JPS61133314A - Heat treatment device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To heat and remove thoroughly and quickly the reactive gas sticking to a material to be heated by heating said material, which is subjected to a plasma etching treatment, by a hot plate and hot air in a treatment chamber. CONSTITUTION:The reactive gas such as Cl used in etching is adsorbed on the surface of the material which is subjected to the plasma etching and therefore such material to be treated is carried into a treatment chamber 1 through an inlet 9 thereof. The hot plate 4 is lowered by operating an air cylinder 5 and a belt 7 for conveyance is emerged upper than the surface of the hot plate from a channel 8 provided to the plate 4 to receive the material 21 to be treated. The material 21 is positioned below a hot air suction and diffusion port 3 by the rotation of rollers 6, then the belt 7 is stopped. The plate 4 is thereafter raised to receive the material 21 on the plate 4; at the same time, the hot air from a hot air generator 2 is ejected from ejection ports 3 so that the material 21 is quickly heated by the hot plate 4 and the hot air. The gas adsorbed on the surface of said material is thus thoroughly and quickly removed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a heat treatment apparatus, in particular, to a heat treatment apparatus that is capable of controlling the adhesion of an etching process gas to a workpiece that has been subjected to a plasma etching process.
The present invention relates to a heat treatment apparatus that is most suitable for use in a heat treatment process for removing the influence of adsorption or the like on objects to be treated after etching.

(Technical background of the invention and its problems) - In recent years, in the manufacturing process of integrated circuits (ICs), with the increase in the degree of integration and speed of ICs, there has been a strong demand for microfabrication of elements.
For this reason, a reactive ion etching method is used that produces a vertical etched shape without undercuts.

For example, when etching aluminum, which is often used as an electrode wiring material, chlorine-based gas is used.
The object to be processed is introduced into the reaction vessel, and a glow discharge is generated in the reaction gas atmosphere under reduced pressure to promote the reaction between the material to be etched on the object to be processed and the reaction gas, thereby making the material to be etched volatile. Etching progresses by forming a compound.

When this etching process is completed and the object to be treated is taken out from the reaction chamber into the atmosphere, the gas components used in the reaction are attached to and adsorbed on the object, which reacts with water vapor in the atmosphere and removes the object from the reaction chamber. The processing material starts to react with the wiring pattern formed of the material to be etched, which is to be left behind, resulting in disconnection or short-circuiting of the wiring.

Therefore, it is necessary to immediately remove the reactive gas components adhering to the object to be processed after the etching process is completed. As a method, blowing hot air, heating, etc. are extremely effective, and conventionally heat treatment was performed using an electric furnace or industrial dryer after etching treatment, but this method has a long heating time and temperature distribution. The disadvantages are that the etching process is poor, resulting in a difference in treatment effect, and that it takes time to start the heat treatment after the etching process.

Therefore, a heat treatment device has been devised that is directly connected to the Etsung treatment device, is immediately carried into the heat treatment device using a belt, and is immediately subjected to heat treatment using a constantly heated hot plate and hot air generator. Since the conveyor mechanism is located inside the vehicle, heat flow leaks from the inlet of the driving force transmission mechanism from the outside, causing damage to peripheral equipment due to temperature rise.Also, since it contains reactive gas vapor, corrosion of surrounding structures occurs. There's a problem.

On the other hand, it is difficult to provide the above-mentioned transport mechanism with heat resistance and a drive source in the processing chamber due to thermal and corrosion caused by reactive gas vapor.
Because there is a need to reduce the number of heat sources and simplify the driving method, a conveyor mechanism using a belt is used. , there is no contact between the hot plate and the workpiece,
As a result, a problem arises in that the heating efficiency of the object to be treated is very poor and reliable and rapid heat treatment cannot be performed.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention has focused on the problems of the above-mentioned prior art, and has been devised for the purpose of improving these problems, and provides a heat treatment apparatus that can carry out heat treatment by uniform heating at high speed.

[Summary of the invention]
I In order to achieve the above object, the present invention automatically transports objects to be processed into and out of a processing chamber, and while performing heat treatment in the processing chamber using a hot plate, hot air, or a combination of a hot plate and hot air. The workpiece placement surface is the workpiece transport Ia.
It is configured to be able to move up and down freely so as to move up and down from the lower side to the upper side of the conveyance surface of the conveyor mechanism, and by raising the hot plate, the workpiece on the conveyance mechanism is brought into contact with the upper surface of the hot plate, and the workpiece is heated. This is a characteristic feature.

[Embodiments of the invention]

The present invention will be described below with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a schematic configuration of an embodiment of a heat treatment apparatus according to the present invention, in which a hot air generating bag [2 is installed in the upper part of the inside of a closed box-shaped processing chamber 1, and a hot air outlet 3 is provided on the lower surface of the bag [2]. ,3
is provided so that the hot air generated in the hot air generator 2 is blown out from hot air outlets 3, 3 in a downward direction.

A hot plate 4 is provided directly below the hot air outlet 3.3, and this hot plate 4 is supported by an air cylinder 5 as a drive source installed outside the processing chamber 1 so as to be able to move up and down. Note that this driving source is not limited to the air cylinder, but may also be a crank mechanism or the like.

In the longitudinal direction of the upper surface of the hot plate 4, there is a conveying mechanism wound around at least a pair of belt pulleys 6 and 60 provided at both ends of the hot plate 4. A groove 8 is formed in which the top surface of the hot plate 4 (workpiece placement surface) extends from a position below the top surface of the belt 7 to a position above the top surface of the belt 7. The dimensions are given so that it can be raised and lowered over a range of positions.

Shutters 11 are provided at both ends of the hot plate 4 to open and close the opening 9 for carrying in the processing object and the opening 10 for carrying out the processing chamber 1.
．． It has a 111m structure with 12 openings.

The shutters 11 and 12 are made of a sealing material such as fluorocarbon resin, and are attached to arms 15 and 16 fixed to both ends of the hot plate 4 through heat insulating materials 13 and 14. .12 seals the openings 9, 10 and opens the openings 9, 10 when the hot plate 4 is lowered.

A drive transmission shaft 17 of the drive source passes through the bottom of the processing chamber 1, and the shaft 17 and the hot plate 4 are coupled via a heat insulating material 18. The penetrating portion of the shaft 17 is formed by fitting a ring member 19 made of a material that does not react with the etching gas generated within the processing chamber 1, such as a fluorocarbon resin material, onto the shaft 17. By pressing and fixing the shaft 17 with the holding member 20, a gap between the shaft 17 and the processing chamber 1 is eliminated, and the movement of the shaft 17 is not hindered.

In the figure, 21 indicates an object to be processed.

Next, the effect will be explained.

When carrying the workpiece 21 into the processing chamber 1, the hot plate 4 is lowered, and at the same time the shutters 11 and 12 are lowered to open the loading/unloading openings 9 and 10. As the hot plate 4 descends, the belt 7 is exposed on the hot plate 4, and the workpiece 21 is carried onto the belt 7 from the opening 9, and when it reaches a predetermined position, the hot air outlet 3 is stopped by a stopper (not shown) or the like. It will be stopped directly below. At the same time, the hot plate 4 rises, and when its upper surface reaches above the belt 7, it receives the workpiece 21 and is brought into close contact with the upper surface of the hot plate 4.

As the hot plate 4 rises, the shutter 11.12 also rises, the opening 9.10 is closed, the inside of the processing chamber 1 is kept airtight, and the hot air generated by the hot air generator 2 is transferred to the hot air outlets 3, 3.
is sprayed onto the object 21 to be treated, and heat-treated.

When the heat treatment is completed, the hot plate 4 is lowered, and the workpiece 21 placed on the top surface of the hot plate 4 is transferred onto the belt 7 and conveyed. Also, due to the lowering of the hot plate 4, the shutter 11.1
2 is also opened, and the processed object 21 is carried out through the carrying-out opening 10.
The new object 21 to be processed is carried out from the carrying-in opening 9 onto the belt 7, and heat-treated by the same procedure as in *E.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, the present invention provides a method for automatically transporting objects to be processed into a processing chamber and performing heat treatment using a hot plate, hot air, or a combination of a hot plate and hot air. ,
The hot plate is configured to be vertically movable so that the surface on which the workpiece is placed moves up and down from below to above the conveyance surface of the workpiece conveyance mechanism, and by raising the hot plate, the workpiece on the conveyance mechanism is heated. Since the object to be processed is heated by contacting with the upper surface of the plate, the object to be processed and the hot plate can easily and reliably come into contact with each other. invention(
According to B), the object to be processed can be heated about three times faster, and the processing capacity can be dramatically improved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic vertical sectional front view showing one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
The figure is a diagram showing the relationship between the heating time of the present invention and the prior art. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Processing chamber, 2... Hot air generator, 3... Hot air outlet, 4... Hot plate, 5... Drive source, 7... Belt, 8... Groove, 9 .10... opening, 11.12.
...Shutter, 15°16...Arm, 17...Axis.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In a device in which the workpiece is automatically carried in and out of the processing chamber, and heat treatment is performed in the processing chamber using a hot plate, hot air, or a combination of a hot plate and hot air, the hot plate is the object to be processed. The object mounting surface is configured to be vertically movable so as to move up and down from below to above the conveying surface of the object conveying mechanism, and by raising the hot plate, the object to be treated on the conveying mechanism is brought into contact with the upper surface of the hot plate. A heat treatment apparatus characterized by heating an object to be treated. 2. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the heat plate is provided with an opening/closing mechanism for opening and closing an opening for carrying in and out of the processing chamber.