JPH0783002B2 - Semiconductor heat treatment equipment - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a semiconductor heat treatment apparatus used when heat-treating a wafer or the like for manufacturing a semiconductor.

Conventional technology and its problems When loading a boat with a wafer on the process tube of a semiconductor heat treatment equipment, put the boat on a cantilever paddle and insert it into the process tube to prevent dust from being generated due to friction. is doing. In this way, the boat can be loaded without contacting the process tube, but during the loading, air flows in through the opening of the process tube.
Therefore, the oxide film thickness varies. Further, there is a problem that a buffer zone is required because of large heat dissipation.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems and to provide a semiconductor heat treatment apparatus in which less air flows during loading and less heat dissipation.

Means for Solving the Problems The semiconductor heat treatment apparatus according to the present invention has a small gap inside the opening of the process tube that allows the paddle, the boat on the paddle, and the object to be heat-treated on the boat to pass therethrough. A structure is provided, and the handle of the paddle has a structure whose cross-sectional profile is almost the same as the profile of the paddle, the boat, and the object to be heat-treated and which is located inside the structure inside the opening of the process tube during loading. A purge gas outlet is provided on the inner surface of the structure inside the opening of the process tube, a heat insulating part is provided at the structure inside the opening of the process tube, and the structure of the handle of the paddle is provided. The heat insulating portion located inside the heat insulating portion inside the opening of the process tube when the loading is completed is provided in the object portion. .

Example The drawing shows a part of a semiconductor heat treatment apparatus, in which a quartz process tube (10), a heater (11) arranged around the process tube (10), and a large number of wafers (12) are mounted. A cantilever type paddle (14) for loading the boat (13), a carriage (15) for taking the paddle (14) in and out of the process tube (10), and the like.

The paddle (14) is made of quartz or silicon carbide and fixed to the carriage (15) and extends to the process tube (10) side, and the boat (13) is placed on the tip side thereof, that is, the process tube (10) side. . A shield lid (16) having an outside diameter slightly larger than that of the process tube (10) is fixed to the base end of the paddle (14), and the handle (14) on the base end side is fixed.
In a), a furnace atmosphere rectifying structure (17) is provided whose cross-sectional profile is almost the same as the profile of the paddle (14), the boat (13) and the wafer (12) combined. This structure (17)
Has a hollow shape, and a heat insulating material (18) is filled in the compartment at the center in the longitudinal direction.

Inside the opening (10a) of the process tube (10), a small gap through which the paddle (14), the boat (13) and the wafer (12) and the structure (17) of the paddle (14) can pass. An annular heat insulating structure (19) and a purging structure (20) are provided in this order from the back side. The heat insulating structure (19) has a hollow shape and is filled with a heat insulating material (21). The purging structure (20) is also hollow, the purging atmosphere introduction port (22) is provided on the outer surface on one side, the purging atmosphere outlet (23) is provided on the inner surface, and the furnace atmosphere is on the opposite inner surface. Outlet (24)
However, the atmosphere exhaust ports (25) are provided on the outer surface, respectively. Further, a baffle plate (26) is provided between the heat insulating structure (19) and the purging structure (20), and a part of the baffle plate protrudes slightly inward from the structure (19) (20) to allow paddle The gaps between the boat (13), the boat (13) and the wafer (12), and the paddle (14) and the structure (17) are further reduced. A heater / furnace heat insulating material (27) is provided outside the process tube (10) in the heat insulating structure (19).

The in-furnace atmosphere rectifying structure (17) is positioned inside the heat insulating structure (19) and the purging structure (20) at the time of loading. The heat insulating material (18) in the furnace atmosphere rectifying structure (17) is positioned inside the heat insulating material (21) in the heat insulating structure (19) when the loading is completed.

In the above semiconductor heat treatment apparatus, when loading the boat (13), the carriage (15) is moved to the process tube (10) side and inserted into the process tube (10).

Next, an operation at the time of loading will be described with reference to FIGS.

First, as shown in FIG. 5, before the paddle (14) is inserted into the process tube (10), the purge gas blown out from the blowout port (23) of the purge structure (20) and the baffle plate. Due to the effect of (26), the amount of air sucked into the process tube (10) is small. At this time, in the conventional case, a large amount of air flows into the process tube through the opening.

As shown in FIG. 6, when the boat (13) and the wafer (12) on the paddle (14) try to enter the process tube (10), the gap between them and the structure (20) is small, The inside of the process tube (10) is filled with the purging gas without sucking air. Further, as shown in FIG. 7, while the boat (13) and the wafer (12) are passing through the inside of the purging structure (20) into the process tube (10), the blowout port (23) is provided. The purging gas blown out from the chamber expels the air between the wafers (12) and discharges it out of the process tube (10).

As shown in FIG. 8, when the boat (13) and wafer (12) parts enter the heating part of the process tube (10), they are inside the structures (19) (20) and baffle plate (26). Gas is discharged through the gap between the paddle (14) and the structure (17), and this gap is small, so the process tube (1
No air is blown into 0). At this time, since the conventional one does not have a portion corresponding to the furnace atmosphere rectifying structure (17), the gap between the paddle and the process tube is large,
Air is sucked into the process tube from this portion.

As shown in FIG. 9, when the boat (13) and the wafer (12) completely enter the soaking section in the center of the process tube (10), the opening (10a) of the process tube (10) is paddle ( It is shielded by the lid (16) of 14). Then, the gas in the furnace is discharged from the gap with the lid (16). When the boat (13) is thus loaded, the structure (1) of the paddle (14) is inserted into the opening (10a) of the process tube (10).
Since the heat insulating material (18) is located at 7) and the heat insulating structure (19) is located outside the heat insulating material (18), heat dissipation is small.

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION Since the semiconductor heat treatment apparatus according to the present invention has the above-mentioned configuration, the inflow of air during loading is small and the heat dissipation after loading is small. Further, since the inflow of air at the time of loading is small, impurities are removed and a clean process can be performed. Furthermore, since it is not oxidized by oxygen in the air, an oxide film is formed accurately and uniformly, and it is possible to prevent oxidation of a film that should not be oxidized. Moreover, since the heat dissipation is small, the uniformity of the temperature distribution is improved and the length of the soaking section is increased. Therefore, the buffer zone is short, and the size can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a horizontal sectional view in the vicinity of an opening of a process tube showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III of FIG. Fig. 4 is Fig. 2 IV-
A sectional view taken along line IV, FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view of the process tube showing the first stage during loading, FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view showing the second stage, and FIG. 7 is a horizontal view showing the third stage. Cross section,
FIG. 8 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing the fourth step, and FIG. 9 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing the final step. (10) ... Process tube, (10a) ... Opening, (12)
… Wafer, (13)… Boat, (14)… Paddle, (14a)
... handle, (17) ... furnace atmosphere rectifying structure, (18) ... heat insulating material, (19) ... heat insulating structure, (20) ... purging structure,
(21) ... Insulation material, (23) ... Blowout port, (26) ... Baffle plate.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A structure having a paddle, a boat on the paddle and a heat treatment object on the boat having a small gap through which these can pass, is provided inside the opening of the process tube, and a handle portion of the paddle is provided. The structure inside the opening of the process tube is provided with a structure whose cross-sectional contour is almost the same as the contours of the paddle, the boat, and the heat-treated object and is located inside the structure inside the opening of the process tube at the time of loading. An outlet for purging gas is provided on the inner surface of the object, a heat insulating part is provided in the structure part inside the opening of the process tube, and the structure part of the handle part of the paddle is A semiconductor heat treatment apparatus provided with a heat insulating section located inside the heat insulating section inside the opening.