JPH10173025A - Load lock chamber of semiconductor manufacturing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a load lock chamber which reduces residual moisture and suppresses formation of a natural oxide film. SOLUTION: Introduction gas which is introduced into a load lock chamber 4 via a gate valve 9. At this time the introducing gas is previously heated to reduce moisture in the chamber. Therefore a pipe heating unit 7 is so provided just before the gate valve 9 as to envelope the pipe for feeding the introducing gas. This introducing gas is for example nitrogen gas. This introduction gas is heated from the circumference of the pipe by heating, for example an electric resistor heating method. The heated introduction gas is supplied to the load lock chamber 4 via the gate valve 9. A wafer 5, a quartz part 3 and so on are placed on a transfer base in the load lock chamber 4, the temperature of the atmosphere rises by the heated introduction gas and moisture adhering to the surfaces in the chamber, the transfer base 6, the wafer 5, the quartz part 3 and so on is vaporized. By the vaporization exhausting is done via the gate valve 8 for exhausting during a vacuum exchanging.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a load lock chamber of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, and can be applied to, for example, prevention of formation of a natural oxide film on a reaction target before transfer to a reaction chamber.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the performance of semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses has been improved. For example, a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is generally provided with a load lock chamber (load lock chamber). FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of a load lock chamber in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. In FIG. 2, before the silicon wafer 5 of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is transferred to the reaction chamber 1, the atmosphere in the load lock chamber 4 is subjected to vacuum replacement in order to reduce a natural oxide film, and oxygen and moisture in the atmosphere are reduced. The transport is performed after the density is reduced.

[0003]

Although the concentration of oxygen and moisture in the atmosphere is reduced for this reason, the wall of the load lock chamber 4,
Moisture adhering to the quartz component 3, the transfer table 6, and the wafer 5 is fixed in an icy state by decompression during the vacuum replacement and remains without being exhausted. There is a problem that this icy water is formed as a natural oxide film when transported to the reaction chamber 1.

[0004] Under these circumstances, there is a demand for a load lock chamber capable of reducing residual moisture and reducing formation of a natural oxide film.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention provides a reaction chamber or a processing chamber in which the atmosphere in a room is replaced with a vacuum to reduce a natural oxide film before transporting the reaction object or the processing object. In a load lock chamber of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus provided for removing moisture, the above-described problem is solved by the following characteristic configuration.

That is, the present invention comprises: (1) heating gas intake means for heating an introduced gas and taking it into the room in order to vaporize, exhaust, and remove moisture in the room, and (2) a reaction object or a treatment object. Before transporting, indoor moisture is removed with a heated gas.

By adopting such a configuration, even if an icy substance is generated by the reduced pressure during the vacuum replacement, a high-temperature gas in the load lock chamber is taken in, and the icy substance is melted and becomes Even after that, it can be vaporized and exhausted. Therefore, moisture can be removed at the time of vacuum replacement, and a natural oxide film is not formed when the reaction target or the processing target is transported.

The heating gas intake means heats the pipe connected to the load lock chamber, warms the gas passing through the pipe and takes it into the load lock chamber, thereby easily heating the introduced gas with a simple configuration. can do. Further, a nitrogen gas can be used as the introduced gas.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

Therefore, in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of the present embodiment, before introducing the wafer into the reaction chamber, the gas introduced into the load lock chamber is heated in advance in order to reduce the moisture in the installed load lock chamber. It is configured to keep.

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus in which a load lock chamber 4 and a reaction chamber 1 are integrated. This figure 1
, The reaction chamber 1 is connected to the upper part of the load lock chamber 4 via a gate valve 2a. Load lock room 4
Inside, there is a multi-stage wafer 5 placed on a shelf of a carrier 6, and a quartz part 3 is placed on the upper part. The transfer table 6 performs vacuum replacement of the atmosphere in the load lock chamber 4 to reduce the oxygen and moisture concentrations in the atmosphere, and then the reaction chamber 1
After the reaction is performed in the reaction chamber 1, the wafer 5 after the reaction is lowered again to return to the load lock chamber 4.

The gas introduced into the load lock chamber 4 is:
At this time, in order to reduce the moisture in the load lock chamber, the piping heating unit 7 is wrapped around the piping through which the introduced gas passes just before the gate valve 9 in order to reduce the moisture in the load lock chamber. Newly installed. This introduced gas is, for example, nitrogen gas. The introduced gas is heated from around the pipe by, for example, heating by an electric resistance heating method. This heated introduction gas is supplied to the load lock chamber 4 via the gate valve 9. In order to prevent the heated introduced gas from cooling down, it is preferable that the space between the piping heating unit 7 and the load lock chamber 4 be close to each other.

In the load lock chamber 4, a wafer 5 and a quartz part 3 are mounted on a carrier, and the ambient temperature is increased by the heated introduced gas, and the interior surface, the carrier 6, the wafer 5 and the quartz The moisture adhering to the parts 3 and the like is vaporized. By vaporizing, the gas can be exhausted and removed through the exhaust gate valve 8 at the time of vacuum replacement.

Thus, when the atmosphere in the load lock chamber is vacuum-replaced in advance to reduce the natural oxide film before being transferred to the reaction chamber 1, the concentration of oxygen and moisture in the atmosphere is sufficiently reduced. be able to. For this reason, the water adhering to the wall surface of the load lock chamber 4, the quartz parts, the transfer table, and the wafer as in the related art is fixed in an icy state by the decompression during the vacuum replacement and does not remain without being exhausted. The problem that ice-like moisture is formed as a natural oxide film when transported to the reaction chamber 1 is eliminated.

As described above, since the natural oxide film can be reduced, the film formation on the wafer 5 becomes uniform, and the uniformity between batches is improved. Further, particles and contamination due to the gettering action of the natural oxide film can be reduced, and the yield of the device can be improved as a whole.

The above-mentioned piping heating unit 7
As the heating method, in addition to the above-described electric resistance heating method, a high-frequency heating method, an infrared concentrated heating method, or the like can be applied.

Further, in FIG. 1 described above, the reaction chamber 1 is mounted above the load lock chamber 4, but as another structure, the reaction chamber 1 is installed next to the load lock chamber 4, and the wafer is mounted. The present invention can also be applied to a case of a structure for transporting in the horizontal direction. For example, the present invention can be applied to a load lock chamber of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7-29963.

[0018]

As described above, the present invention comprises a heating gas intake means for heating an introduced gas and taking it into the chamber in order to vaporize, exhaust and remove moisture in the load lock chamber of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, Since the indoor moisture is removed by the heating gas before the object or the object to be processed is conveyed, the residual moisture can be reduced and the formation of a natural oxide film can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a load lock chamber and a reaction chamber according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of a conventional load lock chamber and a reaction chamber.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Reaction chamber, 2 ... Gate valve, 3 ... Quartz parts, 4 ... Load lock chamber, 5 ... Wafer, 6 ... Carrier, 7 ... Piping heating unit, 8, 9 ... Gate valve.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A method for removing air and moisture in a reaction chamber or a processing chamber by replacing a room atmosphere with a vacuum for reducing a natural oxide film before transporting the reaction target or the processing target. In a load lock chamber of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, there is provided a heating gas intake means for heating an introduced gas to vaporize, exhaust, and remove the moisture in the chamber, and take the gas into the chamber, before transporting a reaction target or a processing target. A load lock chamber for a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, wherein room moisture is removed by the heating gas. 2. The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the heating gas intake means heats a pipe connected to the room, warms the gas passing through the pipe, and takes the gas into the room. Load lock room. 3. The load lock chamber according to claim 1, wherein the gas is a nitrogen gas.