JPH0650756B2 - Heat treatment equipment for thin plate - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention heats a semiconductor wafer or the like to perform CVD (Chem
ical Vapor Deposition) An apparatus for performing thermosetting or diffusion treatment.

A mixed reaction gas containing an element for forming a film is fed onto a substrate that has been preheated in the reaction chamber, and a desired film is formed by utilizing a thermochemical reaction on the substrate. Or, it has come to be performed under a plasma state. For this reason, recently, there has been provided an apparatus in which a heating coil is wound around a chamber in which an electrode for plasma generation is arranged inside while maintaining a reduced pressure inside.

However, the conventional device is inefficient because it takes heat treatment by putting the objects to be processed such as substrates into the chamber one by one, and it takes a lot of processing time, and the temperature inside the chamber after processing is high. Therefore, it is necessary to be very careful when taking out the material to be processed.
Further, when this is automated, the apparatus itself becomes large and the mechanism becomes complicated. Therefore, a compact heat treatment apparatus that can automatically perform heat treatment is desired.

The present invention has been made to meet the above-mentioned demand, and an object thereof is to perform a heat treatment on a large number of thin plate-shaped objects automatically in a short time without a manual work, and a compact heat treatment. To provide the equipment.

In order to achieve the above object, the heat treatment apparatus according to the present invention has a chamber vertically arranged in the apparatus body, and a heating member such as a high frequency induction heating coil is provided around the chamber, and a plurality of chambers are provided for the chamber. The gist of the present invention is that the holder capable of holding the thin plate-shaped object can be inserted and removed.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an example in which the heat treatment apparatus according to the present invention is applied as an apparatus for plasma CVD. A cylindrical plasma generating chamber made of quartz is provided in the apparatus body 1 having a substantially box shape. 2 in the vertical direction, that is, chamber 2
This chamber 2 is installed so that the axis of is vertical.
The upper end is closed and the lower end is opened, and a high frequency induction heating coil 3 serving as a heating member is wound around the outer periphery. Then, an electrode plate (not shown) is fixed around the chamber 2, a high frequency power source 4 is arranged in the main body 1, and plasma is generated in the chamber 2 by applying a high frequency.

Further, a projecting portion 5 is integrally formed on the lower front half of the main body 1, and various operation buttons 7 are formed on the upper surface 6 of the projecting portion 5.
.., and storage cassettes 9, 9 capable of storing 25 semiconductor wafers 8 which are thin plate-shaped objects are disposed on the left and right of the upper surface 6.

As shown in the internal structure diagram of FIG. 2, this storage cassette 9 has two plate bodies 9 made of aluminum or Teflon.
a and 9a are opposed to each other and upper ends thereof are connected by bar members 10 and 10, and the lower end of the plate body 9a is placed on a plate-shaped support member 11.
As the support member 11 moves up and down, the storage cassette 9 moves up and down with respect to the projecting portion 5 through the hole 12 formed in the upper surface 6.

Further, an opening 13 extending in the left-right direction is formed on the upper surface 6 of the projecting portion 5, and a pair of endless belts 14, 14 which are conveying members are arranged in the opening 13. Endless belt 1
The base portion 14a of 4 is located at the lower portion of the storage cassette 9,
The front ends 14b of the respective endless belts 14 are spaced apart and face each other. The upper surface of the endless belt 14 is located slightly above the upper surface 6 of the projecting portion 5, and the lowermost wafer 8 is placed on the endless belt 14 when the storage cassette 9 descends.

Further, an opening 15 extending from the center of the opening 13 into the apparatus main body 1 is formed, and a cylinder unit 16 is formed in the opening 15.
The base of the elevating member 17 that can be moved up and down is exposed. When the cylinder unit 16 retracts, the upper and lower members of the elevating member 17 are positioned slightly below the upper surface of the endless belt 14. A window 18 is formed at the base of the lifting member 17, and a roller 19 for easily transferring the wafer 8 onto the lifting member 17 is provided in the window 18, and the lifting member 17 is provided on both sides of the lifting member 17. An endless belt 20 is provided for transferring the wafer transferred to the base of the above to the front. An arm member 21 is provided outside the endless belt 20. The arm member 21 has a rod-shaped portion 21a extending from the upper end of its base portion, and is movable on a guide rail 23 by a caster 22 taken out at the lower end of the base portion.

On the other hand, two guide rods 24, 24 are erected on the bottom surface of the main body 1, and the lid 25 of the plasma generating chamber 2 is slidably attached to the guide rods 24, 24. A rod 26 having a threaded portion is threadedly inserted into the lid body 25, and the rod 26 is rotated by a motor 27 so that the lid body 25 moves up and down along the guide rods 24, 24. There is.

A wafer holder 28 is erected on the upper surface of the lid 25. The holding body 28 is composed of four pillars 29 ... And a rod member 30 connecting the upper ends of the pillars 29. The holding body 28 is trapezoidal in plan view. A plurality of grooves 31 (50 in this embodiment) are formed in the pillars 29 at equal intervals in the vertical direction, and the ends of the wafer 8 are fitted and locked in the grooves 31. There is.

In the above, first, the cassette 9 on the left side, which accommodates 25 wafers 8 ... Is slightly lowered, and the wafer located at the lowermost stage among the wafers 8 ... Then, the wafer 8 is sent to the upper and lower members 17 by the endless belt 14.
At this time, the cylinder unit 1 is set by the limit switch.
6 is operated, the elevating member 17 is elevated, and the wafer 8 is conveyed by the endless belt 20 to the tip of the elevating member 17.

Then, when the wafer 8 reaches the tip of the elevating member 17, the drive of the endless belt 20 is stopped by the limit switch,
The elevating member 17 descends to the original position. Then, the wafer 8 is transferred onto the tips of the arm members 21 and 21. Next, the arm members 21 and 21 move toward the wafer holder 28 and lock the wafer in the groove 31 formed in the column 29 of the holder 28. In this case, the holding body 28 is at the lowest position, and the first wafer 8 is held on the uppermost stage of the holding body 28.

Next, the motor 27 is driven to raise the holding body 28 by one step, that is, by one interval of the groove portion 31. Then, the wafer 8 is separated from the tip of the arm member 21, and then the arm member 21 returns to its original position, and the apparatus is in the initial state.

Thereafter, the cassette 9 on the left side is further lowered by one step and the second wafer is sent out, and this wafer is held in the groove part of the second step of the holder 28 by the same operation as described above. When this operation is repeated and all the wafers 8 (... 25) in the left cassette 9 are held in the holder 28, the same operation is performed for the right cassette 9 to make a total of 50 wafers. The wafers 8 are held in the holder 28.

Next, the motor 27 is driven to house the holder 28 in the chamber 2 and the lid 25 is used to move the holder 2 into the chamber 2.
Close the bottom opening of the. After that, plasma is generated in the chamber 2 by the high frequency power source 4, and the wafer 8 which is the object to be processed is generated by the high frequency induction heating coil 3.
Then, plasma CVD processing is performed.

After this, by performing the reverse operation to the above operation, the chamber 2
The wafers 8 processed in the inside are returned to the cassette 9 one by one.

FIGS. 3 to 6 show another embodiment, and the same members as those in the above embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals.

That is, the chamber 2 is vertically arranged in the device body 1,
A high frequency induction heating coil 3 is wound around the chamber 2. A high frequency power source 4 is provided in the main body 1 so that plasma can be generated in the chamber 2 via an electrode plate.

Further, an overhanging portion 5 is formed on the front surface of the main body 1, a support plate 32 is fixed inside the main body 1, and brackets 33, 33 are attached to the upper and lower ends of the support plate 322, and between the brackets 33, 33. Rod 3 with threads
4 is supported so that it can be rotated by a motor. A support base 35 is screwed onto the rod 34, and the rotation of the rod 34 causes the support base 35 to move up and down along a guide rod (not shown). A lid 25 similar to that of the above-described embodiment is provided on the support base 35, and a wafer holder 28 is erected on the upper surface of the lid 25.

In addition, a support plate 36 is horizontally installed in the center of the main body 1, and a pair of rotating plates 37, 3 are provided on the left and right of the upper surface of the support plate 36.
7 is provided, and a cassette 9 for accommodating a wafer is placed on the tips of the rotary plates 37, 37.

A transfer member 38 is arranged below the rotary plate 37. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the transfer member 38 has a large number of tongue-shaped pieces 40 ... The base portion of the angle piece 39 is fixed to the rod 42 of the cylinder unit 41 arranged in the main body 1. On the other hand, the cylinder unit 41 is fixedly mounted on a support base 44 slidably inserted in guide rods 43, 43 installed in the main body 1 in the front-rear direction, and the support base 44 is connected to the guide rods 43, 43 by a cylinder unit 45. I am trying to move along. Thus, the transfer member 38 moves up and down by the operation of the cylinder unit 41, and the cylinder unit 4
It is designed to move back and forth with the action of 5.

In the above, the cassette 9 accommodating the wafers 8 is placed on the rotary plate 37 so that the plate 9a of the cassette 9 is parallel to the front surface of the main body 1 and the state shown in FIG. Next, the motor is driven to rotate the rod 34, and the support base 35,
The lid body 25 and the holding body 28 are integrally lowered to be positioned at the lowermost end. At the same time, one of the rotary plates 37 is rotated about 90 ° to position the cassette 9 near the upper part of the holder 28.

Next, the cylinder unit 41 is operated to move the transfer member 3
8 are raised, and the tongues 40 ... Of the transfer member 38 are stopped at a height positioned in the middle of the wafers 8 ... Stored in the cassette 9. This state is shown in FIG.

Then, the cylinder unit 45 is operated to move the transfer member to the right in the figure. Then, each tongue 40 ...
Will be inserted between the wafers 8 ... When this state is reached, the operation of the cylinder 45 is stopped, the cylinder unit 41 is operated again, and the transfer member 38 is slightly raised. Then, the tongue 40 ...
The inner wafers 8 are lifted.

When the wafers 8 are placed on the tongue-shaped pieces 40, the operation of the cylinder unit 41 is stopped and the cylinder unit 45 is operated again. Then, wafer 8
Are sent into the holding body 28 by the transfer member 38,
The wafer 8 is placed in the groove 31 formed in the pillar 29 of the holder 28.
The end portions of the wafers 8 fit into each other, and a plurality of wafers 8 (for example, 25 wafers)
At the same time, the ... Is locked to the holder 28. Then, the cylinder units 41 and 45 are operated to return the transfer member 38 to the original position. Then, the same operation as described above is performed on the wafer in the cassette 9 placed on the other rotary plate 37, so that the two wafers 8 (for example, 50) can be held in the holder 28.

From this state, the rod 34 is further rotated to raise the support base 35 until the lid body 25 closes the lower end opening of the chamber 2. As a result, the holding body 28 is loaded into the chamber 2 in a hermetically sealed state while holding the wafer 8.

In such a state, plasma is generated in the chamber 2 by the high frequency power source 4 and by the high frequency induction coil 3,
Plasma CVD processing is performed on the wafer 8 in the chamber 2.

Then, when such processing is completed, the wafer 8 in the chamber 2 is cut into halves by the operation reverse to the above.
Then, the process is completed.

It should be noted that what has been shown above is merely an example of the implementation of the present invention,
The heating member wound around the chamber 2 is not limited to the high frequency induction heating coil, and a resistance heating coil or a heating lamp may be provided. Further, in the embodiment, plasma CV
Although the apparatus according to the present invention is shown for the D treatment, it goes without saying that the apparatus according to the present invention can also be used in the case of subjecting a thin plate-shaped object to heat curing treatment or diffusion treatment.

Also, in the illustrated example, the opening of the chamber 2 is turned down,
Although the holder 28 is inserted from below, the holder 2 may be inserted from above so that the opening of the chamber 2 is upward.

As apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, since the chambers are arranged in the vertical direction, it is possible to achieve compactness, and it is possible to simultaneously process a large number of objects to be processed in the chambers. The time can be greatly shortened, and the object to be processed is automatically fed to and removed from the holder of the object to be processed, so that the work efficiency is improved as compared with the conventional manual work. At the same time, the possibility of damaging the object to be treated is reduced, and the product yield is greatly improved.

Further, according to the present invention, since a plurality of wafers are held in the chamber by a holder configured by forming a plurality of grooves at equal intervals in the vertical direction on four pillars, the wafer heating process Further, it is possible to make the heating temperature distribution uniform and to perform the heat treatment with excellent heating efficiency.

[Brief description of drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic structure of a heat treatment apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an internal structure of the heat treatment apparatus, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a front view of another embodiment, FIG. 4 is a side view showing the internal structure of the other embodiment, FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a transfer member, and FIG. 6 is a side view for explaining the operation of the other embodiment. It is a figure. In the drawings, 1 is a main body of the apparatus, 2 is a chamber, 3 is a heating member, 8 is a thin plate-shaped object to be processed, 9 is a storage cassette, 28 is a holder, 29 is a pillar, 31 is a groove, and 38 is a transfer member. is there.

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Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A chamber vertically arranged in a main body of the apparatus, a heating member arranged at an outer periphery of the chamber, and a chamber which can be inserted into and removed from the chamber and are vertically spaced apart by four columns. A plurality of groove portions are formed in the groove, and the end portions of the thin plate-shaped object to be processed are held by these groove portions,
And a holder in which the four columns are arranged in a trapezoidal shape when viewed from above, a storage cassette which is disposed outside the chamber and stores a plurality of thin plate-shaped objects to be processed or processed. One or more thin plate-shaped objects to be processed are taken out from the storage cassette, fed into the space surrounded by the pillar of the holding body, locked in the groove of the pillar, and one or more thin plate-shaped objects from the groove of the pillar. A heat treatment device for a thin plate-shaped object to be processed, which comprises a transfer member that takes out the object to be processed and sends it to a storage cassette.