JPH10303275A - Wafer treatment device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To protect a wafer from particle contamination and a damage and achieve a high throughput and a high yield, by a method wherein a wafer is subjected to a treatment together with a wafer holding member in processes before and after a heat treatment process. SOLUTION: In order to perform the processes of a reaction furnace 1 and a chamber adjacent to it continuously, first, a wafer W is held on a boat 8 which is a wafer holding member. In a process before the process of the reaction furnace 1, the wafer W is subjected to a treatment while it is held on the boat 8 and, after the process is practiced, the boat 8 conveyed by a conveying belt 9 is made to stay directly under the reaction furnace 1. Then, the reaction furnace 1 is made to descend and the boat 8 placed on the belt 9 is housed in the reaction chamber 2 of the reaction furnace 1 as it is. After a film is formed by a heat treatment, the reaction furnace 1 is made to ascend to a waiting position to expose the boat 8. After the exposure, the conveying belt 9 is operated and the wafer W is conveyed into the adjacent chamber for a post-process while the wafer 8 is held by the boat 8 and subjected to a treatment. With this constitution, the wafer is protected from particle contamination and a damage.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a wafer processing apparatus, and more particularly to an apparatus for improving a wafer processing efficiency.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a VLSI manufacturing process, it is essential to combine processes. Process integration is CV
D, dry etching, sputtering, pretreatment, heat treatment, etc. are performed between several apparatuses or within one apparatus as if they were a single process.

[0003] As a system of a process complex model, as shown in Fig. 5 (a), several devices A, B, and C that perform different processes are connected to an automated guide vehicle system (AGV).
and a wafer cassette loaded with wafers is transported to each of the devices A, B, and C to execute each process. In some cases, the cassette is manually conveyed. In this way, the cassette is conveyed between the apparatuses.

As shown in FIG. 5 (b), for example, as shown in FIG. 5 (b), a cassette chamber CS and a plurality of chambers CHA are provided around a transfer chamber R equipped with a wafer transfer machine via a gate valve G. , CHB, CHC, etc.
The wafers taken out of the cassette loaded into the cassette chamber CS by the wafer transfer device are moved into a plurality of chambers C.
The process is transferred to HA, CHB, CHC, or the like, and the process is continuously performed between a plurality of chambers.

One of the chambers CHA
FIG. 5 (c) shows a specific example of an apparatus in the case of a chamber for performing a heat treatment. The chamber CHA is provided with a load lock chamber 32 having a batch-type vertical reaction furnace 31 provided above. A transfer chamber 34 is provided in the load lock chamber 32 via a gate valve 36 in an airtight manner. , A cassette chamber 39 is hermetically provided via a gate valve 36. The cassette loading / unloading port of the cassette chamber 39 is hermetically closed by the gate valve 30. In the cassette chamber 39,
A cassette shelf 38 on which a cassette 37 in which a required number of wafers W are loaded is provided, and the cassette 37 is loaded and unloaded. The cassette chamber 3 is provided in the transfer chamber 34.
9 in the cassette 9 and the boat 3 in the load lock chamber 32
3 is provided with a wafer transfer machine 35 for transferring a wafer W between the wafer transfer device 3 and the wafer transfer device 3.

Since the vertical reactor 31 is of a batch type which simultaneously processes a larger number of wafers W than one cassette, it is necessary to transfer the wafers W loaded in the cassette 37 to the boat 33 once. is there. Therefore, the wafer W is transferred from the cassette 37 to the boat 33 using the wafer transfer machine 35. After the transfer, the boat 33 is inserted into the reaction chamber 32, and a CVD (Chemical Vapor D)
eposition) and other necessary film formation processes. After the film formation process,
The cassette 3 is transferred from the boat 33 using the wafer transfer device 35.
7. Return the wafer W to 7. As described above, in the apparatus, in particular, in the heat treatment process using the batch type vertical reactor, it is necessary to transfer the wafer, so that the wafer is transferred by the wafer transfer machine in units of wafer.

[0007]

As described above, the conventional wafer processing apparatus in which the wafers are transported between the apparatuses in units of cassettes and are transported in units of wafers in the apparatus has the following problems.

(1) Outside of the apparatus, there is a risk of particle contamination or wafer damage due to the intervention of an AGV or a human hand while the wafer cassette is being transferred between the apparatuses.

(2) In the apparatus, the wafer is transferred twice from a cassette to a boat by a wafer transfer machine, and then transferred from the boat to the cassette at the end of film formation. It took time, and the throughput and yield were poor. There is also a risk that the wafer may be damaged during transfer.

An object of the present invention is to provide a wafer processing apparatus including a process in which a wafer is put into a reaction chamber together with a wafer holding member and a heat treatment is performed, thereby unifying a wafer transfer mode without transfer, thereby achieving the above-mentioned prior art. It is an object of the present invention to provide a wafer processing apparatus that can solve the problems and can achieve high throughput and high yield without particle contamination and wafer damage.

[0011]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a wafer processing apparatus comprising a process of placing a wafer in a reaction chamber together with a wafer holding member for holding a wafer and performing a heat treatment. In the processes before and after the heat treatment process, the whole wafer holding member is processed.

The wafer processing apparatus according to the present invention comprises, for example, a plurality of apparatuses for combining processes as shown in FIG. 5 (a), or an apparatus as shown in FIG. 5 (b). Some devices include a plurality of chambers in a single device. Therefore, the transfer of each wafer holding member may be limited to the inside of the apparatus, or may be extended to the transfer between apparatuses.

Further, the wafer holding member may be a batch type boat for loading and holding a plurality of wafers, or may be a single wafer type wafer stage for holding one wafer.

In the present invention, even when a process other than the heat treatment process using the wafer holding member is executed, the entire wafer holding member is performed. Therefore, it is necessary to transfer the wafer from the wafer holding member to another member. Therefore, the transfer work and transfer time required for that can be reduced.

Since the wafer holding member is transported to the next step without transferring the wafer, there is a problem in how the wafer member on the transport path is inserted into and removed from the reaction chamber.
This point can be solved by raising and lowering the reaction chamber with respect to the wafer holding member on the transfer path. In addition, the problem can be solved by fixing the reaction chamber and removing the wafer holding member from the transfer path and moving the wafer holding member up and down.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a batch-type vertical reactor for performing a heat treatment process in a wafer processing apparatus that continuously performs a plurality of processes. The vertical reactor 1 for heat-treating the wafer W is attached to a reactor elevator 5 so as to be able to move up and down.

The reaction furnace 1 includes a vertically long reaction chamber 2 provided with a furnace port 2a at a lower portion, and a heater 3 provided around the reaction chamber 2. A gas introduction pipe 4 composed of a flexible tube that allows the reactor 1 to move up and down is connected to a lower portion of the side wall of the reaction chamber 2 so that a reaction gas is introduced into the reaction chamber 2.

The reactor elevator 5 here comprises a ball screw 6 and an elevating slider 7 screwed thereto.
The lower portion of the reactor 1 is fixed to the lifting slider 7.
When the ball screw 6 is rotated by a driving unit (not shown), the reactor 1 is moved up and down via the elevating slider 7. In addition, besides the above-mentioned ball screw,
An air cylinder or the like can be used. In consideration of the case where the operation is performed in a vacuum, it is preferable that the operating portion such as the ball screw 6 is sealed with a bellows (not shown) so that particles do not scatter from here.

A conveyor belt 9 as a conveyor path runs horizontally below the reactor 1 at the standby position shown in FIG. 1, and a boat 8 is placed on the conveyor belt 9 to carry out various processes including a heat treatment process. In order to perform the process, the wafer W
Can be transported together with the boat 8 to each chamber including the reaction furnace 1.

The boat 8 is provided with a furnace lid 10 forming a part of the reaction furnace 1 at a lower portion thereof, and a boat support 8a for loading and holding a wafer W to be processed in a horizontal posture at an upper portion thereof.
Is provided. The boat 8 is engaged with the engaging portion 9a of the transport belt 9 so that the boat 8 is not displaced by transport.

Now, the operation of the heat treatment apparatus configured as described above will be described. In order to continuously execute a process between the reaction furnace 1 and a chamber adjacent thereto (where processes such as dry etching, sputtering, and pretreatment are performed), first, the wafer W is held on a boat 8 as a wafer holding member. In the previous step, the process is executed together with the boat 8, and after the execution, the boat 8 conveyed by the conveyor belt 9 is stopped at a position directly below the reaction furnace 1. Next, the ball screw 6 is rotated by the driving means of the reaction furnace elevator 5 to lower the reaction furnace 1, and the boat 8 placed on the transport belt 9 is stored in the reaction chamber 2 of the reaction furnace 1 as it is. After closing the furnace port 2a of the reaction furnace 1 with the furnace lid 10, the furnace 3 is heated by the heater 3 and the gas introduction pipe 4 is closed.
Then, a required heat treatment such as CVD or diffusion is performed on a large number of wafers W held in the boat 8 in the reaction chamber 2 to form a film. After performing the required heat treatment in the reaction chamber 2, the ball screw 6 of the reaction furnace elevator 5 is reversed, the reaction furnace 1 is raised to the standby position in FIG. 1, and the boat 8 housed in the reaction furnace 1 is moved. Expose.

After the exposure, the transfer belt 9 is operated to transfer the wafers W together with the boat 8 to an adjacent chamber where the post-process is performed and processed.

As described above, at the time of heat treatment in the reaction furnace 1, the wafer conveyed along with the boat from the previous process is inserted into the reaction furnace 1 while being placed on the transfer belt 9. Since the wafers are transported to the next step, there is no need to transfer wafers from the cassette to the boat and from the boat to the cassette twice as in the related art. Therefore, the transport loss required for wafer transfer is eliminated,
Throughput can be improved. Also, particle contamination and breakage of the wafer due to the transfer operation can be avoided, so that the yield is improved.

The embodiment of FIG. 2 is the same as that of FIG. 1 in that the chamber is a batch type vertical reactor, but the reactor 1 is fixed and the boat 8 as a wafer holding member can be moved up and down. It is different in that.

The boat elevator 21 is provided below the conveyor belt 9 and is rotated by driving means.
A lifting slider 24 screwed to the ball screw 23;
A lifting column 22 is attached to the lifting slider 24 and supports and raises and lowers the boat 8 at a position directly below the reaction furnace 1. An engagement portion 22 a that engages with the furnace lid 10 of the boat 8 is attached to the tip of the push-up support 22.

The boat 8 conveyed on the conveyor belt 9
Is pushed up by a push-up column 22 of a boat elevator 21 at a position directly below the reaction furnace 1, detached from the conveyor belt 9, and inserted into the reaction chamber 2 of the reaction furnace 1. The boat 8 inserted into the reaction chamber 2 is pulled out of the reaction chamber 2 by the lowering of the boat elevator 21 and is returned on the transport belt 9 again. Then, the wafer W is transported by the transport belt 9 to another adjacent chamber along with the boat 8.

In the configuration shown in FIG. 2, instead of moving the reactor 1 having a complicated structure up and down, the boat 8 having a simpler structure is moved up and down, so that the elevator structure can be simplified. Also, the introduction tube 4 connected to the reaction chamber 2 does not need to use an expensive flexible tube.

FIG. 3 shows a case where the reactor 11 for executing the heat treatment process is of a single wafer type instead of a batch type. The single-wafer reaction furnace 11 includes a flat reaction chamber 12 having a volume small enough to accommodate one wafer W, and a heater 13 provided around the reaction chamber 12. The reaction furnace 11 is attached to a reaction furnace elevator 15 and is movable up and down. An air cylinder 16 is used for the reaction furnace elevator 15, and the reaction furnace 11 is fixed to a tip of a piston rod 17. Note that the outer periphery of the piston rod 17 is preferably sealed with a bellows 18 in order to prevent scattering of particles. In addition to the air cylinder described above, the reactor elevator 15 may be provided with elevating means including a ball screw and a motor.

Below the reaction furnace 11 at the standby position shown in the figure, a conveyor belt 9 runs in the horizontal direction. A wafer table 19 as a wafer holding member is placed on the transport belt 9.
Is placed. The wafer stage 19 also serves as a furnace lid for closing the furnace port 12a of the reaction furnace 11, and one wafer
A single wafer W is held.

In such a configuration applied to the single wafer type reaction furnace 11, since the wafer W is processed while being mounted on the wafer table 19 in the adjacent chamber, the transfer step is eliminated, which is required. It is possible to shorten the transfer time and avoid the risk of breakage of the wafer.

The embodiment of FIG. 4 is the same as that of FIG. 3 in that the chamber is a single-wafer reactor, but the reactor 1 is fixed and the wafer table 19 as a wafer holding member can be raised and lowered. It is different in doing.

That is, the wafer table 19 that has come to a position directly below the reaction furnace 11 is pushed up by a piston rod 27 of an air cylinder 26 which is a wafer table elevator 25, so that the wafer table 19 comes off the transfer belt 9.
It enters into the reaction chamber 12. At the tip of the piston rod 27, an engagement portion 16a for ensuring engagement with the wafer table 19 is provided.

After being subjected to predetermined processing in the reaction chamber 2, the wafer W is returned onto the transport belt 9 by the wafer stage elevator 15, and the wafer W is moved by the transport belt 9 to the wafer stage 19.
Is transferred to another adjacent chamber.

In any of the above embodiments,
In the apparatus, the case where the transfer and processing between the reaction furnace and the chamber adjacent thereto are performed in units of boats or wafer units has been described. And may be extended to transfer between apparatuses. In particular, as shown in FIG. 5 (a), if a transfer belt is used to transfer a boat or a wafer table outside the apparatus, particle contamination and wafer damage may be caused by an AGV or manual operation during transfer between the apparatuses. Or the risk of

[0035]

According to the present invention, when a series of processes including a heat treatment in a reaction chamber is performed, the wafer is not transferred and the entire wafer holding member is handled, so that particle contamination and wafer damage are prevented. In addition, since the transfer operation required for wafer transfer is eliminated, the throughput and the yield are improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view showing one embodiment of a vertical batch type wafer heat treatment apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a view showing another embodiment of a vertical batch type wafer heat treatment apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a single-wafer type wafer heat treatment apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a view showing another embodiment of a single-wafer type wafer heat treatment apparatus.

5A and 5B are explanatory views of a conventional example of a wafer processing apparatus, in which FIG. 5A is a diagram illustrating an example between apparatuses, FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 reaction furnace 2 reaction chamber 5 reaction furnace elevator 8 boat (wafer holding member) 9 transport belt 10 furnace lid W wafer

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code FI H01L 21/22 511 H01L 21/22 511B

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A wafer processing apparatus including a process of placing a wafer in a reaction chamber together with a wafer holding member for holding a wafer and performing a heat treatment, wherein the wafer is processed together with the wafer holding member even in processes before and after the heat treatment process. A wafer processing apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned.