JP2013062271A - Substrate processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a substrate processing apparatus which eliminates variations of exhaust performance between gaseous species and prevents the convective flow of a process gas in a box.SOLUTION: A substrate processing apparatus comprises: a device body 100 that houses a treatment furnace for performing heat treatment to multiple wafers using a process gas; and a gas box 300 that houses a gas control unit controlling the supply of the process gas. The substrate processing apparatus takes in outer air from an air-intake port 305 provided at an upper part of the gas box 300 and exhausts an atmosphere in the gas box from an exhaust port 303 provided at a lower part of the gas box.

Description

The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus that performs a film forming process on a substrate.

  2. Description of the Related Art In a manufacturing process of a semiconductor device (IC), a substrate processing apparatus that forms a CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) film such as an insulating film, a metal film, and a semiconductor film on a substrate or diffuses impurities is widely used. Conventionally, this type of substrate processing apparatus includes a gas box as a gas supply source for supplying a processing gas into the processing furnace, a heater box for storing a heater that is a heating mechanism for heating the processing furnace, and a gas in the processing furnace. And a valve box which is a gas exhaust mechanism for exhausting the air.

  In Patent Document 1, an exhaust port 81a for exhausting the gas in the box is provided at the upper part of the gas box 73, and a suction port 84 for sucking outside air is provided below the box. The technique which provides the shielding board 101 so that the suction inlet 84 may be covered so that gas may not flow out outside is disclosed.

JP 2007-242791 A

  However, since the processing gas is exhausted from the upper part of the box in the above-described structure, it is difficult to exhaust a gas having a high specific gravity, and there is a problem that the inside of the box convects and is not exhausted.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing apparatus that eliminates variations in exhaust performance due to gas species and prevents convection of processing gas in a box.

  According to one aspect of the present invention, an apparatus main body that houses a processing furnace for performing heat treatment with a processing gas on a plurality of wafers, a gas box that houses a gas control unit that controls the supply of the processing gas, There is provided a substrate processing apparatus that takes in outside air from an intake port provided above the gas box and exhausts the atmosphere inside the gas box from an exhaust port provided at a lower portion of the gas box.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the dispersion | variation in the exhaust_gas | exhaustion property by gas type can be eliminated, and the substrate processing apparatus which prevents the convection of the process gas in a box can be provided.

1 is a perspective view showing a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a side view which shows the substrate processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the processing furnace used with the substrate processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the gas box used with the substrate processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view explaining the intake and exhaust of the gas box concerning the embodiment of the present invention. It is an air system diagram of a gas box concerning a 2nd embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7A is a perspective view for explaining intake and exhaust of a gas box according to a third embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. It is a perspective view explaining the intake and exhaust of the gas box concerning the comparative example of the present invention.

  Next, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  In an embodiment for carrying out the present invention, a substrate processing apparatus is configured as a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus that performs a processing step in a manufacturing method of a semiconductor device (IC) as an example. In the following description, a case where a vertical apparatus (hereinafter simply referred to as a processing apparatus) that performs oxidation, diffusion processing, CVD processing, or the like is applied to the substrate as the substrate processing apparatus will be described. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a processing apparatus applied to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a side perspective view of the processing apparatus shown in FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the processing apparatus 100 of the present invention uses a hoop (substrate container; hereinafter referred to as a pod) 110 as a wafer carrier that stores a wafer (substrate) 200 made of silicon or the like. Includes a casing 111. A front maintenance port 103 as an opening provided for maintenance is opened at the front front portion of the front wall 111a of the casing 111, and front maintenance doors 104 and 104 for opening and closing the front maintenance port 103 are respectively built. It is attached.
A pod loading / unloading port (substrate container loading / unloading port) 112 is opened on the front wall 111a of the casing 111 so as to communicate between the inside and the outside of the casing 111. The pod loading / unloading port 112 has a front shutter (substrate container loading / unloading port). The loading / unloading opening / closing mechanism 113 is opened and closed.
A load port (substrate container delivery table) 114 is installed in front of the front side of the pod loading / unloading port 112, and the load port 114 is configured so that the pod 110 is placed and aligned. The pod 110 is carried onto the load port 114 by an in-process carrying device (not shown), and is also carried out from the load port 114.

A rotary pod shelf (substrate container mounting shelf) 105 is installed at an upper portion of the casing 111 in a substantially central portion in the front-rear direction. The rotary pod shelf 105 stores a plurality of pods 110. It is configured. In other words, the rotary pod shelf 105 is vertically arranged and intermittently rotated in a horizontal plane, and a plurality of shelf boards (supported by a substrate container) that are radially supported by the support 116 at each of the upper, middle, and lower positions. And a plurality of shelf plates 117 are configured to hold the pods 110 in a state where a plurality of pods 110 are respectively placed.
A pod transfer device (substrate container transfer device) 118 is installed between the load port 114 and the rotary pod shelf 105 in the housing 111, and the pod transfer device 118 moves up and down while holding the pod 110. A pod elevator (substrate container lifting mechanism) 118a and a pod transfer mechanism (substrate container transfer mechanism) 118b as a transfer mechanism are configured. The pod transfer device 118 includes a pod elevator 118a and a pod transfer mechanism 118b. The pod 110 is transported between the load port 114, the rotary pod shelf 105, and the pod opener (substrate container lid opening / closing mechanism) 121 by continuous operation.

A sub-housing 119 is constructed across the rear end of the lower portion of the housing 111 at a substantially central portion in the front-rear direction. A pair of wafer loading / unloading ports (substrate loading / unloading ports) 120 for loading / unloading the wafer 200 into / from the sub-casing 119 are arranged on the front wall 119a of the sub-casing 119 in two vertical stages. A pair of pod openers 121 and 121 are installed at the wafer loading / unloading ports 120 and 120 at the upper and lower stages, respectively.
The pod opener 121 includes mounting bases 122 and 122 on which the pod 110 is placed, and cap attaching / detaching mechanisms (lid attaching / detaching mechanisms) 123 and 123 for attaching and detaching caps (lids) of the pod 110. The pod opener 121 is configured to open and close the wafer loading / unloading port of the pod 110 by attaching / detaching the cap of the pod 110 placed on the placing table 122 by the cap attaching / detaching mechanism 123.

  The sub-housing 119 constitutes a transfer chamber 124 that is fluidly isolated from the installation space of the pod transfer device 118 and the rotary pod shelf 105. A wafer transfer mechanism (substrate transfer mechanism) 125 is installed in the front region of the transfer chamber 124, and the wafer transfer mechanism 125 rotates the wafer 200 in the horizontal direction or can move the wafer 200 in the horizontal direction. Substrate transfer device) 125a and wafer transfer device elevator (substrate transfer device lifting mechanism) 125b for raising and lowering wafer transfer device 125a. As schematically shown in FIG. 1, the wafer transfer apparatus elevator 125 b is installed between the right end of the pressure-resistant casing 111 and the right end of the front area of the moving chamber 124 of the sub casing 119. By the continuous operation of the wafer transfer device elevator 125b and the wafer transfer device 125a, the tweezer (substrate holder) 125c of the wafer transfer device 125a is used as a placement portion for the wafer 200 with respect to the boat (substrate holder) 217. The wafer 200 is loaded (charged) and unloaded (discharged).

  In the rear region of the transfer chamber 124, a standby unit 126 that houses and waits for the boat 217 is configured. A processing furnace 202 is provided above the standby unit 126. The lower end portion of the processing furnace 202 is configured to be opened and closed by a furnace port shutter (furnace port opening / closing mechanism) 147.

As schematically shown in FIG. 1, a boat elevator (substrate holder lifting / lowering) for raising / lowering the boat 217 between the right end of the pressure-resistant casing 111 and the right end of the standby section 126 of the sub casing 119 is illustrated. Mechanism) 115 is installed. A seal cap 219 serving as a lid is horizontally installed on an arm 128 serving as a connecting tool connected to a lifting platform of the boat elevator 115, and the seal cap 219 supports the boat 217 vertically, and a lower end of the processing furnace 202. It is comprised so that a part can be obstruct | occluded.
The boat 217 includes a plurality of holding members so that a plurality of (for example, about 50 to 125) wafers 200 are horizontally held in a state where their centers are aligned in the vertical direction. It is configured.

As schematically shown in FIG. 1, the left end of the transfer chamber 124 opposite to the wafer transfer device elevator 125b side and the boat elevator 115 side is a cleaned atmosphere or an inert gas. A clean unit 134 composed of a supply fan and a dust-proof filter is installed so as to supply clean air 133. Between the wafer transfer device 125a and the clean unit 134, although not shown, the circumferential direction of the wafer A notch aligning device 135 is installed as a substrate aligning device for aligning the positions.
The clean air 133 blown out from the clean unit 134 flows into the notch aligner 135, the wafer transfer device 125a, and the boat 217 in the standby unit 126, and is then sucked in through a duct (not shown) and exhausted to the outside of the casing 111. Or is circulated to the primary side (supply side) that is the suction side of the clean unit 134 and is again blown out into the transfer chamber 124 by the clean unit 134.

Next, the operation of the processing apparatus of the present invention will be described.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, when the pod 110 is supplied to the load port 114, the pod loading / unloading port 112 is opened by the front shutter 113, and the pod 110 above the load port 114 moves to the pod transfer device 118. Is carried into the housing 111 from the pod loading / unloading port 112.
The loaded pod 110 is automatically transported and delivered by the pod transport device 118 to the designated shelf 117 of the rotary pod shelf 105 and temporarily stored. It is conveyed to 121 and transferred to the mounting table 122, or directly transferred to the pod opener 121 and transferred to the mounting table 122. At this time, the wafer loading / unloading port 120 of the pod opener 121 is closed by the cap attaching / detaching mechanism 123, and the transfer chamber 124 is filled with clean air 133. For example, the transfer chamber 124 is filled with nitrogen gas as clean air 133, so that the oxygen concentration is set to 20 ppm or less, which is much lower than the oxygen concentration inside the casing 111 (atmosphere).

The pod 110 mounted on the mounting table 122 has its opening-side end face pressed against the opening edge of the wafer loading / unloading port 120 on the front wall 119a of the sub-housing 119, and the cap is removed by the cap attaching / detaching mechanism 123. The wafer loading / unloading port is opened.
When the pod 110 is opened by the pod opener 121, the wafer 200 is picked up from the pod 110 by the tweezer 125c of the wafer transfer device 125a through the wafer loading / unloading port, aligned with the notch alignment device 135, and then transferred to the transfer chamber 124. Is loaded into the standby unit 126 at the rear of the vehicle and loaded into the boat 217 (charging). The wafer transfer device 125 a that has transferred the wafer 200 to the boat 217 returns to the pod 110 and loads the next wafer 200 into the boat 217.

  During the loading operation of the wafer into the boat 217 by the wafer transfer mechanism 125 in the one (upper or lower) pod opener 121, the other (lower or upper) pod opener 121 receives another pod from the rotary pod shelf 105. 110 is transferred and transferred by the pod transfer device 118, and the opening operation of the pod 110 by the pod opener 121 is simultaneously performed.

  When a predetermined number of wafers 200 are loaded into the boat 217, the lower end portion of the processing furnace 202 closed by the furnace port shutter 147 is opened by the furnace port shutter 147. Subsequently, the boat 217 holding the wafers 200 is loaded into the processing furnace 202 when the seal cap 219 is lifted by the boat elevator 115.

After loading, arbitrary processing is performed on the wafer 200 in the processing furnace 202.
After the processing, the wafer 200 and the pod 110 are carried out of the casing 111 by the reverse procedure described above except for the wafer alignment process in the notch alignment device 135.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of the processing furnace 202 of the substrate processing apparatus suitably used in the embodiment of the present invention, and is shown as a longitudinal sectional view.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the processing furnace 202 includes a heater 206 as a heating mechanism. The heater 206 has a cylindrical shape and is vertically installed by being supported by a heater base 251 as a holding plate.

Inside the heater 206, a process tube 203 as a reaction vessel is disposed concentrically with the heater 206. The process tube 203 is composed of an inner tube 204 as an internal reaction vessel and an outer tube 205 as an external reaction vessel provided outside thereof. The inner tube 204 is made of a heat-resistant material such as quartz (SiO ₂ ) or silicon carbide (SiC), and is formed in a cylindrical shape having upper and lower ends opened. A processing chamber 201 is formed in the cylindrical hollow portion of the inner tube 204, and the wafer 200 as a substrate can be accommodated by the boat 217 in a horizontal posture and aligned in multiple stages in the vertical direction. The outer tube 205 is made of a heat-resistant material such as quartz or silicon carbide, and is formed in a cylindrical shape having an inner diameter larger than the outer diameter of the inner tube 204 and closed at the upper end and opened at the lower end. It is provided in the shape.

  A manifold 209 is disposed below the outer tube 205 concentrically with the outer tube 205. The manifold 209 is made of, for example, stainless steel and is formed in a cylindrical shape with an upper end and a lower end opened. The manifold 209 is engaged with the inner tube 204 and the outer tube 205, and is provided so as to support them. An O-ring 220a as a seal member is provided between the manifold 209 and the outer tube 205. By supporting the manifold 209 on the heater base 251, the process tube 203 is installed vertically. A reaction vessel is formed by the process tube 203 and the manifold 209.

  A nozzle 230 as a gas introduction unit is connected to the seal cap 219 so as to communicate with the inside of the processing chamber 201, and a gas supply pipe 232 is connected to the nozzle 230. A processing gas supply source and an inert gas supply source (not shown) are connected to an upstream side of the gas supply pipe 232 opposite to the connection side with the nozzle 230 via an MFC (mass flow controller) 241 as a gas flow rate controller. Has been. A gas flow rate controller (gas flow rate controller) 235 is electrically connected to the MFC 241, and is configured to control at a desired timing so that the flow rate of the supplied gas becomes a desired amount.

  The manifold 209 is provided with an exhaust pipe 231 that exhausts the atmosphere in the processing chamber 201. The exhaust pipe 231 is disposed at the lower end portion of the cylindrical space 250 formed by the gap between the inner tube 204 and the outer tube 205 and communicates with the cylindrical space 250. A vacuum exhaust device 246 such as a vacuum pump is connected to the downstream side of the exhaust pipe 231 opposite to the connection side with the manifold 209 via a pressure sensor 245 and a pressure adjustment device 242 as a pressure detector. The chamber 201 is configured to be evacuated so that the pressure in the chamber 201 becomes a predetermined pressure (degree of vacuum). A pressure control unit (pressure controller) 236 is electrically connected to the pressure adjustment device 242 and the pressure sensor 245, and the pressure control unit 236 performs processing by the pressure adjustment device 242 based on the pressure detected by the pressure sensor 245. Control is performed at a desired timing so that the pressure in the chamber 201 becomes a desired pressure.

  Below the manifold 209, a seal cap 219 is provided as a furnace port lid that can airtightly close the lower end opening of the manifold 209. The seal cap 219 is brought into contact with the lower end of the manifold 209 from the lower side in the vertical direction. The seal cap 219 is made of a metal such as stainless steel and has a disk shape. On the upper surface of the seal cap 219, an O-ring 220b is provided as a seal member that contacts the lower end of the manifold 209. A rotation mechanism 254 for rotating the boat is installed on the side of the seal cap 219 opposite to the processing chamber 201. A rotation shaft 255 of the rotation mechanism 254 passes through the seal cap 219 and is connected to a boat 217 described later, and is configured to rotate the wafer 200 by rotating the boat 217. The seal cap 219 is configured to be lifted vertically by a boat elevator 115 as a lifting mechanism vertically installed outside the process tube 203, and thereby the boat 217 is carried into and out of the processing chamber 201. Is possible. A drive control unit (drive controller) 237 is electrically connected to the rotation mechanism 254 and the boat elevator 115, and is configured to control at a desired timing so as to perform a desired operation.

  The boat 217 serving as a substrate holder is made of a heat-resistant material such as quartz or silicon carbide, and is configured to hold a plurality of wafers 200 in a horizontal posture and in a state where the centers are aligned with each other and held in multiple stages. ing. A plurality of heat insulating plates 216 as a disk-shaped heat insulating member made of a heat resistant material such as quartz or silicon carbide are arranged in a multi-stage in a horizontal posture at the lower part of the boat 217, and the heat from the heater 206 is arranged. Is difficult to be transmitted to the manifold 209 side.

  A temperature sensor 263 is installed in the process tube 203 as a temperature detector. A temperature control unit 238 is electrically connected to the heater 206 and the temperature sensor 263, and the temperature in the processing chamber 201 is adjusted by adjusting the power supply to the heater 206 based on the temperature information detected by the temperature sensor 263. Is controlled at a desired timing so as to have a desired temperature distribution.

  The gas flow rate control unit 235, the pressure control unit 236, the drive control unit 237, and the temperature control unit 238 also constitute an operation unit and an input / output unit, and are electrically connected to a main control unit 239 that controls the entire substrate processing apparatus. ing. These gas flow rate control unit 235, pressure control unit 236, drive control unit 237, temperature control unit 238, and main control unit 239 are configured as a controller 240.

  Next, a method of forming a thin film on the wafer 200 by the CVD method as one step of the semiconductor device manufacturing process using the processing furnace 202 having the above configuration will be described. In the following description, the operation of each part constituting the substrate processing apparatus is controlled by the controller 240.

  When a plurality of wafers 200 are loaded into the boat 217 (wafer charge), as shown in FIG. 3, the boat 217 holding the plurality of wafers 200 is lifted by the boat elevator 115 and processed in the processing chamber 201. Is loaded (boat loading). In this state, the seal cap 219 seals the lower end of the manifold 209 via the O-ring 220b.

  The processing chamber 201 is evacuated by a vacuum evacuation device 246 so that a desired pressure (degree of vacuum) is obtained. At this time, the pressure in the processing chamber 201 is measured by the pressure sensor 245, and the pressure regulator 242 is feedback-controlled based on the measured pressure. In addition, the inside of the processing chamber 201 is heated by the heater 206 so as to have a desired temperature. At this time, the power supply to the heater 206 is feedback-controlled based on the temperature information detected by the temperature sensor 263 so that the inside of the processing chamber 201 has a desired temperature distribution. Subsequently, the wafer 200 is rotated by rotating the boat 217 by the rotation mechanism 254.

  Next, the gas supplied from the processing gas supply source and controlled to have a desired flow rate by the MFC 241 is introduced into the processing chamber 201 from the nozzle 230 through the gas supply pipe 232. The introduced gas rises in the processing chamber 201, flows out from the upper end opening of the inner tube 204 into the cylindrical space 250, and is exhausted from the exhaust pipe 231. The gas comes into contact with the surface of the wafer 200 when passing through the processing chamber 201, and at this time, a thin film is deposited on the surface of the wafer 200 by a thermal CVD reaction.

  When a preset processing time has passed, an inert gas is supplied from an inert gas supply source, the inside of the processing chamber 201 is replaced with an inert gas, and the pressure in the processing chamber 201 is returned to normal pressure. .

  Thereafter, the seal cap 219 is lowered by the boat elevator 115, the lower end of the manifold 209 is opened, and the processed wafer 200 is carried out from the lower end of the manifold 209 to the outside of the process tube 203 while being held by the boat 217 ( Boat unloading). Thereafter, the processed wafer 200 is taken out from the boat 217 (wafer discharge).

Note that as an example, the processing conditions for processing a wafer in the processing furnace of the present embodiment include, for example, a processing temperature of 600 to 700 ° C. and a processing pressure of 20 to 40 Pa in the formation of a Si ₃ N ₄ film. , Film forming gas species SiH ₂ Cl ₂ , NH ₃ , film forming gas supply flow rate SiH ₂ Cl ₂ : 0 to 99.999 slm, NH ₃ : 0 to 99.999 slm, each processing condition is set in each range The wafer is processed by keeping it constant at a certain value.

  Next, the gas box 300 will be described in detail as an example of a box-type unit that supplies gas through the nozzle 230 into the processing furnace 202 applied to the processing apparatus of the present invention. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the gas box 300, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view for explaining intake and exhaust of the gas box 300. As shown in FIG.

  The gas box 300 incorporates valves such as an MFC (mass flow controller) 241 and an AV (air valve) 301 and a gas supply pipe 232 connecting them. That is, the gas box 300 controls the gas received from the gas supply source by the MFC 241 or the AV 301 and supplies the gas to the processing furnace 202 at a desired timing and flow rate.

  A plurality of slits 305 are formed above the side surface of the gas box 300 as intake ports for taking in outside air. An exhaust duct 303 is connected to the lower surface of the gas box 300 as an exhaust port for exhausting the atmosphere in the box. That is, outside air is taken in through a plurality of slits 305 formed above the side surface of the gas box 300, the atmosphere outside the box is taken into the box, and the inside of the box is introduced from an exhaust duct 303 provided on the lower surface of the gas box 300. The atmosphere is exhausted.

  There are various types of gas, harmful and flammable, and gas may leak in the gas box 300. By exhausting the atmosphere in the box, prevent the gas from convection in the box. Can do. Further, even a gas having a high specific gravity can be efficiently exhausted from the gas box 300.

(Second Embodiment)
FIG. 6 shows a system diagram of the suction method of the gas box according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
In the gas box 300 according to the second embodiment, a negative pressure line is connected to the downstream side of the exhaust duct 303 of the gas box 300 in FIG. 5 described above. As a result, the gas box 300 has a negative pressure and a flow is generated. In addition, since the inside of the box has a negative pressure, the atmosphere in the box does not leak out of the box, which is safe.

(Third embodiment)
FIG. 7A is a perspective view for explaining the intake and exhaust of the gas box 300 according to the third embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 7B is a system diagram of the suction method.
In the gas box 300 according to the third embodiment, an intake duct 304 as an intake port is attached to the upper surface of the gas box 300 instead of the slit 305, and a pressure line is connected to the upstream side of the intake duct 304. As a result, the inside of the gas box 300 is pressurized and a flow is generated. Here, the inside of the box is pressurized, but since the box has a highly sealed structure without the slit 305 or the like, the atmosphere inside the box is prevented from leaking outside the box, and the atmosphere inside the box is outside the box via the exhaust duct 303. Is exhausted.

(Comparative example)
FIG. 9 shows a gas box 300 according to a comparative example.
In the gas box 300 according to the comparative example, a plurality of slits 305 are formed as intake ports for taking in outside air below the side surface of the gas box 300. An exhaust duct 303 is connected to the upper surface of the gas box 300 as an exhaust port for exhausting the atmosphere in the box. That is, outside air is taken in through a slit 305 formed below the side surface of the gas box 300, the atmosphere outside the box is taken into the box, and the atmosphere inside the box is taken from the exhaust duct 303 provided at the top of the gas box 300. Exhaust. That is, a gas with a low specific gravity can be efficiently exhausted from the gas box 300, but a gas with a high specific gravity is difficult to exhaust.

  That is, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the variation in the exhaustability due to the gas type is eliminated, and the exhaust can be effectively performed regardless of the gas type.

  In addition, when handling both light gas and heavy gas, it is good to apply the structure which gave priority to the kind of gas with high danger to the gas box 300. FIG.

Moreover, although the example which forms a SiN film | membrane was given per film-forming example, it is not restricted to this, It applies irrespective of a film | membrane kind and gas kind.

[Preferred embodiment of the present invention]
Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be additionally described.

(Appendix 1)
An apparatus main body for accommodating a processing furnace for performing heat treatment with a processing gas on a plurality of wafers; and a gas box for accommodating a gas control unit for controlling the supply of the processing gas, above the gas box A substrate processing apparatus that takes in outside air from an intake port provided in the gas box and exhausts the atmosphere inside the gas box from an exhaust port provided at a lower portion of the gas box.

(Appendix 2)
An apparatus main body for storing a processing furnace for performing heat treatment with a processing gas on a plurality of wafers, a gas box for storing a gas control unit for controlling supply of the processing gas, and an electric system box for storing electrical components In the heat treatment apparatus having the above, a heat treatment apparatus that takes in outside air from above the gas box and exhausts the gas box from the lower part of the gas box.

(Appendix 3)
A lid opening / closing mechanism of a container for accommodating a substrate; a processing chamber for processing the substrate; a substrate holder for holding the substrate and carrying it into the processing chamber; and the substrate provided below the processing chamber, A standby chamber for waiting, a substrate transfer mechanism for transporting the substrate from the lid opening / closing mechanism to the substrate holder, and an inert gas or an oxygen-containing gas in a side of the standby chamber. A substrate processing apparatus comprising: a gas supply unit that supplies gas; and a gas discharge unit that is provided on a side of the standby chamber facing the gas supply unit and exhausts the inert gas or the oxygen-containing gas from the standby chamber.

(Appendix 4)
The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a pressure line for supplying the inert gas or the oxygen-containing gas in order to exhaust the atmosphere in the box type unit without convection.

(Appendix 5)
The substrate processing apparatus according to appendix 3, further comprising a box-type unit, and a negative pressure line for discharging the inert gas or the oxygen-containing gas to exhaust the atmosphere in the box-type unit without convection.

100 substrate processing apparatus 200 wafer (substrate)
201 processing chamber 202 processing furnace 206 heater 217 boat 231 exhaust pipe 232 gas supply pipe 241 mass flow controller (MFC)
300 Gas box 301 Air valve (AV)
303 Exhaust duct 304 Intake duct 305 Slit

Claims (1)

An apparatus main body that houses a processing furnace for performing heat treatment with a processing gas on a plurality of wafers, and a gas box that houses a gas control unit that controls supply of the processing gas,
The substrate processing apparatus which takes in external air from the inlet provided above the gas box, and exhausts the atmosphere inside the gas box from the exhaust provided in the lower part of the gas box.

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