JPH02106932A - Production device for semiconductor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the effect of the outside air on the taking-in-and-out of wafers by installing a load locking chamber separately comminicating with the wafer gateway of an oxidizing furnace and the wafer gateway of a growth furnace while being demarcated from the outside. CONSTITUTION:Both the gateway 55 of an oxidizing furnace 51 and the gateway 57 of a CVD furnace 53 are demarcated from the outside by a load locking chamber (a vacuum preparation chamber) 65. The load locking chamber 65 is set up for taking in and taking out wafers 63 without opening each treating chamber of said oxidizing furnace 51 and CVD furnace 53 into atmospheric air. The chamber 65 is arranged so as to communicate with the gateways 55, 57 of these treating chambers through shutters 59, 61, and the inside of the chamber 65 is kept vacuum at all times by combination with evacuation system operation. The wafers 63 are charged into the load locking chamber 65 in a non-oxidizing atmosphere first, and interposed into the oxidizing furnace 51. Accordingly, natural oxide films are not formed in the gate oxide-film forming predetermined regions of the surfaces of the wafers 63.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to improvements in semiconductor manufacturing equipment, such as MOS transistor manufacturing equipment.

<Prior Art> As a conventional MOS transistor manufacturing apparatus, the one shown in FIG. 2, for example, has been known in accordance with its manufacturing process.

In this figure, 11 is an oxidation furnace for growing a gate oxide film, and 13 is a CVD growth furnace for forming a gate electrode made of, for example, a polysilicon film. The wafer 15 is placed in each furnace 11.
It enters and leaves the furnace 11.13 through the entrance and exit port 21.23 of the furnace 11.13. 25 and 27 are the shutters.

Therefore, after forming a gate oxide film on the wafer 15 in the oxidation furnace 11 according to the ζ process order, the wafer 15 is transferred and
A gate electrode is grown and deposited on the gate oxide film in the VD growth furnace 13.

However, when transferring this wafer 16, etc., the wafer 1
5 is to be exposed to the outside air.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> However, in such conventional semiconductor manufacturing equipment, the oxidation furnace and the CVD furnace are installed completely separately. As a result, the wafers are exposed to the outside air when they are loaded into and taken out of each furnace, resulting in the following problems. For example, a natural oxide film grows due to the entrainment of outside air before wafer oxidation, and after the oxide film is formed, it is difficult to control the interfacial charge (Qss) due to the entrainment of outside air. Furthermore, when transferring a wafer from an oxidation furnace to a CVD furnace, it is difficult to maintain the oxide film formed on the wafer in a clean state.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus in which the loading and unloading of wafers into and out of an oxidation furnace and a CVD furnace is not affected by outside air.

<Means for Solving the Problems> The present invention provides a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus equipped with an oxidation furnace that forms an oxide film on a wafer and a growth furnace that grows a thin film on the wafer. This semiconductor manufacturing equipment has a load-lock chamber that communicates with the wafer inlet and outlet of the growth furnace and is isolated from the outside.

<Function> In the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention, the wafer inlet/outlet of the oxidation furnace and the wafer inlet/outlet of the growth furnace are communicated with each other through the load lock chamber. This load lock chamber is isolated from the outside. Therefore, even when a wafer on which an oxide film has been formed in an oxidation furnace is transferred to a growth furnace, the oxidized wafer is once placed in this load lock chamber before being loaded into the growth furnace. In addition, when loading and unloading wafers into each furnace, this is also done from the load lock chamber.

As a result, semiconductor devices formed on a wafer are isolated from the outside air and are kept in a non-oxidizing atmosphere, for example. Negative effects on the equipment can be avoided.

<Example> Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

In Figure 1, 51 is a vertical oxidation furnace (oxide film forming furnace)
53 also indicates a vertical CVD furnace (thin film growth furnace). These furnaces 51, 53 are arranged adjacent to each other and both have an opening 55, 57 at their lower end. 59.61 are the respective entrances and exits 55
．． 57 is a shutter that opens and closes.

Further, 63 in the figure indicates a plurality of wafers.

The wafer 63 is placed inside each door 51, 53, that is, in the processing chamber.

Here, the entrance/exit 55 of the oxidation furnace 51 and the CVD
Both the entrance and exit 57 of the furnace 53 are separated from the outside by a load lock chamber (vacuum preliminary chamber) 65. This load lock chamber 65 is designed to take in the wafer 63 without opening the processing chambers of the oxidation furnace 51 and CVD furnace 53 to the atmosphere.
It is for taking out. Further, this chamber 65 has shutters 59.
61, and in combination with the operation of a vacuum evacuation system (not shown), the interior thereof can be maintained at a vacuum at all times.

In the semiconductor manufacturing equipment according to the above configuration, MOS)
In accordance with the transistor manufacturing process, a wafer 63 is first inserted and placed in the oxidation furnace 51. In this case, the wafer 63 is first loaded into the load lock chambers 6 and 5 in a non-oxidizing atmosphere, for example, and then inserted into the oxidation furnace 51. For this reason,
No natural oxide film is formed on the surface of the wafer 63 in the area where the gate oxide film is to be formed.

After the gate oxide film is formed in the oxidation furnace 51, the wafer 63 is carried out to the load lock chamber 65 in the non-oxidizing atmosphere. As a result, the wafer 63 after the gate oxide film is formed is not affected by impurities such as Na, and the interfacial charge Qss in the completed MOS transistor can be easily controlled.

Furthermore, the wafer 63 is transferred from the load lock chamber 65 to the CVD furnace 53 in accordance with the next step. in this case,
By purging the load lock chamber 65 with N2, the furnace 5
The atmosphere will be the same as inside 3. Then, in a CVD furnace 53, a polysilicon film for a gate electrode is deposited on the gate oxide film.

<Effect> As explained above, according to the present invention, the oxidation furnace, C
VD, Wafers are not affected by outside air when they are taken into or out of the furnace or transferred between them. Therefore, entrainment of outside air before and after oxidation of the wafer can be prevented, the growth of a natural oxide film can be prevented, the interfacial charge Qss can be easily controlled, the oxide film can be cleaned, and high-quality CV
It is possible to obtain the formation of a D film, etc.

It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the hem.

51 ・ ・ ・ ・ 53 ・ ・ ・ ・ 55.57 63・・・・・ 65 ・ ・ ・ ・ oxidation furnace, CVD furnace (growth furnace), wafer entrance, wafer, load lock room.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In a semiconductor manufacturing equipment equipped with an oxidation furnace that forms an oxide film on a wafer and a growth furnace that grows a thin film on the wafer, the wafer entrance/exit of the oxidation furnace is connected to the wafer entrance/exit of the growth furnace, respectively. A semiconductor manufacturing device characterized by having a load lock chamber isolated from the outside.