Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd.

Toshihiro Nakajima

Toru Sato

Takatoshi Chiba

Kiyofumi Nishii

Yasuhiro Fukumoto

Jun Watanabe

Yasuhiro Shiba

Mitsuhiro Masuda

Annular reflecting rings are removably mounted on the upper and lower sides of a chamber side portion of a chamber. An annular recessed portion is formed sandwiched between the lower end face of the upper reflecting ring and the upper end face of the lower reflecting ring to surround a holding part for holding a semiconductor wafer. The outer peripheral surface of the recessed portion communicates with a transport opening. The formation of the recessed portion prevents the light emitted from halogen lamps and flash lamps from being non-uniformly reflected around the holding part to enter a semiconductor wafer, thus improving the uniformity of the in-plane temperature distribution in the semiconductor wafer during heat treatment.

Light-emitting heat treatment apparatus

In a heat treatment apparatus, a reflector is provided to cover a plurality of flash lamps arranged in an array for emitting a flash of light, and a cooling box is provided over the reflector. The cooling box has a buffer space incorporated therein, and a plurality of jet openings in communication with the buffer space are formed through a bottom surface of the cooling box and the reflector. The plurality of jet openings are positioned just over gaps between the plurality of flash lamps in the lamp array. Nitrogen gas ejected from the plurality of jet openings passes through the gaps between adjacent ones of the flash lamps in the lamp array, and is then blown against a lamp light radiation window. The flash lamps are effectively cooled down by the direct cooling using the nitrogen gas and the decrease in temperature of the lamp light radiation window.

Heat treatment apparatus which emits flash of light

A thermal processing unit is connected to a substrate position detector, which is in turn connected to a bake unit controller. The thermal processing unit includes a temperature control plate and a lifting device. The temperature control plate and lifting device are connected to the bake unit controller. The operations of the temperature control plate and lifting device are controlled by the bake unit controller. A pressure measuring pipe is provided at a lower part of at least one of a plurality of pin inserting holes in the temperature control plate. The pressure measuring pipe is connected to a low differential pressure sensor. The low differential pressure sensor detects the pressure in an airflow exhausted from a space surrounded by a substrate and an upper face of the temperature control plate via the pressure measuring pipe.

Substrate processing unit, method for detecting the position of a substrate and substrate processing apparatus

A substrate heat treatment apparatus includes a heat treatment furnace of a flat configuration, and having a cavity in which a substrate is accommodated. The heat treatment furnace includes a gas supply unit at one side end face, an opening for communication between the cavity and the outside world, and a gas discharge unit in the vicinity of the opening for discharging gas from the cavity at the other side end face. The heat treatment furnace further includes a cover for shutting the opening allowing opening/closing thereof. In the gas exhaust unit, an exhaust chamber is formed on the other side end face along the opening with a partition wall between the opening and the exhaust chamber. An exhaust portion is formed in communication with the outside world in the exhaust chamber. The partition wall is formed so that the edge of the partition wall is displaced away from the inside surface of the cover, whereby a slit-like vent passage extending in the direction of the width of the cavity is formed between the cover and the edge of the partition wall when the opening is shut. The gas flow is uniform in the vicinity of the vent passage when a substrate is loaded/unloaded into and/from the heat treatment furnace, and also during heat treatment. The outside air will not enter the furnace, and no stagnation of the process gas occurs in the furnace.

Substrate heat treatment apparatus

An apparatus for heat processing a substrate includes a heat processing furnace, which has a flat inner space for accommodating the substrate, and a gas introduction unit which introduces gas supplied via a piping into the inner space of the heat processing furnace via a gas supply inlet of the heat processing furnace. The apparatus effects the heat processing on the substrate placed within a gas flow formed in the inner space. The gas introduction unit includes a first gas introduction chamber, which receives the gas supplied via the piping for reducing a flow velocity of the gas, and a second gas introduction chamber, which is in communication with the first gas introduction chamber, is formed over at least one of outer surfaces of the top furnace wall and the bottom furnace wall at the one end of the heat processing furnace, and extends in a belt-like form through an entire width of the heat processing furnace. A portion of the top furnace wall and/or bottom furnace wall, over which the second gas introduction chamber is formed, has a nozzle opening, which covers the entire width of the heat processing furnace for flowing the gas from the second gas introduction chamber into the inner space in a direction perpendicular to the top furnace wall and/or bottom furnace wall. The gas supply port and the first gas introduction chamber are preferably separated from each other by a partition which forms a portion of a cylindrical or spherical surface and has a plurality of through-holes.

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Kyoto, Japan

Toshihiro Nakajima