JPH07283139A - Thin film vapor-phase growth device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To secure safety when a maintenance operation is conducted, and to prevent the atmospheric contamination of a carbon part. CONSTITUTION:A glove box 30 is attached to the lower chamber of a reaction chamber connected to a reaction container 1. The above-mentioned glove box is provided with a glove 31, and the glove box is hermetically maintained together with the reaction container and the lower chamber of reaction chamber by bellows 18 and 32. When the dust of a dust tray 13 is removed, the reaction chamber and the glove box are purged by innert gas, the dust tray is housed in the glove box, and the reaction chamber is cleaned without exposing to atmospheric air. When the reaction container is detached and cleaned, a carbon susceptor 8 is moved lower than the surface of the flange 17 of the lower chamber of reaction chamber, the glove box airtight cover housed in the glove box is attached to the flange part 17, to be used for the airtight cover of the lower chamber of the reaction chamber, and the path for communication of the chamber with the glove box is blocked.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thin film vapor phase growth apparatus capable of easily removing dusts such as reaction by-products.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a vapor phase growth apparatus for producing an epitaxial layer by a thermal decomposition reaction of an organometallic compound and a hydride,
Reaction by-products generated by the thermal decomposition reaction adhere to the susceptor, the inner wall of the reaction container, and the rotating shaft. The deposits become thicker as the epitaxial layer grows, and eventually they fall off and enter the seal portion of the rotating shaft, so that it is necessary to clean and maintain the inside frequently. In addition, when the wafer is loaded, a situation may occur in which the deposits fall onto the wafer and the portion rises and mirror growth cannot be obtained.

Therefore, reaction by-products and dust can be easily removed with the reaction vessel attached.
Further, a thin film vapor phase growth apparatus having a reaction by-product trapping mechanism in consideration of a load lock mechanism has been previously proposed (Japanese Patent Application No. 4-198974), and FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram thereof.
The vertical reaction vessel 1 has a growth gas inlet 2 in the upper portion thereof, and constitutes a reaction chamber together with a lower chamber 3 of the reaction chamber joined to the lower portion thereof. A transfer chamber 6 for a wafer 5 is connected to a side portion of the reaction chamber lower chamber 3 through a gate valve 4, and the transfer chamber includes a transfer mechanism including a fork 7. An operation shaft 9 for supporting the SiC-coated carbon susceptor 8 in a rotatable and vertically movable manner extends inside the reaction vessel 1. The wafer 5 is placed on a SiC-coated carbon wafer tray 10 and placed on the susceptor. It has been placed. A wafer 5 is placed around the reaction vessel 1.
Susceptor 8 and tray 1 to maintain the temperature at the required temperature.
A high frequency coil 11 for heating 0 is arranged, and a cooling chamber 12 through which cooling water flows is formed on the side of the reaction container for cooling the reaction container.

A dust tray 13 for receiving the reaction by-products and dust is supported by a tray receiver 14 in the middle of the operating shaft 9. The dust tray 13 has a tapered portion 13 ₁ as an engaging portion thereof. And the tray 13 ₂ are provided, and the tray receiver 14 is provided with a taper portion 14 ₁ and a stepped portion 14 _{2. The} dust tray 13 is supported by a tray receiver 14 fixed to the operation shaft so as to be fitted into and removed from the tray receiver 14. ing. The lower chamber 3 of the reaction chamber is provided with a plurality of gas exhaust ports 15 above the installation level of the gate valve 4, and the dust surrounding the edge portion of the dust tray 13 is provided immediately below the exhaust port installation level. A cover 16 is formed. Wafer 5
A bellows mechanism member is coupled to the lower flange 17 of the reaction chamber lower chamber 3 in order to allow the susceptor 8 on which to mount and the operation shaft 9 thereof to be moved up and down, and the upper flange 19 of the bellows 18 of the mechanism member is A plurality of bolts 20 with knobs that can be easily operated by hand are attached to the lower flange 17 of the reaction chamber lower chamber 3, and the feedthrough (airtight bearing) that pivotally supports the operating shaft 9 is attached to the lower flange 21 of the bellows 18. ) 22 is attached to the bottom plate 23.

Lower flange 17 of lower chamber 3 of the reaction chamber
A plurality of slide shafts 24 are attached to the upper flange 19 of the bellows, and the same number of support pieces 25 are attached to the upper flange 19 of the bellows. The bearing 2 is provided at the lower end of the shaft 24.
A stopper 27 for restricting the movement of 6 is provided. Further, the bottom plate 23 is provided with a purge gas introducing port 28 for purging the inside of the reaction chamber lower chamber 3 and the bellows 18.

On the wafer 5, an epitaxial layer is grown and deposited at the position shown in FIG. At this time, the raw material gas for growth is introduced from the gas introduction port 2 above the reaction vessel 1, and the unreacted gas is exhausted from the exhaust port 15. Dust cover 16
Covers the edge part of the dust tray 13, and the reaction by-product,
The dust is prevented from entering the lower part of the chamber 3, and all the dust falls on the dust tray 13. The purge gas (H ₂ gas during growth) supplied from the purge gas inlet 28 prevents dust from entering the lower part of the dust tray 13 and raw material gas.

At the time of maintenance for cleaning and removing the reaction by-products and dust in the dust tray 13, first, the inside of the reaction vessel 1, the reaction chamber lower chamber 3 and the bellows 18 is sufficiently purged with an inert gas and nitrogen gas. . Then, the upper flange 19 of the bellows 18 is replaced by the lower flange 1 of the chamber 3.
Remove the bolts 20 with knobs attached to 7. Then, the bottom plate 23 is lowered by a driving mechanism (not shown). The operation shaft 9 and the dust tray 13 are lowered, and further, in the dust tray, the taper portion 13 ₃ on the lower surface thereof is engaged with the taper portion 19 ₁ of the upper flange 19, and the dust tray is lowered while being placed on the upper flange. The dust tray is cleaned by lowering 26 until it comes in contact with the stopper 27 at the end of the slide shaft. As the dust tray 13, a semicircular tray so that the dust tray 13 can be divided into two and the tray is coupled with a screw, the dust tray 13 can be detached and sufficiently cleaned.

[0008]

According to such a conventional apparatus, the dust in the dust tray 13 can be easily removed without removing the reaction container 1. However, at this time, the reaction container is opened to the atmosphere, Even if the inside of the container was sufficiently purged, a highly dangerous gas could diffuse from the inside of the container into the atmosphere. On the contrary, moisture in the atmosphere will enter the container,
The atmosphere inside may be polluted, and carbon parts such as susceptors have a high hygroscopic property, which adversely affects the film forming characteristics after dust removal and maintenance.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a thin film vapor phase growth apparatus capable of ensuring safety at the time of maintenance and preventing contamination of the reaction container and components inside the reaction chamber with the atmosphere.

[0010]

The thin film vapor deposition apparatus of the present invention is supported by a lower chamber of a reaction chamber which is coupled to a reaction container and a tray receiver which is attached to an operation shaft of a susceptor so as to be able to be fitted and removed. The present invention is characterized by comprising a dust tray and a glove box which is connected to the lower chamber of the reaction chamber, accommodates the dust tray, and can replace the internal atmosphere with an inert gas.

Further, the thin film vapor deposition apparatus of the present invention comprises a lower chamber of the reaction chamber which is connected to the reaction container, a dust tray which is detachably supported by a tray receiver attached to the operation shaft of the susceptor, A glove box, which is connected to the lower chamber of the reaction chamber, accommodates the susceptor and the dust tray, and whose inside atmosphere can be replaced with an inert gas, and a glove box sealing lid that closes a communication path between the glove box and the lower chamber of the reaction chamber. It is characterized by comprising and.

[0012]

When the dust tray is cleaned, the atmosphere in the glove box is replaced with an inert gas and the dust tray is stored in the box. Clean and remove dust without opening the glove box to the atmosphere.

Further, when the reaction container is removed and cleaned, the susceptor is housed in the glove box in addition to the dust tray, and the glove box is closed with a hermetically sealed lid, so that the carbon parts are not exposed to the atmosphere. I'm done.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the thin film vapor phase growth apparatus in a dust removing state, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram in a state in which a reaction container is removed. The same reference numerals as those in FIG. 3 denote the same parts. A glove box 30 is attached to the lower flange 17 of the reaction chamber lower chamber 3 connected to the reaction container 1, and a glove 31 for a cleaner to put his / her hand to perform cleaning is attached to the box. The glove box 30 is configured by using a transparent member so that a desired inside can be seen from the outside, and two gloves are provided so that a cleaner can perform a cleaning operation with both hands.

The upper flange 19 to which the upper end of the bellows 18 is attached is connected to the bottom flange 33 of the glove box 30 by a bellows 32 so that the glove box and the reaction chamber are kept airtight. Is configured. A plurality of slide shafts 24 are provided between the lower flange 17 of the lower chamber of the reaction chamber and the bottom flange 33 of the glove box.
The bearing 26 is fixed to the support piece 25 attached to the upper flange 19 of 8, 32, and the slide shaft 24 is inserted into this bearing. First and second stoppers 34 and 35 that engage with the bearing 26 are attached to the glove box 30, and the bearing engaging portion of the first stopper 34 enables rotation in a horizontal plane by a hinge mechanism. 26 is engaged and disengaged.

When removing the dust, the inside of the reaction chamber and the glove box 30 is purged with nitrogen gas. Putting a hand on the globe 31, the bolts 20 that attach the upper flanges 19 of the bellows 18 and 32 to the lower flange 17 of the lower chamber of the reaction chamber are removed, and the bearing 26, which is in a coupling relationship with the upper flanges, has the first stopper 34. Lower the upper flange to the dust removal position that engages with. The operation shaft 9 is lowered to lower the dust tray 13 to the position shown in FIG. Dust removal and cleaning of the dust tray 13 are performed by removing the dust tray 13 that can be divided into two parts via a globe. Since the glove box 30 is hermetically sealed by the bellows 32 together with the lower chamber 3 of the reaction chamber and replaced with nitrogen gas in advance, the reaction container 1 does not come into direct contact with the atmosphere, and gas with a high risk of remaining remains. There is no risk of diffusion from the inside of the container to the atmosphere, the safety of the operator is ensured, and the contamination of the reaction container by the atmosphere can be prevented.

FIG. 2 shows a state in which the reaction container 1 is removed. In the thin film vapor deposition method, a large amount of reaction by-products and dusts are generated during film formation, but most of them are in the cooling chamber 12.
It adheres to the inner wall of the reaction container 1 cooled by. The dust dropped below the susceptor 8 is captured by the dust tray 13, and thus can be removed by the method described above, but other dust needs to be removed by removing the reaction container 1.

The bearing engaging portion of the first stopper 34 is rotated to the non-engaging position, the upper flange 19 is further lowered from the position shown in FIG. 1, and the susceptor 8 is moved to the reaction chamber as shown in FIG. The upper flange is lowered to a position below the surface of the lower flange 17 of the lower chamber 3, to a reaction container removal position where the bearing 26 engages with the second stopper 35. After this state, the glove box sealing lid 36 is aligned with the glove box sealing lid flange portion 17 ₁ formed on the lower flange 17 of the reaction chamber lower chamber, and tightened with the knob bolt 37 to react with the glove box 30. The communication path of the lower chamber is closed and the glove box is sealed. The glove box sealing lid 36 is stood in the glove box 30 and accommodated. Incidentally, the reaction chamber lower chamber 3 has an inner diameter of about 150 mmφ, the glove box 30 has an inner diameter of 400 to 500 mmφ, and the sealing lid 36
Has a diameter of about 200 mmφ.

After the glove box 30 is closed with the glove box sealing lid 36, the reaction vessel 1 is removed and cleaned. The carbon susceptor 8 having a high hygroscopic property is protected by the nitrogen gas atmosphere of the glove box 30. It is not polluted. Furthermore, since the reaction chamber lower chamber 3 has no internal parts such as a susceptor,
The inner wall can be easily cleaned.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention, when cleaning the dust tray, the atmosphere of the glove box connected to the lower chamber of the reaction chamber is replaced with an inert gas to store the dust tray in the box. The reaction vessel,
Dust is removed without opening the reaction chamber and glove box to the atmosphere, so there is no risk of dangerous residual gas diffusing into the atmosphere from the reaction vessel, and dust removal work can be performed safely. Therefore, it is possible to prevent air pollution in the reaction container and the reaction chamber during dust removal.

When the reaction vessel is removed and cleaned, the susceptor can be stored in the glove box in addition to the dust tray, and the glove box can be closed with the sealing lid. Therefore, carbon parts such as the susceptor are exposed to the atmosphere. It can be prevented from being exposed, the contamination of the same parts can be prevented, the film forming characteristics after maintenance are not adversely affected, and the workability of maintenance performed by removing the reaction container is also improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a dust removing state of an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram when the reaction container of the embodiment is removed.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a conventional thin film vapor phase growth apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Reaction container 3 Lower chamber of reaction chamber 5 Wafer 8 Susceptor 9 Operating shaft 10 Wafer tray 13 Dust tray 14 Tray receiver 15 Exhaust port 16 Dust cover 17 Lower flange of lower chamber of reaction chamber 17 ₁ Flange part for glove box sealing lid 18 Bellows 19 Bellows upper flange 20 Knob bolt 21 Bellows lower flange 22 Feedthrough 23 Bottom plate 24 Slide shaft 25 Support piece 26 Bearing 28 Purge gas inlet 30 Glove box 31 Glove 32 Bellows 33 Glove box bottom flange 34,35 First and second stopper 36 Glove box sealing lid 37 Bolt with knob

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A reaction chamber lower chamber which is coupled to a reaction container, a dust tray which is detachably supported by a tray receiver attached to an operation shaft of a susceptor, and a dust tray which is coupled to the reaction chamber lower chamber, Store the dust tray,
A thin film vapor deposition apparatus comprising a glove box whose internal atmosphere can be replaced with an inert gas. 2. A reaction chamber lower chamber which is coupled to a reaction container, a dust tray which is detachably supported by a tray receiver attached to an operation shaft of a susceptor, and a dust tray which is coupled to the reaction chamber lower chamber, A glove box that accommodates the susceptor and the dust tray and whose internal atmosphere can be replaced with an inert gas; and a glove box sealing lid that closes the communication path between the glove box and the lower chamber of the reaction chamber. Thin film vapor deposition apparatus.