WO2015101253A1 - Method for controlling the temperature of a loading area below a vertical furnace during a boat descending process - Google Patents

Method for controlling the temperature of a loading area below a vertical furnace during a boat descending process Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2015101253A1
WO2015101253A1 PCT/CN2014/095309 CN2014095309W WO2015101253A1 WO 2015101253 A1 WO2015101253 A1 WO 2015101253A1 CN 2014095309 W CN2014095309 W CN 2014095309W WO 2015101253 A1 WO2015101253 A1 WO 2015101253A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
boat
descending
pedestal
loading area
inert gas
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/CN2014/095309
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English (en)
French (fr)
Inventor
Weihua Lin
Bing Wang
Original Assignee
Beijing Sevenstar Electronic Co., Ltd.
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Beijing Sevenstar Electronic Co., Ltd. filed Critical Beijing Sevenstar Electronic Co., Ltd.
Publication of WO2015101253A1 publication Critical patent/WO2015101253A1/en

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    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
    • H01L21/67005—Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
    • H01L21/67242—Apparatus for monitoring, sorting or marking
    • H01L21/67248—Temperature monitoring
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
    • H01L21/67005—Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
    • H01L21/67011—Apparatus for manufacture or treatment
    • H01L21/67098—Apparatus for thermal treatment
    • H01L21/67109—Apparatus for thermal treatment mainly by convection

Definitions

  • the present invention generally relates to the field of semiconductor manufacturing, more particularly, to a method for controlling the temperature in the loading area under the vertical furnace equipment during the boat descending process.
  • particle contamination occurred in the oxidation process mainly includes the particles brought by the process gas and the particles introduced by the mechanical operation during the substrate boat loading or unloading process. Therefore, finding out the source of the particles and taking corresponding actions to reduce the particle contamination on the substrates are important to improve the substrate quality and meet the process requirement.
  • One important substrate contamination source is caused by the particles from the loading area which adhere to the substrates during the boat unloading process.
  • the components located in the loading area will be affected by the thermal radiation from the substrates, the boat and the pedestal below the boat, and when the radiation temperature is too high, the material of these components will release particles. Such released particles will adhere to the substrates with the air circulation, which affects the substrate quality.
  • a filter in the loading area as an example, if the heat received by the filter exceeds the heat resistance point of the filter material, the filter hole will be deformed, which decreases the filtering performance, brings large particles to the substrates by the air currents, and worsens the process results.
  • the excessive temperature in the loading area during the boat unloading process also requires higher to the property of the component materials in the loading area, especially the heat resistance property.
  • the boat descends at a constant rate from the vertical furnace into the loading area to unload the substrates.
  • the heat from the boat and the pedestal cannot be fully released during the uniform boat lowering process due to the uneven heat distribution on the boat and the pedestal.
  • one solution is to use materials with high heat resistance point to form the components, another solution is to provide protective shields to the important components such as cables.
  • these two solutions both greatly increase the process or equipment expenditure.
  • an objective of the present invention is to provide a method for controlling the temperature in a loading area below a vertical furnace during a boat descending process.
  • the present invention provides a method for controlling the temperature in a loading area below a vertical furnace during a boat descending process.
  • the vertical furnace comprises a reaction chamber and a shutter through which substrates supported by the boat are loaded into the reaction chamber to be treated by an oxidation process; a pedestal is positioned below the boat for preventing heat loss during the oxidation process.
  • the method includes a pretreatment stage and a boat descending stage; wherein
  • the pretreatment stage includes: reducing the temperature in the vertical furnace and continuously supplying inert gas into the loading area to form a cooling area in the loading area;
  • the boat descending stage includes orderly performing M boat-descending steps until the boat and the pedestal are lowered to an initial position in the loading area, wherein each of the boat-descending steps enables at least part of the boat and/or the pedestal to be positioned in the cooling area; wherein in the i th boat-descending step, the boat and the pedestal are lowered for an i th boat-descending distance at an i th boat-descending speed, and are kept staying for an i th time period thereafter; wherein M is a positive integer greater than or equal to three, and i is a positive integer less than or equal to M.
  • the cooling area comprises a first cooling region with the best cooling effect among all the regions in the cooling area;
  • the boat descending stage comprises orderly performing four boat-descending steps as follows:
  • Step 01 lowering the boat and the pedestal for a first boat-descending distance from the vertical furnace at a first boat-descending speed to enable part of the pedestal to be positioned in the first cooling region, and then keeping the boat and the pedestal staying for a first time period; wherein the first time period is zero;
  • Step 02 lowering the boat and the pedestal for a second boat-descending distance at a second boat-descending speed to enable the whole pedestal to be positioned in the first cooling region, and then keeping the boat and the pedestal staying for a second time period;
  • Step 03 lowering the boat and the pedestal for a third boat-descending distance at a third boat-descending speed to enable at least part of the boat to be positioned in the first cooling region, and then keeping the boat and the pedestal staying for a third time period;
  • Step 04 lowering the boat and the pedestal at a fourth boat-descending speed to the initial position.
  • a blower continuously injecting the inert gas is installed on top of the loading area to form a high speed gas flow region in the top of the loading area as the first cooling region.
  • the pedestal is purged and cooled by the inert gas during staying in the high speed gas flow region for the second time period.
  • the boat and the pedestal are lowered for the third boat-descending distance to enable the middle part of the boat to be positioned in the high speed gas flow region; the middle and lower part of the boat as well as the substrates in the middle and lower part of the boat are purged and cooled by the inert gas in the high speed gas flow region during the lowering and staying time periods of the boat and the pedestal and
  • the upper part of the boat as well as the substrates in the upper part of the boat are purged and cooled by the inert gas in the high speed gas flow region.
  • the step of continuously injecting the inert gas into the loading area includes: turning on the blower in the loading area and supplying the inert gas to the blower.
  • the temperature in the vertical furnace is decreased to 600-650 °C
  • the flow speed of the inert gas injected by the blower is 0.3-0.5 m/s
  • the inert gas flow is 500 ⁇ 1000SLM.
  • the shutter is opened before lowering the boat and the pedestal; the method further includes the following steps after the step 04: closing the shutter; and continuing to cool the substrates in the boat in the loading area.
  • the substrates in the boat in the loading area are continued to be cooled for 20-35 minutes to 20-30 °C.
  • the first boat-descending speed is 10-15mm/min and the first boat-descending distance is10-20mm;
  • the second boat-descending speed is 100-200mm/min, the second boat-descending distance is 650-700mm and the second time period is 3-6 minutes;
  • the third boat-descending speed is 100-200mm/min
  • the second boat-descending distance is 200-250mm
  • the third time period is 4-8 minutes
  • the fourth boat-descending speed is 50-100mm/min.
  • the inert gas is high purity nitrogen.
  • the method of the present invention focuses on cooling the boat part or the pedestal part just unloaded from the vertical furnace respectively by multiple boat-descending steps, so as to overcome the defects due to the insufficient heat release during the uniform boat descending process in the prior art and remarkably decrease the temperature in the loading area, which effectively reduces the particle adhesion and prevents the contamination to the substrates. Furthermore, the method can also be combined with other solutions such as using materials with high thermal resist point in the loading area or providing protection shields. Since the method is effective, reliable, easy to implement, low-cost, and adaptable to specific situations with adjustable parameters, it can be widely applied in the semiconductor industry.
  • Fig. 1 is a flow chart illustrating the method for controlling the temperature in a loading area during a boat descending process according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
  • the present invention provides a method for controlling the temperature in a loading area below a vertical furnace during a boat descending process.
  • the vertical furnace comprises a reaction chamber and a shutter through which substrates supported by the boat are loaded into the reaction chamber to be treated by an oxidation process, a pedestal is positioned below the boat for preventing heat loss during the oxidation process.
  • the method includes a pretreatment stage and a boat descending stage.
  • the pretreatment stage includes: reducing the temperature in the vertical furnace and continuously supplying inert gas into the loading area to form a cooling area in the loading area.
  • the boat descending stage includes orderly performing M boat-descending steps until the boat and the pedestal are lowered to an initial position in the loading area, wherein each of the boat-descending steps enables at least part of the boat and/or the pedestal to be positioned in the cooling area.
  • the boat and the pedestal are lowered for an i th boat-descending distance at an i th boat-descending speed, and are kept staying for an i th time period thereafter; wherein M is a positive integer greater than or equal to three, and i is a positive integer less than or equal to M.
  • the boat descending stage includes orderly performing four boat-descending steps until the boat and the pedestal are lowered to the initial position in the loading area.
  • the loading area is provided with a blower which continuously injects the inert gas into the loading area to generate circulation gas flow, so as to form the cooling area.
  • the cooling area includes a first cooling region with the best cooling effect among all the regions in the cooling area.
  • the blower is positioned at the top of the loading area to blow horizontal gas flow, thus to divide the loading area into a high speed gas flow region formed at the top of the loading area near the shutter and a low speed gas flow region formed at the bottom of the loading area away from the shutteraccording to the gas flow rate. Since the high speed gas flow region has the best cooling effect among all the regions in the cooling area, it is defined as the first cooling region mentioned above.
  • the pretreatment process includes the following steps:
  • the boat is fully provided with 125-150 substrates, the total height of the pedestal and the boat is 1440-1500 mm.
  • the preset target temperature can be 600-650°C, such as 600°C. This is because a too low preset target temperature will cause low process efficiency while a too high preset target temperature will cause poor cooling effect for the boat and the pedestal.
  • the blower is turned on in the pretreatment stage and then keeps working during the whole boat descending stage to inject the inert gas at a preset flow rate. Since the temperature cannot be decreased rapidly if the inert gas flow rate is too low, and noises may be produced if the inert gas flow is too high, the preset flow rate should be controlled in a suitable range to maintain a relatively stable gas flow.
  • the preset flow rate is 0.3-0.5 m/s.
  • the blower works to make the inert gas circulate in the top space of the loading area at a flow rate of 0.3 m/s, thus to form the high speed gas flow region (the first cooling region) .
  • the inert gas can be nitrogen.
  • the nitrogen gas flow is 500 ⁇ 1000 SLM. Since the high speed gas flow region with nitrogen gas circulation is formed in the loading area in the pretreatment stage, impurity particles in the air will not enter the loading area to cause particle contamination source to the substrates. Furthermore, during the boat descending stage, the substrates are exposed to the nitrogen environment so as to be cooled without contamination, thereby ensuring the process quality.
  • the boat descending stage including the following steps is performed:
  • Step 01 lowering the boat and the pedestal for a first boat-descending distance from the vertical furnace at a first boat-descending speed to enable part of the pedestal to be positioned in the high speed gas flow region.
  • the shutter is opened slowly before lowering the boat and the pedestal, thus the sealed space in the reaction chamber is opened gradually without generating strong gas convection and the substrates can be supported stably by the boat.
  • the first boat-descending distance is 10mm
  • the first boat-descending speed is 10mm/min.
  • Step 02 lowering the boat and the pedestal for a second boat-descending distance at a second boat-descending speed to enable the whole pedestal to be positioned in the high speed gas flow region and then keeping the boat and the pedestal staying for a second time period, so as to accelerate cooling the pedestal.
  • the second boat-descending distance is 700mm
  • the second boat-descending speed is 100mm/min
  • the second time period is 5 minutes and 35 seconds.
  • Step 03 lowering the boat and the pedestal for a third boat-descending distance at a third boat-descending speed to enable the at least part of the boat to be positioned in the high speed gas flow region and keeping the boat and the pedestal staying for a third time period, so as to accelerate cooling the boat and the substrates; .
  • the third boat-descending distance is 250mm
  • the third boat-descending rate is 100mm/min
  • the third time period is 7 minutes and 10 seconds.
  • Step 04 lowering the boat and the pedestal at a fourth boat-descending speed to the initial position.
  • the boat-descending distance is 650mm and the fourth boat-descending rate is 50mm/min.
  • the boat and the pedestal After the boat and the pedestal reach the initial position, they can be rotated back to their original position by driving motors.
  • the inert gas circulated in the high speed gas flow region purges and cools the upper part of the boat as well as the substrates therein.
  • the method also includes the following steps:
  • the continuing cooling step helps to recover the warping deformation of the substrates due to the high temperature and prevent forming particle source caused by the friction occurred during a manipulator picking up the substrates from the boat.
  • the method is the same as the method mentioned in the first embodiment except for some parameters.
  • the flow rate of the inert gas in the loading area is 0.4m/s
  • the first boat-descending distance is 10mm
  • the first boat-descending speed is 15mm/min
  • the second boat-descending distance is 650mm
  • the second boat-descending speed is 100mm/min
  • the second time period is 3 minutes 15 seconds during which the whole pedestal just unloaded from the vertical furnace can be cooled in the high speed gas flow region
  • the third boat-descending distance is 200mm
  • the third boat-descending speed is 100 mm/min
  • the third time period is 5 minutes 25 seconds during which the middle part of the boat just unloaded from the vertical furnace is cooled in the high speed gas flow region
  • the fourth boat-descending speed is 100mm/min
  • the fourth boat-descending distance is 650mm.
  • each of the parameters aforementioned can be changed.
  • the first boat-descending speed is 10-15mm/min and the first boat-descending distance is 10-20mm
  • the second boat-descending speed is 100-200mm/min
  • the second boat-descending distance is 650-700mm and the second time period is 3-6minutes
  • the third boat-descending speed is 100-200mm/min
  • the third boat-descending distance is 200-250mm and the third time period is 4-8 minutes
  • the fourth boat-descending speed is 50-100mm/min.
  • the embodiment of the present invention can substitute or supplement the conventional temperature control method for the loading area during the boat descending process.
  • the boat descending process with multiple steps of the present invention helps to decrease the average temperature in the loading area by 10-20°C.
  • the defects due to the insufficient heat release during the uniform boat descending process in the prior art can be overcome and the particle adhesion occurred during the boat descending process can be reduced, which prevents the contamination to the substrates.
  • the method can also be combined with other solutions such as using materials with high thermal resist point in the loading area or providing protection shields.
  • the method is effective, reliable, easy to implement, low-cost, and adaptable to specific situations with adjustable parameters, it can be applied widely in the semiconductor industry.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Condensed Matter Physics & Semiconductors (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
  • Computer Hardware Design (AREA)
  • Microelectronics & Electronic Packaging (AREA)
  • Power Engineering (AREA)
  • Container, Conveyance, Adherence, Positioning, Of Wafer (AREA)
PCT/CN2014/095309 2013-12-31 2014-12-29 Method for controlling the temperature of a loading area below a vertical furnace during a boat descending process WO2015101253A1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CN201310753069.7A CN103673582B (zh) 2013-12-31 2013-12-31 立式炉设备降舟过程中控制装载区温度的方法
CN201310753069.7 2013-12-31

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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN103673582B (zh) * 2013-12-31 2016-03-02 北京七星华创电子股份有限公司 立式炉设备降舟过程中控制装载区温度的方法
CN106409731B (zh) * 2016-11-09 2019-02-01 上海华力微电子有限公司 一种炉管的氮气冷却系统及晶圆和晶舟的冷却方法

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US20120220108A1 (en) * 2011-02-28 2012-08-30 Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc. Substrate processing apparatus, and method of manufacturing substrate
CN103673582A (zh) * 2013-12-31 2014-03-26 北京七星华创电子股份有限公司 立式炉设备降舟过程中控制装载区温度的方法

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KR20040110898A (ko) * 2003-06-20 2004-12-31 주식회사 포스코 샤프트 킬른의 소성로 내 열가스 제어장치
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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JPH06267876A (ja) * 1992-10-15 1994-09-22 Internatl Business Mach Corp <Ibm> 熱処理炉
JP2007088427A (ja) * 2005-08-24 2007-04-05 Tokyo Electron Ltd コンデンサ及びその製造方法
CN101846451A (zh) * 2009-03-24 2010-09-29 台湾积体电路制造股份有限公司 用于半导体炉的可旋转可调节的加热器
US20110104879A1 (en) * 2009-10-30 2011-05-05 Hitachi-Kokusai Electric Inc. Method of manufacturing semiconductor device and substrate processing apparatus
US20120220108A1 (en) * 2011-02-28 2012-08-30 Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc. Substrate processing apparatus, and method of manufacturing substrate
CN103673582A (zh) * 2013-12-31 2014-03-26 北京七星华创电子股份有限公司 立式炉设备降舟过程中控制装载区温度的方法

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