Heat treatment apparatus having a wafer boat
AssigneeTokyo Electron Limited
InventorHarunori Ushikawa
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A heat treatment apparatus for transferring a semiconductor wafer between a cassette and a boat and heat-treating a number of wafers loaded on the boat, comprising wafer holding assembly for supporting the wafer, and a plurality of posts for supporting the wafer holding assembly at predetermined intervals. The wafer holding assembly includes a ring member having an outside diameter larger than the diameter of the wafer and supported at a part of a peripheral portion thereof by the posts, and a plurality of supporting pieces provided onto the ring member, for supporting the wafer directly in contact with the wafer.
Claims17
A heat treatment apparatus for transferring a semiconductor wafer between a cassette and a heat-resistant boat and for heat-treating a number of wafers loaded on the boat, comprising:
- the boat having a wafer holding assembly for holding the wafer, a plurality of main posts, and a plurality of tongues equidistantly mounted to said main posts and projecting inward of the main posts;
- said wafer holding assembly having a ring member fixed to said tongues and a plurality of supporting pieces mounted on an upper surface of said ring member such that wafers are brought into direct contact with said supporting pieces, an outer diameter of said ring member being larger than the wafer diameter;
- wherein said ring member has a straight portion formed on an inner periphery thereof, and the straight portion corresponds to an orientation flat of the wafer, a major portion of a process gas flowing onto a wafer surface through the straight portion.
A heat treatment apparatus for transferring a semiconductor wafer between a cassette and a heat-resistant boat and for heat-treating a number of wafers loaded on the boat, comprising:
- gas supply means for supplying a process gas to a lower end side of the boat;
- and
- exhaust means for exhausting the process gas from an upper end side of the boat;
- the boat having a wafer holding assembly for holding the wafer, a plurality of main posts, and a plurality of tongues equidistantly mounted to said main posts and projecting inward of the main posts;
- said wafer holding assembly having a ring member fixed to said tongue and a plurality of supporting pieces mounted on the upper surface of said ring member such that wafers are brought into direct contact with said supporting pieces, the diameter of said ring member being larger than the wafer diameter;
- and
- a clearance being formed between the wafer supported by the supporting piece and the ring member such that a process gas passes through said clearance to flow in a vertical direction within the boat so as to be supplied onto the upper surface of the wafer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.