Heat treatment apparatus and film deposition method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11581201-B2
Application number	US-202016820898-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 17, 2020
Priority date	Mar 20, 2019
Publication date	Feb 14, 2023
Grant date	Feb 14, 2023

Abstract

A heat treatment apparatus includes: a processing container configured to accommodate and process a plurality of substrates in multiple tiers under a reduced-pressure environment; a first heater configured to heat the plurality of substrates accommodated in the processing container; a plurality of gas supply pipes configured to supply a gas to positions having different heights in the processing container; and a second heater provided on a gas supply pipe that supplies a gas to a lowermost position among the plurality of gas supply pipes, and configured to heat the gas in the gas supply pipe.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A heat treatment apparatus comprising:
a processing container configured to accommodate and process a plurality of substrates in multiple tiers under a reduced-pressure environment;
a first heater configured to heat the plurality of substrates accommodated in the processing container;
a plurality of gas supply pipes provided at different heights in the processing container and each configured to supply a gas to a corresponding position thereof; and
a second heater provided on a gas supply pipe that supplies a gas to a lowermost position among the plurality of gas supply pipes, and configured to heat the gas in the gas supply pipe.

2. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the second heater is provided in two or more of the plurality of gas supply pipes.

3. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the plurality of gas supply pipes are configured to supply a same gas.

4. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the gas is a purge gas.

5. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of gas supply pipes are configured to supply a same gas.

6. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the gas is a purge gas.

7. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of gas supply pipes independently discharge the gas to an upper portion, a central portion, and a lower portion in the processing container.

8. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of gas supply pipes includes gas holes each located between adjacent substrates.

9. A film deposition method comprising:
alternately supplying a first reaction gas and a second reaction gas from a plurality of gas supply pipes into a processing container that accommodates a substrate with a purge gas interposed therebetween, thereby depositing reaction products of the first reaction gas and the second reaction gas on the substrate, the plurality of gas supply pipes being provided at different heights in the processing container and each configured to supply at least one of the first reaction gas, the second reaction gas, and the purge gas to a corresponding position thereof,
wherein the at least one of the first reaction gas, the second reaction gas, and the purge gas is supplied into the processing container while being heated.

10. The film deposition method according to claim 9 , wherein the gas is supplied into the processing container from the plurality of gas supply pipes at a same time.

11. The film deposition method according to claim 9 , wherein a plurality of substrates is accommodated in multiple tiers in the processing container.

12. The film deposition method according to claim 11 , wherein a temperature of the gas supplied from one of the plurality of gas supply pipes is higher than a temperature of the gas supplied from another gas supply pipe that supplies the gas to a position above the one of the plurality of gas supply pipes.

13. The film deposition method according to claim 12 , wherein the at least one of the first reaction gas, the second reaction gas, and the purge gas is the purge gas.

14. The film deposition method according to claim 12 , wherein the second reaction gas is a nitriding gas or an oxidizing gas, and
the at least one of the first reaction gas, the second reaction gas, and the purge gas is the second reaction gas.

15. The film deposition method according to claim 9 , wherein the at least one of the first reaction gas, the second reaction gas, and the purge gas is the purge gas.

16. The film deposition method according to claim 9 , wherein the second reaction gas is a nitriding gas or an oxidizing gas, and
the at least one of the first reaction gas, the second reaction gas, and the purge gas is the second reaction gas.

Assignees

• Tokyo Electron Ltd

Inventors

• Obara Kazuteru
• Yamaguchi Tatsuya
• Kikuchi Yasuaki
• Kusajima Ryuji
• Nasukawa Shinya
• Kikuchi Kazuyuki

Classifications

• H10P95/90

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

• H10P72/3404

  Storage means · CPC title

• H10P72/0602 Primary

  Temperature monitoring · CPC title

• H10P72/0431 Primary

  Apparatus for thermal treatment · CPC title

• H10P72/0402

  Apparatus for fluid treatment (H10P72/0441, H10P72/0448 take precedence) · CPC title