JP2003142413A - Heat treatment device and heat treatment method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide such a technology that can achieve highly uniform treatment regardless of the number of substrates treated per batch when heat treatment is applied to the substrate in batch, and to reduce a burden of a worker and improve throughput. SOLUTION: A layout pattern selection means is provided to determine whether or not a batch type heat treatment is applied without forming an unused area in a wafer boat. In the case when there is any unused area, an optimal layout is selected among a plurality of prepared arrangement layouts in accordance with the number of product wafers to be used. A counter calculates a shortage in the number of wafers between the number of product wafers and the batch size in the selected arrangement layout, and a wafer transfer mechanism transfers dummy wafers by the resulted number to the unused area. During heat treatment, a temperature corresponding to the arrangement layout is corrected so that users can obtain a group of highly uniform products regardless of the number of wafers.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a batch type heat treatment apparatus and a heat treatment method for collectively heat treating a large number of substrates such as semiconductor wafers.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a horizontal heat treatment apparatus or a vertical heat treatment apparatus is known as a batch type heat treatment apparatus for collectively performing heat treatment such as film forming treatment, oxidation treatment or diffusion treatment on a large number of semiconductor wafers. In recent years, the vertical heat treatment apparatus has become the mainstream because of the small amount of air entrainment.

FIG. 8 is a view showing the outer appearance of a vertical heat treatment apparatus, which is equipped with a vertical heating furnace 11 and a wafer boat 12 which is a wafer holder. The heating furnace 11 is configured by providing a heater around a vertical reaction tube, and is connected with a gas supply pipe 11a and an exhaust pipe 11b. The wafer boat 12 is provided with a plurality of columns 13, and a plurality of wafers W are held in a shelf shape at a predetermined pitch by supporting the peripheral edge of the wafer W in a groove formed in each column 13. To be done. In the wafer boat 12, after the wafer W is transferred by the action of the wafer transfer mechanism 14, the boat elevator 15 allows the heating furnace 11 to pass through the lower opening of the heating furnace 11.
The wafer W is loaded into the wafer W and subjected to a predetermined heat treatment.

In the control system of such a heat treatment apparatus, for example, depending on the type and thickness of the thin film to be formed,
Processing conditions such as processing pressure, processing temperature, and gas flow rate (target values of processing parameters) are determined, and a plurality of recipes in which these processing conditions are written are prepared. Therefore, when the operator selects a recipe according to the type and thickness of the thin film, the heat treatment apparatus is operated based on the predetermined processing conditions. In such a recipe, the wafer boat 12 is actually loaded with wafers W and heat treatment is performed.
It is created by finding the optimum processing conditions.

By the way, recently, since a wide variety of semiconductor devices are required, heat treatment may be required for many kinds of small lot wafers. For example, when it is necessary to process 150 product wafers, which is the full number of wafers, the wafer boat 12 is fully loaded.
In some cases, a smaller number of heat treatments, for example, 100, 50 or 25 heat treatments may be required. In such a case, the wafer boat 1 is used by using the dummy wafers by the number that is insufficient.
No. 2 is in a full load state, and heat treatment is performed under normal processing conditions when the wafer is full load.

[0006]

However, the dummy wafer has a high cost and is cleaned and reused after a plurality of treatments, but it is eventually discarded, which causes a rise in running cost. . Further, in the above method, the wafer boat 12 is always loaded in the full state, and therefore, especially when the number of product wafers is small,
The ratio of the time required to transfer the dummy wafers was increased, and there was a waste of throughput.

The present invention has been made under such circumstances, and an object thereof is to carry out heat treatment on substrates in a batch method, regardless of the number of substrates processed in one batch. It is to provide a technology capable of performing high-quality processing. Further, another object of the present invention is to provide a technique in which the burden on the operator is small and a high throughput can be obtained.

[0008]

In the heat treatment apparatus according to the present invention, a substrate is transferred by a transfer means to a holder for arranging and holding a large number of substrates in the length direction of the reaction container, and the substrate is held. In a heat treatment apparatus for carrying out heat treatment on a substrate in a reaction container after carrying the holder in the reaction container, a layout storage unit storing a plurality of layouts of substrates in the holder, and a layout storage unit storing the layout layout unit. The layout selecting means selects a layout layout according to the number of product boards to be processed in one batch from the plurality of layouts, and the number of product boards to be processed in one batch and the selected layout layout. Replenishment number calculation means for comparing the determined number of product substrates to be filled, and calculating the number of dummy substrates to be refilled based on the comparison result, and the layout selection Controls transfer means in accordance with the arrangement layout that has been selected by the stage, characterized by comprising a transfer control means causes transfer, to the product substrate and the calculated supplemented number of sheets dummy substrate holder of.

According to such a configuration, the frequency of use of the dummy substrate can be reduced by preparing a plurality of layouts having different batch sizes, for example, and the substrate required for one processing can be reduced. Transfer time can also be reduced. In addition, throughput can be improved by automating a series of operations such as selection of layout layout, calculation of the number of refilled boards for empty areas generated in the selected layout layout, transfer of product boards and dummy boards when necessary, and There is also an advantage that the burden on the operator can be reduced.

In addition to the above-described structure, the present invention further comprises a batch size table storage unit for preparing a plurality of batch sizes and storing the relationship between the number of product substrates to be processed in one batch and the batch size. Determines the batch size to which the number of product substrates to be processed in one batch belongs by referring to the batch size table storage unit, and refers to the layout storage unit to determine the layout layout corresponding to this batch size. It is preferable to be configured to perform selection. With such a configuration, it is possible to easily and promptly select an arrangement layout in which the number of dummy substrates used is suppressed, and the above-described effect can be enhanced.

Further, according to the present invention, a process recipe storage unit for storing a plurality of process recipes in which heat treatment parameters and processing procedures are described in the above-mentioned configuration, and means for selecting a process recipe from the process recipe storage unit,
It is preferable that at least one of the parameters of each process recipe has a value corresponding to each batch size. With such a configuration, it is possible to prepare a process recipe that makes the processing always uniform regardless of the number of product wafers to be processed. Examples of the parameters include the temperature in the processing container,
It is possible to set the pressure or the gas flow rate.

Further, in the heat treatment method according to the present invention, the substrate is transferred to the holder for arranging and holding a large number of substrates in the lengthwise direction of the reaction container using the transfer means, and the holder holding the substrate is reacted. In a heat treatment method of carrying out heat treatment on a substrate in the reaction vessel after being loaded into a container, a product substrate to be processed in one batch from a layout storage unit that stores a plurality of layout layouts of the substrate in the holder in advance. The step of selecting the layout according to the number of sheets, and the number of product boards to be filled in the selected layout,
Comparing the number of product substrates to be processed in one batch and calculating the supplementary number of dummy substrates based on the comparison result, and according to the determined layout layout,
And transferring the product substrate and the dummy substrates for the calculated number of refills to the holder by the transfer means.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of a vertical heat treatment apparatus according to the present invention will be described below by taking an apparatus for performing a film forming process as an example. 1 and 2 show the overall appearance of the vertical heat treatment apparatus according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 1, 20 is a casing forming an exterior part of the apparatus, 21 is a carrier loading / unloading section, 22
Is a carrier transport mechanism, 23 is a carrier stocker, and 24 is a delivery stage. A carrier C containing a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter referred to as a wafer) W (not shown in FIG. 1) is carried into the carry-in / out section 21, After being temporarily stored in the carrier stocker 23 by the carrier transport mechanism 22,
It is configured to be transported to the delivery stage 24.
Further, reference numeral 3 in the drawing denotes a wafer transfer mechanism 3 which is a transfer means provided in the wafer loader chamber 25. The wafer W is taken out from the carrier C on the transfer stage 24 as will be described later in detail, and the wafer elevator is operated. The wafer is mounted on a wafer boat 27, which is a holder provided on the motor 26. Further, the wafer boat 27 is a boat elevator 26.
It is configured such that it is raised by the above and is carried into the heating furnace 4.

Here, the peripheral portion of the heating furnace 4 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. As shown in the figure, the heating furnace 4 includes, for example, a reaction tube 41 having a double tube structure made of, for example, quartz, which includes an inner tube 41a whose both ends are open and an outer tube 41b whose upper end is closed. It is configured to include a heater 5 that is provided so as to surround the periphery, for example, a resistance heating body. The heater 5 is divided into, for example, three stages (heaters 5a, 5b, 5c) so that the heat treatment atmosphere in the reaction tube 41 is divided into a plurality of upper and lower portions and heating control can be separately performed for each zone. Is provided.

The reaction tube 41 includes an inner tube 41a and an outer tube 4
The lower side of each of the 1b is supported by a cylindrical manifold 42, and a plurality of gas supply pipes 43 (here, only two are provided for convenience sake) so that a supply port is opened in a lower region inside the inner pipe 41a. (Not shown), and an exhaust pipe 44 whose one end side is connected to a vacuum pump (not shown) so as to exhaust from between the inner pipe 41a and the outer pipe 41b.
Are connected. In this example, the inner pipe 41a and the outer pipe 41b
And the manifold 42 constitutes a reaction container. Furthermore, the lower end opening of the manifold 42 is configured to be closed by a lid 45 provided at the upper end of the boat elevator 26 described above, and between the lid 45 and the wafer boat 27, For example, a rotary base 46 configured to be rotatable by a drive unit (not shown) and a heat retaining unit 47 supported by the rotary base 46 are interposed.

Next, referring to FIG. 3, the relationship between the above-described constituent elements and the control system in the present embodiment will be described. The controller 6 controls the heater controller 51 (51a,
51b, 51c) through each heater 5 (5a, 5b, 5
c) and collectively controls the temperature of each zone constituting the heat treatment atmosphere, while it is also connected to the transfer controller 31 to control the drive of the wafer transfer mechanism 3 via the drive mechanism 32. It is configured to do. As an example, the product wafers or dummy wafers in the carrier C placed on the transfer stage 24 are transferred to the wafer boat 27 according to a predetermined layout, and the transfer is performed in order to perform heat treatment according to this layout. Heater 5 (5a, 5b, 5c) linked to the situation
It is possible to control the heating of the. With this in mind, the control unit 6 will be described below with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6.
The configuration of will be described.

As shown in FIG. 4, the transfer controller 31 and the heater controller 51 (51a, 51b, 51c).
Is configured to control each controlled object according to a control signal from the CPU 61 in the control unit 6.
In the control unit 6, an input unit 62 and a counter 63 are connected to the bus 60, respectively. The input unit 62 is used to select and input parameters such as a process recipe and a layout recipe, which will be described later, or parameters, and is configured by, for example, a touch panel or a key operation unit provided on the front surface of the apparatus. The counter 63 detects the product wafer in the carrier C on the carrier loading / unloading part 21 based on a signal from a mapping sensor (not shown) such as a reflection type optical sensor provided in the carrier loading / unloading part 21 shown in FIG. Count the number of sheets. Since the control unit 6 knows which carrier C is to be placed in which position in the carrier stocker 23 and at which timing the heat treatment is to be performed, the products in each carrier C are loaded into the carrier loading / unloading unit 21. By counting the number of wafers, the number of product wafers to be heat-treated in each batch process can be grasped. However, in reality, since information about which carrier C containing a number of product wafers is carried into the vertical heat treatment apparatus from the control unit of the previous process or the host computer, the wafer count is performed by the mapping sensor. Even if it is not necessary, the number of wafers in each carrier C can be grasped, but it is more reliable to count the number and use the data just in case.

Further, the bus 60 is connected to C in the control unit 6.
A storage unit (memory) for storing various data and programs that are appropriately referred to by the PU 61 is connected, but here, for convenience of description, the storage unit (memory) is represented as a block for each application. In the figure, 64 is a process recipe storage unit, and 65.
Is a layout recipe storage unit, 66 is a batch size table storage unit, 67 is a layout storage unit, and 68 is a dummy wafer calculation program.

Explaining each of these blocks in detail, first, the process recipe storage unit 64 stores a plurality of process recipes (A1 to An) in which heat treatment parameters and processing procedures are recorded, and each process recipe is stored. Is, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, the temperature target values (TA, TB, T) at the time of standby, loading (loading / unloading), and stable temperature.
C), pressure target value (PA, PB, PC), temperature increase rate T
D, the temperature lowering rate TE, the temperature target values (T1, T2, T3) and the pressure target value P1 which are individually set for each heater 5 (5a, 5b, 5c) during the process are recorded.

Further, as will be described later in detail, the number of product wafers placed on the wafer boat in the present embodiment is not always the maximum number, and the heat treatment may be performed with an empty region left. Therefore, each process recipe is loaded with the temperature target values (T1, T2, T3) in the upper, middle, and lower stages of the process described above, for example, so that the same processing can be performed when the wafer is fully loaded and when the wafer is not fully loaded. It is recorded as a temperature target value (base temperature) at that time, and separately from this, the temperature correction value of each of the upper, middle, and lower stages for increasing or decreasing the base temperature according to the number of product wafers is also recorded. . In FIG. 5, for example, the upper temperature correction value ΔT (ΔTa to ΔTe) during the process is shown as a representative.

In this embodiment, when the flexible batch mode, which will be described later, is selected and processed, the number of product wafers is set to L25 (1 to 25).
, L50 (26 to 50 sheets) ... L150 (126 to 150 sheets) for each batch size, for example, ΔTa for L25, ΔTb for L50 ... ΔTe for L150. Therefore, for example, when L25 is selected, ΔTa is added to the base temperature T1 to set the temperature target value to TF (not shown). When the full batch mode described later is selected, for example, the base temperature T1 may be used as the temperature target value TF as it is, or a correction value may be separately prepared and corrected.

Now, returning to FIG. 4 again, the description of the other blocks will be continued.
The CPU 61 and the input unit 62 constitute a layout recipe selection unit, and as described above, whether or not the wafer boat 27 is loaded with product wafers for processing, and when loaded, the wafer boat 27 is loaded. Product wafers are packed from either the top or bottom (top or bottom) or even from the center vertically (center), and dummy wafers are transferred to the remaining area.
Various recipes for performing such mode selection are recorded. For example, in the flexible batch mode recorded in the recipe B1, when processing a number of product wafers in the wafer boat 27 that is less than the full load, for example, the wafer boat 27 is not full of wafers and an empty area is left. This is a mode for performing heat treatment, and recipes B2 and B3
The full-batch mode recorded in No. 2 is a mode in which, as described above, no matter how many product wafers are used, dummy wafers are replenished in all empty areas and heat treatment is always performed in a fully loaded state.

The batch size table storage unit 66 and the layout storage unit 67 are units for storing the data referred to when the recipe B1 (flexible batch mode) is selected in the layout recipe storage unit 65 described above. is there. The batch size table storage unit 66 records a table in which the range of the number of wafers and the batch size are associated with each other so that the batch size can be determined according to the number of product wafers to be processed. There is something. As described in the section of the temperature correction value in the process recipe An, L25 to L15 are set here.
Multiple batch sizes are set for 0 and 25 sheets,
The layout layout of the wafer for each batch size is stored in the layout storage unit 67.

FIG. 6 shows an arrangement layout of the wafers in the wafer boat 27 for each batch size stored in the layout storage section 67. Here, the wafers are loaded in the upper position except L150 which indicates a full load. It shows what to put. The PW region indicated by the diagonal lines in the figure is a region on which product wafers are transferred, and it is possible to mount a maximum of 25 product wafers per block. Then, in the DW regions in the drawing which form the upper and lower ends of the zone where the product wafer is placed, dummy wafers are provided for the purpose of suppressing a difference in the processing situation for the product wafer between the end portion and the central portion during heat treatment. Is placed.
The dummy wafer includes, for example, a so-called side dummy or extra dummy, and the number thereof is, for example, 1 to 4 on the upper end side and 1 to 11 on the lower end side. Further, for example, one test monitor wafer MW is mounted between the regions PW and PW, and between the regions DW and PW.

Further, in FIG. 6, all the regions PW are shown by hatching for convenience of drawing, but as described above, since each layout is provided corresponding to a batch size divided into, for example, every 25 sheets, Even in the area PW, not all of the product wafer is filled with the product wafer. Therefore, for example, the area P
When a vacant area occurs in W, a dummy wafer is replenished in the vacant area and heat treatment is performed. In this case, the arrangement rules of the product wafers and dummy wafers in the area PW are recorded, for example, attached to each arrangement layout. . The array rule stores a procedure such that, for example, a product wafer is first transferred from the upper side in the area PW, and then a dummy wafer is transferred to an empty area generated on the lower side.

With the above description, the relationship between the layout and the process recipe described above will be described. As described above, the temperature target value stored in the process recipe is provided separately for each heater 5 (5a, 5b, 5c) like T1 to T3 shown in FIG. 5, for example.
Since each output ratio when performing heat treatment in the flexible batch mode changes according to the position where the product wafer is arranged, the temperature correction value in the process recipe corresponds to the shape (silhouette) of the arrangement layout. Only the number is prepared. Explaining with a specific example, for example, L
Although FIG. 6 shows the layout of the top packed arrangement in FIG. 25, the temperature correction value ΔTa (see FIG. 5) can be calculated for each layout if two kinds of layout layouts, such as the middle packed layout and the bottom packed layout, are prepared. Three types (ΔTa1,
ΔTa2, ΔTa3) are prepared. More specifically, as described above, each temperature correction value is calculated by the heater 5 (5a, 5b, 5).
Since three parameters corresponding to c) are included, one process recipe includes 5 (number of batch sizes) × 3 (number of layout layouts) × 3 (number of heater divisions) = total 45 parameters related to temperature correction. Will be included.

Then, the dummy wafer calculation program 68
Is a block that constitutes the supplementary number calculation means together with the CPU 61. For example, after the number of product wafers used per batch and the batch size selected according to the number are determined, the difference between them is calculated. This is for determining the number of dummy wafers to be calculated and to be filled in the vacant area generated in the batch size.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to the process chart shown in FIG. First, as shown in step S1, a process recipe corresponding to the contents of the heat treatment performed on the product wafer is selected, and then a layout recipe is selected in step S2. The layout recipes are roughly classified into the full batch mode and the flexible batch mode as described above. If the layout recipe selected here is the full batch mode, the process proceeds to step S3. If the layout recipe is the flexible batch mode, the step proceeds to step S3. The process proceeds to S4, and thereafter, the processing steps proceed in different flows.

In the full-batch mode, the transfer means 3 first transfers to the wafer boat 27 in accordance with the transfer procedure described in each recipe such as top-down and bottom-up as described in recipe B2 and subsequent steps shown in FIG. Product wafers are transferred, and then dummy wafers are replenished in the empty areas. Then, with the wafer boat 27 fully loaded, step S1
The heat treatment is performed according to the process recipe selected in. The full batch mode is used, for example, when performing maintenance, but may be used during the process.

On the other hand, when the layout recipe selected in step S2 is the flexible batch mode, an appropriate batch size is selected according to the number of product wafers in step S4. This selection is based on, for example, the product wafer number count value obtained by the counter 63, or based on the information about the product wafer number value in each carrier sent from the control unit of the previous process or the host computer. The batch size table is used to determine which batch size in L25 to L150 the number of product wafers for one batch to be subjected to heat treatment fits. Specifically, for example, if the number-of-sheets count value is 40, as shown in FIG.
Therefore, the batch size is determined to be L50.

Continuing the explanation using the count value and the batch size, the layout layout corresponding to the batch size L50 is selected in step S5, and then the number of dummy wafers required in the batch size is calculated. Is performed (step S6). The required number of dummy wafers is calculated by the difference between the number of product wafer placement areas PW corresponding to the batch size (the number of filled product substrates) and the already-recognized number of product wafers.
-40 = 10, and the transfer means 3 sets 40 product wafers and 10 dummy wafers in the wafer boat 27 based on the control signal from the transfer controller 31 based on the layout corresponding to L50. Area PW (FIG. 6)
(See step S7).

At this time, when determining the arrangement position (order) of the product wafer and the dummy wafer in the region PW, for example, the arrangement rule stored in the arrangement layout of L50 is referred to, and based on the arrangement rule. After each of the product wafer and the dummy wafer is transferred to a predetermined position, the monitor wafer is transferred to the MW area and the dummy wafer is transferred to the DW area. As shown in FIG. 6, for example, the number of monitor wafers in L50 is 3, and the number of dummy wafers is 4 on the upper end side (side dummy) and 11 on the lower end side (2 extra dummy on the upper side,
There are 9 side dummies on the lower side, and in this way a total of 6
After the transfer of the eight wafers is completed, the boat elevator 26 is raised and the wafer boat 27 is loaded into the reaction container.

Then, in step S8, the temperature is raised to a predetermined temperature based on the already selected process recipe.
In this case, the various temperature set values stored in the process recipe are corrected in accordance with the selected batch size and the layout of product wafers corresponding to the selected batch size, and then heating is performed using the correction values. Done. As a specific example of the calculation of the correction value, for example, the temperature target value of each of the heaters 5 (5a, 5b, 5c) is T
1, T2, T3, and the temperature correction values corresponding to the layout layout selected in the batch size L50 are ΔTb (Δ
L1, ΔL2, ΔL3), the process temperature is T1 + ΔL1 for the heater 5a, T2 + ΔL2 for the heater 5b, and T3 + ΔL3 for the heater 5c. And each heater 5
When (5a, 5b, 5c) stabilizes at the process temperature, a predetermined process gas is supplied into the reaction vessel at a predetermined flow rate, and the reaction container is evacuated to a predetermined pressure. By maintaining the heating state at, the film forming process which is the heat treatment for the wafer is performed.

As described above, according to the above-described embodiment, since the heat treatment is performed by the batch size corresponding to the number of product wafers for one batch, the dummy wafers are always processed as compared with the case where the heat treatment is always performed in the full state. The frequency of use is reduced, and the time required for wafer transfer is shortened. Then, selection of the layout according to the number of product wafers,
A series of operations of calculating the number of wafers in the empty area when an empty area (shortage) occurs in the layout, transferring product wafers by the wafer transfer mechanism, and transferring dummy wafers in the calculated number Since it is possible to perform automatically, the burden on the operator is reduced and the throughput is improved.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, since the process recipe optimized for each layout is prepared for each layout, the process recipe is used for each batch. No matter how the number of product wafers to be processed is increased or decreased, the user can obtain a product group with high uniformity.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, prior to the start of the batch processing, a full batch mode in which wafers are fully loaded in the wafer boat 27 regardless of the number of product wafers,
Since the flexible batch mode in which the number of wafers transferred to the wafer boat is changed according to the number of product wafers processed in one batch can be selected, flexible apparatus operation is possible. In addition, for example, in the full batch mode used at the time of maintenance, there is an advantage that some steps necessary for the flexible batch mode can be omitted and the processing can be started quickly.

Regarding the relation between the process recipe and the layout (or the batch size), only the correction of the temperature target value during the process is described in the present embodiment, but depending on the size of the layout or the batch size, for example. The pressure in the processing container during the process, the flow rate of the processing gas, the temperature rising rate, etc. may be changed.

Further, since the present embodiment is significant in that the layout can be freely selected, the layout position of the dummy wafer is not limited to the upper and lower ends of the product wafer. The area may be provided. The monitor wafer may not be arranged. Furthermore, the present embodiment is not limited to the film forming process, and may be applied to, for example, a heat treatment apparatus that performs an oxidation process or an impurity diffusion process, that is, a so-called oxidation or diffusion furnace.

[0039]

As described above, according to the present invention, when performing batch type heat treatment on substrates, highly uniform treatment can be performed regardless of the number of substrates processed in one batch. Moreover, the burden on the operator is light and the throughput can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an overall structure of an embodiment of a heat treatment apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing the periphery of the heating furnace in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a connection state between each device and a control unit in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a control unit.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a process recipe storage unit in the control unit.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an arrangement layout stored in a layout storage unit of the control unit.

FIG. 7 is a process diagram for explaining the operation of the present embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a schematic perspective view showing a heat treatment apparatus according to a conventional invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

W semiconductor wafer C carrier 22 Carrier transport mechanism 24 Delivery stage 26 boat elevator 27 Wafer Boat 3 Wafer transfer mechanism 31 Transfer Controller 4 heating furnace 41 Reaction tube 42 manifold 5 (5a, 5b, 5c) heater 51 (51a, 51b, 51c) Heater controller 6 control unit 64 Process recipe storage 65 Layout Recipe Storage 66 Batch size table storage 67 Layout storage section 68 Dummy wafer calculation program

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] December 20, 2002 (2002.12.
20)

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Name of item to be amended] Claims

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[Claims]

[Procedure Amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0008

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[0008]

In the heat treatment apparatus according to the present invention, a substrate is transferred by a transfer means to a holder for arranging and holding a large number of substrates in the length direction of the reaction container, and the substrate is held. after loading the holder into the reaction vessel, in the heat treatment apparatus for performing a heat treatment on the substrate in the reaction vessel, a plurality of bar
The size of the product substrate to be processed in one batch
A batch size that stores the relationship between the number range and the batch size.
Table storage unit, a layout storage unit that stores a plurality of board layouts in the holder corresponding to the batch size, and the batch size table storage unit
Product substrate to be processed in one batch by
The batch size to which the number of
Refer to the section for layout layouts for this batch size
The layout selection means for selecting a stack is compared with the number of product substrates to be processed in one batch and the number of product substrates to be filled determined by the selected layout, and dummy substrates are replenished based on the comparison result. Replenishment number calculation means for calculating the number of sheets, and transfer control for controlling the transfer means in accordance with the layout selected by the layout selection means to transfer the product substrate and the dummy substrates for the calculated replenishment number to the holder. Means and are provided.

[Procedure 3]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0010

[Correction method] Delete

[Procedure amendment 4]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0012

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

Further, in the heat treatment method according to the present invention, the substrate is transferred to the holder for arranging and holding a large number of substrates in the lengthwise direction of the reaction container using the transfer means, and the holder holding the substrate is reacted. In a heat treatment method in which the substrate is heat-treated in the reaction vessel after being carried into the reaction vessel, one batch is processed.
The batch size corresponding to the range of the number of product boards
A batch size to which the number of product boards to be processed in one batch belongs from the layout storage section in which a plurality of board layouts in the holder are stored in advance
A step of selecting a layout corresponding to the number of product substrates to be filled in the selected layout,
Comparing the number of product substrates to be processed in one batch and calculating the supplementary number of dummy substrates based on the comparison result, and according to the determined layout layout,
And transferring the product substrate and the dummy substrates for the calculated number of refills to the holder by the transfer means.

Continued front page    (72) Inventor Kazuhiro Kawamura             TBS release, 5-3-6 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo             Sending Center Tokyo Electron Limited F term (reference) 5F031 CA02 CA11 FA01 FA11 FA12                       HA67 MA28 PA03 PA04                 5F045 AF19 BB08 DP19 EN04 EN05                       GB16

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A substrate is transferred to a holder for arranging and holding a large number of substrates in a lengthwise direction of a reaction container by using a transfer means, and the holder holding the substrate is carried into the reaction container, In a heat treatment apparatus for performing heat treatment on a substrate in a reaction vessel, a batch is processed from a layout storage unit that stores a plurality of layouts of substrates in the holder and a plurality of layouts stored in the layout storage unit. The layout selection means for selecting the layout according to the number of product boards to be processed is compared with the number of product boards to be processed in one batch and the number of product board fillings determined by the selected layout. Replenishment number calculation means for calculating the replenishment number of dummy substrates based on the comparison result, and according to the layout layout selected by the layout selection means. Mounting control means, a heat treatment apparatus characterized by comprising a transfer control means causes transfer, to the product substrate and the calculated supplemented number of sheets dummy substrate holder of. 2. A batch size table storage unit is provided which prepares a plurality of batch sizes, and stores the relationship between the number of product substrates to be processed in one batch and the batch size, wherein the layout selection means is the batch size table storage unit. By referring to, the batch size to which the number of product substrates to be processed in one batch belongs is determined, and the layout storage unit is referenced to select the layout layout corresponding to this batch size. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the heat treatment apparatus is a heat treatment apparatus. 3. A process recipe storage unit for storing a plurality of process recipes describing heat treatment parameters and processing procedures, and means for selecting a process recipe from the process recipe storage unit. The value according to each batch size is prepared for at least one parameter.
The heat treatment apparatus described. 4. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the at least one parameter is a temperature in the reaction vessel. 5. A layout recipe in which a holder is fully loaded with heat treatment regardless of the number of product substrates to be processed in one batch and heat treatment is performed, and an arrangement layout according to the number of product substrates to be processed in one batch. 5. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a layout recipe selecting unit that selects one of a layout recipe for holding the substrate on the holder and performing the heat treatment. 6. A substrate is transferred by a transfer means to a holder for arranging and holding a large number of substrates in the lengthwise direction of the reaction container, and after the holder holding the substrate is carried into the reaction container, In a heat treatment method of performing heat treatment on a substrate in a reaction container, a layout storage unit that stores a plurality of substrate layouts in a holder in advance can be arranged according to the number of product substrates to be processed in one batch. The process of selection, the number of product substrates to be filled in the selected layout and the number of product substrates to be processed in one batch are compared, and the supplementary number of dummy substrates is calculated based on the comparison result. And a step of transferring the product substrate and the calculated number of dummy substrates to the holder by the transfer means according to the determined layout. Heat treatment method to be collected. 7. A layout size is selected including a step of determining to which batch size the number of product substrates to be processed in one batch belongs by referring to a batch size table storing a plurality of batch sizes. 7. The heat treatment method according to claim 6, wherein the step of performing is to select an arrangement layout corresponding to the determined batch size with reference to the layout storage unit.