JPH06333837A - Heat treatment equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate the influence of light and the thermal influence and uniform the film thickness for high yield and throughput. CONSTITUTION:A heating means 30 for heating the bottom face of a semiconductor wafer W is placed on the lower side of a treatment chamber 10 in which the wafer W is to be housed. In the chamber 10, a support pin 42 for mounting/ supporting the wafer W and a transfer pin 44 for transferring the wafer W between the pin 42 and itself are arranged. The pins 42 and 44 are made of a transparent member. Thus, since a light beam directed from the means 30 transmits the pins 42 and 44 and is irradiated onto the rear surface of the wafer W, the wafer W is heated uniformly and thoroughly, so that the film thickness may be uniformed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a heat treatment apparatus, and more particularly to a heat treatment apparatus for heating an object to be processed such as a semiconductor wafer by light irradiation for processing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a semiconductor manufacturing process,
A step of forming a thin film on a wafer is performed using a sputtering apparatus or a CVD apparatus for the purpose of forming an integrated circuit on the surface of a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter referred to as a wafer) which is an object to be processed.

In such a film forming process, in order to uniformly grow a thin film on a wafer, it is important to heat and maintain the entire surface of the wafer uniformly and at a predetermined temperature and supply a process gas to the wafer. ing.

Therefore, in the conventional heat treatment apparatus of this type, as shown in FIG. 6, a processing chamber a having an upper opening for accommodating the wafer W at a predetermined position and a lid c for opening and closing the opening b of the processing chamber a. And a heating means d such as a heating lamp arranged in the lower part of the processing chamber a constitutes a main part. Then, in the processing chamber a, a support pin e for mounting and supporting the wafer W,
A vertically movable transfer pin f is arranged to transfer the wafer W to and from the support pin e. In this case, since the transfer pin f requires strength and corrosion resistance, it is made of, for example, a stainless steel member. A processing gas supply port h connected to a processing gas supply unit (not shown) via a flexible tube g is provided in the center of the lid 20, and an exhaust port i is provided in the processing chamber a. The inside of the processing chamber a is configured to have a predetermined vacuum atmosphere by an exhaust means (not shown) connected to the exhaust port i.

In the heat treatment apparatus configured as described above, in order to form a thin film on a wafer, the wafer W carried into the processing chamber a by a transfer arm (not shown) is supported by the support pins e while the wafer W is being supported. Heating means d on the back side of W
It is possible to heat the inside of the processing chamber to a predetermined temperature by irradiating it with a light energy ray and to supply the processing gas supplied from the processing gas supply means onto the wafer from the processing gas supply port h for processing. By irradiating with such a light energy ray, the temperature inside the processing chamber a can be set to a predetermined temperature in a short time, so that the processing time can be shortened.

[0006]

However, in the conventional heat treatment apparatus of this type, since the transfer pins f are present on the lower surface side of the wafer W in addition to the support pins e, the support pins e and the transfer pins are provided. The back surface of the wafer W is heated while the light is blocked by f. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, there is a problem that the temperature distribution of the wafer W becomes non-uniform and the film thickness of the film formed on the surface of the wafer W becomes non-uniform. Further, it is necessary to arrange the support pins e and the transfer pins f at positions where they do not interfere with each other so that the wafer W can be delivered and received efficiently.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a heat treatment apparatus capable of reducing the influence of light and the influence of heat to make the film thickness uniform and improve the yield and the throughput. It is what

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the heat treatment apparatus of the present invention comprises a processing chamber for accommodating an object to be processed at a predetermined position, and heating means for heating the lower surface of the object to be processed by light irradiation. On the premise of a heat treatment apparatus including: a support pin for placing and supporting the processing object in the processing chamber; and a transfer pin for transferring the object to be processed between the support pin and the supporting pin. And the transfer pin is formed of a transparent member, respectively.

In the present invention, for example, a quartz member can be used as the transparent member forming the support pin and the transfer pin.

Further, support pins are provided so as to project inward and upward from at least three positions in the circumferential direction of the ring-shaped support,
A movable ring body that can move up and down is disposed at an outer peripheral position of the ring-shaped support, a transfer pin is attached to the movable ring, and the transfer pin intersects with the support pin of the ring-shaped support. It is preferable to project into the ring-shaped support through a slit provided at the position.

[0011]

According to the heat treatment apparatus of the present invention configured as described above, the support pin for placing and supporting the object to be processed and the transfer pin for transferring the object to be processed between the supporting pin are transparent members. By forming by, when the object to be processed mounted on the support pin is heated by irradiating with light energy rays from below the object to be processed, the light passes through the transfer pin and the support pin and the light is processed. The body is irradiated. Therefore, since the entire back surface of the object to be processed is irradiated with the light energy ray,
The object to be processed is heated to a uniform temperature so that the film thickness of the film is uniform.

Further, support pins are provided so as to project inward and upward from at least three positions in the circumferential direction of the ring-shaped support, and a vertically movable movable ring is disposed at the outer peripheral position of the ring-shaped support. Then, the transfer pin is attached to the movable ring body, and the transfer pin is projected into the ring-shaped support through a slit provided at a position intersecting with the support pin in the ring-shaped support, whereby an object to be processed is provided. The processing and transfer of can be performed in a stable state, and the object to be processed can be smoothly delivered to the support pin.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. Here, a case where the heat treatment apparatus of the present invention is applied to a semiconductor wafer CVD apparatus will be described.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a heat treatment apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional perspective view of an essential part of the heat treatment apparatus.

In the heat treatment apparatus of the present invention, a processing chamber 10 having an upper opening 11 for accommodating a semiconductor wafer W (hereinafter referred to as a wafer) which is an object to be processed at a predetermined position, and this processing chamber 1
A lid 20 that is openably and closably mounted on the upper part of 0 through a hinge (not shown), and a back surface (lower surface) of the wafer W that is arranged in the lower part of the processing chamber 10 and accommodated in the processing chamber 10. A heating chamber 31 having a heating means 30 for irradiating the substrate with light energy rays to heat it to a predetermined temperature constitutes a main part.

The processing chamber 10 is formed of, for example, a box chamber made of aluminum alloy.
A side wall 14 and a bottom portion 16 of the chamber are provided with a purge gas supply passage 17 which communicates with the inside of the processing chamber 10. The purge gas supply passage 17 has, for example, nitrogen (N2) or argon (Ar).
A purge gas supply source (not shown) such as an inert gas or the like is connected.

A cooling water circulation passage 18 is formed in the side wall 14 of the processing chamber 10, and a cooling water supply pipe line and a discharge pipe pipe (not shown) are connected to the circulation passage 18. Further, exhaust ports 12 are provided at four locations on the bottom of the processing chamber 10. An exhaust pipe line 19 provided with a vacuum pump (not shown) is connected to the exhaust ports 12 and processing is performed by operating the vacuum pump. The chamber 10 has a predetermined degree of vacuum (for example, 1
It is maintained at 0 Torr to 10 ^-6 Torr).

In addition, in the processing chamber 10, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, a ring-shaped support 40 and a movable ring body 41 that is vertically movable at the outer peripheral position of the ring-shaped support 40 are provided. In this case, the ring-shaped support 40 projects three support pins 42 toward the inner circumference upward at intervals of 120 ° in the circumferential direction, and the slits 43 that are open upward are provided between the support pins 42. (Fig. 3
reference).

Further, the movable ring member 41 has a circumferential direction of 1
Three crank-shaped transfer pins 44 spaced at 20 °
Are mounted so that each transfer pin 44 can project up and down inwardly of the ring-shaped support 40 through the slit 43 of the ring-shaped support 40. In addition, a part of the movable ring body 41 faces the bracket portion 45 outwardly.
And two rods 46 attached to the lower surface of the bracket portion 45 penetrate through a through hole 16a formed in the bottom portion 16 of the processing chamber 10 and a slidable guide driven by a motor arranged outside. Are linked to.
Therefore, the movable ring body 41 moves up and down by the operation of the stepping motor 47, and the transfer pin 44 can move up and down inside the ring-shaped support body 40. In addition,
A bellows-shaped seal member 49 is provided between the externally exposed portion of the rod 46 and the guide portion 48 that houses the stepping motor 47.
Is covered and shielded from the outside air.

The support pin 42 and the transfer pin 44 configured as described above are, for example, 4 mm square or a circular bar, preferably 1-2.
It is formed of a transparent member made of quartz having a square mm shape or a circular rod.
In this way, by forming the support pins 42 and the transfer pins 44 with a transparent member such as quartz, when the light energy rays from the heating means 30 are applied to the wafer W, the shadow of light is reflected on the wafer W. Since it rarely occurs, the influence of the shadow can be reduced. Moreover, since quartz is less likely to accumulate heat, it does not absorb the heat of the light energy rays, and the thermal effect on the wafer W can be reduced. In addition, in this embodiment, the case where the number of the support pins 42 and the transfer pins 44 is three has been described, but the number of the support pins 42 and the transfer pins 44 does not necessarily have to be three, and an appropriate interval is provided at least in the circumferential direction. In addition, any number may be used as long as it is three or more arranged to intersect each other.

A guide hole 51 having an upward slope toward the inner peripheral side is provided in a part of the ring-shaped support 40,
The thermocouple 50 projects through the guide hole 51 toward the inside of the ring-shaped support 40 (see FIG. 4). By thus projecting the thermocouple 50 inwardly and upwardly of the ring-shaped support body 40, the thermocouple 50 can be reliably pressed against the back surface of the wafer W supported by the support pins 42, and during the processing. The temperature of the wafer W can be accurately measured.

At the upper outer peripheral position of the ring-shaped support 40, a ring-shaped shield plate 13 that closes the periphery of the wafer W supported by the support pins 42 and a large number of small holes located on the outer periphery of the shield plate 13. The ring-shaped flow straightening plate 15 having the is arranged.

Further, a transparent window 32 made of quartz is attached to the lower opening 16b provided in the bottom portion 16 of the processing chamber 10, and the heating chamber 31 is arranged through the transparent window 32. In the heating chamber 31, a plurality of heating lamps 30 serving as heating means are provided.
Are fixed at predetermined positions on the upper and lower rotary plates 33, 34. The heating lamp 30 is composed of a lamp body 30a such as a tungsten lamp or a halogen lamp and a reflecting mirror 30b, and irradiates light energy rays in predetermined directions. In addition, the rotary plate 33,
34 is connected to a drive motor 35 via a belt transmission mechanism 36, and is formed so as to be rotatable in the horizontal direction about a shaft 37. Further, a cooling air introduction port 38 is provided on the side of the heating chamber 31, and the cooling air is introduced from the cooling air introduction port 38 to prevent overheating of the room and the transmission window 32.

On the other hand, the lid 20 has a lid base 22 made of an aluminum alloy, which comes into contact with the processing chamber 10, and a bolt (not shown) between the lid base 22 and a ceramic insulating member 23. Process gas guide portion 26 made of an aluminum alloy and an upper portion of the process gas guide portion 26 are connected by a bolt (not shown) via a ceramic insulating member 27. And a processing gas supply unit 28 having a hat-shaped cross section and having a supply port 21, and is mounted so that the opening 11 of the processing chamber 10 can be opened and closed via a hinge (not shown). Then, at a portion of the processing gas guide portion 26 facing the wafer W, a processing gas rectifying / dispersing means 29 formed of a plurality of stages of perforated plates having a large number of small holes having a decreasing diameter from above is provided. The processing gas mixing chamber 24 is formed between the processing gas guide portion 26 and the processing gas supply portion 28. The processing gas mixing chamber 24 is in communication with the processing chamber 10 via a passage 26a provided in the upper portion of the processing gas guide portion 26, and is connected to the processing gas supply port 21 from a processing gas supply means (not shown). The supplied processing gas is mixed in the mixing chamber 24 and then flows into the processing chamber 10 through the passage 26a. In this case, in order to form a tungsten film on the wafer W, tungsten hexafluoride (WF6) is used as a film forming process gas, and hydrogen (H2) and monosilane (Si H4) are used as a reducing process gas.
) Or dichlorosilane (Si H2 Cl2) is used, and chlorine trifluoride (C
l F3) is used.

A cooling water circulation passage 26b is formed in the processing gas guide portion 26, and this cooling water circulation passage 26 is formed.
In b, a cooling water supply line 26c and a drainage line (not shown)
Are connected.

Next, an operation mode of the heat treatment apparatus configured as described above will be described. First, with the lid 20 closed and the opening 11 of the processing chamber 10 closed, a gate valve (not shown) is opened, and as shown in FIG. It is carried into the processing chamber 10 whose pressure is reduced to a predetermined vacuum atmosphere.
Next, after the transfer pins 44 are raised to receive the wafer W on the transfer arm 52 by the transfer pins 44, the transfer arm 5
2 moves out of the processing chamber 10 (see FIG. 5B). In this state, the transfer pins 44 are lowered to transfer the wafer W on the transfer pins 44 onto the support pins 42 (see FIG. 5C).

With the wafer W placed on the support pins 42, when the light energy beam from the heating lamp 30 passes through the transmission window 32 and is applied to the back surface of the wafer W, the light beam is transferred to the transfer pins 44. Since the wafer W is irradiated with the light through the support pins 42, the entire back surface of the wafer W is uniformly heated. Therefore, the wafer W is heated from room temperature to the film forming temperature (eg, 500 ° C.) in a short time (eg, about 30 seconds).
Then, after reaching the predetermined temperature, W for forming a film of the processing gas is formed.
The F6 gas and the reducing SiH4 gas, for example, are supplied from the processing gas supply port 21 into the processing gas mixing chamber 24 and mixed.

The gases mixed in the processing gas mixing chamber 24 are rectified and dispersed by the rectifying / dispersing means 29 of the processing gas guide portion 26, uniformly supplied to the upper surface of the wafer W, and provided for film forming processing. At this time, a purge gas such as N 2 gas is prevented from being supplied from the purge gas supply path 17 into the processing chamber 10 to form a W film of the processing gas component on the peripheral portion or the back surface of the wafer W.

After the film forming process is performed for a predetermined time as described above, the supply of the process gas is stopped and the heating lamp 30 is turned off. Then, after the processing gas in the processing chamber 10 is exhausted from the exhaust port 12 by the exhaust means, the gate valve is opened again, and the wafer W on which the film forming process has been completed is carried out by the transfer arm 52.

The wafer W on which the film forming process has been completed as described above
When the inside of the processing chamber 10 and the processing gas rectifying / dispersing means 29 are cleaned after the gas is taken out of the processing chamber 10, a cleaning processing gas, that is, Cl F3 gas, may be supplied into the processing chamber 10 through the processing gas supply port 21. , This Cl F
3 The gas component reacts with the rectifying / dispersing means 29 and the processing gas component attached to the inside of the processing chamber 10 to remove the attached processing gas component, and the exhaust gas can be discharged from the exhaust port 12.

In the above embodiments, the case where the object to be processed is a semiconductor wafer has been described, but the object to be processed is not necessarily limited to the semiconductor wafer, and a glass substrate in the manufacturing process of liquid crystal substrates other than the semiconductor wafer. Etc. can be applied. Further, in the above embodiment,
The case where the heat treatment apparatus of the present invention is applied to the CVD apparatus has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to, for example, a sputtering apparatus.

[0032]

As described above, according to the heat treatment apparatus of the present invention, which is configured as described above, the following effects can be obtained.

1) According to the heat treatment apparatus of claim 1,
Since the support pins for mounting and supporting the processing body and the transfer pins for transferring the processing body between the supporting pins are formed of transparent members, respectively, the lower side of the processing body placed on the support pins is processed. When heating by irradiating light from the
It is possible to irradiate the object to be processed with light through the transfer pins and the support pins, to heat the object to be processed to a uniform temperature, and to make the film thickness of the film formed uniform, thus improving the yield. Can be achieved.

2) According to the heat treatment apparatus of claim 2,
Support pins are provided so as to project inward and upward from at least three positions in the circumferential direction of the ring-shaped support, and a movable ring body that is vertically movable is arranged at the outer peripheral position of the ring-shaped support. The transfer pin is attached to the body, and the transfer pin is projected into the ring-shaped support through the slit provided at the intersection of the ring-shaped support and the support pin. This can be performed in a stable state, and the object to be processed can be smoothly delivered to the support pins, so that the throughput can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a heat treatment apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional perspective view showing a main part of a heat treatment apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a mounting state of a support pin and a transfer pin in the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a state in which a thermocouple is attached to the ring-shaped support according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing an operation mode of a support pin and a transfer pin in the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic sectional view of a conventional heat treatment apparatus.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a temperature distribution of a target object processed by a conventional heat treatment apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 processing chamber 30 heating means 40 ring-shaped support body 41 movable ring body 42 support pin 43 slit 44 transfer pin W semiconductor wafer (object to be processed)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A heat treatment apparatus comprising a processing chamber for accommodating an object to be processed at a predetermined position, and a heating means for heating the lower surface of the object to be processed by light irradiation. A support pin for placing and supporting the transfer pin, and a transfer pin for transferring the object to be processed are arranged between the support pin and the support pin and the transfer pin are each formed of a transparent member. Heat treatment equipment. 2. At least 3 in the circumferential direction of the ring-shaped support.
A support pin is provided so as to project inward and upward from the position, a movable ring body that can move up and down is arranged at the outer peripheral position of the ring-shaped support body, and a transfer pin is attached to the movable ring body. 2. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transfer pin is projected into the ring-shaped support through a slit provided at a position where the transfer pin intersects the support pin in the ring-shaped support.