JP2002299270A - Device and method for heat treatment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To shorten TAT. SOLUTION: A move work chamber 4 of an object (w) to be treated is connected via pass box 10, in which a plurality of objects (w) to be treated can be housed on multiple stages, to a conveyance work chamber 3 for carrying the plurality of objects (w) to be treated into and out of a heat treatment furnace 6 while placing them on a holder 2, a placing stand 17 for placing a transport container 16 housing the plurality of objects (w) to be treated is installed on the front part of the move work chamber 4, and the move work chamber 4 is provided with a first moving mechanism 11 for moving the object (w) to be treated between the transport container 16 on the placing stand 17 and the pass box 10. Then, the conveyance work chamber 3 is provided with a second moving mechanism 12 for moving the object (w) to be treated between the pass box 10 and the holder 2, and the pass box 10 is provided with a cooling mechanism 60 for cooling the object (w) to be treated after heat treatment.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a heat treatment apparatus and a heat treatment method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the manufacture of semiconductor devices, there is a process of subjecting an object to be processed, for example, a semiconductor wafer, to various processes such as oxidation, diffusion, CVD, and the like. As a device for performing such processes, for example, a heat treatment device is used. ing. As this heat treatment apparatus, a batch type vertical heat treatment apparatus capable of heat treating a large number of wafers at a time is known. This heat treatment apparatus includes a loading area (transfer work chamber) for loading a large number of wafers, for example, about 150 wafers in a boat (holding tool) in multiple stages, and carrying in / out (load / unload) to / from a heat treatment furnace. In order to supply wafers to the boat in the loading area, a transfer storage chamber capable of storing and transferring a required number of carriers (transport containers) capable of storing a plurality of, for example, 25 wafers is provided.

In order to keep the inside of the loading area clean, the loading area and the transfer / storage room are separated by a partition. The partition has a carrier stage on which a carrier is mounted, and a wafer is taken out of the carrier on the carrier stage. And a door for opening and closing the opening. Further, in the transport storage room, a carrier port (entrance / exit) for taking in / out a carrier, a carrier mounting table provided in the vicinity thereof, a storage rack for storing a plurality of carriers, these carrier mounting table, storage rack, And a carrier transport mechanism for transporting the carrier to and from the carrier stage.

[0004]

However, in the above-described conventional heat treatment apparatus, when starting the heat treatment, a plurality of carriers are carried into the transfer storage room and carried to the storage shelf, and the carriers are transferred from the storage shelf to the carrier stage. After the heat treatment, the empty carrier is transferred from the storage shelf to the carrier stage, the wafer after heat treatment is returned to the carrier, and the carrier is transferred to the carrier mounting table of the carrier port. TAT, which is the time required from when a carrier or wafer is loaded into the equipment until it is unloaded.
(Turn Around Time).

In particular, in the heat treatment apparatus, the temperature of the wafer after the heat treatment, which has been unloaded from the heat treatment furnace and has been heat-treated, is lowered by natural cooling while being mounted on the boat. , TA
T contributed to prolonged.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide a heat treatment apparatus and a heat treatment method capable of shortening the TAT.

[0007]

Means for Solving the Problems In the present invention, claim 1 is provided.
According to the invention, a plurality of workpieces are mounted on a holder, and are carried into and out of a heat treatment furnace. The transfer work chamber is connected, and a mounting table for mounting a transport container containing a plurality of objects to be processed is installed outside the transfer work chamber,
A first transfer mechanism for transferring the object to be processed between the transport container on the mounting table and the pass box is provided in the transfer work chamber,
A second transfer mechanism for transferring the workpiece between the pass box and the holder in the transfer work chamber; and a cooling mechanism for cooling the workpiece after the heat treatment is provided in the pass box. It is characterized by.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the heat treatment apparatus according to the first aspect, the pass box is provided with a door that opens and closes an opening that opens to the transfer work chamber and the transfer work chamber. It is characterized by the following.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the heat treatment apparatus of the first or second aspect, the pass box is configured such that the inside thereof can be replaced with an inert gas.

[0010] The invention of claim 4 is the invention of claim 1, 2, or 3
In the heat treatment apparatus described in the above, in the pass box, shelves that support the processing object in multiple stages at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction are provided, and a cooling plate constituting the cooling mechanism is provided for each of the processing objects. It is characterized by being arranged in multiple stages so as to face the upper surface and the lower surface.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, a plurality of objects to be processed are mounted in multiple stages on a holder through a pass box capable of storing the objects in multiple stages from a transport container storing a plurality of objects to be processed. A heat treatment method in which the heat treatment object is carried into a heat treatment furnace to perform a predetermined heat treatment, wherein the object to be processed after the heat treatment is cooled in the pass box in a process of returning the object from the holder to a transport container.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view of a heat treatment apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic transverse sectional view of the heat treatment apparatus.

In these figures, reference numeral 1 denotes a housing which forms an outer shell of a vertical heat treatment apparatus. In this housing, a plurality of, for example, about 36 wafers, for example, semiconductor wafers w are mounted on a boat 2 as a holder. Loading and loading into the heat treatment furnace (load),
A loading area 3 as a transfer work chamber for carrying out (unloading) a transfer work chamber (also referred to as a wafer handling area) 4 for transferring a wafer w.
Are provided via the partition wall 5.

The loading area 3 is a closed space where outside air does not easily enter in order to suppress or prevent particle contamination of the wafer w. Further, the loading area 3 may be made to the air specification, in order to prevent the formation of a natural oxide film on the wafer w, inert having a function to replace the inner atmosphere with an inert gas such as nitrogen gas N ₂ It may be a gas purge specification.

Above the loading area 3, a vertical heat treatment furnace 6 is provided. This heat treatment furnace 6
It mainly includes a vertically long processing vessel (reaction tube) (not shown) whose lower end is opened as a furnace port, and a heater (not shown) provided around the processing vessel. In order to prevent heat in the furnace from being released into the loading area 3 when a lid 7 described below is opened downward, a shutter 8 that closes the furnace opening is provided at the lower part of the heat treatment furnace 6 so as to be openable and closable. Have been.

In the loading area 3, a lid 7 for opening and closing the furnace port of the heat treatment furnace 6 is provided so as to be able to move up and down via a lifting mechanism (also referred to as a boat elevator) 9. 2 is placed. Boat 2
In this example, in addition to 25 product wafers, a maximum of 36 wafers w including a dummy wafer and a monitor wafer can be mounted and held at predetermined intervals in a vertical direction in multiple stages.

The partition 5 is provided with a pass box 10 capable of accommodating a plurality of, for example, about 36 wafers w in multiple stages.
Are provided in a state of penetrating through. This pass box 1
Reference numeral 0 designates a communication connection between the loading area 3 and the transfer work chamber 4, and a first transfer mechanism 11 and a second transfer mechanism 1 which will be described later.
It has a function as an interface for exchanging wafers w between the two.

FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view showing the structure of the pass box, FIG. 7 is an explanatory view for explaining the operation of the door opening and closing mechanism of the pass box, and FIG. 8 is a schematic perspective view showing the structure of the cooling mechanism in the pass box. FIG. 9 and FIG. 9 are schematic front views showing the configuration of the cooling mechanism. The pass box 10 is formed in a box shape with both ends opened. A shelf 13 is provided in the pass box 10 for supporting a plurality of, for example, about 36 wafers w in multiple stages at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction. The shelf 13 supports both sides of the wafer w. The pass box 10 is open to the loading area 3 side and the transfer work room 4 side, and from the transfer work room 4 side to the loadein area 3 side.
The wafer w can pass through the transfer area from the loading area 3 to the transfer work chamber 4.

When the loading area 3 is of an inert gas purge type, the pass box 10 is provided with doors 14 and 15 for opening and closing the openings 10a opened to the transfer work chamber side and the transfer work chamber side, respectively. Box 10
It is preferable to adopt a configuration having a function of replacing the inside with an inert gas such as N ₂ . In the pass box 10,
A sensor 50 composed of a light projecting element 50a and a light receiving element 50b for detecting the protrusion of the wafer w is provided vertically above and below the opening 10a, and for example, an alarm is issued when the protrusion of the wafer w is detected. I have.

The pass box 10 is provided with an inert gas introducing section 51 for introducing an inert gas, for example, N ₂ into one side of the pass box. The inert gas introducing section 51 contains an inert gas dispersed therein. The filter 52 is provided with a cylindrical filter 52. Further, the pass box 10 is provided with exhaust portions 53 for sucking and discharging the inert gas from the four corners on the other side in the pass box 10.

The pass box 10 is provided with a door opening / closing mechanism 50 for opening and closing the doors 14 and 15, respectively.
Since the door opening / closing mechanisms 50 of the doors 14 and 15 have the same configuration, the door opening / closing mechanism 50 of one door 14 will be described. The door opening / closing mechanism 50 includes a linear guide 54 for allowing the door 14 to retreat downward when the door 14 is opened, and for allowing the door 14 to abut on the open end of the pass box 10 when the door 14 is closed. The door 14 is supported by the support frame 55 such that the door 14 can move forward and backward toward the pass box.

In the door 14 or the support frame 55,
An air cylinder 56 for moving this vertically is provided. The support frame 55 is provided with a spring 57 for urging the door 14 away from the pass box 10 (retreating direction).
When the door 5 rises and approaches the position of the pass box 10, the door 14 is advanced against the urging force of the spring 57 by the reaction force abutting against the stopper 58 protruding from the pass box 10 so that the door 14 is moved to the open end of the pass box 10. A lever 59 is provided for contact.

The pass box 10 has a cooling mechanism 60 for cooling the unloaded wafer w after the heat treatment.
It has. The cooling mechanism 60 has cooling plates 61 arranged at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction so as to face the upper and lower surfaces of each wafer w. These cooling plates 61 are preferably made of metal, for example, aluminum, and are preferably formed in a disk shape having substantially the same size as the wafer w. Both sides of these cooling plates 61 are fixed to side cooling plates 62, 62 disposed on both sides, respectively. The side cooling plate 62 includes:
For example, a passage 63 through which water is circulated as a refrigerant is provided,
Each horizontal cooling plate 61 is formed by heat conduction from the side cooling plate 62.
Is to be cooled.

A mounting table (also referred to as a load port) on the outside of the front of the transfer work chamber 4 for mounting a carrier 16 which is a transport container accommodating a plurality of, for example, about 25 wafers w.
17 are installed. On the mounting table 17, two carriers 16 can be mounted on the left and right. Table 17 described above
First, the carrier 16 containing the dummy wafer dw
Is supplied, the dummy wafer dw is transferred from the carrier 16 to a dummy storage unit 18 described later, and the empty carrier 1 is
After the evacuation mechanism 6 is retracted by a later-described evacuation mechanism, the carrier 16 accommodating the product wafer and the carrier 16 accommodating the monitor wafer are supplied one by one, or the product wafer and the monitor wafer are accommodated. Career 1
6 are supplied. The carrier is supplied 16 onto the mounting table 17 automatically by, for example, an overhead transport mechanism or manually by an operator.

The carrier 16 may be a transport container without a lid, but in order to prevent particle contamination of the wafer w, a lid 16 is provided on the front surface opened as a wafer entrance.
It is preferable that the container is a transport container with a lid to which a is detachably attached via a latch mechanism. In the carrier 16, a plurality of wafers w are supported in multiple stages at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction.

3A and 3B are views showing the mounting table, wherein FIG. 3A is a front view, and FIG. 3B is a longitudinal sectional view. The mounting table 17 is a movable table 19 on which the carrier 16 can be placed and which can move forward and backward in the front-rear direction.
A positioning pin 20 for positioning the carrier 16, a fixing mechanism 21 for fixing the carrier 16, and the like are provided on the movable base 19. When the carrier 16 is placed on the movable base 17, the carrier 16 is fixed by the fixing mechanism 21, and the carrier 16 is moved forward to the position of the door 23 of the lid opening / closing mechanism 22, which will be described later.

The mounting table 17 has a lid 16 a of the carrier 16.
There is provided a lid opening / closing mechanism 22 for opening / closing the lid. The opening / closing mechanism 22 includes a door 23 that opens and closes an opening (not shown) provided on the front surface of the housing 1 so as to face the carrier 16 on the mounting table 17, and a lid 16 a removed from the carrier 16.
And a lifting mechanism 24 for raising and lowering the door 23 so as to retract the door 23 together with the door 23 downward. Door 23 has lid 1
It has a latch key 25 for locking and unlocking the latch mechanism provided on 6a, and a suction unit 26 for sucking and holding the lid 16a.

The transfer table 4 is provided in the transfer work chamber 4.
A first transfer mechanism 11 for transferring the wafer w between the carrier 16 on the pass 7 and the pass box 10 is provided, and the loading area 3 has a wafer w between the pass box 10 and the boat 2. Second transfer mechanism 12 for transferring a document
Is provided. The first transfer mechanism 11 and the second transfer mechanism 12 are the same as the first transfer mechanism except that the first transfer mechanism 11 has a left-right moving mechanism 27 and a detection unit 28 for wafer mapping. 11 has substantially the same configuration as
Only the transfer mechanism 11 will be described, and the second transfer mechanism 1
The description of 2 is omitted.

FIG. 4 is a view showing the first transfer mechanism. The first transfer mechanism 11 includes a transfer arm 30 having a plurality of, for example, five forks 29 (support plates) capable of supporting a plurality of, for example, five wafers w in multiple stages. The transfer arm 30 is configured to be movable forward and backward, horizontally rotatable, vertically movable, and horizontally movable.

More specifically, the transfer arm 30 includes a central fork 29 which can move forward and backward independently, and four forks 29 which can move forward and backward and change the pitch.
The transfer arm 30 has a base 31 having a built-in advance / retreat movement mechanism (not shown) for moving the forks 29 forward and backward. The base 31 is provided on a lifting arm 33 of a vertical moving mechanism 32 so as to be horizontally rotatable via a horizontal rotating mechanism 34. Below the vertical moving mechanism 32, the vertical moving mechanism 32 is moved in the horizontal direction. A horizontal movement mechanism 27 that can move in parallel is provided.

In the first transfer mechanism 11, a detecting unit (a detecting unit) for detecting the position and the number of wafers w in the carrier 16 for wafer mapping is provided at the tip of the base 31 of the transfer arm 30. A wafer counter) 28 is provided. FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view illustrating a state in which a detection target provided in the first transfer mechanism is detecting a target object. The detection unit 28 includes an arm 35 provided to be able to move forward and backward from both sides of the tip of the base 31, and a light emitting element 3 provided opposite to the tips of both arms 35.
6 and a light receiving element 37. These light emitting elements 3
The wafer w is located between the light receiving element 6 and the light receiving element 37 and interrupts the optical path to detect the wafer w. The position and the number of the wafers w in the carrier 16 can be detected by scanning in which the arm 35 is inserted into the carrier 16 and moved up or down by the vertical movement mechanism 32.

The pass box 1 in the transfer work room 4
A notch aligning mechanism 38 is provided beside 0 to arrange a plurality of, for example, about five wafers w having notches (notches) at the peripheral edge thereof in multiple stages in the vertical direction to align the notches.
The notch alignment mechanism 3 in the transfer work chamber 4
A dummy storage unit 18 is provided below the dummy storage unit 18 for temporarily storing (stocking) a plurality of, for example, about 25 dummy wafers dw supplied in advance. The dummy storage unit 18 includes a shelf that supports a plurality of dummy wafers dw at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction.

Further, a carrier 16 for dummy wafers is provided above the first transfer mechanism 11 in the transfer work chamber 4.
A retreat mechanism 40 and a retreat area 41 for temporarily retreating from the table 17 are provided. The evacuation area 41 is partitioned from the inside of the transfer work chamber 4 by a partition wall 42 and is open to the front.
The retracting mechanism 40 includes an arm 43 composed of a link mechanism.
And a holding portion 44 provided at the tip of the arm 43 for holding the upper end support portion 16b of the carrier 16.

The retracting mechanism 40 keeps holding the carrier 16 during the retracting. The retracting mechanism 40 is configured to retract the dummy wafer carrier 16 mounted on one of the left and right movable tables 19 on the mounting table 17 by one unit.
It is preferable that the evacuation area 41 be provided to be movable in the left-right direction.

Next, the operation of the heat treatment apparatus having the above configuration and a heat treatment method will be described. First, first, the carrier 16 containing the dummy wafer dw is supplied onto the mounting table 17, and the dummy wafer dw is removed from the carrier 16 to the first position.
After transfer to the dummy storage unit 18 by the transfer mechanism 11 of
The empty carrier 16 is retracted by the retracting mechanism 40. Next, the carrier 16 containing, for example, a product wafer on the mounting table 17 and the carrier 1 containing the monitor wafer
Then, predetermined wafers are transferred from the carrier 16 and the dummy storage unit 18 to the shelves 13 in the pass box 10 by a predetermined number by the first transfer mechanism 11.

When the carrier 16 is mounted on the movable table 19 of the mounting table 17, the fixing mechanism 21 fixes the carrier 16 and advances the carrier 16 to the position of the door 23.
When the carrier 16 has a lid, the lid 16 a is removed by the lid opening / closing mechanism 22 and is retracted downward together with the door 23. When the carrier 16 is not provided with a lid, only the door 23 is retracted downward. Next, the arm 35 of the detection unit 28 provided in the first transfer mechanism 11 is inserted into the carrier 16, and the detection unit 28 is moved downward or upward to scan the wafer in the carrier 16 on the mounting table 17. The position and number of w are detected and mapping is performed. When the product wafer is transferred from the carrier 16 to the pass box 10, if necessary, the product wafer is transferred to the notch alignment mechanism 38, and the notches are aligned in a predetermined direction. Transfer to.

When the pass box 10 has the same inert gas purge specification as the loading area, the door 14 of the pass box 10 on the transfer work chamber 4 side is opened, and a predetermined number of wafers, for example, 36 wafers are transferred into the pass box 10. After the mounting, the door 14 is closed, and the inside of the pass box 10 is replaced with an inert gas such as N ₂ . After the replacement, the door 15 on the loading area 3 side of the pass box 10 is opened, and a plurality of wafers w are taken out of the pass box 10 by the second transfer mechanism 12 and stand by in the loading area 3.
Transfer to When all the wafers w in the pass box 10 are mounted on the boat 2, the door 15 of the pass box 10 is closed, the boat 2 is moved up by the elevating mechanism 9 and loaded into the heat treatment furnace 6, and the predetermined heat treatment for the wafer w is performed. To start.

When the heat treatment is completed, the boat 2 is unloaded, the door 15 of the pass box 10 is opened, and all the wafers w after the heat treatment are transferred from the boat 2 into the pass box 10 by the second transfer mechanism 12. Then, the door 15 is closed. Then, the wafer w is cooled by the cooling mechanism 60 for a predetermined time, for example, 3 seconds while flowing an inert gas such as N 2 into the pass box 10.
After cooling for about a minute, the temperature is lowered, for example, from about 600 ° C. to about 60 ° C. As described above, in the process of returning the wafer w after the heat treatment from the boat 2 to the carrier 16, the wafer w is forcibly cooled in the pass box 10 on the transfer path.

In this case, the doors 14 and 15 are closed to make the inside of the pass box 10 a closed space, and water is circulated through the passage 63 of the side cooling plate 62 of the cooling mechanism 60 to make the side cooling plate 6
2 and the multi-stage cooling plate 61, and by introducing an inert gas such as N ₂ into the pass box from one side and exhausting the gas from the other side to generate an air flow, the high-temperature wafer w after the heat treatment. Can be cooled effectively and the temperature can be rapidly lowered.

When the cooling of the wafer w is completed, the inside of the pass box 10 is replaced with the atmosphere, the door 14 on the transfer work chamber 4 side is opened, and the pass box 1 is moved by the first transfer mechanism 11.
The product wafer and the monitor wafer after the heat treatment are transferred from the inside to the carrier 16 on the mounting table 17 and the dummy wafer dw is transferred to the dummy storage unit 18.

When the product wafer and the monitor wafer are all returned into the carrier 16 on the mounting table 17, the lid 16a of the carrier 16 is closed by the lid opening / closing mechanism 22, the movable table 19 is retracted, and the carrier 16 is fixed by the fixing mechanism 21. When the fixing is released, the carrier 16 is carried away from the mounting table 17. Then, the carrier 16 evacuated by the evacuation mechanism 40 is returned onto the mounting table 17, and the carrier 16
When the dummy wafer dw is returned from the dummy storage unit 18 by the first transfer mechanism 11, the lid 16 a of the carrier 16 is closed by the lid opening / closing mechanism 22, the carrier 16 is carried off from the mounting table 16, and so on. The heat treatment may be repeated in a cycle.

According to the heat treatment apparatus having the above configuration,
Transfer of wafers w to a loading area 3 for loading and unloading a plurality of wafers w on the boat 2 to carry in / out the heat treatment furnace 6 via a pass box 10 capable of accommodating a plurality of wafers w in multiple stages. Work room 4 is connected, and this transfer work 4
A mounting table 17 for mounting a carrier 16 accommodating a plurality of wafers w is installed at the front of the chamber, and the wafer w is placed in the transfer work chamber 4 between the carrier 16 on the mounting table 17 and the pass box 10. A first transfer mechanism 11 for transferring wafers w is provided, and a second transfer mechanism 12 for transferring wafers w between the pass box 10 and the boat 2 is provided in the loading area 3. Equipped with a transport storage room for transporting and storing multiple carriers, compared to conventional vertical heat treatment equipment that uses a boat that carries a large number of wafers, the TAT can be shortened, the equipment can be reduced in size, and multi-product small-quantity production can be achieved. Will be possible.

Since the pass box 10 is provided with the cooling mechanism 60 for cooling the unloaded wafer w, the pass box 10 on the transfer path in the process of returning the heat-treated wafer w from the boat 2 to the carrier 16. It is possible to forcibly cool and lower the temperature of a plurality of wafers w in a batch process, for example, to reduce the temperature of a wafer w to 600 ° C. in about 3 minutes.
TAT in batch processing is different from a conventional batch type heat treatment apparatus that can lower the temperature to
Can be further reduced.

The pass box 10 has an opening 10a which is open to the transfer work chamber 4 side and the loading area 3 side.
Are provided so that they can be opened and closed respectively, so that a closed space can be formed in the pass box 10, and the wafer w can be effectively cooled and replaced with an inert gas. Becomes possible. Further, since the inside of the pass box 10 is configured to be replaceable with an inert gas, the pass box 10 can correspond to the loading area 3 of an inert gas purge specification. Further, the pass box 10 is provided with shelves 13 for supporting the wafers w in multiple stages at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction, and a cooling plate 61 constituting the cooling mechanism 60 is provided with upper and lower surfaces of each wafer w. The wafers w accommodated in multiple stages can be cooled and cooled effectively because they are arranged in multiple stages so as to face each other.

Since the mounting table 17 is provided with the lid opening / closing mechanism 22 for opening and closing the lid 16a of the lidded carrier 16, the carrier with the lid can be used as the carrier 16, and the effect of suppressing particle contamination of the wafer w can be achieved. Can be increased. The first transfer mechanism 11 includes the mounting table 1 described above.
Since the detection unit 28 for detecting the position and the number of the wafers w in the carrier 16 on the carrier 7 is provided, the position and the number of the wafers w in the carrier 16 are determined by using the movement of the first transfer mechanism 11. The detection can be performed, and there is no need to separately provide a wafer detection mechanism on the mounting table 17, so that the apparatus can be made compact and the cost can be reduced.

The transfer work chamber 4 is provided with the notch aligning mechanism 38 for mounting the notches of the wafers w in multiple stages and aligning the notches, so that the notches of the wafers w can be easily aligned as required. It can be carried out. Further, since the notch alignment mechanism 38 is disposed in the transfer work chamber 4,
Unlike when placed in loading area 3,
The wafer w and the notch alignment mechanism 38 are not easily affected by heat and contamination.

Since the transfer work chamber 4 is provided with a dummy storage section 18 for temporarily storing a plurality of dummy wafers dw, it is necessary to keep the dummy wafer carrier 16 on the mounting table 17 indefinitely. And the mounting table 17 can be made compact. The transfer work chamber 4 is provided with a retreat mechanism 40 for temporarily retreating the dummy wafer carrier 16 from the mounting table 17, so that the mounting table 17 is a compact one in which two carriers are mounted. can do.

The embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various design changes and the like can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. Is possible. The heat treatment apparatus of the present invention can perform heat treatment such as oxidation, diffusion, CVD, and annealing.
The object to be processed may be, for example, an LCD, other than a semiconductor wafer.
A substrate, a glass substrate, or the like may be used.

[0049]

In summary, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

(1) According to the first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of workpieces are multi-staged in a transfer work chamber for loading and unloading a plurality of workpieces on a holder and carrying them into and out of a heat treatment furnace. A transfer work chamber for the object to be processed is connected via a pass box that can be accommodated, and a mounting table for mounting a transport container containing a plurality of objects to be processed is installed outside the transfer work chamber; A first transfer mechanism for transferring the object to be processed between the transport container on the mounting table and the pass box in the mounting work chamber; Since the second transfer mechanism for transferring the body is provided and the pass box is provided with a cooling mechanism for cooling the heat-treated object, the heat-treated object is transferred from the holder to the transport container. During the returning process, cooling can be performed in the pass box, and the TAT can be reduced.

(2) According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the pass box is provided with doors for opening and closing the openings opened to the transfer work chamber side and the transfer work chamber side, respectively, A closed space can be formed in the inside, and the object to be processed can be effectively cooled.

(3) According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the inside of the pass box is configured to be replaceable with an inert gas, the pass box can correspond to a transfer work chamber of an inert gas purge specification.

(4) According to the invention of claim 4, the pass box is provided with shelves for supporting the objects to be processed in multiple stages at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction, and constitutes the cooling mechanism. Since the cooling plates are arranged in multiple stages so as to oppose the upper and lower surfaces of each object to be processed, the objects to be processed accommodated in multiple stages can be cooled and cooled effectively.

(5) According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, a plurality of objects to be processed are mounted in multiple stages on a holder via a pass box capable of accommodating a plurality of objects from a transport container accommodating the plurality of objects. A heat treatment method of carrying the holder into a heat treatment furnace and performing a predetermined heat treatment, wherein the object to be processed after the heat treatment is cooled in the pass box in a process of returning to the transport container from the holder. Therefore, the TAT can be shortened.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view of a heat treatment apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the heat treatment apparatus.

3A and 3B are views showing a mounting table, wherein FIG. 3A is a front view and FIG. 3B is a longitudinal sectional view.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a first transfer mechanism.

FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view showing a state where a processing target is detected by a detection unit provided in a first transfer mechanism.

FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view showing a configuration of a pass box.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the movement of a door opening / closing mechanism of a pass box.

FIG. 8 is a schematic perspective view showing a configuration of a cooling mechanism in the pass box.

FIG. 9 is a schematic front view showing the configuration of the cooling mechanism.

[Explanation of symbols]

 w Semiconductor wafer (object to be processed) 2 Boat (holding tool) 3 Loading area (transfer work chamber) 4 Transfer work chamber 6 Heat treatment furnace 10 Pass box 10a Opening 11 First transfer mechanism 12 Second transfer mechanism 13 shelf 16 carrier (transport container) 17 mounting table 60 cooling mechanism 61 cooling plate

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 4K055 AA06 HA01 HA12 HA13 HA29 4K061 AA01 BA11 CA08 EA10 FA07 HA09 5F045 BB08 DP19 EB02 EB08 EB10 EJ02 EN01 EN04 EN05

Claims (5)

[Claims] An object to be processed is provided in a transfer work chamber for loading and unloading a plurality of objects to and from a heat treatment furnace by mounting a plurality of objects to a holder through a pass box capable of accommodating the plurality of objects in multiple stages. A transfer table for connecting a body transfer work chamber, a mounting table for mounting a transfer container accommodating a plurality of objects to be processed is installed outside the transfer work chamber, and a transfer container on the mounting table is provided in the transfer work chamber. A first transfer mechanism for transferring the object to be processed between the transfer box and the pass box; and a second transfer mechanism for transferring the object to be processed between the pass box and the holder in the transfer work chamber. A heat treatment apparatus comprising: a mounting mechanism; and a cooling mechanism for cooling the object after heat treatment in the pass box. 2. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pass box is provided with doors for opening and closing respective opening portions opened on the transfer work chamber side and the transfer work chamber side. 3. The pass box according to claim 1, wherein an inside of the pass box is replaceable with an inert gas.
Or the heat treatment apparatus according to 2. 4. In the pass box, shelves are provided for supporting the object to be processed in multiple stages at predetermined intervals in a vertical direction, and a cooling plate constituting the cooling mechanism is provided on an upper surface of each object to be processed. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the heat treatment apparatus is provided in multiple stages so as to face the lower surface. 5. A plurality of objects to be processed are mounted in multiple stages on a holder through a pass box capable of accommodating a plurality of objects from a transport container accommodating the plurality of objects, and the holder is carried into a heat treatment furnace. A heat treatment method for performing a predetermined heat treatment by cooling the inside of the pass box in a process of returning the object after the heat treatment from the holder to the transport container.