JPH01200636A - Heat-treatment apparatus for semiconductor substrate - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enhance the treatment capacity by installing a temperatureregulating mechanism used to adjust a temperature of an atmosphere substituting gas to be supplied to a heat-treatment chamber. CONSTITUTION:A temperature regulator 5 used to adjust a temperature of a substitution gas (a) to be supplied to a treatment chamber 6 from a supply source 1 is installed. That is to say, the atmosphere substitution gas (a) of the treatment chamber is supplied from the supply source 1. After that, the gas is introduced into the heat-treatment chamber 6 through a filter 2, a pressure-reducing valve 3, a flow meter 4 and the temperature regulator 5. Because the substitution gas (a) is passed through the temperature regulator 5 in this manner, it is possible to make a temperature of the substitution gas (a) equal to that of a heat treatment. By this setup, the time required to raise a temperature of a wafer during the heat treatment of the wafer can be shortened.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a semiconductor substrate heat treatment apparatus for heat treating a semiconductor substrate (hereinafter referred to as a wafer) in a semiconductor manufacturing process.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, atmosphere replacement gas in this type of semiconductor substrate heat processing apparatus has been delivered from a supply source, filtered within the apparatus, and then directly introduced into the processing chamber.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In the conventional semiconductor substrate heat processing equipment described above, gas from the supply source is directly introduced into the processing chamber, so the atmosphere is replaced with gas at a lower temperature than the processing chamber temperature, which reduces the degree of rise in wafer temperature. This problem was especially noticeable in heat treatment equipment that performs heat treatment with the wafer slightly suspended above the plate.

An object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor substrate heat treatment apparatus that solves the above problems.

[Differences between the invention and the prior art]

The present invention differs from the conventional semiconductor substrate heat treatment apparatus described above in that it has a temperature control mechanism for the process chamber atmosphere replacement gas.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the semiconductor substrate heat treatment apparatus of the present invention is equipped with a temperature control mechanism that adjusts the temperature of the atmosphere replacement gas supplied to the heat treatment chamber.

(Example〕 Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Example 1) FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, 6 is a processing chamber, 7 is a plate that heats the semiconductor substrate 8 in the processing chamber 6, 1 is a replacement gas supply source, 2 is a filter, 3 is a pressure reducing valve, and 4 is a flow meter 6 The present invention is equipped with a temperature controller 5 that adjusts the temperature of the replacement gas a supplied from the supply source 1 into the processing chamber 6.

In the embodiment, the process chamber atmosphere replacement gas a is sent from a supply source 1. Then filter 2. Pressure reducing valve 3, flow meter 4.
It passes through a temperature controller 5 and is introduced into a wafer heat treatment chamber 6 .

In the present invention, by passing the replacement gas a through the temperature regulator 5, it is possible to make the temperature of the replacement gas a equal to the heat treatment temperature.

(Example 2) Figure 2 is a configuration diagram showing Example 2 of the present invention.6 In this example, a plate 7 is used as the temperature controller 5 used in Example 1, and the replacement gas a is transferred to the plate. 7, the temperature of the replacement gas a is controlled in synchronization with the plate temperature. In this embodiment, since the existing plate 7 is used as the temperature controller 5, it has the advantage that it is inexpensive and the entire device can be made compact.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, the present invention has the function of regulating the temperature of the replacement gas, thereby reducing the time required for the wafer temperature to rise during wafer heat treatment, which is useful for improving processing capacity.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a piping system diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a piping system diagram of a second embodiment. 1... Replacement gas supply source 2... Filter 3...
・Pressure reducing valve 4...Flow meter 5...Temperature controller
6...Processing chamber 7...Plate
8...Wafer a...Replacement gas patent applicant Kyushu NEC Co., Ltd. Agent Patent attorney Kantou Naka ゛“・;. Sono Figure 1

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A semiconductor substrate heat treatment apparatus that performs heat treatment by placing a semiconductor substrate close to a temperature-controlled plate, which is equipped with a temperature control mechanism that adjusts the temperature of an atmosphere replacement gas supplied to a heat treatment chamber. Substrate heat treatment equipment.