System and method for supporting and rotating substrates in a process chamber
AssigneesTokyo Electron Limited, Tokyo Electron Tohoku Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorKazuo Terada
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system for supporting and rotating substrates in a process chamber comprising a first exhaust vacuum pump for exhausting the process chamber, a shaft vertically extending into the process chamber to support wafers in it, bearings for supporting the shaft rotatable, a mechanism for rotating the shaft together with the wafers, a bearing casing for covering the bearings and communicated with the process chamber, a second exhaust vacuum pump for exhausting the bearing casing, and a controller for controlling the first and second exhaust vacuum pumps in such a way that the bearing casing is exhausted by the second exhaust vacuum pump before the process chamber is exhausted by the first exhaust vacuum pump.
Claims11
A system for supporting and rotating substrates in a process chamber comprising:
- first exhaust means for exhausting the process chamber;
- a shaft vertically extending into the process chamber to support the substrates in it;
- bearings for supporting the shaft rotatable;
- means for rotating the shaft together with the substrates;
- a bearing casing for covering the bearings and communicated with the process chamber;
- second exhaust means for exhausting the bearing casing;
- and
- control means for controlling the first and second exhaust means in such a way that the bearing casing is exhausted by the second exhaust means before the process chamber is exhausted by the first exhaust means.
A method of supporting and rotating substrates in a process chamber comprising:
- preparing a heat process apparatus of the vertical type provided with a process tube, heater means and first exhaust means, and wafer boat supporting and rotating means provided with second exhaust means;
- supporting a wafer boat in the process tube by the wafer boat supporting and rotating means;
- heating the wafer boat in the process tube.,
- exhausting a bearing casing for the wafer boat supporting and rotating means by the second exhaust means;
- partly exhausting the process tube by the first exhaust means;
- fully exhausting the process tube by the first exhaust means;
- supplying process gas into the process tube while rotating the wafer boat to form heat-processed film on the surface of each wafer.,
- exhausting the process tube by the first exhaust means;
- and
- carrying the wafer boat out of the process tube.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.