Heat treatment apparatus and heat treatment method of substrate

• US 20030089132A1
• Filed: 11/07/2002
• Published: 05/15/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 11/12/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SCREEN Holdings Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Dainippon Screen Manufacturing Company Limited (SCREEN Holdings Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Kusuda, Tatsufumi
• Granted Patent: US 7,255,899 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 65/29.18
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67115 mainly by radiation

Abstract

A heat diffusion plate and a heating plate are placed in a heat treatment chamber in this order. The heating plate is used for preliminarily heating a glass substrate to a temperature in a range from 200° C. to 400° C. The glass substrate thus preliminarily heated is subjected to a heat treatment by flash light irradiation by a xenon flash lamp. The flash light irradiation makes it possible to uniformly heat an amorphous silicon film on the glass substrate, and consequently to be poly-crystallized. Thus, it becomes possible to provide a heat treatment technique capable of carrying out a uniform heat treatment on the silicon film on the glass substrate sufficiently.

Claims

1. A heat treatment method, which carries out a heat treatment on a substrate by applying light onto said substrate, comprising the steps of:

a) loading a glass substrate having a silicon film formed on a surface thereof into a heat treatment chamber;

b) preliminarily heating said glass substrate loaded into said heat treatment chamber;

c) after having heated said glass substrate in said heat treatment chamber to a predetermined pre-heating temperature, applying flash light onto said glass substrate so that said pre-heated glass substrate is heated to a treatment temperature; and

d) carrying said glass substrate out of said heat treatment chamber.

2. The heat treatment method according to claim 1, wherein

in said step b), said glass substrate is preliminarily heated to a temperature in a range of not less than 200°

C. to not more than 400°

C.

3. The heat treatment method according to claim 2, wherein

in said step c), the irradiation intensity is set in a range from not less than 10 J/cm² to not more than 30 J/cm².

4. The heat treatment method according to claim 3, wherein

in said step c), flash light is applied from a xenon flash lamp to said glass substrate.

5. A heat treatment method, which carries out a heat treatment on a substrate by applying light onto said substrate, comprising the steps of:

a) loading a substrate having a silicon film formed on a surface thereof into a heat treatment chamber;

b) preliminarily heating said substrate loaded into said heat treatment chamber;

c) after having heated said silicon film in said heat treatment chamber to a predetermined pre-heating temperature, applying flash light onto said silicon film so that said pre-heated silicon film is heated to a treatment temperature; and

d) carrying said substrate out of said heat treatment chamber.

6. The heat treatment method according to claim 5, wherein

said substrate is a transparent substrate.

7. The heat treatment method according to claim 6, wherein

in said step b), said substrate is preliminarily heated to a temperature in a range of not less than 200°

C. to not more than 400°

C.

8. The heat treatment method according to claim 7, wherein

in said step c), the irradiation intensity is set in a range from not less than 10 J/Cm² to not more than 30 J/cm².

9. The heat treatment method according to claim 8, wherein

in said step c), flash light is applied from a xenon flash lamp to said silicon film.

10. A heat treatment apparatus, which carries out a heating treatment on a substrate by applying light onto said substrate, comprising:

a heat treatment chamber which holds a substrate having a silicon film formed on the surface thereof;

a pre-heating part which preliminarily heats said substrate held in said heat treatment chamber; and

a flash heating part which applies flash light to said silicon film on said substrate that has been heated to a preset pre-heating temperature by said pre-heating part so that said silicon film is heated to a treatment temperature.

11. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 10, wherein

said substrate is a transparent substrate.

12. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 11, wherein

said pre-heating part preliminarily heats said substrate a temperature in a range of not less than 200°

C. to not more than 400°

C.

13. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 12, wherein

said flash heating part has an irradiation intensity set in a range from not less than 10 J/Cm² to not more than 30 J/cm² with respect to the substrate.

14. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 13, wherein

said flash heating part includes a xenon flash lamp.

15. A heat treatment apparatus, which carries out a heating treatment on a substrate by applying light onto said substrate, comprising:

a pre-heating part which is placed on the rear face side of said substrate, and preliminarily heats said substrate at light irradiation area formed on the rear face side of said substrate by using light irradiation through a light-converging device; and

a flash heating part which is placed on the surface side of said substrate, and, after said substrate has been heated to the preliminarily set pre-heating temperature, applies flash light onto the surface of said substrate, located at the same position as said light irradiation area formed by said pre-heating part, through a light-converging device so that said substrate is heated to a treatment temperature, wherein

said pre-heating part and said flash heating part are placed in a tilted manner in the same direction with respect to the normal line of said substrate.

16. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 15, further comprising:

a relative shifting part which shifts said pre-heating part and said flash heating part relative to said substrate so that said light irradiation area is shifted on said substrate.

17. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 16, further comprising:

a first detector which is placed on a hypothetical line connecting said pre-heating part and said light irradiation area on the surface side of said substrate, and detects light that has been applied by said pre-heating part and transmitted to said surface side; and

a second detector which is placed on a hypothetical line connecting said flash heating part and said light irradiation area on the rear surface side of said substrate, and detects light that has been applied by said flash heating part and transmitted to said rear surface side.

18. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 17, wherein

a silicon film is formed on the surface of said substrate.

19. A heat treatment apparatus, which carries out a heating treatment on a substrate by applying light onto said substrate, comprising:

a pre-heating part which is placed on the rear face side of said substrate, and preliminarily heats said substrate at light irradiation area formed on the rear face side of said substrate by using light irradiation through a light-converging device; and

a flash heating part which is placed on the surface side of said substrate, and, after said substrate has been heated to the preliminarily set pre-heating temperature, applies flash light onto the surface of said substrate, located at the same position as said light irradiation area formed by said pre-heating part, through a light-converging device so that said substrate is heated to a treatment temperature, wherein

said pre-heating part is placed at a position dislocated from a hypothetical line connecting said flash heating part and said light irradiation area.

20. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 19, further comprising:

a relative shifting part which shifts said pre-heating part and said flash heating part relative to said substrate so that said light irradiation area is shifted on said substrate.

21. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 20, further comprising:

a first detector which is placed on a hypothetical line connecting said pre-heating part and said light irradiation area on the surface side of said substrate, and detects light which has been applied by said pre-heating part and transmitted to said surface side; and

a second detector which is placed on a hypothetical line connecting said flash heating part and said light irradiation area on the rear surface side of said substrate, and detects light which has been applied by said flash heating part and transmitted to said rear surface side.

22. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 21, wherein

a silicon film is formed on the surface of said substrate.