JPH11329987A - Semiconductor manufacturing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus capable of improving throughput with a simple structure and without mechanical failure, and preventing inflow of the air at load/unload of a boat. SOLUTION: A batch processing semiconductor manufacturing apparatus comprises a pre-heater 14 positioned near a furnace entrance 12 of a process tube 11, an inactive gas blow-off port 15 capable of heating by the pre-heater 14 and a shower curtain 16 formed by blowing off the inactive gas, wherein inflow of the air at load/unload of a boat 21 to/from the process tube 11 can be prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, and more particularly to a batch type diffusion furnace.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as this type of apparatus, for example,
There has been one disclosed in JP-A-6-13336. FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a vertical furnace as such a conventional diffusion furnace. As shown in this figure, the vertical furnace has an outer tube 1
And an inner tube 4 that can enter and exit the outer tube 1 with the outer heater 2 and the wafer mounting board 3 housed therein, and the inner tube 4 provided alone or A vertical movement mechanism 5 that can be moved up and down integrally with the wafer mounting board 3 is provided.

As described above, the use of the outer tube 1 and the inner tube 4 prevents the entrainment of air when loading and unloading the boat.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional diffusion furnace, (1) the load / unload operation of the inner tube is not performed in addition to the load / unload operation of the boat every time the recipe processing is performed. No, the throughput is bad. (2) Along with the operation of (1), an extra stabilization time in the furnace is required, and the throughput is further deteriorated.

(3) The piping for introducing and exhausting the process gas or the inert gas connected to the inner pipe moves up and down together with the inner pipe, which may cause troubles such as contact and breakage. There was such a problem. The present invention eliminates the above-described problems, has a simple structure, has no mechanical trouble, can improve throughput, and can prevent entry of air during loading / unloading of a boat. The purpose is to provide.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus for performing a batch process, wherein a pre-heater disposed near a furnace port of a processing furnace; An inert gas outlet that can be heated by a pre-heater, and a shower curtain formed by blowing the inert gas from the inert gas outlet are provided. Is to prevent.

[2] In the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to the above [1], the pre-heater is turned on when the boat is loaded, and the pre-heater is turned off when the boat is unloaded. . [3] The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to the above [1], wherein the inert gas outlets are arranged in a plurality of stages so that the direction of the inert gas outlets in each stage can be adjusted.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail. FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a main part of a vertical diffusion furnace showing a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. In these figures, 11 is a process tube,
12 is the furnace port of the process tube, 13 is the furnace port 1
A cover 14 for covering 2 is a pre-heater disposed in the cover 13 and is, for example, a lamp anneal or a resistance heating device.

Reference numeral 15 denotes a ring-shaped N ₂ disposed inside the cover 13 so as to blow out an N ₂ gas as an inert gas toward the center of the process tube 11.
A gas outlet, 16 is a shower curtain formed by the N ₂ gas, 17 is a process gas inlet, 18
Is a process gas discharge port, and 21 is a boat that can be loaded (loaded) and unloaded (unloaded) from below the process tube 11.

As described above, in the vertical diffusion furnace of the first embodiment, the cover 13 is disposed near the furnace port 12 of the process tube 11 as a normal diffusion furnace, and the preheater 14 is provided inside the cover 13. Provide. A ring-shaped N ₂ gas outlet 15 is provided inside the cover 13, and a shower curtain 16 made of N ₂ gas is formed in the cover 13. Here, N _{2 is used} as the inert gas.
Was used.

Hereinafter, the operation of the vertical diffusion furnace of the first embodiment will be described. (1) At the time of loading the boat The pre-heater 14 is turned on, and the shower curtain 16 is formed by warmed N ₂ gas. (2) turn OFF the boat unloading during pre-heater 14 to form the shower curtain 16 by room-temperature N ₂ gas.

With this configuration, according to the first embodiment, (1) at the time of loading a boat, as described above,
Since the heater 14 was turned on to form the shower curtain 16 with the warmed N ₂ gas, the boat 21
The upper atmosphere between the wafer surfaces is blown with N ₂ gas, and as a result, it is possible to reduce the generation of an oxide film due to entry into the atmosphere.

Further, by warming the N ₂ gas with the preheater 14, the atmosphere near the furnace port 12 can be kept close to the temperature inside the process tube 11 to some extent, so that the furnace temperature during boat loading decreases. Also, the recovery time after loading is reduced. (2) At the time of unloading the boat, as described above, pre-heater 14 is OFF, since to form the shower curtain 16 by room-temperature N ₂ gas, similarly to the above (1), due to atmospheric contamination Oxide film generation is reduced.

Further, by blowing the N ₂ gas while the pre-heater 14 is kept OFF, the wafer is cooled, and the cooling time of the wafer until charge-out can be shortened. Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a main part of a vertical diffusion furnace according to a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. The same parts as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in these figures, 31 is a cover arranged at the furnace port 12 of the process tube, and 32 is a pre-plate.
The heaters 33 and 34 are N ₂ gas outlets arranged in a plurality of stages in a ring shape. As mentioned above, this second
In the vertical diffusion furnace of the embodiment, a ring-shaped N ₂ gas outlet is arranged in a plurality of stages so that the blowing direction of the N ₂ gas outlet in each stage can be adjusted.

Here, the lower N ₂ gas outlet 34
Was provided outward, here downward, and N ₂ was used as an inert gas as in the first embodiment. With this configuration, as in the first embodiment, the pre-heater 32 is turned ON / OFF at the time of loading and unloading of the boat.
Blow N ₂ gas.

Therefore, according to the second embodiment, in addition to the effects of the first embodiment, (1) at the time of loading the boat, a downward N ₂ gas blowout port 34 is provided at the lower stage as shown in FIG. The provision of the cylindrical N ₂ downflow curtain along the periphery of the boat 21 can prevent contamination from the surrounding atmosphere.

(2) Even when the boat is unloaded, contamination from the surrounding atmosphere after unloading can be prevented at the time of unloading as in the above (1). In addition, by operating only the downflow outlet 34 after unloading and blowing the boat that has been left to cool, the cooling time can be further reduced. Although the diffusion furnace has been described in the above embodiment, it is needless to say that the invention can be applied to a semiconductor processing furnace used in a semiconductor processing process, which needs to prevent entrainment and contamination of air from the surrounding atmosphere.

Further, the present invention may be applied to a horizontal furnace instead of the vertical diffusion furnace. Further, as the inert gas, N
It is not limited to _two gases. It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made based on the gist of the present invention, and these are not excluded from the scope of the present invention.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained. (1) According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to improve the throughput with a simple structure and no mechanical trouble, and to prevent entry of air at the time of loading / unloading the boat.

(2) According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the boat is loaded, the pre-heater is turned on, and the shower curtain is formed by the heated N ₂ gas. The atmosphere is blown with N ₂ gas, and as a result, it is possible to reduce the generation of an oxide film due to entry into the atmosphere. Also, by warming the N ₂ gas with the pre-heater, the atmosphere near the furnace port can be kept close to the temperature inside the process tube to some extent, so that the furnace temperature decreases when the boat is loaded. Recovery time is reduced.

(3) According to the third aspect of the present invention, a plurality of stages of pre- and
The heater can be turned ON / OFF to allow N ₂ gas to flow.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a main part of a vertical diffusion furnace showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a main part of a vertical diffusion furnace according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a vertical furnace as a conventional diffusion furnace.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Process tube 12 Furnace mouth of process tube 13, 31 Cover covering furnace mouth 14, 32 Pre-heater 15, 33, 34 N ₂ gas outlet 16 Shower curtain 17 Process gas inlet 18 Process gas outlet 21 Boat

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A semiconductor manufacturing apparatus for performing batch-type processing, comprising: (a) a pre-heater disposed near a furnace port of a processing furnace; and (b) an inert gas blowing port heatable by the pre-heater. (C) a shower curtain formed by blowing out the inert gas from the inert gas blowing port, and (d) preventing entry of air into and out of the processing furnace when the boat is loaded and unloaded. Semiconductor manufacturing equipment. 2. The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said pre-heater is turned on when said boat is loaded.
N, wherein the pre-heater is turned off when the boat is unloaded. 3. The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the inert gas outlets are arranged in a plurality of stages, and the direction of the inert gas outlets in each stage can be adjusted. Manufacturing equipment.