there was a risk that a major accident would develop.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to reliably prevent the introduced member introduced into the process tube from being drawn inward from the supporting position due to the differential pressure even if the pressure inside the process tube is reduced. An object of the present invention is to provide a reduced pressure processing device.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention has a member to be introduced into the processing container that is airtightly supported by the processing container, and the processing is performed by reducing the pressure inside the processing container. The reduced pressure processing apparatus is characterized in that the introduced member has a stopper that prevents the introduced part IA from being drawn into the processing container when the pressure is reduced.

(Function) When the processing container is depressurized, even if a pulling force is applied to the introduced member due to the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the processing container, the stopper provided on the introduced member prevents the introduced member from being drawn further inside. To prevent.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example in which the present invention is applied to a vertical CVD apparatus for semiconductor wafers will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 2, the CVD apparatus 20 is vertically supported on an outer tube 10a and an inner tube 10b, which are process tubes 10 made of quartz, or on a metal manifold 12.
A processing chamber 14 is formed inside b.

Note that the process tube 10 is housed within a casing 32.

Processing chamber 1 formed by this process tube 10
A boat 20 placed on a heat insulating cylinder 18 is removably inserted into the boat 4, and a large number of semiconductor wafers 22, which are objects to be processed, are arranged and supported horizontally at equal intervals.
A vapor phase growth process can be performed on the semiconductor wafer 22. Note that the heat insulating cylinder 18 has a flange cap 24.
The flange cap 24 is attached to an elevator arm (not shown) and is moved up and down to move the heat insulating cylinder 18 and boat 20 up and down, and to seal the boat insertion hole 26 of the manifold 12. It has become.

A heating device 28 is provided on the outer periphery of the process tube 10, and a heating device 28 is provided outside the heating device 28.
A heat insulating material 34 that supports and surrounds 8 is also provided.

The heating device 28 has a five-zone system in which the inside of the processing chamber 14 is divided into five zones in the vertical direction and each zone is heated under suitable temperature conditions. Further, the heat insulating material 34 is also configured to correspond to this five-zone system.

Next, the thermocouple introduction tube (hereinafter referred to as
rT/C tube) and T/C tube inlet.

This T/C tube 40 is made of quartz, and has five pairs of thermocouples housed inside it.
Compatible with the ZONE method, the membrane is configured to accurately detect the processing temperature. And the conductor of each thermocouple is T/
It is connected to a temperature measuring device (not shown) placed outside the C-tube 40, and provides feedback control of each heater in the five zones. In addition, the above T/
The C tube 40 is formed in an abbreviated shape consisting of a vertical shaft portion 42 on the long side and a horizontal shaft portion 44 on the short side, and once the T/C tube 40 is placed inside the outer tube 10b, Attachment is performed by making the horizontal shaft portion 44 of the hand protrude outward from the T/C tube inlet provided in the manifold 12.

FIG. 1 is a partial sectional view showing a state in which the T/C tube 40 is arranged to protrude outward from the T/C tube inlet.

In the same figure, the T/C tube introduction port 50 includes an introduction guide member 60 provided with radiation fins and an airtight O-ring 70.
, a cylindrical member 80 , a first cap member 90 , and a second cap member 100 .
A T/C tube 40 is inserted into.

The horizontal shaft portion 44 of the T/C tube 40 is made larger in diameter than the vertical shaft portion 42 . Further, an annular groove 46 is formed in the outer peripheral wall of the outer end of the horizontal shaft portion 44, and a stopper 110 having a substantially C-shaped cross section is fitted into the annular groove 46.

This stopper 110 is preferably made of a material having flexibility and heat resistance that does not damage the quartz, and in this embodiment, tetrafluoroethylene resin is used.

The cylindrical introduction kite member 60 has a guide hole 60a through which the horizontal shaft portion 44 of the T/C tube 40 is inserted and guided. Further, the outer circumferential surface thereof is formed to have fins 60b, which improves heat dissipation. The upper circumferential surface portion 62 on the process tube side of the introduction guide member 60 is formed longer than the lower circumferential surface portion 65 in accordance with the curvature of the intermediate bent portion 43 of the T/C tube 40 .

This upper peripheral surface part 62 has a U-shaped or U-shaped notch 6 to avoid interference with the vertical shaft part 42 of the T/C tube 40.
2a is provided. The width dimension of this notch 62a is T
By setting according to the outer diameter of /C tube 40, T/
While ensuring the function of preventing the C tube 40 from falling, the outer end 66 of the introduction guide member 60 is formed to have a slightly larger outer diameter, and a stepped hole 68a with a larger diameter than the guide hole 60a is formed in this region. or guaranteed. The stepped surface between the guide hole 60a and the stepped hole 68a is a tapered surface 69, and the airtight O-ring 70 is mounted in close contact with this tapered surface 69.

The airtight O-ring 70 is pressed against the tapered surface 69 via the cylindrical member 80 by the first cap member 90 which is screwed into the threaded portion 68b formed on the outer end 66 of the introduction guide member 60. has been done. That is, the cylindrical member 80 that is inserted over the horizontal shaft portion 44 of the T/C tube and inserted into the outer end portion 66 of the heat dissipation member is pressed toward the process tube side by the first cap member 90. As a result, the airtight O-ring 70 is pressed against the tapered surface 69 and deformed, thereby achieving airtight sealing of the T'/C tube 40.

Further, the first cap member 90 is externally mounted on the horizontal shaft portion 44 and is inserted into a second cap member 100 that is threadedly engaged with a threaded portion 92 at the outer end thereof. This second
The cap member 100 prevents the stopper 110 from deforming in the radial direction and separating from the T/C tube 40. The peripheral end surface 94 of the outer end of the first cap member 90 is in contact with the stopper 110, so that even if a pulling force is applied to the T/C tube 40 due to the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the process tube, the T/C The tube 40 cannot be drawn inward beyond the support position defined by the peripheral end face 94 and the stopper 110.

That is, the T/C tube introduction port 50 consists of the introduction guide member 60, the cylindrical member 80, the first cap member 90, etc.
The peripheral end surface (peripheral end 94 of the first cap member) is in contact with the stopper 110, thereby reliably preventing the T/C tube 40 from being pulled in due to the differential pressure.

The present invention is effective for an introduced member having a cross-sectional area of 1 cd or more due to the relationship with the pressure applied to the introduced member (1 kg/cd when the process tube is completely vacuumed).

that's all. Although one preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the gist of the present invention. For example, the present invention can be applied to other introduced members, such as an injector for introducing process gas into a processing container.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the present invention provides a highly safe reduced-pressure processing container in which the introduced member is reliably prevented from being drawn into the processing container due to the differential pressure inside and outside the processing container. It has the effect of being able to

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view showing the T/C tube protruding outward from the T/C tube inlet, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the overall configuration of the reduced pressure processing apparatus of the present invention. It is. 10... Process tube, 40... T/C tube, 50... T/C tube inlet, 110... Stopper.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A reduced-pressure processing apparatus that includes an introduced member that is airtightly supported by a processing container and is introduced into the processing container, and performs processing by reducing the pressure inside the processing container, wherein the introduced member has a reduced pressure. A reduced pressure processing apparatus comprising a stopper that prevents the member to be introduced from being drawn into the processing container.