JPH065534A - Heat treatment furnace - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Object] To provide a heat treatment furnace capable of uniformly supplying a sufficient amount of source gas to a large number of samples such as semiconductor wafers. The gas injection part 14a has a semi-cylindrical shape and is arranged so as to cover along the periphery of the quartz boat 24. The concave surface of the gas injection part 14a has an injection hole 44 for injecting a raw material gas. Are provided in a grid pattern at predetermined intervals. In the reaction container 12, the semiconductor wafers 2 are housed in a quartz boat 24 with a constant interval so that the surface of the semiconductor wafer 2 is horizontal. The raw material gas is injected into the reaction container 12 through a large number of injection holes 44 provided on the inner surface of the gas injection unit 14a, reacts with the semiconductor wafer 2, and is then discharged to the outside from the gas discharge port 32.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a heat treatment furnace used when, for example, a semiconductor wafer is subjected to an oxidation treatment, a diffusion treatment and a treatment by a CVD method in a semiconductor manufacturing process.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 2 shows a schematic sectional view of a conventional vertical heat treatment furnace. In the figure, a large number of semiconductor wafers 52 are housed in a quartz boat 62 at regular intervals. The quartz boat 62 is placed inside the reaction container 64. The reaction container 64 has a cylindrical shape with an upper part having a hemispherical shape, and an opening is provided at the lower end thereof. A heater 66 is provided around the reaction container 64, and the heater 66 performs heating necessary for the reaction between the semiconductor wafer 52 and the raw material gas.

The manifold 68 is attached to the lower portion of the reaction vessel 64, and is provided with a gas discharge port 72 for discharging the raw material gas used in the reaction to the outside. Further, in the manifold 68, a gas introduction pipe 76 for supplying the raw material gas into the reaction container 64 is airtightly supported by an O-ring 74. The gas introduction pipe 76 is made of a single quartz pipe and has a vertical portion extending upward along the inner surface of the reaction vessel 64 and a horizontal portion. In the vertical portion of the gas introduction pipe 76, the source gas sent from the outside is horizontally jetted toward the semiconductor wafer 52 in the reaction container 64.
A large number of injection holes (not shown) are provided in a row at regular intervals. The gas introduction pipe 76 is supported by a support ring 78 provided above the inner surface of the reaction container 64 so as to maintain a constant distance from the inner surface of the reaction container 64.

[0004]

By the way, since it is difficult to machine the injection holes with high accuracy, the diameters of the injection holes provided in a line in the vertical portion of the gas introduction pipe vary, and
The source gas may not be uniformly ejected from each ejection hole. In addition, the reaction product generated by the reaction with the raw material gas may be clogged in the injection hole, which may cause the raw material gas to not be uniformly injected from each injection hole. When a sample such as a semiconductor wafer is processed using such a gas introduction pipe, a certain semiconductor wafer cannot be supplied with a sufficient amount of raw material gas, so that all the semiconductor wafers cannot be processed uniformly and throughput is increased. There was a problem of lowering.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a heat treatment furnace capable of uniformly supplying a sufficient amount of source gas to a large number of samples such as semiconductor wafers. Is.

[0006]

A heat treatment furnace according to the present invention for achieving the above object comprises a reaction vessel and a large number of gas sources for injecting a raw material gas into the reaction vessel. A gas injection unit having an opening and having the openings formed in a plurality of rows, and a discharge unit for discharging the raw material gas in the reaction container to the outside are provided, and the raw material gas is supplied from the opening. Then, the sample is allowed to react with the sample in the reaction container and then discharged from the discharging means.

[0007]

According to the present invention, since a plurality of openings are formed in a plurality of rows in the gas injection means according to the above construction, even if the processing accuracy of the openings is not good and the shapes of the openings vary, A sufficient amount of source gas can be uniformly supplied to the sample. Also, even if some of the openings are filled with the reaction product generated by the reaction with the raw material gas,
A sufficient amount of source gas can be supplied to the sample. Therefore, all the samples placed in the reaction vessel can be uniformly processed.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1A is a schematic cross-sectional view of a heat treatment furnace as an embodiment of the present invention as seen from above, and FIG. 1B is a schematic cross-sectional view of the heat treatment furnace as seen from the side.

The heat treatment furnace shown in FIG.
Gas injection means 14, manifold 16, furnace lid 18
The heat insulating cylinder 22, the quartz boat 24, and the heater 26 are provided. Here, a vertical heat treatment furnace in which the reaction vessel 12 and the heater 26 are vertically arranged is used.

The reaction container 12 has a cylindrical shape with an upper part having a hemispherical shape, and its lower end is an open port. Reaction vessel 12
Are erected vertically on the manifold 16 with high accuracy. The gas injection unit 14 includes a gas injection unit 14a and a gas introduction pipe 14b. The gas injection unit 14a has a semi-cylindrical shape, and is arranged so as to cover the quartz board along a substantially half circumference of the quartz boat 24. In addition, the gas injection unit 14
An injection hole 44 for injecting the raw material gas is provided on the concave surface of a.
Are provided in a grid pattern at predetermined intervals. Gas injection unit 1
Reference numeral 4a denotes a support portion 1 provided on the upper inner surface of the reaction container 12.
5, it is detachably supported so as to maintain a constant distance from the inner surface of the reaction container 12. Therefore, when the gas injecting means 14 is broken or cannot use its original function due to use, it is possible to replace only the gas injecting means 14 by itself.

The manifold 16 is a mounting base mounted on the lower surface of the reaction vessel 12. The manifold 16 has
A gas discharge port 32 for discharging the raw material gas used in the reaction to the outside is provided. Further, in the manifold 16, the gas introduction pipe 14 b is airtight by the O-ring 34.
It is supported.

The bottom of the manifold 16 is sealed by a furnace lid 18. A heat retaining tube 22 is placed on the furnace lid 18, and a quartz boat 24 containing the semiconductor wafer 2 is placed on the heat retaining tube 22. The semiconductor wafer 2 is kept at a constant interval so that its surface is horizontal and the quartz boat 24
It is stored inside. The heat insulation cylinder 22 is rotatable.

The heater 26 is provided around the reaction container 12, and by this, the heating required for the reaction between the semiconductor wafer 2 and the raw material gas injected into the reaction container 12 is performed.

Next, the operation of the heat treatment furnace of this embodiment will be described. First, the furnace lid 18 removed from the bottom of the manifold 16 in order to house the semiconductor wafer 2 in the furnace.
A quartz boat 24 accommodating the heat retaining cylinder 22 and the semiconductor wafer 2 is placed on the above. In this state, the furnace lid 18 is lifted by a lifting device (not shown), the quartz boat 24 is inserted into the reaction vessel 12, and the furnace lid 18 is fixed to the manifold 16.

Next, in order to subject the semiconductor wafer 2 to a predetermined heat treatment, first, the heat retaining cylinder 22 is rotated and the heater 26 is operated. When the source gas is supplied from the gas introduction pipe 14b, the source gas is injected into the reaction vessel 12 through the injection holes 44 formed in the inner surface of the gas injection unit 14a. The gas injection unit 14 a is supported by the support unit 15 so as to maintain a constant distance from the inner surface of the reaction container 12 and the source gas injected from the injection holes 44 is horizontally supplied to the surface of the semiconductor wafer 2. ing. The supplied raw material gas reacts with the semiconductor wafer 2 in a high temperature atmosphere, and after the semiconductor wafer 2 is subjected to a predetermined process, the raw material gas is discharged to the outside from the gas discharge port 32.

In the heat treatment furnace of this embodiment, since a large number of injection holes for injecting the raw material gas are provided in a grid pattern at a predetermined interval, the machining accuracy of the injection holes is not so good, and the injection holes provided in the gas injection section are not so good. Even if the diameters of the holes vary, a sufficient amount of source gas can be uniformly supplied to each semiconductor wafer. Further, even if some of the injection holes are clogged with the reaction product generated by the reaction with the raw material gas, a sufficient amount of the raw material gas can be supplied to the semiconductor wafer from the other injection holes located at the same height. it can. Therefore, all the semiconductor wafers stored in the quartz boat can be uniformly processed, so that the throughput of the semiconductor manufacturing process can be improved.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, but various modifications can be made within the scope of the gist thereof. For example, in the above embodiment, the case where the gas injection portion is formed in a semi-cylindrical shape has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the surface of the gas injection portion may be formed in a flat plate shape or a plurality of surfaces. You may comprise a gas injection part with the gas introduction pipe of. Further, the opening is not limited to the hole, and may have a slit shape, for example.

[0018]

As described above, according to the present invention, since a plurality of openings are formed in a plurality of rows in the gas injection means, the shapes of the openings vary, and the reaction with the raw material gas causes Even if some openings are blocked,
Since a sufficient amount of raw material gas can be uniformly supplied to each sample,
For example, it is possible to provide a heat treatment furnace capable of uniformly processing a large number of semiconductor wafers in a semiconductor manufacturing process and improving throughput.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1A is a schematic cross-sectional view of a heat treatment furnace according to an embodiment of the present invention as seen from above, and FIG. 1B is a schematic cross-sectional view of the heat treatment furnace as seen from the side.

FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view of a conventional heat treatment furnace.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 semiconductor wafer 12 reaction container 14 gas injection means 14a gas injection part 14b gas introduction pipe 15 support part 16 manifold 18 furnace lid 22 heat retaining tube 24 quartz boat 26 heater 32 gas outlet 34 O-ring 44 injection hole

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A gas jet having a reaction vessel and a large number of openings provided in the reaction vessel for injecting a raw material gas into the reaction vessel, wherein the openings are formed in a plurality of rows. Means and discharge means for discharging the raw material gas in the reaction vessel to the outside, and supplying the raw material gas from the opening to react with the sample in the reaction vessel and then discharging the raw material gas from the discharge means A heat treatment furnace characterized by: 2. The heat treatment furnace according to claim 1, wherein the openings of the gas injection unit are arranged in a grid pattern. 3. The heat treatment furnace according to claim 1, wherein the opening of the gas injection unit is arranged in a concave shape. 4. The opening of the gas injection means is arranged along a part of the periphery of the sample.
Alternatively, the heat treatment furnace according to item 3.