HEAT TREATMENT APPARATUS

• US 20130112670A1
• Filed: 07/17/2012
• Published: 05/09/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/08/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hitachi High-Tech Company Limited (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Inventors: YOKOGAWA, Ken'etsu, Miyake, Masatoshi, Uemura, Takashi, Izawa, Masaru, Sakai, Satoshi
• Granted Patent: US 9,490,104 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 219/121.36
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 37/32091 the radio frequency energy being capacitively coupled to the plasma
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 37/32522 Temperature
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/324 Thermal treatment for modifying the properties of semiconductor bodies, e.g. annealing, sintering H01L21/20 - H01L21/288 and H01L21/302 - H01L21/322 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67115 mainly by radiation

Abstract

Provided is a heat treatment apparatus that is high in thermal efficiency and can reduce surface roughness of a substrate to be treated even when a specimen is heated at 1200° C. or higher.

The heat treatment apparatus heating the specimen includes a heating plate heated by plasma formed in an area of a gap to heat the specimen.

Claims

1. A heat treatment apparatus heating a specimen, comprising:

a heating plate for heating the specimen by being heated by plasma.

2. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a heating treatment chamber heating the specimen, and

a radio-frequency power supply supplying radio-frequency power for generating the plasma to an electrode,

wherein the heating treatment chamber includes the heating plate, the electrode opposed to the heating plate.

3. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the heating treatment chamber further includes a radiant heat suppressing member suppressing radiant heat.

4. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the heating plate includes a disk-shaped member and beams installed on the outer periphery of the member, and the heating plate is fixed by the beams.

5. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the heating treatment chamber is divided into a plasma generation chamber generating the plasma and a heating chamber heating the specimen by the heating plate.

6. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the radiant heat suppressing member is a plate material having a high melting point and low emissivity or coating having the high melting point and low emissivity.

7. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 3, wherein:

the radiant heat suppressing member includes first and second radiant heat suppressing members,

the radio-frequency power supply supplies the radio-frequency power for generating the plasma to at least one of the heating plate and the electrode, and

the heat treatment apparatus further includes a specimen stage opposed to the electrode through the heating plate and mounted with the specimen.

8. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the second radiant heat suppressing member surrounds the electrode and the specimen stage, and suppresses the radiant heat.

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

the first radiant heat suppressing member is a reflection mirror that surrounds the electrode and the heating plate, and reflects the radiant heat, and

the second radiant heat suppressing member is installed inside the reflection mirror.

10. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the second radiant heat suppressing member controls a heat capacity of the heating treatment chamber by volume formed thereby.

11. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the second radiant heat suppressing member is made of a material having emissivity of 0.5 or less and a thickness in the range of 0.1 to 1.0 mm.

12. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 9, wherein a base material or the surface of the second radiant heat suppressing member is tungsten, tantalum, molybdenum, tungsten carbide, tantalum carbide, or molybdenum carbide.

13. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plasma is generated by glow discharge.

14. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the electrode is a carbon electrode.

15. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the second radiant heat suppressing member is placed spaced apart from the heating plate and the electrode.