Screen Holdings Co., Ltd.

Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd.

Dainippon Screen Mgf. Co., Ltd.

Kazuhiko Fuse

Shinichi Kato

Hideaki Tanimura

Hikaru Kawarazaki

Takayuki Aoyama

Masashi Furukawa

Akitsugu Ueda

Mao Omori

Kenichi Yokouchi

Takahiro Kitazawa

Shinji Miyawaki

Takahiro Yamada

Tomohiro Ueno

Hiroshi Miyake

Motohiro Kono

Jun Watanabe

Yoshiyuki Nakazawa

Makoto Abe

Kaoru Matsuo

Yoshio Ito

Hiroki Kiyama

Yukio Ono

Toshikazu Kitajima

Yasuaki Kondo

A silicon semiconductor wafer is transported into a chamber, and preheating of the semiconductor wafer is started in a nitrogen atmosphere by irradiation with light from halogen lamps. When the temperature of the semiconductor wafer reaches a predetermined switching temperature in the course of the preheating, oxygen gas is supplied into the chamber to change the atmosphere within the chamber from the nitrogen atmosphere to an oxygen atmosphere. Thereafter, a front surface of the semiconductor wafer is heated for an extremely short time period by flash irradiation. Oxidation is suppressed when the temperature of the semiconductor wafer is relatively low below the switching temperature, and is caused after the temperature of the semiconductor wafer becomes relatively high. As a result, a dense, thin oxide film having good properties with fewer defects at an interface with a silicon base layer is formed on the front surface of the semiconductor wafer.

Light irradiation type heat treatment method and heat treatment apparatus

A light diffusion plate is placed on an upper surface of an upper chamber window. A blasting process is applied to a lower surface of the light diffusion plate to provide the lower surface in the form of frosted glass. When the light diffusion plate is placed on the upper surface of the upper chamber window, the light diffusion plate and the upper chamber window do not closely adhere to each other. The frosted glass releases a mass of air entering between contact surfaces of the light diffusion plate and the upper chamber window to the outside even if the mass of air thermally expands during heat treatment. This restrains the occurrence of a phenomenon in which a thin layer of air is trapped between the light diffusion plate and the upper chamber window to prevent the sliding of the light diffusion plate resulting from the air layer.

Light irradiation type heat treatment apparatus

As treatment of a semiconductor wafer to be a product proceeds in a heat treatment apparatus, contaminants adhere to an inner wall surface of a chamber. After the treatment of the semiconductor wafer is completed, a gas containing ozone is supplied into the chamber to form an atmosphere containing ozone. While the atmosphere containing ozone is heated by irradiation with light from a halogen lamp, a flash lamp emits a flash of light containing ultraviolet light. The ultraviolet light decomposes ozone to generate active oxygen, and the active oxygen reacts with the contaminants to decompose and remove the contaminants from the inner wall surface of the chamber. The contaminants decomposed and vaporized are discharged out of the chamber by exhausting the atmosphere in the chamber.

Heat treatment apparatus of light irradiation type and method for cleaning heat treatment apparatus

A front surface of a semiconductor wafer is rapidly heated by irradiation of a flash of light. Temperature of the front surface of the semiconductor wafer is measured at predetermined intervals after the irradiation of the flash of light, and is sequentially accumulated to acquire a temperature profile. From the temperature profile, an average value and a standard deviation are each calculated as a characteristic value. It is determined that the semiconductor wafer is cracked when an average value of the temperature profile deviates from the range of ±5σ from a total average of temperature profiles of a plurality of semiconductor wafers or when a standard deviation of the temperature profile deviates from the range of 5σ from the total average thereof of the plurality of semiconductor wafers.

Heat treatment method and heat treatment apparatus of light irradiation type

A preceding wafer is transported from a chamber of a heat treatment apparatus after processing on the preceding wafer is completed. A temperature within the chamber at a time when the preceding wafer is transported from the chamber is defined as a transportation temperature, and a difference between a measurement temperature within the chamber measured after the preceding wafer is transported from the chamber and the transportation temperature is calculated as a decreasing temperature. The calculated decreasing temperature and a predetermined threshold value are compared with each other. When the decreasing temperature is larger than the threshold value, dummy processing of preheating an in-chamber structure such as a susceptor by light irradiation from halogen lamps and flash lamps is executed. In contrast, when the decreasing temperature is equal to or smaller than the threshold value, the dummy processing is not executed but processing on a subsequent substrate is started.

Light irradiation type heat treatment method

Heating treatment is performed on multiple dummy wafers to preheat in-chamber structures including a susceptor and the like prior to the treatment of a semiconductor wafer to be treated. The first few ones of the multiple dummy wafers are heated to a first heating temperature by light irradiation from halogen lamps, and are thereafter irradiated with a flash of light. The subsequent few ones of the multiple dummy wafers are heated to a second heating temperature lower than the first heating temperature by light irradiation from the halogen lamps, and are thereafter irradiated with a flash of light. This stabilizes the temperature of the in-chamber structures in a shorter time with fewer dummy wafers because the dummy wafers are heated to the high temperature and thereafter heated to the low temperature.

A ring support is attached to an inner wall surface of a chamber that houses a semiconductor wafer to support a susceptor. When the semiconductor wafer is placed on the susceptor, an inner space of the chamber is separated into an upper space and a lower space. Particles are likely to accumulate on a lower chamber window as a floor part of the chamber. However, since the upper space and the lower space are separated, the semiconductor wafer can be prevented from being contaminated by the particles flowing into the upper space and adhering to a surface of the semiconductor wafer even when the particles on the lower chamber window are blown up by irradiation with flash light.

Light-irradiation thermal treatment apparatus

A gas ring is attached to an upper portion of a chamber side portion as a side wall of a chamber. The gas ring is formed by overlapping an upper ring and a lower ring. A gap between the upper ring and the lower ring provides a flow path for processing gas. A labyrinthine resisting unit is formed in the flow path. The mass of the lower ring having an inner wall surface is increased to increase heat capacity. The lower ring is attached to the chamber side portion to be in surface contact with the chamber side portion, so that thermal conductivity from the lower ring to the chamber side portion has a large value, and the amount of heat accumulated in the lower ring is reduced. An increase in temperature of the lower ring at thermal processing is thereby suppressed to prevent discoloration of the gas ring.

Light irradiation type thermal process apparatus using a gas ring

A plurality of substrate support pins are provided upright on a holding plate so as to contact a position on which no stress is exerted in a lower surface of a semiconductor wafer when an upper surface of the semiconductor wafer is irradiated with flash light emitted from a flash lamp and thus reaches a maximum temperature. When the application of the flash light causes the upper surface of the semiconductor wafer to warp such that the upper surface becomes raised, stress concentration does not occur in the contact position of the lower surface of the semiconductor wafer that contacts the plurality of substrate support pins. The semiconductor wafer can be prevented from breaking during the application of the flash light.

Heat treatment susceptor and heat treatment apparatus

A semiconductor wafer to be treated is heated at a first preheating temperature ranging from 100 to 200&#xb0; C. while a pressure in a chamber housing the semiconductor wafer is reduced to a pressure lower than an atmospheric pressure. After the semiconductor wafer is preheated to increase the temperature into a second preheating temperature ranging from 500 to 700&#xb0; C. while the pressure in the chamber is restored to a pressure higher than the reduced pressure, a flash lamp emits a flashlight to a surface of the semiconductor wafer. Heating the semiconductor wafer at the first preheating temperature that is a relatively low temperature enables, for example, the moisture absorbed on the surface of the semiconductor wafer in trace amounts to be desorbed from the surface, and also enables the flash heating treatment to be performed with oxygen derived from such absorption removed as much as possible.

Heat treatment method including low temperature degassing before flash lamp anneal and heat treatment apparatus thereof

A front surface of a semiconductor wafer is rapidly heated by irradiation of a flash of light. Temperature of the front surface of the semiconductor wafer is measured at predetermined intervals after the irradiation of the flash of light, and is sequentially accumulated to acquire a temperature profile. From the temperature profile, an average value and a standard deviation are each calculated as a characteristic value. It is determined that the semiconductor wafer is cracked when an average value of the temperature profile deviates from the range of &#xb1;5&#x3c3; from a total average of temperature profiles of a plurality of semiconductor wafers or when a standard deviation of the temperature profile deviates from the range of 5&#x3c3; from the total average thereof of the plurality of semiconductor wafers.

When a carrier storing a plurality of dummy wafers therein is transported into a heat treatment apparatus, the carrier is registered as a dummy carrier exclusive to the dummy wafers. A dummy database in which a treatment history of each of the dummy wafers is associated with the carrier is held in a storage part. The treatment history of each of the dummy wafers registered in the dummy database is displayed on a display part of the heat treatment apparatus. An operator of the heat treatment apparatus views the displayed information to thereby appropriately grasp and manage the treatment history of each of the dummy wafers.

Heat treatment method and heat treatment apparatus for managing dummy wafer

Performed is a hydrogen anneal of heating a semiconductor wafer on which a thin film containing a dopant and carbon is formed to an anneal temperature in an atmosphere containing hydrogen. Subsequently, a hydrogen atmosphere in a chamber is replaced with an oxygen atmosphere, and the semiconductor wafer is preheated to a preheating temperature in the oxygen atmosphere. Performed then is a flash heating treatment of heating a surface of the semiconductor wafer to a peak temperature for less than one second. The semiconductor wafer is heated in the oxygen atmosphere, thus activation of dopant and binding of carbon in the thin film and oxygen in the atmosphere are promoted, and carbon is exhausted from the thin film to prevent hardening of the thin film. As a result, the thin film containing carbon can be easily peeled from the semiconductor wafer.

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Kyoto, Japan

Kazuhiko Fuse