JPS63241928A - Vertical heating apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To heat-treating wafers while upwardly or downwardly moving the wafers one by one by fixing the first transfer rods relative to the axial direction, and making the second transfer rods upwardly and downwardly movable. CONSTITUTION:Three or more first and second transfer rods 10, 11 are respectively provided extending to the up and down directions of a heating space 3. And on these transfer rods 10, 11, a plurality of wafer receivers 12, 13 are disposed along the length direction thereof at a predetermined pitch size interval, each transfer rod is made rotatable, and the second transfer rods 11 are enabled to upwardly and downwardly move relative to the other first rods 10 with a stroke equal to or larger than the predetermined pitch size. As a result, by the relative upward and downward motions of the second transfer rods and the rotational motions of both rods in synchronism therewith, it will be enabled to sequentially move a wafer W from the lower position to the upper or lower position of the heating space 3 while causing the wafer to alternately be supported by the wafer receivers 12, 13 of the respective transfer rods, and with this, it is possible to accomplish a heat treatment with wafers W being upwardly or downwardly moved one by one.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a heating device for performing heat treatment in the manufacturing process of semiconductor devices, and in particular to a vertical heating device that can continuously heat process semiconductor wafers one by one. Regarding.

[Conventional technology]

As one of the manufacturing processes of semiconductor devices, there is a process of beta-processing photoresist, polyimide resin, etc. applied to the surface of a semiconductor wafer. This beta process is usually performed by placing a semiconductor wafer in a heating device and heating it at a predetermined temperature for a predetermined period of time. This type of beta processing has so far been called a batch method, in which a plurality of semiconductor wafers are processed simultaneously. However, in this batch method, the heating furnace is heated to a predetermined temperature before processing, and then the temperature is lowered after processing, resulting in poor workability.
This is not preferable in terms of suitability for online processing of semiconductor wafers in recent years.

For this reason, a method has been proposed in which baking is performed while moving wafers one by one in a heating furnace, as described in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 52-65662. However, in this example, each semiconductor wafer is held directly opposite the conveyor called a heating table, and the heating table is sequentially moved inside the heating furnace while being pushed in a so-called "tocoro ten" direction. Further, for this heating, an induction heating method using a heating stand is used.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

Since the above-mentioned heating apparatus continuously heat-processes semiconductor wafers, it is effective in correcting the drawbacks of batch processing and bringing processing online. However, since this configuration uses a heating table to move the semiconductor wafer, there is a problem that the heat capacity of the object to be heated increases and the efficiency of induction heating is extremely low. In addition, since this structure pushes the heating table in a continuous manner, wear occurs due to mutual contact between the heating tables or between the heating table and the heating furnace, and abrasion powder is generated as foreign matter, resulting in a decrease in yield. The problem is that it can easily lead to

Furthermore, this method does not accurately process single-wafer semiconductor wafers one by one, and cannot be perfectly applied to online processing. In this case, if one semiconductor wafer is placed on each heating table for processing, there is a problem that the heat processing efficiency is further reduced due to the increase in heat capacity.

The purpose of the present invention is to heat-process semiconductor wafers one by one to make it possible to apply the processing online, to improve the heat processing efficiency, and to improve the yield by preventing the generation of foreign matter. The object of the present invention is to provide a vertical heating device that achieves the above goals.

[Means for solving problems]

The vertical heating device of the present invention has at least three m-th feed rods extending in the vertical direction within the heating space, and at least three m-th feed rods extending in the vertical direction so as to overlap in the length direction. A plurality of wafer receivers are arranged on these transport rods at predetermined pinch size intervals along their length, each transport rod is rotatable, and at least one The transport rod is configured to be able to move up and down with respect to the other transport rod with a stroke equal to or larger than the pitch dimension.

For example, it is possible to fix the first transport rod in the axial direction and to configure the second transport rod to be movable up and down.

[Effect]

One of the transport rods moves up and down relative to the other, and in synchronization with this, each transport rod is moved so that the wafer receiver is located at an inner position where it can support the wafer, or at an outer position where it does not interfere with the wafer. By rotating the axis, the wafers can be alternately supported on the wafer supports of each transport rod, and the wafer supports can be sequentially moved to the upper (or lower, hereinafter the same) position, and the wafers can be placed in the heating space. By sequentially moving the wafers from the lower position to the upper position, it is possible to heat the wafers while moving them up one by one.This enables heating with high thermal efficiency and enables online processing, while also allowing the wafers to be heated one at a time. It is possible to achieve heat treatment with a high yield by preventing the generation of foreign matter in the process.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view showing the overall configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, and here shows an example in which the present invention is applied to a heating device for betatizing photoresist coated on the surface of a semiconductor wafer.

A heating space 3 surrounded by a heat insulating material 2 is provided in a cylindrical housing 1 of the heating furnace having a required vertical length, and a heating space 3 surrounded by a heat insulating material 2 is installed in the vertical direction, and a heater, in this case a resistance heater 4, is installed around the heating space 3.
is arranged so that the heating space can be heated to a desired temperature. Further, a processing gas inlet 5 is provided in the upper part of the heating space 3, and an exhaust port 6 is provided in the lower part, whereby the heating space 3 can be set to a required gas pressure.

Further, in the heating space 3, there is disposed a transport section 7 that moves the semiconductor wafers W one by one upward while maintaining the horizontal state, and a loader section 8 is disposed below the transport section 7.
In addition, the unloader section 9 is placed in the upper position, and the heating space 3 is connected to the unloader section 9.
It is connected to a part of the

As shown in FIG. 2, the conveying section 7 includes three 1111th feeding rods 10 that protrude upward from the lower side of the heating space 3, and three 1111 feeding rods 10 that protrude downward from the upper side. The second transport rod 11 is provided. These first and second transport rods 10 and 11 extend from the loader section 8 to the unloader section 9 so as to overlap each other in the length direction, and when viewed from the plane, each rod 10
．． 11 are installed at alternate positions around the circumference. A plurality of wafer receivers 12.13 each having a predetermined pitch dimension in the axial direction are integrally formed on the first and second transport rods 10.11. These wafer receivers 12 and 13 are
As will be described later, when the axis is rotated toward the center (inward), the three rods of each of the first and second transport rods form a set and these wafer receivers move the semiconductor wafer W at three locations around its circumference. This is for supporting the wafer substantially horizontally.

A first transport rod drive section 14 and a second transport rod drive section 15 are disposed at the lower and upper parts of the housing 1, respectively,
The first transport rod drive unit 14 rotates the first transport rods 10, and the 2111th transport rod drive unit 15 rotates and moves the second transport rod 11.

For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the second transport rod drive unit I5 has a rotary motor 16 as a drive source, and includes a disk 17 rotated by the motor 16 and an upper end of each of the second transport rods 11. The cams 18, which are spline-coupled to each other, are connected by a link 19, and the rotation of the motor 16 causes the cams 18, that is, each transport rod 1, to pivot, and the wafer receiver 13 is moved to an inner position and an outer position (from the tangential direction). can be selectively rotated to an outer position). Further, the upper end of each transport rod 11 is rotatably supported by a movable plate 20, and a cam 21 which is rotated in the vertical direction is provided on the lower surface of this movable plate 20, and this cam 2I is connected to a separate rotary motor. 22 to rotate each transport rod 11.
can be moved up and down at the same time with the required stroke. This stroke is set to be larger than at least the arrangement pitch dimension of the wafer receivers 12, 13, as will be described later.

Further, although detailed illustration is omitted, the first transport rod driving section 14 simply rotates each rod 10 to move the wafer receiver 1
The rotary motor 161 in the second transport rod drive section 15
Disc 17. Only a rotary motor 231, a disk 24, a cam 25, and a link 26 corresponding to the cam 18 and link 19 are provided. In this case, the cams 25 are directly attached to each rod 10, respectively.

On the other hand, the loader section 8 is provided with an opening/closing lid 27 for sealing the heating space 3, and is provided with a transport arm 28 which can move in the horizontal direction to move in and out of the heating space 3 when the opening/closing M27 is opened. This transfer arm 28 has a semiconductor wafer W at its tip.
The semiconductor wafer W transported from the photoresist coating station (not shown) can be supported almost horizontally in the heating section 3.
It can be transferred to the 28th feeding rod 11. Further, the unloader section 9 has substantially the same configuration as the loader section 8, and here, the transfer arm 29 transfers the semiconductor wafer W horizontally from the second vi transfer rod 11 when the opening/closing lid 30 is open. is transported to the next station (not shown), for example, an exposure station.

Next, the heat treatment effect of the heating device having the above configuration will be explained.

First, when the transfer arm 28 in the loader section 8 transfers the semiconductor wafer W to the lower part of the heating space 3, the 219th transfer rod drive section 15 is driven in synchronization with this, and moves the second transfer rod 11 downward. let Then, when the lowermost wafer receiver 13 is positioned below the semiconductor wafer W, the second transfer port/nod 11 is rotated. As a result, each wafer receiver 13 of the three second transport rods 11 can hold a semiconductor wafer W.
It is rotated to the lower side. In this state, when the second transport rod 11 is moved upward, each wafer receiver 13 scoops up the semiconductor wafer W at three locations on the circumference and supports it.

While in this state, move the second transport rod 11 further up,
It stops at a height exceeding the lowermost wafer receiver 12 of the 18th feeding rod 10.

Then, the second transport rod 10 is rotated, and each wafer receiver 12, which had been directed outward, is now directed inward. In this state, when the second transfer loft 11 moves downward and attempts to move below the wafer receiver 12 of the first transfer rod 10, the semiconductor wafer W is moved from the wafer receiver 13 of the second transfer rod 11 to the second transfer loft 11 on the way. The wafer is transferred to the wafer receiver 12 of the 1 transport rod lO. After that, the second transport rod 1
1 is rotated so that the wafer receiver 13 is oriented tangentially.

The second v&feed rod 11 is further moved down. At this position, the wafer receiver 13 waits again with its axis rotated inwardly, and when the next semiconductor wafer is transferred from the loader section 8, it moves upward again, and at this time, the lowermost wafer receiver 13 The semiconductor wafer is scooped out and supported in the same manner as described above.

At this time, the semiconductor wafer W is transferred to the second transport rod 11
The wafer is similarly scooped up by the second wafer receiver 13 from the bottom. After this scooping, the 18th feeding rod 10
rotates the wafer receiver 12 outward so as not to obstruct the upward movement of the semiconductor wafer W, thereby allowing the semiconductor wafer W to move upward.

3(a) and 3(b) show a state in which the second transport rod 11 supports the semiconductor wafer while moving above the first transport rod 10, and FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b)
1 shows a state in which the second transport rod 11 moves downward and the first transport rod 10 supports the semiconductor wafer.

Further, FIG. 5 shows a timing diagram of the vertical movement of the second transport rod 11 and the axis rotation of both transport rods 10 and 11. In the figure, at point A, the second conveyor rod 11
The wafer receiver 13 scoops up the semiconductor wafer, and at point B, the semiconductor wafer is supported by the wafer receiver 12 on the upper side of the first transport rod 10.

Thereafter, by repeating this operation, the semiconductor wafer W
are placed alternately on each wafer receiver 12.13 of the second transport rod 11 and the first transport rod 10, while gradually
It is moved upward by the transport rod 11. During this movement, heating treatment is performed using a heater.

Then, the semiconductor wafer W that has been moved to the uppermost position is taken out of the heating apparatus by the transfer arm at the unloader section 9.

Therefore, this heating device performs heat treatment while moving only the semiconductor wafers W upward one by one, eliminating the need for a heating table, reducing heat capacity, and performing heating with high thermal efficiency. It is possible to go online. In addition, when operating on this semiconductor wafer,
Since the semiconductor wafer is transferred while being scooped up by the wafer receivers 12 and 13 of the first transfer rod 10 and the second transfer loft 11, there are no worn parts in the heating device and almost no foreign matter is generated. , processing with high yield can be realized.

Here, in the present invention, the first
The transport rod may be configured to be movable up and down, or both transport rods may be configured to be movable up and down, respectively.

Further, the number of each transport rod may be four or more as long as the structure can stably support the wafer. Furthermore, various configurations other than the above-mentioned embodiments can be applied to the configuration of the conveying rod drive unit that performs these vertical movements and rotations. Also, the drive section is the first one. Second
Both the transport rods may be arranged on the upper side or the lower side.

It should be noted that the present invention can be applied not only to the beta treatment of the above embodiment, but also to various vertical heating devices.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, the present invention provides three or more transport rods extending vertically in a heating space, and wafer receivers are arranged on these transport rods at predetermined pitch intervals along their length. In addition to arranging a plurality of conveyor rods, each conveyor rod is rotatable, and at least one of the conveyor rods is configured to be able to move up and down relative to the other conveyor rod with a stroke equal to or greater than the pinch dimension. By the relative vertical movement of the transport rod and the axial rotation of both rods in synchronization with this, the wafers are alternately supported on the wafer supports of each transport rod, and the wafers are moved from the lower position of the heating space to the upper or lower position. This makes it possible to perform heating treatment while moving the wafers up or down one by one, and to perform heating with high thermal efficiency, as well as to enable online processing. This has the effect of preventing the generation of foreign matter within the process and realizing heat treatment with a high yield.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of the overall configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the second transport rod drive section, and FIG.
a) and (b) are a partial plan view and a front view for explaining the action, FIGS. 4(a) and (b) are a partial plan view and a front view for explaining the action, Figure 5 is 1. FIG. 6 is a timing diagram of the operation of the second conveyance rod. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Housing, 2... Ur heat material, 3... Heating space, 4... Heater, 5... Gas inlet, 6...
Exhaust port, 7... Conveyance section, 8... Loader section, 9...
Unloader section, 10...18th feed rod, 11...
Second transport rod, 12° 13... Wafer receiver, 14.
...First transport rod drive section, 15...Second transport rod drive section, 16...Motor, 17...Disc, 18...
・Cam, 19... Link, 20... Movable plate, 21.
...Cam, 22...Motor, 23...Motor, 24
...disc, 25...cam, 26...link, 27
... Opening/closing lid, 28... Transfer arm, 29... Transfer arm, 30... Opening/closing lid, W... Wafer. Agent Patent Attorney Masaru Ogawa He/Pa Figure 1 1 Haunshi 2-6: jA Terminal
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Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A heating space is formed in which a loader section is disposed on one of the lower side or the upper side, and an unloader section is disposed on the other side, and a heater is arranged around the circumference. at least 3
A first book carrying rod is extended, and at least three second carrying rods are arranged vertically so as to overlap with the first carrying rod in the length direction, and these first and second carrying rods are connected to each other. A plurality of wafer supports are arranged at predetermined pitch intervals along the length of the wafer to support the periphery of the wafer when rotated inward, and these wafer supports are selectively positioned inward and outward. A vertical heating device characterized in that each of the conveying rods is rotatable, and furthermore, at least one of the conveying rods is configured to be able to move up and down with a stroke equal to or larger than the pitch dimension with respect to the other conveying rod. 2. The vertical heating device according to claim 1, wherein the first conveying rod is fixed in the axial direction and the second conveying rod is movable up and down. 3. The vertical heating device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first and second transport rods are overlapped in the length direction at least between the loader section and the unloader section.