JPH08340039A - Heat treatment equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To increase the selection freedom of holding position of a wafer to be treated on a boat wafer, and enable high reliability monitoring, when a monitor wafer is carried in a vertical heat treatment equipment together with the wafer to be treated, heat treatment is performed, and the state of treatment of a product wafer or the state of the equipment is monitored. CONSTITUTION: A lot region variation mode capable of the following is prepared. A wafer group in a carrier is set as one lot. Lot regions P1-P4 of, e.g. four lots, are assigned on a wafer boat 23. In the case of four lots or less, or when the number of wafers in one lot is small, the lot regions P1-P4 can be compressed while the numerical order of a set trench is made a center. On the other hand, as to the transferring of a monitor wafer, a mode for transferring the wafer between the lot regions, and a mode capable of designating the trench number are prepared. The former mode is selected in the case of product monitoring. The latter mode is selected in the case of equipment monitoring.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a heat treatment apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A heat treatment step is one of the important steps in manufacturing a semiconductor wafer. This heat treatment includes, for example, formation of an oxide film, diffusion of a dopant, annealing, CVD, and the like, and recently, a vertical heat treatment apparatus has been often used instead of a horizontal furnace because of advantages such as less entrainment of air. ing.

As shown in FIG. 9, this vertical heat treatment apparatus includes a vertical heat treatment furnace 11 and a wafer holding tool for holding a large number of wafers W arranged in a rack shape with vertical intervals. The boat 12 includes a boat 12, a transfer table 13 on which a wafer carrier (hereinafter, simply referred to as “carrier”) C is placed for transferring the wafer W, and other carrier loading / unloading ports and carrier stockers (not shown). The wafer W in the carrier C placed on the delivery table 13 is transferred to the wafer boat 12 by the transfer arm 14 and a predetermined number of wafers are loaded in the wafer boat 12, and then the wafer boat 12 is shown in the heat treatment 11 in the drawing. The wafer W is carried in by a boat elevator, and the wafer W is subjected to a predetermined heat treatment in the heat treatment 11.

Since the upper and lower ends of the wafer boat 12 are lower in temperature than the other portions due to the structure of the heat treatment furnace, dummy wafers are arranged in these portions in order to avoid non-uniformity of processing between the wafers W. A normal wafer to be processed is mounted on the portions other than the upper and lower ends. The holding area of the wafer to be processed in the wafer boat 12 is shown in FIG.
As shown in 0, for example, when 25 wafers are regarded as one lot, lot areas P1 to P4 for four lots are designated. For example, when transferring the wafers to be processed from the four carriers to the wafer boat 12, The wafers in the four carriers are transferred to the lot areas P1 to P4, respectively. Note that D in FIG. 10 is a holding area for the dummy wafer.

On the other hand, in order to monitor the processing state of the processed wafer of each lot, the product monitor wafer is heat-treated together with the processed wafer of the lot. For this product monitor wafer, for example, a carrier containing the monitor wafer is placed in a carrier stocker of a heat treatment apparatus, and the product monitor wafer is taken out from the carrier and, for example, between the lot regions P1 to P4 on the wafer boat 12 (P1). (Including the holding position one step above).

In order to use the product monitor wafer, the product monitor wafer is transferred between the holding areas P1 to P4 by pressing the monitor wafer use mode switch on the operation panel of the heat treatment apparatus. In this case, each holding area P1
The wafer to be processed is held in P4, and the monitor wafer is held between the holding areas P1 to P4 (area MA of the double line in FIG. 10), and the number of wafers in one carrier is less than 25. In this case, the wafer is left chipped (vacant groove is left) or a replenishing wafer is used to prevent the empty groove.

[0007]

Here, for example, in an apparatus using a wafer boat capable of mounting wafers for four carriers, the number of carriers is less than four when performing one process. The number of wafers in the carrier may be less than 25. In such a case, it is advisable to use a region in which the characteristics of the device are excellent, for example, a region in which the heating temperature is evenly uniform among the holding regions of the wafer boat, without fixing the lot region. The present inventor, for example, compresses all the wafers to be processed in one batch with the number of a certain groove on the wafer boat designated (centering on the groove) (with no empty groove). They are arranged so that the degree of freedom in selecting the holding position of the wafer to be processed is increased.

By the way, the heat treatment apparatus is not always stable and may be suddenly or gradually deteriorated. Therefore, it is important to monitor the state of the heat treatment apparatus in order to prevent the wasteful processing from being continuously performed or to prevent the apparatus from being stopped during the normal operation time. In general, the product monitor wafer does not always have to be used every time when the heat treatment apparatus is sufficiently stable, and for example, it may be sufficient to use the product monitor wafer once every several times. We are considering using the monitor wafer in the carrier as a wafer for device monitoring. However, since the equipment monitor wafer is for checking the equipment condition, the reference level for the inspection of film thickness uniformity on both sides and the number of particles is different from the inspection level of the product monitor wafer. Will be sent to another inspection process.

Thus, the apparatus monitor wafer for monitoring the state of the apparatus may be heat-treated at the same position in the heating furnace.
That is, it is desirable to hold the wafers in the same groove on the wafer boat. When the lot areas are fixed and fixed as in the conventional case, for example, P among the lot areas P1 to P4 is used.
If the switches corresponding to 1 and P4 are pressed, the holding area P1,
The device monitor wafer is held immediately above P4, and the condition of the device can be constantly monitored at the same position. However, as studied by the present inventor, if a mode of compressing and arranging so that there are no empty grooves when the number of wafers to be processed in one batch is smaller than the processing capacity limit number is adopted, lot unit holding is performed. Since the area changes, the conventional monitor wafer position setting method does not fix the holding position of the device monitor wafer when performing the device monitor,
There is a problem that the reliability of the monitoring result of the device becomes low.

The present invention has been made under such circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a heat treatment apparatus having a high degree of freedom in operating the apparatus. Another object is to provide a heat treatment apparatus which can monitor the state of the apparatus with high reliability.

[0011]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of substrates to be processed are held in parallel in a holder in lot units,
In the heat treatment apparatus for carrying in a reaction tube of a heating furnace to perform heat treatment, taking out a monitor substrate from a dedicated storage unit by a transfer machine and holding it in the holder, and performing heat treatment together with the substrate to be processed, the holder A relative position designation mode in which a lot region, which is a substrate holding region of a lot, is assigned to the substrate holding region for each batch processing, and a monitor substrate is held by designating a relative position based on this lot region, and a substrate of the holder. A monitor board transfer mode selection unit that selects one of the absolute position specification mode in which the monitor board is held by designating the number of the holding position in the holding area, and the relative position The relative position designating unit that designates which lot area the holding position of the monitor substrate corresponds to when the designated mode is selected, and the absolute position designating mode. Characterized in that and a absolute positioning portion holding position of the monitor substrate to specify whether the holding position of what stage when selected.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a plurality of substrates to be processed are held in parallel by a holder in lot units, carried into a reaction tube of a heating furnace for heat treatment, and a monitor substrate is transferred from a dedicated storage section. In a heat treatment apparatus for taking out by a loading machine and holding it in the holder, and performing heat treatment together with the substrate to be processed, a lot area is assigned to each lot in the substrate holding area of the holder, and each lot area is covered by a lot area. A lot area fixing mode for transferring the processed substrate and a step number of the holding position in the substrate holding area of the holder are designated, and the batch processing is performed once based on the holding position. The lot area variation mode in which the substrates to be processed of all lots are packed and transferred to the holder, and the substrate transfer mode selection unit for selecting one of the modes, and the phase based on the lot area A relative position designation mode for designating a position to hold the monitor substrate and an absolute position designation mode for designating what stage the holding position is in the substrate holding area of the holder and holding the monitor substrate. A monitor board transfer mode selection unit that selects one of the modes, and a relative position that specifies which lot area the monitor substrate holding position corresponds to when the relative position specification mode is selected. A heat treatment apparatus comprising: a designating unit and an absolute position designating unit that designates a holding position of the monitor substrate when the absolute position designating mode is selected.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the heat treatment apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the relative position designating unit is a lot-to-lot designating unit that designates between which lot regions the monitor substrate holding position is located. It is characterized by being.

The invention of claim 4 is the invention of claim 1, 2 or 3.
In the heat treatment apparatus described, the monitor substrate is one of a product monitor substrate for monitoring the processing state of the substrate to be processed or an apparatus monitor substrate for monitoring the state of the device, and the monitor substrate transfer mode is the product The relative position designation mode is selected when the monitor substrate is used, and the absolute position designation mode is selected when the device monitor substrate is used.

[0015]

For example, when transferring the substrates to be processed for 4 lots such as wafers to a holder capable of mounting the wafers to be processed for up to 4 lots, if the lot area fixing mode is selected,
The wafers to be processed in the lot are transferred to a predetermined lot area regardless of the number of wafers to be processed, for example, the uppermost area excluding the holding area for the dummy wafers to be processed, and the wafers to be processed in the second lot and thereafter are also transferred to the lot area. Each is transferred to the lower lot area. When using the product monitor wafer or the equipment monitor wafer, if the relative position designation mode, for example, the lot-to-lot designation mode is selected, the product monitor or the equipment monitor is displayed between lots (however, the upper side of the first lot is also referred to as "lot" in the present invention). The processing state of the wafer to be processed in each lot or the state of the apparatus is monitored.

On the other hand, for example, when the lot area variation mode is selected when performing heat treatment for two lots, all the processed wafers for two lots are arranged in a compressed manner with the reference position in the wafer holding area of the holder as the center. At this time, when the apparatus monitor wafer is used, by selecting the absolute position designation mode, the same holding position as the existing holding position, for example, the first lot when the wafer to be processed is transferred in the lot area fixing mode The device monitor wafer can be held at a position immediately above. Therefore, it is possible to always heat-treat the device monitor wafer at the same position while increasing the degree of freedom of the transfer mode of the wafer to be processed,
It is possible to monitor the device with high reliability.

[0017]

1 and 2 are views showing a heat treatment apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which the heater is bent on the inner side of the apparatus body and outside a reaction tube which cannot be seen in the figure. The vertical heat treatment furnace 21 and the plurality of substrates to be processed, such as wafers, are vertically stacked and horizontally stacked and mounted on the heat treatment furnace 21 by the boat elevator 22 (see FIG. 2) for loading and unloading the wafer boat 23, and a wafer transfer machine 24 for loading and unloading the wafer to and from the wafer boat 23. I will do it.

In the wafer boat 23, four columns made of, for example, quartz are planted in the bottom plate along the contour of the wafer, and holding grooves for holding the peripheral edge of the wafer are formed at corresponding height positions of these columns. Consists of Further, the wafer transfer machine 24
Is designed so that, for example, 5 wafers can be collectively transported.
A pair of tweezers is provided, and one of the tweezers can be moved forward and backward independently of the other four, so that one wafer can be transferred. It should be noted that reference numeral 25 in FIG. 1 denotes a lid for closing the lower end opening of the heat treatment furnace 21 while the wafer is being transferred between the wafer boat 23 and the carrier C. The wafer boat 23
A wafer transfer unit 31 is arranged so as to face the lowered position of the wafer transfer device 24 via the wafer transfer device 24. The wafer transfer unit 31 stores, for example, a carrier C that stores a wafer W therein.
Are configured so that they can be placed in three stages.

A carrier storage shelf (carrier stocker) 32 is provided in the upper region of the wafer transfer section 31, and the carrier storage shelf 32 is, for example, the carrier C.
4 rows and 4 stages, the maximum number of 16 can be stored. The carriers C stored in the carrier storage shelves 32 include carriers that store wafers to be processed, carriers that store dummy wafers, carriers that store replenishment wafers, carriers that store monitor wafers, and the like.

A moving area of the carrier transfer machine 4 is secured at a position facing the wafer transfer section 31 and the carrier storage rack 32, and a carrier stage 33 is provided on the front side of the apparatus main body across the moving area. ing. The carrier stage 33 is a portion that plays a role of an input / output port for loading and unloading a carrier C containing a wafer, and a state in which the wafer take-out port of the carrier C faces upward, that is, the wafer is vertical. Carrier C is 4 in this state
They are placed side by side (in the x direction).

Although the carrier stage 33 is conceptually shown as a single stage in FIG. 1, it is actually provided for each of the four carriers C and mounted on the carrier stage 33. As shown in FIG. 2, the carrier C is combined with a mechanism for rotating the carrier C to the inner side by rotating the carrier C to the inner side, and the carrier C is transferred by the carrier transfer device 4 in the sideways position. It will be. In the carrier transfer machine 4, an arm 43 rotatable about the Z-axis for holding and transferring the carrier C is attached to an elevating table 42 that moves up and down along a column 41 that is movable in the X direction. Composed. In FIG. 2, F is an air filter part.

On the front panel of the main body of the apparatus, a touch panel 5 for operating the apparatus is provided, and the touch panel 5 also serves as an operating section and a display section. The heat treatment apparatus according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, sets the wafer-to-be-processed transfer mode setting unit 6 for setting how to transfer the wafer-to-be-processed to the wafer boat 23, and the monitor wafer to the wafer boat 23. Monitor wafer transfer mode setting unit 7 for setting how to transfer onto the wafer
And a storage unit 8 storing a program that defines a transfer procedure of wafers to be processed and monitor wafers, which will be described in detail later, and drive control of the wafer transfer machine 24 based on the program in the storage unit 8. And a drive control unit 20. However, FIG. 3 shows the main part, and the control system actually includes a central processing unit, a bus line, and the like. The transfer mode setting units 6 and 7 are the touch panel 5 in this embodiment.
It is composed of the operation screen.

FIG. 4 shows an example of an operation screen that constitutes the wafer transfer mode setting unit 6 to be processed. The transfer mode setting unit 6 includes a switch unit 61 for selecting a lot region fixing mode, and a lot region. And a switch unit 62 for selecting the variation mode. The lot area fixing mode is a mode in which lot areas are assigned to the wafer holding areas of the wafer boat 23 for each lot and the wafers to be processed of the respective lots are transferred to these lot areas. For example 150
Using the wafer boat 23 having stepped holding grooves,
When dummy wafers are arranged in stages and wafers to be processed are held between them (104 stages), referring to FIG. 10 used in the description of the “prior art”, 25 stages are divided into 4 sections.
When each of the divisions corresponds to the lot regions P1 to P4 and the number of wafers in one carrier corresponding to one lot is 25,
In any case where the number of wafers is 24 or less, the wafer for one carrier is held in one lot area having 25 stages as one section. That is, the lot area fixing mode is a mode in which the positions of the lot areas P1 to P4 are fixed.

On the other hand, the lot area variation mode is 1
This is a mode in which the positions of the lot regions P1 to P4 are changed according to the number of wafers in one carrier corresponding to the lot or according to the number of lots (the number of carriers) in one batch processing. As shown in the figure, the transfer mode setting section 6 is further provided with a ten key 63 and a groove number display section 64 at the center position. When the switch section 62 in the lot area variation mode is pressed, By pressing the groove number of the position, the groove number of the center position of the array of all the wafers related to one batch process is designated.

Next, an example of an operation screen forming the monitor wafer transfer mode setting unit 7 is shown in FIG. 5. The monitor wafer transfer mode setting unit 7 includes a lot designation mode switch unit 71 and a groove designation mode switch unit. 72, and the monitor wafer transfer mode selection unit 73 shown in FIG. 3 is configured by these switch units 71 and 72. Further, in this operation screen, schematic views 74 and 7 of the two wafer boats 23 are shown.
No. 5 is depicted, and one wafer boat in FIG.
One lot area P and dummy wafer holding areas D located at both upper and lower ends are drawn.

Immediately next to FIG. 74 of this wafer boat,
The switch units S1 to S1 which are the lot-to-lot designating units 76 shown in FIG.
S7 is provided between each lot area P, between the lot area and the dummy wafer holding area D, and at each position on both ends of the dummy wafer holding area D. These switch parts S1 to S7 are for specifying the corresponding positions by pressing, and are used when the lot-to-lot specifying mode is selected. Here, the "lot-to-lot designation" means not only the lot area P for each lot of the wafer to be processed but also the lot area P.
And the dummy wafer holding area D. However, in this example, the upper side of the upper dummy wafer holding area D and the lower side of the lower dummy holding area D can be designated by the switch sections S1 and S7, respectively.

FIG. 75 next to FIG. 74 of the wafer boat.
In FIG. 75, the position of the groove of the wafer boat and the display of the position of the groove are correspondingly drawn.
A switch unit 78 corresponding to the groove designating unit 77 shown in FIG. 3 in which numbers are arrayed for designating a groove is provided next to. When the groove designation mode 72 is selected, the switch section 78 pushes the area surrounding the number of the switch section 78 to designate the position of the groove of the wafer boat of FIG. 75 corresponding to the number.

On the other hand, in the storage unit 8, a lot area fixing mode program 81 and a lot area changing mode which are used when the processing wafer transfer mode is the lot area fixing mode and the lot area changing mode, respectively. The program 82 is stored, and a lot-to-lot specification mode program 83 and a groove-to-groove specification mode program 84 which are used when the monitor wafer transfer mode is the lot-to-lot specification mode and the groove-to-groove specification mode, respectively. .

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described. First, a case where the monitor wafer is used for product monitoring will be described. As the transfer mode of the wafer to be processed, the switch area 61 is pressed by the operation screen shown in FIG. 4 to select the lot area fixing mode, and the transfer mode of the monitor wafer is set. On the screen shown in FIG. 5, the switch unit 72 is pressed to select the lot-to-lot specifying mode 72 which is the relative position specifying mode, and the switch units S2 to S5 are pressed to specify the holding position of the monitor wafer.

On the other hand, when the carrier C containing the wafer is carried into the carrier stage 33 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the carrier C is once stored in the carrier storage rack 32 by the carrier transfer machine 4 or is directly delivered. It is transported to the table 31. Next, the wafer W is taken out from the carrier C mounted on the transfer table 31 by the wafer transfer device 24 and transferred to the wafer boat 23. FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing a method for transferring the wafer PW to be processed and the monitor wafer MW to the wafer boat 23, where PC is a carrier for the wafer to be processed, M
C is a monitor wafer carrier that is a dedicated storage unit for monitor wafers.

Now, the wafer P to be processed to be heat-treated from now on.
For carrier PCs containing W, 25
Assuming that one wafer PW is stored, the wafers to be processed in the four carrier PCs are transferred to the lot areas P1 to P4 on the wafer boat 23, respectively, as shown in FIG. However, dummy wafers are arranged in the dummy wafer holding areas D at the upper and lower ends of the wafer boat 23, respectively.

The monitor wafer MW is transferred from the carrier MC to the wafer boat 23 by the wafer transfer device 24.
The positions designated by the switches S2 to S5 in FIG.
Is indicated by a double line), that is, between P1 and P4, and between P1 and D. Note that the numerical value on the right side of the wafer boat 23 indicates what level of groove the holding position of the monitor wafer MW is.

After the loading of the wafer W on the wafer boat 23 is completed, the wafer boat 23 is raised and the heat treatment furnace 2
1 is subjected to a predetermined heat treatment such as oxidation, CVD, and diffusion. Thereafter, the wafer boat 23 descends to unload the wafer W, and the wafer transfer device 24 transfers the wafer W from the wafer boat 23 to the carrier C of the wafer transfer unit 31. The carrier C containing the processed wafer W is temporarily stored in the carrier storage shelf 32 or is directly transferred to the carrier stage 33 in some cases depending on the empty state of the carrier storage shelf 32. On the other hand, the monitor wafer MW is sent to the inspection process and is inspected, so that the processed wafer PW of the lot related to the monitor wafer W, for example, the processed state of the processed wafer contained in the lot region immediately below the monitor wafer W is detected. It is grasped through the monitor wafer MW.

Here, when the number of wafers W to be processed in the carrier PC is less than 25, if the lot area fixing mode is selected as the wafer transfer mode, each lot area P is selected.
In 1 to P4, a vacant groove is formed as much as the wafer W is missing, or a vacant groove is filled by transferring a supplementary wafer from a carrier (not shown). Therefore carrier PC
The holding position of the monitor wafer MW is constant regardless of the number of processed wafers PW in the inside.

Next, the monitor wafer transfer mode is set in the same manner as described above, and the wafer transfer mode is set as shown in FIG.
A case will be described in which the switch section 62 is pressed on the operation screen of 1 to select the lot area variation mode. First, when 25 wafers PW to be processed are stored in each of the four carrier PCs, the wafer PW on the wafer boat 23 is stored.
The arrangement of MW and MW is exactly the same as described above, but the carrier P
When the number of wafers PW in C is less than 25, they are transferred as follows.

For example, if the groove number at the center position is set to "75" on the operation screen shown in FIG.
All wafers PW in one carrier PC are wafer boats 23
Are compressed vertically with respect to the groove of the 75th stage, that is, they are arranged so as to be filled with each other so that no vacant groove of the wafer PW in the carrier PC is formed. When the number of all wafers is an even number, (n / 2 + 1) or (n / 2-1) is arranged so as to be located at the groove number at the center position. In the example of FIG. 7, four sheets of carrier PCs each have 10 sheets, 15 sheets,
15 and 15 wafers PW are stored, and all the wafers are arranged vertically with the 75th stage as the center. In the holding area of the wafer boat 23, the positions of the lot areas P1 to P4 are shown. It fluctuates with respect to the position shown in FIG. In this case, the position between lots (the position of the double line) designated by the switches S2 to S5 also fluctuates as is clear from comparison with FIG. The monitor wafer MW is transferred to the thus determined lot-to-lot position, and heat treatment is similarly performed.

Next, a case where the monitor wafer W in the monitor wafer carrier MC is used as an apparatus monitor wafer will be described. The device monitor is performed once every time the batch process is performed a predetermined number of times, for example, four times. It should be noted that the product monitor does not have to be carried out every time as long as the heat treatment apparatus is stable. When the apparatus is monitored, the monitor wafer transfer position mode is switched to the switch unit 7 by the operation screen shown in FIG.
Press 2 to select the groove designation mode, and then switch 78
Specifies the number of the groove for holding the monitor wafer MW. FIG. 8 shows the transfer mode of the wafer W to be processed as shown in FIG.
In the same way as the above example, the monitor wafer holding position is set to "12.
It is a figure showing the transfer state of the wafer to wafer boat 23 when "7th stage" and "49th stage" are set up.

With this setting, regardless of whether the wafer transfer mode is the lot area fixed mode or the lot area variable mode, the wafer is not affected by the number of lots or the number of wafers in one lot. The monitor wafer MW is transferred to the designated groove number of the wafer boat 23, and the holding position of the monitor wafer MW is always constant. However, when the lot area fixed mode is continuously used as the transfer mode of the wafers to be processed, or when four carriers C each containing 25 wafers PW in each carrier C are continuously processed, Since the position between them, that is, the holding position of the selected monitor wafer is constant in each batch processing, the lot-to-lot designation mode may be selected.

According to the above-described embodiment, when the number of wafers PW to be processed in the carrier PC is less than 25 or when one batch is processed in three lots or less, the amount of the wafer boat 23 is less than the holding capacity. In the case of processing the above wafers, by selecting the lot area variation mode, it is possible to set an area to be used in the holding area on the wafer boat 23, for example, an area having high inter-surface uniformity in heat treatment.

In setting the holding position of the monitor wafer, there are a lot-to-lot designation for designating a relative position with respect to the lot region, which is determined according to the lot region, and a groove designation mode which is an absolute position on the wafer boat 23. Since either one can be selected, the holding position of the monitor wafer MW on the wafer boat 23 can be made constant in each batch process even when the lot area variation mode is selected and the target wafer PW is transferred.

Therefore, when product monitoring is performed, the corresponding product monitor wafer can be positioned in the vicinity of each lot by selecting the lot-to-lot designating mode. On the other hand, when performing device monitoring, the groove designating mode is selected. By selecting, the device monitor wafer can be placed at a fixed position. In this way, the product monitor wafer can accurately monitor the processing state of the wafer of the lot to be monitored, and the device monitor wafer can be monitored with high reliability because the monitoring position in the heating furnace is constant. The deterioration of the heater can be found quickly.

In the above, when the monitor wafer of the product is transferred to the wafer boat 23, the groove designation mode may be used. The product monitor wafer and the device monitor wafer may be the same or different (for example, a special device monitor wafer having electrodes embedded therein). Further, in the lot area variation mode, instead of centering on the designated groove, for example, the designated groove may be used as the upper end position and the wafers to be processed may be arranged below it, or the monitor wafer may be placed in the lot area. On the other hand, the mode for holding at a predetermined relative position is not limited to the lot-to-lot designation mode, but may be a mode for holding at a predetermined position in the lot area, for example.

Further, instead of using one wafer for one carrier as one lot, wafers for two or more carriers may be used as one lot, and the maximum number of lots to be accommodated in the wafer boat holding area of the wafer boat is the same as that of the above-described embodiment. As such, it is not limited to 4 lots. The present invention is not limited to the vertical heat treatment apparatus described in the above embodiment, but may be a horizontal heat treatment apparatus.

[0044]

According to the present invention, the holding position of the monitor substrate on the holder can be set corresponding to the lot, or can be set as the absolute position. The degree of freedom in operation is great. For example, the product monitor board and the equipment monitor board can be set in position according to their respective applications, and highly reliable monitoring is performed both when performing product monitoring and when performing equipment monitoring. It can be performed.

Further, according to the inventions of claims 2, 3 and 4, the degree of freedom in transferring the substrate to be processed onto the holder is large, and the above effects can be further obtained while obtaining such advantages. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an entire heat treatment apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing the entire heat treatment apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a main part of a heat treatment apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a setting screen of a wafer transfer mode to be processed.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a setting screen of a monitor wafer transfer mode.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing the operation of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the operation of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view showing the operation of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a side view showing the outline of a conventional heat treatment apparatus.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a wafer holding region and a monitor wafer holding position in a wafer boat used in a conventional heat treatment apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 21 heat treatment furnace 23 wafer boat 24 wafer transfer machine 31 transfer table 32 carrier storage rack 4 carrier transfer machine 5 touch panel 6 processed wafer transfer mode setting unit 7 monitor wafer transfer mode setting unit 8 storage unit W wafer PW processed Wafer MW monitor wafer

Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Office reference number FI Technical display location H01L 21/31 H01L 21/31 E 21/324 21/324 Z

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of substrates to be processed are held in parallel in a holder in lot units, carried into a reaction tube of a heating furnace for heat treatment, and a monitor substrate is taken out from a dedicated storage unit by a transfer machine. In a heat treatment apparatus which is held by the holder and performs a heat treatment together with the substrate to be processed, a lot area which is a substrate holding area of a lot is assigned to the substrate holding area of the holder for each batch processing, and this lot area is used as a reference. A relative position designation mode in which a relative position is designated to hold the monitor substrate, and an absolute position designation mode in which the monitor substrate is held by designating a holding position of the stage in the substrate holding area of the holder. And a monitor substrate transfer mode selection unit that selects one of the two modes, and which lot region the monitor substrate holding position corresponds to when the relative position designation mode is selected. A relative position designating section for designating whether the position is a position to be held, and an absolute position designating section for designating the number of stages of the holding position of the monitor substrate when the absolute position designating mode is selected. A heat treatment apparatus characterized by being provided. 2. A plurality of substrates to be processed are held in parallel in a holder in lot units, carried into a reaction tube of a heating furnace for heat treatment, and a monitor substrate is taken out from a dedicated storage unit by a transfer machine. In a heat treatment apparatus for holding the holder and performing heat treatment together with the substrate to be processed, a lot area is assigned to each lot in the substrate holding area of the holder, and the substrate to be processed of each lot is transferred to each of the lot areas. The lot area fixing mode to be set and the number of the holding position in the substrate holding area of the holder to be used as a reference are specified, and all lots to be processed in one batch process with this holding position as a reference. Lot area variation mode in which the substrates are packed and transferred to the holder, and a substrate transfer mode selection unit for selecting one of the modes, and a relative position based on the lot area is designated. One of the relative position designation mode for holding the Nita substrate and the absolute position designation mode for holding the monitor substrate by designating the holding position of the stage in the substrate holding area of the holder. A monitor board transfer mode selecting section for selecting the relative position specifying section, and a relative position specifying section for specifying which lot area the holding position of the monitor board corresponds to when the relative position specifying mode is selected, A heat treatment apparatus, comprising: an absolute position designating unit that designates a holding position of the monitor substrate when the absolute position designating mode is selected. 3. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the relative position designating unit is a lot-to-lot designating unit that designates between which lot regions the holding position of the monitor substrate is located. 4. The monitor substrate is one of a product monitor substrate for monitoring a processing state of a substrate to be processed and an apparatus monitor substrate for monitoring a state of an apparatus, and the monitor substrate transfer mode is a product substrate. 4. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the relative position designation mode is selected when the monitor substrate is used, and the absolute position designation mode is selected when the device monitor substrate is used.