JPS6298617A - Processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To allow the use of a soft landing type boat loader even under the condition in which an adhering phenomenon is generated by a reaction product by a method wherein the material to be treated is processed in a processing tube in the state wherein the material to be treated is supported by a fork. CONSTITUTION:The use of a soft landing type boat loader is made possible by performing a treatment on a wafer while a boat is being supported by a fork having a protrusion. To be more precise, the boat 7 is supported by the retaining part 15 of a fork 14, and the fork 14 becomes the material to which the boat 7 is adhered by the use of a reaction product, instead of a processing tube 1. Accordingly, as the scooping up operation of the adhered boat 7 by the fork 14, to be performed after a treatment has been performed on a wafer, is not required the trouble such as the bending of the fork 14 caused by the adhesion generated when the boat 7 is lifted up and the damage of the processing tube 1 and the like can be prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field] The present invention relates to a processing technology, particularly a technology for loading and unloading a workpiece into and out of a process tube using a soft land ink type port loader, for example, in the manufacture of semiconductor devices.
This invention relates to a technique that is effective when used to diffuse impurities such as phosphorus into wafers.

[Background technology]

In semiconductor device manufacturing, a diffusion device is used to diffuse impurities into wafers. Multiple wafers are housed in a jig called a port, and this boat is placed on a fork so that it does not touch the process tube. Some products are configured to prevent dust generation by conveying the material using a soft land ink.

However, in such a diffusion device, when performing phosphorus diffusion treatment, the reaction product causes the boat to adhere to the process tube, and the processing temperature is high and the fork easily bends, so the phosphorus diffusion treatment is difficult. The inventor of the present invention has revealed that there is a problem in that it cannot be used for processing.

Incidentally, as an example of the diffusion technique, a stock percentage formula % is used. [Object of the Invention] An object of the present invention is to provide a processing technique that can perform soft land ink in any case.

The above and other objects and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the description of this specification and the accompanying drawings.

[Summary of the invention]

To briefly explain the outline of a representative invention among the inventions disclosed in this application, a protrusion is provided on the lower surface of the tip of the fork in a soft land ink type port loader as follows, and the fork is The workpiece is carried into the process tube while being supported, and
By subjecting it to the treatment as it is, the bending of the fork under high temperatures is supported by the process tube through the protrusions, and the small area of contact by the protrusions suppresses adhesion caused by reaction products, thereby making the soft land ink It is designed so that a type boat loader can be used.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view showing a diffusion device as an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a partially omitted enlarged partial cross-sectional view taken along the line n--■ in FIG. 1.

In this embodiment, this diffusion device includes a process tube 1 formed of quartz glass or the like into a substantially cylindrical shape, and an internal chamber of this process tube 1 substantially forms a processing chamber 2. A heater 3 is installed outside the process tube 1, and the heater 3 is connected to a controller (
(not shown) to heat the processing chamber 2. One end of the process tube 1 is provided with a supply port 4 for introducing a processing gas such as phosphorus, boron, oxygen, nitrogen, etc., and the other end of the process tube I is provided with a wafer as an object to be processed. A furnace mouth 5 is provided as an opening for taking in and taking out the furnace. A plurality of wafers 6 are held in a boat 7 made of quartz glass or the like, erected substantially vertically so as to be parallel to each other.

In front of the process tube 1 is a soft land ink type boat loader 10 (hereinafter referred to as a loader).

), and this loader lO is equipped with an elevating mechanism 11, a guide stand 12 that is raised and lowered approximately horizontally by the elevating mechanism, and a suitable drive device i! (not shown), and a fork 14 supported by a cantilever on the moving table. The fork 14 is formed of quartz glass or the like into a substantially cylindrical shape with a diameter smaller than that of the process tube l, and at the tip of the fork 14, a holding part 15 formed by cutting off the upper side of the cylinder holds the wafer 6. It is formed so that it can support the boat 7 placed thereon.

On the lower surface of the holding portion 15 of the fork 14, a plurality of protrusions 16 are arranged at appropriate locations and protrude at approximately the same height so as to support the load approximately evenly. It is formed into a hemispherical shape. A cap 17 is slidably inserted into the middle part of the fork 14, and the cap 17 is formed so as to be able to close the furnace opening 5 of the process tube I.

Next, the effect will be explained.

In the boat 7 holding a plurality of wafers 6 as objects to be processed, when the fork 14 is pulled out from the process tube l, the boat 7 holds a holding part 15 formed at the tip thereof.
$1 is placed on top.

When the boat 7 is placed, the fork 14 is moved from the furnace opening 5 of the process tube l to the processing chamber 2 by the advancement of the moving table I3.
It is inserted inside. At this time, the fork I4 is inserted and moved so that its lower surface does not come into contact with the bottom surface of the processing chamber 2, so that the reaction products deposited on the bottom surface of the processing chamber 2 are peeled off and dust is generated. There's no way I'll let you do that.

When the boat 7 on the holding part 15 reaches a predetermined position approximately in the center of the processing chamber 2, the fork 14 stops its insertion movement and is lowered slightly by the lifting mechanism 11.

The fork 14 is maintained cantilevered by the moving table 13 while the boat 7 is carried into the processing chamber 2. At this time, the protrusion 1 formed on the lower surface of the holding part 1
The sixth group is in a state of being close to or lightly abutting the bottom surface of the processing chamber 2.

When the furnace opening 5 of the process tube 1 is closed with the cap 17 and the processing chamber 2 is heated to a predetermined temperature,
A processing gas such as phosphorus is introduced into the processing chamber 2 through the supply port 4 . The introduced processing gas contacts the group of wafers 6 held in the boat 7 to perform a predetermined diffusion process.

When the predetermined process is completed, the fork 14 is raised slightly, and then is pulled out from the furnace opening 5 of the process tube 1 as the moving table 13 retreats. At this time, as in the above case, a so-called soft landing is performed, so that sitting is prevented.

Thereafter, the boat 7 is lowered from the holding part 15 of the fork 14 outside the process tube 1.

By the way, when phosphorus is used as the processing gas, if the boat is supported on the bottom of the processing chamber, reaction products will adhere to the contact area between the boat and the bottom of the processing chamber, causing the two to adhere. It becomes difficult to scoop up the boat with the fork of the soft land ink type boat loader, and if you try to lift it by force,
The adhesive force and the high temperature of the phosphorus treatment can cause the fork to warp or cause scratches on the boat or process tube.

For this reason, it is considered inappropriate to use a soft land ink type boat loader in processes where reactants are generated, such as phosphorus diffusion process, or in high-temperature processes.

However, in this embodiment, the wafers are processed while the boat is supported by a fork having protrusions, thereby realizing the use of a soft land ink type boat loader.

That is, since the boat 7 is supported by the holding portion 15 of the fork 14, the object to which the boat 7 is adhered by the reaction product is the fork 14, not the process tube 1. Therefore, after treatment, the glued boat 7
Since there is no need for the fork to be scooped up by the fork 14, accidents such as the fork 14 being bent or the process tube 1 being damaged due to the drag caused by the adhesive when lifting the boat 7 can be avoided.

Even if the fork 14 is bent due to high temperature and the 4:1 weight of the boat 7, the holding part 1 of the fork 14
Since a plurality of protrusions 16 are provided on the lower surface of the fork 5, the fork 14 only contacts the bottom surface of the processing chamber 2 at these protrusions 16. As a result, adhesion due to reaction products adhesion occurs in a small area. Fork 14
When the fork 14 is raised, it is peeled off with a small force, and there is no risk of the fork 14 being bent or the process tube l being damaged by In.

Incidentally, the boat 7 glued to the fork 14 is peeled off after being carried out from the process tube 1, but since the peeling work is performed outside the process tube 1, the fork 14 and the boat 7 can be separated without making ti(J%). It can be peeled off and has good workability.

Although the invention made by the present inventor has been specifically explained above based on Examples, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the Examples and can be modified in various ways without departing from the gist thereof. Nor.

For example, the fork is not limited to being configured to support the workpiece via a jig, but may be configured to directly support the workpiece.

〔effect〕

(1) By allowing the workpiece to be processed while being supported by a fork in the process tube,
Since the object to be treated can be prevented from adhering to the process tube, accidents such as bending or damage of the process tube due to the drag force caused by adhesion can be prevented, and reaction products can be prevented from adhering to the process tube. The soft land ink type boat loader can be used even under conditions where adhesion occurs due to (2)
By providing a protrusion on the lower surface of the tip of the fork, the deflection of the fork can be received by the protrusion, so that adhesion of the fork by reaction products can be suppressed to a minimum area.

(3) By using a soft land ink type boat loader, it is possible to prevent dust generation when one person carries out the workpiece, thereby improving yield and promoting automation. .

(4) By eliminating the work of opening the furnace mouth and applying impact to the boat to peel off the bonded parts of the boat, it is possible to reduce the number of work hours and improve the throughput, as well as increase work safety. [Field of Application] The above explanation will mainly focus on the invention made by the present inventor and its field of application, which is diffusion. Although the case where it is applied to an apparatus has been described, the present invention is not limited thereto, and can be applied to a low pressure CVD apparatus, an annealing apparatus, and other processing apparatuses in general.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a reduced sectional view showing a diffusion device as an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a partially omitted enlarged partial sectional view taken along line nn in FIG. 1. l...process tube, 2...processing chamber, 3...
Heater, 4... Gas supply port, 5... Furnace port, 6...
Wafer (workpiece), 7...Boat (jig), 1o.
...Soft land ink type boat loader, 11... Lifting mechanism, 12... Guide stand, 13... Moving stand, 14
...Fork, 15... Holding part, 16... Protrusion,
I7... Cap. Engraving of the drawings (no changes to the contents) Figure 1/θ Figure 2 Procedural amendment (method) February 14, 1939

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. The fork of the soft land ink type boat loader is provided with a protrusion on the lower surface of its tip, and
A processing device configured to carry a workpiece into a process tube while the fork supports the workpiece, and allow the workpiece to be processed as it is. 2. The processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the fork is configured to support a plurality of workpieces accommodated in a jig. 3. The processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the fork is provided with a cap that closes the inlet of the process tube. 4. The processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the fork is maintained such that the protrusion is close to or lightly abuts the bottom surface of the process tube during processing.