JPH017726Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Technical Field of the Invention) The present invention consists of a base and a bell gear placed on the base to form a reaction chamber for accommodating a thin film forming member, and to open the reaction chamber. The present invention relates to an improvement of a vapor phase growth apparatus in which a bell gear is raised and lowered by a lifting device.

(Technical background of the invention and its problems) Usually, in a vapor phase growth apparatus used in the pre-process of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, a semiconductor wafer as a thin film forming member is placed inside a reaction chamber (reactor). In order to place the reaction chamber on a base such as a susceptor or to take it out, the reaction chamber forming member is movable to open the reaction chamber.

On the other hand, semiconductor manufacturing equipment is becoming larger year by year, and as of 1983, for example, vertical epitaxial growth equipment, such as vertical epitaxial equipment, already had a large bell jar with an outer diameter of 900 to 1000 mm and a weight of 150 kg. being developed.

In addition, this type of equipment is equipped with a lifting device to open and close the bell gear, but when using the conventional cantilever structure, the weight of the bell gear increases and it becomes difficult to adjust the horizontality of the base. As a result, the parallelism between the bellgear flange surface and the base via the O-ring becomes poor, and the seal becomes incomplete, causing gas leakage from inside the bellgear, which is dangerous and allows air to enter the reaction chamber. There was a serious problem in that good and high quality vapor phase growth could no longer be performed.

This is due to the fact that the arm of the lifting device and the supported part of the bell gear are completely fixed and rigid, and as long as this structure remains, regular adjustments are required. .

[Purpose of invention]

This invention was made based on the above circumstances,
The purpose of this is to have a relatively simple structure, to provide a reliable seal between the bell gear and the base over a long period of time, to have excellent maintainability and safety, and to provide high-quality vapor phase growth. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a vapor phase growth apparatus that can perform this process.

[Summary of the idea]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention is such that the arm of the lifting device extending above the bell gear and the supported part formed at the top of the bell gear are formed to be swingable and to create a gap in the vertical direction. When the bell gear is loosely fitted by the fitting part and lowered, the sealing surface is placed on the base by its own weight, so that it is suspended with a degree of freedom.

[Example of idea]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a vertical vapor phase growth apparatus as a thin film forming apparatus, where 1 is a bell gear placed on a base 2, and 3 is a semiconductor substrate as a thin film forming member. (hereinafter referred to as a wafer), 4 is a carbon susceptor, 5 is a spiral high-frequency coil as a heat source, 6 is a nozzle for ejecting the reaction gas, and 7 is an O-ring for sealing the reaction gas to prevent it from leaking to the outside. It is. Also,
8 is a reaction chamber formed by the bell gear 1 and the base 2.

Then, high frequency power is sent to the high frequency coil 5 from a high frequency oscillator (not shown) to heat the susceptor 4 by high frequency induction. In this case, high-frequency induction heating is performed to a maximum of about 1300°C, although the heating temperature varies depending on the reaction gas. When the susceptor 4 is heated, the wafer 3 placed on the susceptor 4 is heated by conduction. On the other hand, the amount of the reaction gas is controlled by a gas control device (not shown), and the reaction gas is sent into the reaction chamber 8 through the nozzle 6.

And silicon (Si) contained in the gas
Silicon (Si) is separated from the compound by heat, chemical reaction, thermal decomposition, etc., and the silicon is deposited on the wafer 3, so that a thin film of silicon is grown.

Further, the bell gear 1 is raised and lowered by a lifting device 9 to open the reaction chamber 8.

That is, 10 is an arm 11 as a supporting member.
It is an elevating shaft with an attached elevating shaft, and can be rotated and raised and lowered by a drive source (not shown).
The tip of the arm 11 is attached to a U-shaped holding frame 12 formed at the top of the bell gear 1 as a supported part.
In this case, the bell gear 1 is swingable with respect to the arm 11 and loosely fitted into the fitting part 12a formed so as to create a gap in the vertical direction, so that the bell gear 1 is suspended. There is.

Further, at the mutual contact portion between the arm 11 and the holding frame 12 formed on the bell gear 1, an engaging portion 13 consisting of uneven line portions 13a and 13b having a V-shaped cross section for positioning and extending horizontally and at right angles to the arm 11 is provided. is formed so that the bell gear 1 can be reliably aligned with the base 2, and the bell gear 1 can easily swing like a pendulum along the direction in which the arm 11 extends.

In addition, in the figure, 14... is a flange portion 1a formed along the periphery of the lower end opening of the bell gear 1.
This is a clamper for pressing and fixing against.

Therefore, the wafer 3 as a thin film forming member
When opening the reaction chamber 8 in order to place or take out the susceptor 4, the holding operation of the clamper 14 is released, and then the lifting shaft 10 of the lifting device 9 is raised. This will lift Belgear 1 upwards. At this time, the supporting positions of the arm 11 and the bell gear 1 do not change due to the engaging portion 13 formed at their mutual contact portion.

When the reaction chamber 8 is to be closed, the bell gear 1 is lowered onto the base 2 by lowering the lifting shaft 10 of the lifting device 9. At this time, the arm 11 integrated with the lifting shaft 10 and the bell gear 1 are placed at a predetermined position on the base 2 without changing their support positions due to the engaging part 13 formed at their mutual contact part. . At this time,
Even if the arm 11 is bent due to the weight of the bell gear 1, the bell gear 1 is suspended substantially vertically with the engaging portion 13 as a fulcrum and placed on the base 2, regardless of the bending of the arm 11. When the bell gear 1 is completely placed on the base 2, a gap is formed between the engagement surfaces between the arm 11 integrated with the lifting shaft 10 and the holding frame 12, and the bell gear 1
As a result, the parallelism between the lower surface of the flange portion 10a formed along the periphery of the lower end opening of the bell gear 1 and the base 2 is always in the best condition.

In addition, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the engagement part for positioning formed at the mutual contact part between the arm and the fitting part of the supported part formed on the bell gear was formed by a concave-convex line part having a V-shaped cross section. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and it goes without saying that other shapes may be used.

In addition, it goes without saying that the present invention can be modified in various ways without changing the gist of the invention.

[Effect of idea]

As explained above, the present invention connects the arm of the lifting device to the supported part formed at the top of the bell gear by means of a fitting part that is swingable and formed to create a gap in the vertical direction. Since the bell gear is moved up and down by loosely fitting the arm, the structure is relatively simple, but the seal between the bell gear and the base can be reliably achieved regardless of the bending of the arm, resulting in excellent maintainability and safety. Moreover, it is possible to provide a vapor phase growth apparatus that can perform high quality vapor phase growth.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view, and FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway schematic front view. 1... Belgear (reaction chamber forming member), 2...
Base, 3... Thin film forming member (wafer), 8...
...Reaction chamber, 9... Lifting device, 10... Lifting shaft, 1
1...Arm, 12...Supported part (holding frame), 1
2a... Fitting part, 13... Engaging part, 13a... Concave line part for positioning, 13b... Convex line part for positioning.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] (1) A reaction chamber for accommodating a thin film forming member is constituted by a base and a bell gear placed thereon, and the bell gear is connected to an elevating device to open the reaction chamber. The device is a vapor phase growth device that is moved up and down by a bell gear, and the arm of the lifting device extending above the bell gear and a supported part formed at the top of the bell gear are movable and are arranged so that a gap is created in the vertical direction. A vapor phase growth apparatus characterized in that the bell gear is loosely fitted by a fitting portion formed in the arm, and is moved up and down as the arm moves up and down. (2) An engaging part consisting of a concave-convex line part for positioning extending horizontally at right angles to the arm is formed at the mutual contact part between the arm and the fitting part of the supported part formed on the bell gear. A vapor phase growth apparatus according to claim 1 of the utility model registration claim. (3) The vapor phase growth apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the uneven line portion has a V-shaped cross section.