JP2942388B2 - Semiconductor manufacturing equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(Table of Contents) ・ Industrial application fields ・ Prior art (FIG. 4) ・ Problems to be solved by the invention ・ Means for solving the problems ・ Function ・ Examples (FIGS. 1 to 3) ・ Invention Effect

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, and more particularly, to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus for simultaneously forming a film on a plurality of wafers.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a low-pressure CVD apparatus as shown in FIG. 4 as an apparatus for forming a film on a wafer by a method of simultaneously processing a large number of wafers, that is, a so-called batch processing method.

In FIG. 4, reference numeral 1 denotes a reaction chamber in which a reaction tube 1a and a heater 1b are integrated, and a film is formed in the reaction tube 1a, and 2 denotes a reaction tube through a gate valve (not shown).
a when the wafer holder is unloaded from the handling chamber 3 and further loaded into the reaction tube 1a in the load lock chamber connected to the a, and when the wafer holder 6 is unloaded from the reaction tube 1a and transported to the handling chamber 3. The pressure in the handling chamber 3 is matched with the pressure in the reaction tube 1a. Reference numeral 3 denotes a handling chamber connected to the load lock chamber 2 via a gate valve (not shown), and performs operations such as taking out a wafer 7 from a wafer cassette (not shown) and setting the wafer 7 in a wafer holder 6. Reference numeral 4 denotes a gas supply chamber for supplying a reaction gas to the reaction tube 1a, and reference numeral 5 denotes a control room for accommodating a control device for controlling the selection and introduction timing of the reaction gas and the temperature of the heating device.

[0005]

By the way, as a device suitable for mass production, the length of the whole device is as large as 10 m,
In particular, a large installation space is required in a plane. For this reason, a manufacturing apparatus in which the reaction tube 1a and the load lock chamber 2 are set up and arranged vertically is used. However, in this case, the height of the apparatus including the load lock chamber 2 is required to be about twice as large as that of the reaction tube 1a. .

Usually, when a film is formed in a film forming apparatus, a reaction product adheres to a wall of the reaction tube 1a and the like, and the reaction product peels off to generate dust. Is a problem when it is done. Therefore, it is necessary to frequently wash the reaction tube 1a. For this reason, there is a problem that a long standby time due to the work of replacing the reaction tube 1a is required, and the operation rate is reduced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and is a semiconductor capable of saving space and shortening a standby time for exchanging a reaction tube or the like to improve an operation rate. It is an object to provide a manufacturing apparatus.

[0008]

The first object of the present invention is to hold a reaction tube having both open ends capable of processing a wafer therein, and to hold both ends of the reaction tube in a vertical direction, And a processing unit having a mounting unit to which the reaction tube can be attached and detached, a transport unit that transports the reaction tube to the processing unit or the heat treatment unit and attaches and detaches the reaction tube, and a wafer holder that can be inserted into the reaction tube. Secondly, the reaction tube is provided with a first gate valve capable of opening and closing an open end at the both ends, and the mounting part of the processing unit is provided with the mounting part. An opening that is connected to the open end of the reaction tube and that can exhaust the gas inside the reaction tube or introduce gas into the reaction tube, and a second gate valve that opens and closes the opening. According to the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus described in the first aspect, Third, the processing section includes a heating processing section having a heater, the heater having a cylindrical shape corresponding to the outer shape of the reaction tube, and opening and closing the reaction tube so that the inside of the tube is formed. The present invention is achieved by the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to the first or second aspect of the invention, wherein the processing unit includes A plurality of transfer means are arranged around the transfer means around the transfer means, wherein the transfer means is rotatable about an axis, and is capable of linearly moving in a radial direction passing through the axis. A fifth aspect of the present invention is achieved by the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to the first, second, or third aspect, wherein one of the processing units is a processing unit for cleaning a reaction tube. The first,
It is achieved by the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to the second, third or fourth invention, and sixthly, one of the processing units is a processing unit for detecting an amount of dust generated inside the reaction tube. This is achieved by the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to the first, second, third, fourth, or fifth aspect of the invention.

[0009]

In the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention, a mounting portion in which a reaction tube is set up at both open ends with the processing portion set up in the longitudinal direction is connected to the open end of the mounted reaction tube, and the inside of the reaction tube is connected. And an opening through which gas can be exhausted or introduced into the reaction tube. Accordingly, since the processing such as pressure adjustment can be sequentially performed in each processing section by moving the reaction tube, there is no need for a conventional load lock chamber or the like connected to the reaction chamber. Also, no planar space is required. In addition, since each processing unit is independent, a plurality of reaction tubes can be simultaneously assigned to each processing unit. As described above, the space for installing the manufacturing apparatus can be saved.

Further, the heater of the heat treatment section has a cylindrical shape corresponding to the outer shape of the reaction tube, and when opened, the reaction tube can be attached to and detached from the inside of the tube. Handling of the reaction tube by means is easy. The plurality of processing units are arranged around the transport unit around the transport unit, and the transport unit is rotatable about the axis and linearly movable in the radial direction passing through the axis. ing. Therefore, the reaction tube can be appropriately moved between the processing units by the transport means, so that one processing unit performs heating processing related to the processing of the wafer itself, and the other processing unit, for example, the reaction tube. A processing unit that detects the amount of dust generated inside or a processing unit that cleans the reaction tube can simultaneously perform operations unrelated to the processing of the wafer itself. As a result, it is possible to shorten the standby time for exchanging the reaction tubes and the like and improve the operation rate.

[0011]

1 and 2 (a) and (b) show a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram illustrating a film forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 shows a top view, and FIGS. 2A and 2B show detailed side views of a part of the apparatus. 2 (a) and 2 (b) are side views of the reaction chamber 17, but in the following description, reference numerals indicating common parts are used for description in other processing chambers.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 8 denotes a stocker for holding cassettes 9a to 9c for storing and transporting wafers, 10 an aligner for aligning the direction of the wafers based on the orientation flat of the wafers, and 11 a cassette from the cassette 9a to the wafers. Is transferred to the aligner 10, and the aligned wafer is removed from the aligner 10 by the wafer holder 13.
Is a first robot to be transferred to the first robot. Reference numeral 12 denotes a second robot (transporting means) that rotates about an axis and can linearly move in a radial direction passing through the axis, and attaches / detaches a reaction tube to / from a processing chamber or a mounting portion of a processing unit, and performs various processing operations. The reaction tube is transported to the section. Reference numeral 13 denotes a wafer holder for mounting a wafer whose orientation has been adjusted.

Reference numerals 14 to 19 denote processing chambers for wafers and reaction tubes including a heat treatment section, which are arranged around the second robot 12, and are arranged according to, for example, a film forming process. Each of the processing chambers 14 to 19 has partition walls 15a to 18a made of stainless steel or Al material, and is a chamber independent of each other. Then, as shown in detail in FIG. 2 (a), the mounting portions 21a, 21 capable of holding the reaction tube 20 made of quartz in the longitudinal direction and holding the reaction tube 20 at both open ends thereof.
The mounting portions 21a, 21b are composed of second gate valves 22a, 22b for opening and closing the open ends of the mounting portions 21a, 21b, and vacuum bellow flanges 23a, 23b. The vacuum bellows flanges 23a, 23b of such mounting portions 21a, 21b.
Are vacuum bellows flanges 25a mounted on the reaction tube 20,
By being connected to 25b, the open end of the reaction tube 20 is connected to the open ends of the mounting portions 22a, 22b, and the first gate valves 24a, 24b are opened and closed to exhaust the inside of the reaction tube 20 or to the inside of the reaction tube 20. Gas can be introduced.
Further, reference numerals 26a and 26b denote heaters, which are provided in processing chambers requiring heating, such as the pre-processing chamber 16 and the reaction chamber 17 for performing preheating, and have a cylindrical shape corresponding to the outer shape of the cylindrical reaction tube. It is opened by AC motors 26a and 26b. Then, by opening, the heater 25a,
A reaction tube can be attached to and detached from the inside of 25b.

Next, the arrangement of processing chambers or processing units and details of each processing chamber will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2A and 2B. That is, reference numeral 14 denotes a reaction tube exchange section,
0 is set upright in the longitudinal direction, and vacuum bellows flanges 25a, 25b and a first gate valve are provided at both open ends of the reaction tube 20.
Attach 24a and 24b. And the first gate valve
The inside of the reaction tube 20 is opened and closed to the outside by opening and closing 24a and 24b. Also, set other jigs.

Reference numeral 15 denotes a handling chamber for inserting the wafer holder 13 on which a wafer is placed into the reaction tube 20 set in the mounting section. Reference numeral 16 denotes a pretreatment chamber having the rotatable heater 26a described above. In addition, FIG.
As shown in (b), the mounting portions 21a and 21b are connected to the open end of the reaction tube 20 to be mounted, and are open tubes (openings) capable of exhausting the inside of the reaction tube 20 or introducing gas into the reaction tube 20. Parts) 28a, 28b and second gate valves 22a, 22b for opening and closing the open pipes 28a, 28b.
Then, the first gate valves 24a, 24b and the second gate valves 22a, 22b are opened and exhausted by an exhaust device (not shown) connected to the opening tubes 28a, 28b, and the inside of the reaction tube 20 attached is depressurized. At the same time, preliminary heating is performed by the heater 26a.

Reference numeral 17 denotes a reaction chamber, as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the first gate valves 24a and 24b and the second gate valve of the reaction tube 20 mounted on the mounting portions 21a and 21b.
The reaction tube 20 is evacuated by an exhaust device (not shown) connected to the opening tube 28b after opening the openings 22a and 22b, and a reaction gas is introduced by a reaction gas supply device (not shown) connected to the opening tube 28a. The inside of the reaction tube 20 is set to a predetermined pressure. Then, the pre-processing chamber 16 is opened by the heater 26b that opens.
The preheated reaction tube 20 is further heated to raise the temperature to the reaction temperature, and is maintained at a predetermined temperature for a certain time to form a film.
After the film formation, the first gate valves 24a and 24b and the second gate valves 22a and 22b are closed to shut off the inside of the reaction tube 20 from the outside, and the second robot 12 moves the reaction tube 20 from the mounting portions 21a and 21b. And remove the reaction tube 2 to the next post-processing chamber 18.
Convey 0.

Reference numeral 18 denotes a post-processing chamber, in which a reaction tube 20 is installed.
Is cooled, the first gate valves 24a, 24b and the second gate valves 22a, 22b are opened, and an inert gas is introduced into the reaction tube 20 by an inert gas supply device connected to the opening tube. Bring to atmospheric pressure.

Reference numeral 19 denotes a spare portion for taking out the wafer holder 13 in the reaction tube 20. As described above, in the first embodiment of the present invention, in the processing chamber or the processing section, the mounting sections 21a and 2 can be mounted in the longitudinal direction so that the reaction tube 20 can be mounted at both open ends.
1b, and open tubes 28a and 28b connected to the open end of the reaction tube 20 and capable of exhausting the inside of the reaction tube 20 or introducing gas into the reaction tube 20. Therefore,
Since the processing such as pressure adjustment can be sequentially performed in each processing chamber by moving the reaction tube 20, a load lock chamber or the like connected to the reaction chamber 17 as in the related art is not required. Also, no planar space is required. Moreover, a plurality of reaction tubes can be simultaneously assigned to each processing chamber or the like. As described above, the space for installing the manufacturing apparatus can be saved.

Further, the heaters 26a and 26b have a cylindrical shape corresponding to the outer shape of the reaction tube 20, and when opened, the reaction tube 20 can be attached to and detached from the inside of the tube. The handling of the reaction tube 20 by the second robot 12 is easy.

Each processing chamber and the like are provided with a second robot 12.
Are arranged at the periphery of the second robot 12 around the center, and the second robot 12 can rotate around the axis and can move linearly in the radial direction passing through the axis. . Accordingly, the reaction tube 20 can be appropriately moved between the processing chambers and the like by the second robot 12, so that the processing can be performed independently in the processing chambers and the like. Thereby, the operation rate can be improved.

As a second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, a detection chamber 29 for detecting the amount of dust inside the reaction tube 20 by laser irradiation or the like in the processing chamber or the like, A reaction tube cleaning chamber for cleaning such as lightly etching and removing the inner wall of the reaction tube 20 with a processing gas or a processing liquid containing hydrofluoric acid to remove dust in the reaction tube 20 when dust is detected. 30 can also be added. As a result, heating processing related to the processing of the wafer itself is performed in one of the processing chambers, for example, the pre-processing chamber 16 and the reaction chamber 17, and the amount of dust generated in the other processing chamber, for example, the reaction tube 20 is reduced. In the detection chamber 29 for detection or the reaction tube cleaning chamber 30 for cleaning the reaction tube 20, operations unrelated to the processing of the wafer itself can be performed simultaneously. Therefore, it is possible to shorten the standby time due to the replacement work of the reaction tube 20 and the like and improve the operation rate.

When a plurality of films are formed, a plurality of reaction chambers can be provided. Next, a film forming process using the film forming apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
This will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b) are side views of the reaction chamber 17, but in the following description, reference numerals indicating common parts are used for description in other processing chambers.

First, the cassettes 9a to 9c on which wafers for forming a film are mounted are loaded into the stocker 8. Then
The first robot 11 places the wafers in the cassette 9a on the aligner 10, aligns the wafers based on the orientation flat of the wafers, and then places them again on the cassette 9a. At this time, the reaction tube 20 is set in the reaction tube exchange section 14 in parallel with the above operation, and the reaction tube 20 is set.
The vacuum bellow flanges 25a and 25b and the first gate valves 24a and 24b are mounted on both open ends of the. Subsequently, the mounted reaction tube 20 is conveyed to the handling chamber 15, and set in the mounting portions 21a, 21b via the vacuum bellows flanges 23a, 23b with the longitudinal direction set up.

Next, after all the wafers in the cassette 9a are aligned and the wafers are placed on the wafer holder 13, the first and second robots 11 and 12 remove the wafer holder 13 from the handling chamber 15a. Then, the first gate valves 24a and 24b and the second gate valves 22a and 22b are opened, and the wafer holder 13 is inserted into the reaction tube 20 of the handling chamber 15 from above or below.

Next, the first gate valves 24a, 24b and the second gate valves 22a, 22b are closed, the reaction tube 20 is removed from the mounting portions 21a, 21b by the second robot 12, and the handling chamber 15 is moved linearly. Remove from Next, the second robot 12 is rotated, and the preprocessing chamber 1 is rotated.
The reaction tube 20 is moved until before 6. Subsequently, the heater 26a is moved into the preprocessing chamber 16 by linear movement, and the heater 26a is opened. The heater 26 is mounted on the mounting portions 21a and 21b.
When a is closed, the reaction tube 20 is housed inside the heater 26a. Next, power is supplied to the heater 26a to generate heat,
The reaction tube 20 is preheated to a temperature of about 500 ° C. Simultaneously with the heating, the first gate valve 24b and the second gate valve 22b are opened, and exhaust is performed by an exhaust device connected to the opening pipe 28b of the vacuum bellows flanges 23a, 23b / 25a, 25b of the mounting portions 21a, 21b. Then, the pressure in the reaction tube 20 is reduced to almost a pressure of about 1 Torr at the time of the film formation reaction.
In this case, the same state as the conventional load lock chamber can be formed.

Next, when the pressure reaches about 10 Torr,
The first gate valve 24b and the second gate valve 22b are closed, and the mounting portions 21a, 21 are again operated by the second robot 12.
The reaction tube 20 is removed from the reaction tube b, and is carried into the reaction chamber 17 by linear movement and rotation while maintaining the reduced pressure state in the reaction tube 20. The reaction tube 20 is mounted on the mounting portions 21a and 21b and stored in the heater 26b by opening. At this time, the temperature of the reaction tube 20 has not dropped much from the preheating temperature of 500 ° C. Subsequently, the first gate valve 24b and the second gate valve
22b is opened and exhausted, and further heated by a heater 26b. When the temperature reaches about 800 ° C, the first
The reaction gas is introduced by opening the gate valve 24a and the second gate valve 22a, and the pressure is maintained at about 1 Torr.
After maintaining this state for about one hour, the reaction gas is stopped, and the first gate valves 24a and 24b and the second gate valves 22a and 22b are closed. At this time, a SiO ₂ film of about 0.5 μm is formed on the wafer.

Next, the reaction tube 20 is carried into the post-processing chamber 18 by the second robot 12, and is mounted on the mounting sections 21a and 21b. Subsequently, the first and second gate valves 24b, 22b
Is opened and exhausted, the reaction gas remaining in the reaction tube 20 is discharged, and the reaction tube 20 is cooled. Temperature is 500 ° C
When it is lowered to the extent, the first and second gate valves 24b,
22b is closed and the first and second gate valves 24 are closed.
a, 22a are opened and nitrogen gas is introduced to return the pressure inside the reaction tube 20 to atmospheric pressure. In this case, the same state as the conventional load lock chamber can be formed.

Next, the first and second gate valves 24a, 24a,
After closing 22a and stopping the introduction of the nitrogen gas, the reaction tube 20 is carried from the post-processing chamber 18 into the preliminary unit 19, and the wafer holder 13 is taken out, thereby completing the film formation.

In the above description, one reaction tube 20
Although the description has been made by paying attention to the above, while the processing of one reaction tube 20 is being performed, another reaction tube may be transported to an empty processing chamber one after another, and the same processing may be sequentially performed. Thereby, the operation rate can be improved.

[0030]

As described above, in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention, the mounting section in which the reaction tube can be mounted with both open ends while the processing section is set up in the longitudinal direction, the open end of the mounted reaction tube, An opening that is connected to the inside of the reaction tube and that can exhaust gas or introduce gas into the reaction tube. Therefore, a flat space is not required, and a load lock chamber or the like connected to the reaction chamber as in the related art is not required. In addition, since each processing unit is independent, a plurality of reaction tubes can be simultaneously assigned to each processing unit. Thereby, space saving for installation of the manufacturing apparatus can be achieved.

Further, since the heater can be opened to mount the reaction tube thereon, it is easy to handle the reaction tube by the transport means. Since a plurality of reaction tubes are arranged around the transporting means around the moving transporting means, a plurality of reaction tubes can be simultaneously engaged corresponding to the plurality of processing units and can be appropriately moved by the transporting means. Therefore, since each processing operation can be performed separately, the standby time for exchanging the reaction tubes and the like can be shortened, and the operation rate can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a top view illustrating a film forming apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view illustrating the details of the film forming apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a top view illustrating a film forming apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram illustrating a conventional film forming apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 8 stocker, 9a to 9c cassette, 10 aligner, 11 first robot, 12 second robot (transporting means), 13 wafer holder, 14 reaction tube exchange section, 15 handling room, 15a to 18a partition wall, 16 front Processing chamber, 17 reaction chamber, 18 post-processing chamber, 19 spare part, 20 reaction tube, 21a, 21b mounting part, 22a, 22b second gate valve, 23a, 23b, 25a, 25b vacuum bellows flange, 24a, 24b 1 gate valve, 26a, 26b heater, 27a, 27b AC motor, 28a, 28b open pipe (opening), 29 detection chamber, 30 reaction tube washing chamber.

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. A process having a reaction tube having open ends at both ends capable of processing a wafer therein, and a mounting portion capable of holding both ends of the reaction tube upright and holding the reaction tube detachably. A semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, comprising: a transport unit for transporting the reaction tube to the processing unit and detaching the reaction tube from the processing unit; and a wafer holder that can be inserted into the reaction tube. 2. The reaction tube is provided with a first gate valve that can open and close an open end at both ends, and a mounting portion of the processing unit is connected to an open end of the mounted reaction tube. 2. The semiconductor according to claim 1, further comprising an opening through which the inside of the reaction tube can be exhausted or gas introduced into the inside of the reaction tube, and a second gate valve that opens and closes the opening. Manufacturing equipment. 3. The processing section includes a heating processing section having a heater, the heater having a cylindrical shape corresponding to the outer shape of the reaction tube, and mounting the reaction tube inside the cylinder by opening and closing. 3. The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus can be detached from the inside of the cylinder. 4. A plurality of the processing units are arranged around the transport unit around the transport unit, and the transport unit is rotatable about an axis and has a radius passing through the axis. 4. The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus is capable of linearly moving in a direction. 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one of the processing units is a cleaning processing unit for a reaction tube.
The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to claim 3. 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein one of the processing units is a dust detection unit that detects an amount of dust generated inside the reaction tube. The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to claim 4 or 5.