JPS6381920A - Processing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To perform safe processing without scattering a processing fluid outside, by drawing a processing chamber outside a heating means while maintaining its inside atmosphere of the processing fluid, and by heating the processing chamber and replacing the inside atmosphere by an inactive gas and thereafter carrying out a material to be processed. CONSTITUTION:Inside a processing chamber 2, a plurality of semiconductor wafers and the like are annealed at a prescribed temperature under an atmosphere of a processing fluid 5 such as a hydrogen gas. while the atmosphere of the processing fluid 5 such as the hydrogen gas inside the processing chamber 2 and the enclosed state of the chamber are maintained after a prescribed time, the processing chamber 2 and a carrier jig 7 are unitedly moved down and drawn outside a heating means 1. After a temperature of the processing chamber 2 is lowered to a prescribed value, an inactive gas or the like is supplied through a gas nozzle 3 and the atmosphere inside the processing chamber 2 is replaced by the inactive gas. Thereafter, only the processing chamber 2 is moved up inside the heating means 1 and released from the heating means 1, so that the material to be processed 8 is carried out.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a processing technology, and particularly to a technology that is effective when applied to annealing using a diffusion device in a wafer processing step in the manufacture of semiconductor devices.

[Conventional technology]

For annealing semiconductor wafers using a diffusion device,
Kogyo Asakai Co., Ltd., published November 15, 1982, “
Electronic materials j November 1983 issue, P75-P79
It is described in.

The outline is that a processing chamber made of a quartz tube or the like is fixed inside a cylindrical heater, and a plurality of semiconductor wafers held in a quartz jig, etc. The annealing is performed under a predetermined gas atmosphere and temperature within a sealed processing chamber.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, annealing using a diffusion device with the above structure is performed for the purpose of, for example, stabilizing the interface state density at the boundary between the gate insulating film and the semiconductor substrate of a semiconductor element with an MO3 structure. When the semiconductor wafer is required to maintain a hydrogen gas atmosphere from a high annealing temperature to a relatively low temperature, such as during annealing in a hydrogen gas atmosphere, the open end of the processing chamber is used to transport the semiconductor wafer outside. It is necessary to continue supplying hydrogen gas into the processing chamber even when the processing chamber is opened, and it is not possible to recover the hydrogen gas that flows out from the open end of the processing chamber.
The inventor has discovered that there are problems such as being dangerous.

An object of the present invention is to provide a processing technique that can prevent processing fluid from dissipating to the outside of a processing chamber and safely perform processing.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a processing technique that can obtain good processing results.

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.

[Means for solving problems]

A brief overview of typical inventions disclosed in this application is as follows.

In other words, it is a processing device that performs a predetermined process by injecting a processed material into a processing chamber heated to a predetermined temperature by a heating means and supplying a processing fluid, and also serves as a processing chamber and a lid for this processing chamber. Processing accompanying the loading and unloading of the workpiece held in the transport jig, with the workpiece transport jig movable relative to the heating means and the processing chamber pulled out to the outside of the heating means. This allows the room to be opened and closed.

[Effect]

According to the above-mentioned means, for example, in a process where the object to be processed is required to be maintained in the processing fluid atmosphere from a high processing temperature to a relatively low temperature, the internal processing fluid atmosphere can be maintained. By pulling the processing chamber out of the heating means and cooling it, replacing it with inert gas, etc., and then carrying out the processing object, processing can be carried out safely without dissipating the processing fluid to the outside. Can be done.

Furthermore, entrainment of outside air when opening and closing the processing chamber is prevented, making it possible to stabilize the processing fluid atmosphere and obtaining good processing results.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the main parts of a processing device that is an embodiment of the present invention.

Inside the cylindrical heating means 1 whose axis is in a substantially vertical direction,
A processing chamber 2 made of a quartz tube or the like is inserted in the axial direction, and the interior thereof is heated to a predetermined temperature.

A tubular heat equalizer 1a is interposed between the heating means 1 and the processing chamber 2, and the structure is such that each part of the processing chamber 2 is uniformly heated by radiant heat from the heating means 1. There is.

The upper end of the processing chamber 2 is closed and the lower end is open, forming an entrance/exit 2a.

A gas nozzle 3 is connected around this entrance/exit 2a and extends along the inner wall surface of the processing chamber 2 so that its tip end opens inside the closed upper end of the processing chamber 2.

Furthermore, an exhaust port 4 that opens in the radial direction is formed around the entrance/exit 2a.

Then, with the inlet/outlet 2a closed, exhaust is exhausted through the exhaust port 4, and a processing fluid 5 such as hydrogen gas is supplied through the gas nozzle 3, so that the processing fluid flows from the closed upper end to the lower end of the inlet/outlet 2a. 5 is circulated, and the inside of the processing chamber 2 is made into an atmosphere of the processing fluid 5.

Further, below the processing chamber 2, there is a transport table 7a which is raised and lowered relative to the processing chamber 2 and the heating means 1 by an elevating shaft 6, and which also serves as a lid for the entrance/exit 2a of the processing chamber 2, and this transport table. A conveying jig 7 is provided which includes a plurality of holding pieces 7b fixed to the center of the carrier 7a.

Grooves (not shown) are cut in the plurality of holding pieces 7b of the transport jig 7 at predetermined intervals in the height direction, and peripheral parts of the objects to be processed 80, such as a plurality of semiconductor wafers, can be freely attached to and detached from these grooves. By fitting them together, a plurality of objects 8 to be processed are held substantially horizontally at predetermined intervals in the axial direction of the processing chamber 2.

Then, by raising the transport jig 7, the holding piece 7b holding the plurality of objects 8 to be processed is inserted into the processing chamber 2 through the entrance/exit 2a in the axial direction, and the transport table 7a
to close the entrance/exit 2a of the processing chamber 2 and position the plurality of objects to be processed 8 held by the holding pieces 7b inside the processing chamber 2 at a predetermined temperature and under the atmosphere of the processing fluid 5 for a predetermined time. Accordingly, for example, annealing is performed in an atmosphere of the processing fluid 5.

In this case, the lower end of the processing chamber 2 is supported by an elevating stage 9, and the elevating stage 9 is further screwed into a plurality of feed screws 10 arranged in parallel in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the paper.

Then, by appropriately rotating the plurality of feed screws 10 in a predetermined direction by a motor (not shown) or the like, the elevating stage 9 is moved up and down, and the processing chamber 2 whose lower end is supported by the elevating stage 9 is moved as described above. It is structured so that it moves in and out of the heating means 1 relatively independently or in synchronization with the raising and lowering movement of the conveying jig 7.

The operation of this embodiment will be explained below.

First, the processing chamber 2 is inserted into the heating means 1, and the transport jig 7 is lowered below the processing chamber 2, that is, to the outside of the heating means 1.

In this state, a plurality of objects 8 to be processed, such as semiconductor wafers, are set on the holding piece 7b of the transport jig 7 from the outside.

Thereafter, by rotating the feed screw lO in a predetermined direction, the processing chamber 2 supported by the elevating stage 9 is lowered to the outside of the heating means 1, and the transport jig 7 is held outside the heating means 1. A plurality of objects to be processed 8 held by the pieces 7b are inserted relatively in the internal axial direction of the processing chamber 2, and
The entrance/exit 2a is closed by the transport table 7a, and the processing chamber 2 is brought into a sealed state.

Furthermore, after the inside of the sealed processing chamber 2 is replaced with inert gas etc. supplied through the gas nozzle 3,
The processing chamber 2 and the transport jig 7 are integrally lifted into the heating means 1, and the objects 8 to be processed, such as a plurality of semiconductor wafers, housed inside the processing chamber 2 are brought to a predetermined temperature by the heating means 1. is heated to.

Next, the inside of the processing chamber 2 is exhausted through the exhaust port 4, and a processing fluid 5 such as hydrogen gas is supplied through the gas nozzle 3. Annealing is performed on semiconductor wafers, etc.

At this time, the processing fluid 5 such as hydrogen gas discharged through the exhaust port 4 is guided to a gas processing mechanism (not shown) and is safely processed by being combusted or the like.

After a predetermined period of time has elapsed, the processing chamber 2 and the transport jig 7 are lowered together while maintaining the atmosphere of the processing fluid 5 such as hydrogen gas inside the processing chamber 2 and the sealed state. 1.

After the temperature of the processing chamber 2 falls to a predetermined value, an inert gas or the like is supplied from the gas nozzle 3 to replace the atmosphere of the processing fluid 5 inside the processing chamber 2 with an inert gas.

Thereafter, by raising only the processing chamber 2 into the heating means 1, the processing chamber 2 was opened outside the heating means 1, and the objects 8 to be processed, such as a plurality of annealed semiconductor wafers, were taken out. state, and the work of replacing the unprocessed object 8 with the unprocessed object 8 is performed.

Note that in the above description, the object to be processed 8 such as a semiconductor wafer is
Although we have explained the case where annealing is performed on the material, by appropriately selecting the processing fluid 5, heating temperature, etc., it is possible to form an oxide film or to form a thin film made of a predetermined material by chemical vapor deposition. It goes without saying that there is.

In this way, the following effects can be obtained in this embodiment.

(1) The processing chamber 2 and the holding piece 7a that holds the object to be processed 8
and a transport platform 7a that also serves as a lid for the entrance/exit 2a of the processing chamber 2.
A transport jig 7 for loading and unloading the workpiece 8 into and out of the processing chamber 2 is movable relative to the heating means 1, and Since the opening/closing operation of the entrance/exit 2a accompanying the loading and unloading of the processing object 8 is performed outside the heating means 1, for example, the M of a semiconductor element formed on a semiconductor wafer is
Semiconductor wafers are brought to a relatively low temperature from a high annealing temperature, such as during annealing in a hydrogen gas atmosphere, which is performed for the purpose of stabilizing the interface state density at the boundary between an O8 structure gate insulating film and a semiconductor substrate. Because it is necessary to maintain a hydrogen gas atmosphere until Processing such as annealing can be safely performed in an atmosphere of processing fluid 5 such as hydrogen gas without causing any problems.

(2) As a result of (1) above, it is possible to avoid entrainment of outside air when carrying in and out of the processing chamber 2 the object to be processed 8, and the atmosphere inside the processing chamber 2 can be stabilized, which is favorable. It is possible to obtain excellent annealing results.

(3) As a result of (1) and (2) above, productivity in the wafer processing process involved in manufacturing semiconductor devices is improved.

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 entire apparatus may have a structure inverted (furthermore, the direction of movement of the processing chamber and the transport jig relative to the heating means may be horizontal).

In the above explanation, the invention made by the present inventor is mainly applied to the field of application of semiconductor wafers, which is the background of the invention, but the invention is not limited to this, and the invention is not limited to this. It can be widely applied to the processing performed under the

[Effects of the Invention] The effects obtained by typical inventions disclosed in this application are briefly described below.

That is, it is a processing apparatus in which a processing object is placed in a processing chamber heated to a predetermined temperature by a heating means, and a processing fluid is supplied to perform a predetermined processing, the processing apparatus including the processing chamber and the lid of the processing chamber. A conveying jig for the object to be processed, which also serves as Since the processing chamber is opened and closed as the workpiece is brought in and taken out, for example, processing requires that the workpiece be maintained in a processing fluid atmosphere from a high processing temperature to a relatively low temperature. In such cases, the processing chamber is pulled out to the outside of the heating means while maintaining the internal processing fluid atmosphere, and after cooling, the processing chamber is replaced with inert gas, etc., and then the processing fluid is transferred to the outside by carrying out the workpiece. Processing can be carried out safely without dissipation.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the main parts of a processing device that is an embodiment of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Heating means, la... Soaking body, 2... Processing chamber, 3... Gas nozzle, 4... Exhaust port, 5... Processing fluid, 6... Lifting shaft, 7 ...transport jig, 7a...
Transport table, 7b... Holding piece, 8... Workpiece, 9...
・Elevating stage, 10... ・Feed screw.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A processing apparatus that performs a predetermined process by positioning an object to be processed in a processing chamber heated to a predetermined temperature by a heating means and supplying a processing fluid, the processing apparatus comprising: The conveyance jig for the object to be processed, which also serves as a lid of the processing chamber, is made movable relative to the heating means, and the conveyance jig is moved in a state in which the processing chamber is pulled out of the heating means. A processing apparatus characterized in that opening and closing operations of the processing chamber are performed in conjunction with carrying in and out of the processing object held by a tool. 2. The heating means is arranged with its axis vertical, and by moving the processing chamber and the transport jig up and down relative to the heating means, insertion and removal of the processing chamber into and out of the heating means can be carried out. 2. The processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the object to be processed held by the transport jig is carried into and out of the processing chamber. 3. The processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the object to be processed and the processing fluid are a semiconductor wafer and hydrogen gas, respectively, and the processing is annealing in a hydrogen gas atmosphere.