Heat treatment apparatus and heat treatment method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11367633-B2
Application number	US-201916515144-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 18, 2019
Priority date	Jul 20, 2018
Publication date	Jun 21, 2022
Grant date	Jun 21, 2022

Abstract

A heat treatment apparatus includes: a vertically-extended processing container configured to accommodate a substrate; a gas supply including a gas supply pipe that extends along an inner wall surface of the processing container in a vertical direction; a heater having a heat insulating material provided around the processing container, and a heating element provided along the inner wall surface of the heat insulating material; and a cooler having a fluid flow path formed outside the heat insulating material, and a blowing-out hole penetrating the heat insulating material and configured to blow out a cooling fluid toward the gas supply pipe, the blowing-out hole having one end that communicates with the fluid flow path and a remaining end that communicates with a space between the processing container and the heat insulating material. A plurality of blowing-out holes is provided in the gas supply pipe in a longitudinal direction.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A heat treatment apparatus comprising:
a vertically-extended processing container configured to accommodate a substrate;
a gas supply including a gas supply pipe provided in the processing container along an inner wall surface of the processing container in a vertical direction and configured to supply a gas to the substrate;
a heater including a heat insulator provided around the processing container, and a heating body provided along the inner wall surface of the heat insulator; and
a cooler including a fluid flow path formed directly on an outer peripheral surface of the heat insulator in an arc shape, and a plurality of blowing-out holes each penetrating the heat insulator and configured to blow out a cooling fluid toward the gas supply pipe, each of the plurality of blowing-out holes having one end that communicates with the fluid flow path and a remaining end that communicates with a space between the processing container and the heat insulator,
wherein the plurality of blowing-out holes are provided in the cooler along a longitudinal direction of the gas supply pipe.

2. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein a plurality of fluid flow paths including the fluid flow path are provided in the cooler in a vertical direction,
the cooler includes a flow rate regulator configured to regulate a flow rate of the cooling fluid that flows in each of the plurality of fluid flow paths.

3. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein each of the plurality of blowing-out holes is inclined obliquely upward from a side of the one end to a side of the remaining end.

4. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 3 , further comprising:
a heat dissipater that communicates with the space above the plurality of blowing-out holes and is configured to discharge the cooling fluid within the space.

5. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the heat dissipater and the plurality of blowing-out holes are provided at positions that overlap with each other in a plan view.

6. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein the cooling fluid discharged by the heat dissipater through an exhaust port formed through the heat insulator is cooled by a heat exchanger and supplied to the fluid flow path again.

7. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 6 , further comprising:
a rotary shaft configured to rotatably support a substrate holder that holds a substrate thereon within the processing container.

8. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 7 , further comprising:
a second cooler including a second fluid flow path formed at a position different from a position of the fluid flow path outside the heat insulator, and a second blowing-out hole penetrating the heat insulator and configured to blow out the cooling fluid toward the processing container, the second blowing-out hole including one end that communicates with the second fluid flow path and a remaining end that communicates with the space between the processing container and the heat insulator;
a fluid supply path that communicates with the fluid flow path and the second fluid flow path; and
a flow path switch configured to switch a connection destination of the fluid supply path to the fluid flow path or the second fluid flow path.

9. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein the processing container includes a cylindrical inner tube having a ceiling and a lower opened end, and a cylindrical outer tube having a ceiling and a lower opened end and configured to cover an outside of the inner tube,
the inner tube includes an accommodation portion formed by protruding a portion of a side wall thereof to the outside, and
the gas supply pipe is accommodated in the accommodation portion.

10. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the heat insulator includes:
a pair of first heat insulators provided on the outer peripheral surface of the heat insulator so as to extend from a lower end to an upper end of the heat insulator; and
a plurality of second heat insulators provided between the pair of first heat insulators on the outer peripheral surface of the heat insulator with a predetermined interval therebetween in the vertical direction such that the pair of first heat insulators are connected to each other by the plurality of second heat insulators,
the plurality of fluid flow paths are formed in the vertical direction by fitting a cylindrical envelope outside the heat insulator via the pair of first heat insulators and the plurality of second heat insulators such that each of the plurality of flow paths is formed between the heat insulator and the cylindrical envelope in the predetermined interval when viewed in a vertical cross section.

11. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of blowing-out holes is inclined obliquely upward from a side of the one end to a side of the remaining end.

12. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a heat dissipater that communicates with the space above the plurality of blowing-out holes and configured to discharge the cooling fluid within the space.

13. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein the heat dissipater and the plurality of blowing-out holes are provided at positions that overlap with each other in a plan view.

14. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein the cooling fluid discharged by the heat dissipater through an exhaust port formed through the heat insulator is cooled by a heat exchanger and supplied to the fluid flow path again.

15. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a rotary shaft configured to rotatably support a substrate holder that holds a substrate thereon within the processing container.

16. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a second cooler including a second fluid flow path formed at a position different from a position of the fluid flow path outside the heat insulator, and a second blowing-out hole penetrating the heat insulator and configured to blow out the cooling fluid toward the processing container, the second blowing-out hole including one end that communicates with the second fluid flow path and a remaining end that communicates with the space between the processing container and the heat insulator;
a fluid supply path communicating with the fluid flow path and the second fluid flow path; and
a flow path switch configured to switch a connection destination of the fluid supply path to the fluid flow path or the second fluid flow path.

17. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processing container includes a cylindrical inner tube having a ceiling and a lower opened end, and a cylindrical outer tube having a ceiling and a lower opened end and configured to cover an outside of the inner tube,
the inner tube includes an accommodation portion formed by protruding a portion of a side wall thereof to the outside, and
the gas supply pipe is accommodated in the accommodation portion.

18. A heat treatment method comprising:
providing a heat treatment apparatus comprising:
a vertically-extended processing container configured to accommodate a substrate;
a gas supply including a gas supply pipe provided in the processing container along an inner wall surface of the processing container in a vertical direction and configured to supply gas to the substrate;
a heater including a heat insulator

Assignees

• Tokyo Electron Ltd

Inventors

• Yamaguchi Tatsuya

Classifications

• H10P72/0431 Primary

  Apparatus for thermal treatment · CPC title

• G05D23/1932

  to control the temperature of a plurality of spaces · CPC title

• H10P72/0436 Primary

  mainly by radiation · CPC title

• H10P95/90

  Thermal treatments, e.g. annealing or sintering · CPC title

• F27D21/0014 Primary

  Devices for monitoring temperature · CPC title