JP2006261310A - Substrate processing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

【Task】
In a substrate processing apparatus, a highly safe substrate processing apparatus is provided in which a gas supply nozzle and a gas introduction nozzle are connected with each other without causing a defect or breakage of the gas introduction nozzle.
[Solution]
A processing tube 1 for storing a substrate, a gas introduction nozzle 11 having an outer end 12 that introduces a required processing gas into the processing tube, extends through the wall of the processing tube, and extends outside the tube; A gas supply pipe 13 for supplying a processing gas to the introduction nozzle, and a connecting member 15 for connecting the outer end portion and the gas supply pipe are provided, and a spacer 68 is provided between the connecting member and the outer surface of the processing pipe. Was established.
[Selection] Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor device by performing a film forming process such as an insulating film on a substrate such as a silicon wafer, an annealing process, an impurity diffusion process, an etching process, or the like.

  The substrate housed in the reaction chamber is heated in a reduced-pressure atmosphere and a processing gas is introduced to perform a required process.

  The reaction chamber is defined by a reaction tube made of a material that does not contaminate a substrate such as quartz, and a processing gas introduction pipe communicates with the reaction tube, and a processing gas is introduced through the processing gas introduction pipe, and the reaction An exhaust pipe is connected to the pipe, and the inside of the reaction tube is maintained at a predetermined pressure via the exhaust pipe.

  In the case of a batch type substrate processing apparatus, the reaction tube is a tubular body whose upper end is closed, and the processing gas introduction nozzle for introducing the processing gas into the processing chamber is installed along the wall of the reaction tube to introduce the processing gas. The lower end of the nozzle is bent in an L-bow shape to form a nozzle port, and the nozzle port extends outside through the wall of the reaction tube. A processing gas supply pipe piped from the processing gas source is connected to the nozzle port in an airtight manner via a pipe joint.

  FIG. 7 shows a conventional connection structure between a nozzle port and a processing gas supply pipe.

  In FIG. 7, reference numeral 1 denotes a reaction tube that accommodates a substrate to be processed, and the right side in the drawing is the center of the reaction tube 1. Reference numeral 2 denotes a top plate of a housing of the substrate processing apparatus. The top plate 2 is provided with a hole 3 through which the reaction tube 1 passes upward, and a heater base 4 is concentrically with the hole 3 on the top plate 2. A cylindrical heater 5 is provided on the heater base 4 concentrically with the reaction tube 1.

  Below the heater base 4, a furnace port flange 7 is supported by a casing (not shown) via a support member (not shown), and the reaction tube 1 is erected on the furnace port flange 7. . A reaction tube flange 8 is formed at the lower end of the reaction tube 1, and the reaction tube flange 8 is fixed to the furnace port flange 7 by a reaction tube fixing ring 9.

  A processing gas introduction nozzle 11 made of quartz is erected along the inner surface of the reaction tube 1 and fixed to the reaction tube 1 by welding or the like at a required location. A lower end portion of the processing gas introduction nozzle 11 is bent in an L shape to form an outer end portion 12, and the outer end portion 12 extends horizontally through the lower portion of the reaction tube 1 to the outside. The through portion is fixed to the reaction tube 1 in an airtight manner by welding or the like.

  The processing gas supply pipe 13 is a flexible tube, and an adapter sleeve 14 is attached to the tip.

  The processing gas introduction nozzle 11 and the processing gas supply pipe 13 are connected by airtightly connecting the outer end portion 12 and the adapter sleeve 14 by a connecting member, for example, a pipe joint 15.

  The pipe joint 15 is fitted into the outer end portion 12, and the space between the outer end portion 12 and the pipe joint 15 is hermetically sealed by a compressed O-ring 16. The adapter sleeve 14 is fixed to the pipe joint 15 by a nut 17, and the adapter sleeve 14 and the pipe joint 15 are hermetically sealed by an O-ring 18 provided on a tapered surface of the pipe joint 15. It has become.

  As described above, conventionally, the adapter sleeve 14 and the outer end portion 12 at the tip of the processing gas supply pipe 13 are connected to each other. However, there is a possibility that the following problems may occur.

  The pipe joint 15 is made of metal, and the pipe joint 15 is fitted into the outer end portion 12. However, the force for fitting the pipe joint 15 while compressing the O-ring 16 in order to ensure sealing performance. The tip of the outer end portion 12 and the fitting hole bottom portion of the pipe joint 15 are in strong contact with momentum, and the tip of the outer end portion 12 may be damaged.

  The processing gas supply pipe 13 is a flexible tube and has flexibility, but when the pipe diameter is increased, the repulsive force when bent is increased, and the weight is further increased. For this reason, the repulsive force and weight of the processing gas supply pipe 13 act on the outer end portion 12, and the outer end portion 12 could not withstand the repulsive force and weight and could be damaged.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of such circumstances, the present invention provides a highly safe substrate processing apparatus that does not cause the gas introduction nozzle to be damaged or damaged when the gas supply pipe and the gas introduction nozzle are connected. It is.

  The present invention includes a processing tube that accommodates a substrate, a gas introduction nozzle that introduces a required processing gas into the processing tube, and has an outer end that extends through the wall of the processing tube and extends outside the tube, A gas supply pipe for supplying a processing gas to the gas introduction nozzle; and a connecting member for connecting the outer end portion and the gas supply pipe. A spacer is provided between the connecting member and the outer surface of the processing pipe. The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus.

  According to the present invention, a processing tube that accommodates a substrate, a gas introduction nozzle that introduces a required processing gas into the processing tube, and has an outer end that extends through the wall of the processing tube and extends outside the tube; A gas supply pipe for supplying a processing gas to the gas introduction nozzle, and a connecting member for connecting the outer end portion and the gas supply pipe, and a spacer between the connecting member and the outer surface of the processing pipe. Therefore, when the connecting member is attached to the outer end portion, it is possible to prevent an excessive external force from acting on the tip of the outer end portion from the connecting member, and to prevent damage to the gas introduction nozzle. Exhibits excellent effects such as

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  First, an outline of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus which is an example of a substrate processing apparatus to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to FIGS.

A cassette stage 23 serving as a container exchanging means for exchanging a cassette 22 serving as a substrate storage container with an external transfer device (not shown) is provided on the front side inside the casing 21, and a cassette stage 23 is provided behind the cassette stage 23. Is provided with a cassette elevator 24 as lifting means, and a cassette transporter 25 as a cassette transport means is attached to the cassette elevator 24. Further, a cassette shelf 26 as a storage means for the cassette 22 is provided on the rear side of the cassette elevator 24 and a reserve cassette shelf 27 as a cassette storage means is also provided above the cassette stage 23. A clean unit 28 is provided above the spare cassette shelf 27 so that clean air is circulated through the inside of the casing 21.

  A processing furnace 29 is provided above the rear portion of the casing 21, and a boat 32 serving as a substrate holding means for holding wafers 31 as substrates in a multi-stage in a horizontal posture is provided below the processing furnace 29. A boat elevator 33 is provided as a lifting and lowering means for loading and unloading to the boat, and a seal cap as a lid for closing the furnace port of the processing furnace 29 is provided at the tip of the lifting member 34 attached to the boat elevator 33. 35 is attached, and the boat 32 is vertically supported by the seal cap 35.

  Between the boat elevator 33 and the cassette shelf 26, there is provided a transfer elevator 36 as lifting means, and a wafer transfer machine 37 as a transfer means is attached to the transfer elevator 36. In the vicinity of the lower portion of the processing furnace 29, a furnace port shutter 38 is provided as a shielding member having an opening / closing mechanism and closing the furnace port of the processing furnace 29.

  The cassette 22 loaded with the wafer 31 in a vertical posture is carried into the cassette stage 23 from an external transfer device (not shown), and is rotated 90 ° on the cassette stage 23 so that the wafer 31 is in a horizontal posture. Further, the cassette 22 is transported from the cassette stage 23 to the cassette shelf 26 or the spare cassette shelf 27 by cooperation of the raising / lowering operation of the cassette elevator 24, the transverse operation, the advance / retreat operation of the cassette transporter 25, and the rotation operation. Is done.

  The cassette shelf 26 has a transfer shelf 39 in which the cassette 22 to be transferred by the wafer transfer machine 37 is stored, and the cassette 22 to which the wafer 31 is transferred is the cassette elevator 24, The cassette is transferred to the transfer shelf 39 by the cassette conveyor 25.

  When the cassette 22 is transferred to the transfer shelf 39, the cassette 22 is lowered from the transfer shelf 39 by the cooperation of the advance / retreat operation, the rotation operation of the wafer transfer device 37, and the lifting / lowering operation of the transfer elevator 36. The wafer 31 is transferred to the boat 32.

  When a predetermined number of wafers 31 are transferred to the boat 32, the boat elevator 33 inserts the boat 32 into the processing furnace 29, and the sealing cap 35 airtightly closes the processing furnace 29. The wafer 31 is heated and the processing gas is supplied into the processing furnace 29 in the processing furnace 29 which is hermetically closed, and the wafer 31 is processed.

  When the processing on the wafer 31 is completed, the wafer 31 is transferred from the boat 32 to the cassette 22 of the transfer shelf 39 by the reverse procedure of the above-described operation, and the cassette 22 is transferred to the cassette transfer machine 25. Is transferred from the transfer shelf 39 to the cassette stage 23 and is carried out of the casing 21 by the external transfer device (not shown). The furnace port shutter 38 closes the furnace port of the processing furnace 29 when the boat 32 is in the lowered state, and prevents outside air from being caught in the processing furnace 29.

  The transport operation of the cassette transport machine 25 and the like is controlled by the transport control unit 41.

  Next, an example of the processing furnace 29 used in the substrate processing apparatus will be outlined with reference to FIG. In FIG. 3, the same components as those shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 7 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

  A processing furnace 29 shown in FIG. 3 is a batch type plasma processing furnace.

  The reaction tube (processing tube) 1 is made of a dielectric material such as quartz and defines an airtight reaction chamber 43 in which the wafer 31 is accommodated and processed. A cylindrical heater 5 is provided concentrically so as to accommodate the reaction tube 1.

  In the processing furnace 29, the boat 32 is a holder for holding the wafer 31 and is an electrode for generating plasma.

  The first electrode columns 44 and the second electrode columns 45 made of a conductive material are electrically insulated, and one or a plurality of the electrode electrode columns 44 and the plurality of electrode columns are erected through the seal cap 35. 48 and the seal cap 35 is insulated from the first electrode support 44 and the second electrode support 45. Susceptor electrodes 46 and 47 that respectively extend in the horizontal direction from the first electrode support column 44 and the second electrode support column 45 and also serve as wafer holding shelves are provided for each step, and the centers of the susceptor electrodes 46 and 47 are They are arranged to match.

  Here, the number of the susceptor electrodes 46 and 47 is determined by the distance between the susceptor electrodes 46 and 47 determined by the plasma generation conditions and the size of the reaction chamber 43 in the height direction.

  An oscillator 49 and a matching unit 50 are connected between the first electrode column 44 and the second electrode column 45, and the seal cap 35 is grounded to serve as an earth electrode. The ground electrode may be provided separately, for example, by standing a ground bar in the reaction chamber 43.

  Thus, AC power having a phase difference of 180 degrees is alternately applied to the susceptor electrodes 46 and 47 through the first electrode column 44 and the second electrode column 45. As AC power, a high frequency of 13.56 MHz or a low frequency of about 400 KHz is used.

  When the wafer 32 is lowered, wafers 31 are transferred by the wafer transfer device 37, and when a predetermined number of wafers 31 are transferred to the boat 32, the boat elevator 33 moves the boat 32 to the reaction chamber 43. And is placed on the susceptor electrodes 46 and 47. The reaction chamber 43 is hermetically closed by the seal cap 35.

  Electric power is supplied to the heater 5 to heat the wafer 31, the reaction tube 1, and the boat 32 to a predetermined temperature. Further, the reaction chamber 43 is exhausted by an exhaust device 52 such as a pump through an exhaust pipe 51.

  When the wafer 31 reaches a predetermined temperature, a processing gas is introduced from the processing gas introduction nozzle 11 and the reaction chamber 43 is maintained at a predetermined temperature by a pressure adjusting mechanism (not shown). Further, when the reaction chamber 43 reaches a predetermined pressure, AC power output from the oscillator 49 is alternately supplied to the susceptor electrodes 46 and 47 via the matching unit 50, and the susceptor electrodes 46 and 47 are supplied. In the meantime, plasma is generated to process the wafer 31.

  If the AC power is set to a high frequency of 13.56 MHz, a DC bias voltage is applied to the susceptor electrodes 46 and 47, and the surface of the wafer 31 is bombarded with plasma ions to perform plasma etching and nitriding treatment on the oxide film surface. It can be carried out.

  When the processing is completed, the boat elevator 33 lowers the boat 32 and transports the wafer 31. When the wafer 31 is transported, if the temperature of the heater 5 is lowered too much, the boat 32 is loaded again. When processing is performed, it takes time to increase the temperature to the processing temperature and the throughput decreases. Therefore, the temperature decrease is kept at a temperature that does not hinder the transfer of the wafer 31.

  A connection structure between the processing gas supply pipe and the processing gas introduction nozzle in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

  4 to 6, the same components as those shown in FIG. 7 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

  In this connection structure, a connection member that connects the outer end portion 12 and the processing gas supply pipe 13, for example, the pipe joint 15 is supported by the structural member of the substrate processing apparatus via the pipe joint support portion 53. It has become.

  A tube support base 54 is fixed on the reaction tube fixing ring 9 with a bolt 55, and a tube support block 56 having a convex outer shape and a through hole 57 formed on the upper surface of the tube support base 54 is fixed with a bolt 58. ing. A holder plate 59 is fixed to the side surface of the tube support block 56 with bolts 61, and a hole is formed in the center of the holder plate 59, and a pipe joint holder 62 can be fitted into the hole. The pipe joint holder 62 has a rectangular flange 63, and the flange 63 is fixed to the side surface of the holder plate 59 by bolts 64. The pipe joint holder 62 has a shape that allows the pipe joint 15 to be fitted therein and hold the pipe joint 15.

  A flange portion 54 a is formed at the upper end portion of the tube support base 54, and a height adjusting screw 67 is threaded through the flange portion 54 a from below so that the upper end contacts the lower surface of the holder plate 59. It has become.

  The stop hole 65 through which the bolt 55 passes is a long hole extending in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the outer end portion 12 (hereinafter, the left-right direction), and the stop hole 66 through which the bolt 58 passes is the outer hole. It is a long hole extending in a direction parallel to the axis of the end portion 12 (hereinafter referred to as the front-rear direction), and a stop hole (not shown) through which the bolt 61 passes is a long hole extending in the vertical direction. The holder plate 59, that is, the pipe joint holder 62 can be adjusted in three axial directions.

  In the figure, reference numeral 68 denotes a spacer fitted into the outer end portion 12, and the material is ceramic or heat-resistant resin.

  Next, a connection operation between the outer end portion 12 and the processing gas supply pipe 13 (adapter sleeve 14) will be described.

  The tube support 54 is temporarily fixed to the reaction tube fixing ring 9, and the tube support block 56 is temporarily fixed to the tube support 54. The spacer 68 is fitted into the outer end portion 12.

  The pipe joint 15 is fitted into the outer end portion 12. The height of the spacer 68 is set so that the tip of the outer end portion 12 contacts the spacer 68 before reaching the bottom of the fitting hole of the pipe joint 15. Therefore, even if the pipe joint 15 is strongly fitted into the outer end part 12 with momentum, the pipe joint 15 only comes into contact with the spacer 68 and the tip of the outer end part 12 comes into contact with the bottom of the fitting hole. Is avoided.

  In addition, since the reaction tube 1 is thick and has a cylindrical shape, even if the pipe joint 15 hits the spacer 68 strongly, it will not be damaged.

  The pipe joint holder 62 is attached to the holder plate 59, the pipe joint holder 62 is fitted to the pipe joint 15, and then the holder plate 59 is temporarily fixed to the pipe support block 56 with the bolt 61.

  When fixing, adjustment of the tube support base 54 in the left-right direction, adjustment of the tube support block 56 in the front-rear direction, and height adjustment of the holder plate 59 by the height adjustment screw 67 are performed. The through hole 57 has a sufficient margin with respect to the shape of the pipe joint 15 and does not interfere with the pipe joint 15 by the adjustment.

  When the alignment between the outer end portion 12 and the pipe joint holder 62 is completed, the bolt 58, the bolt 55, and the bolt 61 are tightened to fix the holder plate 59.

  The outer end 12 and the adapter sleeve 14 (processing gas supply pipe 13) are connected to the reaction tube fixing ring 9 via the pipe joint holder 62, the holder plate 59, the pipe support block 56, and the pipe support base 54. That is, it is supported by the structural member of the substrate processing apparatus. Accordingly, the weight of the processing gas supply pipe 13 and the repulsive force generated during the piping do not act on the outer end portion 12.

  In the above embodiment, the tube support 54 is provided on the reaction tube fixing ring 9. However, the structure is not limited to the reaction tube fixing ring 9 as long as it is a structural member of the substrate processing apparatus.

1 is an overall perspective view of a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic side view of the same substrate processing apparatus. It is the schematic which shows an example of the processing furnace used for the substrate processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a side view which shows the connection structure of the process gas introduction nozzle and process gas supply pipe | tube in embodiment of this invention. It is a front view which shows the front connection structure. It is an AA arrow equivalent view of FIG. It is a side view which shows the connection structure of the process gas introduction nozzle and process gas supply pipe | tube in the conventional substrate processing apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Reaction tube 7 Furnace port flange 8 Reaction tube flange 9 Reaction tube fixing ring 11 Process gas introduction nozzle 12 Outer end part 13 Process gas supply pipe 14 Adapter sleeve 15 Pipe joint 16 O-ring 17 Nut 29 Process furnace 53 Pipe joint support part 54 Pipe support base 54a Hook 56 Pipe support block 57 Through hole 59 Holder plate 62 Pipe joint holder 67 Height adjusting screw 68 Spacer

Claims (1)

  A processing tube for storing the substrate, a required processing gas introduced into the processing tube, a gas introduction nozzle having an outer end extending through the wall of the processing tube and extending outside the tube, and the gas introduction nozzle A gas supply pipe for supplying a processing gas; and a connecting member for connecting the outer end portion and the gas supply pipe. A spacer is provided between the connecting member and the outer surface of the processing pipe. A substrate processing apparatus.

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