Thermal processing system and thermal processing method
AssigneeTokyo Electron Limited
InventorYicheng Li
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A thermal processing system for heating a to-be-processed object while rotating the to-be-processed object by a placement part, and for performing thermal processing on the to-be-processed object by supplying a predetermined gas into a processing chamber. An outer ring part provided outside the processing chamber and an inner ring part provided inside the processing chamber have pluralities of circumferentially arranged magnetic poles. The magnetic poles apply magnetic forces between the outer ring part and inner ring part so that the inner ring part will follow the rotation of the outer ring part. The number of magnetic poles of the outer ring part and inner ring part are selected to achieve an allowable angular error when between the outer ring part and inner ring part during rotation.
Claims16
A thermal processing system heating a to-be-processed object while rotating the to-be-processed object by a placement part, and supplying a predetermined gas into a processing chamber and performing thermal processing on the to-be-processed object therein, said system comprising:
- an outer ring part provided outside of said processing chamber, and having a plurality of magnetic poles arranged circumferentially;
- an inner ring part provided inside of said processing chamber, having a plurality of magnetic poles arranged circumferentially for applying magnetic forces between the magnetic poles of said outer ring part and those of said inner ring part so that said inner ring part follows said outer ring part and rotates therewith;
- a bearing part provided between said inner ring part and processing chamber;
- and
- said placement part rotating together with said inner ring part in said processing chamber,
- wherein the number of the magnetic poles of said outer ring part and inner ring part is determined such that a torque transmitted to said inner ring part from said outer ring part is larger than a friction torque applied to said inner ring part by said bearing part when said outer ring part is rotated, for an angular difference between said inner ring part and said outer ring part corresponding to a required allowable angular error of the to-be-processed object.
A thermal processing system comprising:
- a thermal processing part having a to-be-processed object placed in a predetermined orientation on a placement part in a processing chamber, heating the to be-processed object while rotating the to-be-processed object by said placement part, and performing thermal processing on the to-be-processed object with supplying a predetermined gas into said processing chamber;
- a conveying room connected with said processing chamber of said processing part through a gate valve in an airtight manner;
- and
- another thermal processing part including a processing chamber and connected with said conveying room via a gate valve in an airtight manner,
- wherein one of said thermal processing parts performs thermal processing on the to-be-processed object, the to-be-processed object is then conveyed into the other thermal processing part, and said other processing part then performs thermal processing on the to-be-processed object,
- wherein said one of said thermal processing parts comprises:
- an outer ring part provided outside of said processing chamber, and having a plurality of magnetic poles arranged circumferentially;
- an inner ring part provided inside of said processing chamber, having a plurality of magnetic poles arranged circumferentially for applying magnetic forces between the magnetic poles of said outer ring part and those of said inner ring part so that said inner ring part follows said outer ring part and rotates therewith;
- a bearing part provided between said inner ring part and processing chamber;
- and
- said placement part rotating together with said inner ring part in said processing chamber,
- wherein the number of the magnetic poles of said outer ring part and inner ring part is determined such that a torque transmitted to said inner ring part from said outer ring part is larger than a friction torque applied to said inner ring part by said bearing part when said outer ring part is rotated, for an angular difference between said inner ring part and said outer ring part corresponding to a required allowable error in orientation of the to-be-processed object.
A thermal processing method comprising the steps of:
- a) heating a to-be-processed object while rotating the to-be-processed object by a placement part;
- and
- b) performing thermal processing on the to-be-processed object with supplying a predetermined gas into a processing chamber,
- wherein said method is performed by means of:
- an outer ring part provided outside of said processing chamber, and having a plurality of magnetic poles arranged circumferentially;
- an inner ring part provided inside of said processing chamber, having a plurality of magnetic poles arranged circumferentially for applying magnetic forces between the magnetic poles of said outer ring part and those of said inner ring part so as to follow said outer ring part and rotate therewith;
- a bearing part provided between said inner ring part and processing chamber;
- and
- said placement part rotating together with said inner ring part in said processing chamber,
- wherein the number of the magnetic poles of said outer ring part and inner ring part is determined such that a torque transmitted to said inner ring part from said outer ring part is larger than a friction torque applied to said inner ring part by said bearing part when said outer ring part is rotated, for an angular difference between said inner ring part and said outer ring part corresponding to a required allowable error in orientation of the to-be-processed object.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.