Apparatus for thermal treatments of thin parts such as silicon w

Details Apparatus for thermal treatments of thin parts such as silicon w Apparatus for thermal treatments of thin parts such as silicon w

1998-12-14

1989-08-15

Walberg, Teresa J.

Electric heating

Heating devices

Combined with container, enclosure, or support for material...

219405, 219411, H05B 362

Patent

active

048577049

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to an apparatus for thermal treatments of thin parts, such as silicon platelets, usually called "wafers" in accordance with the Anglo-Saxon terminology, and used in the micro-electronic field.
In this type of treatment, light sources are often used as thermal source because of the practically inexistant thermal inertia of this type of source which thus makes possible an optimum control of the thermal cycle, for example, by better mastering certain aspects of solid/solid heat exchangers.
It is a question of very high power light sources, because of the levels and temperature rise times which it is desirable to attain in this type of thermal treatment.
Now, the need to obtain temperatures uniformly distributed to the parts to be treated - which is imperative for limiting the thermomechanical stresses and the consequent defects in these parts - raises very delicate problems of implementation.
One means used for this purpose consists in generating a beam of parallel light rays using for example a parabolic mirror having the size of the part to be treated. That involves the use of a pin point light source disposed at the focal point of the mirror, namely an arc lamp whose very high cost, difficulty in use and short lifespan considerably limit the industrial applications.
There also exist thermal treatment apparatus using linear light sources, whose cost and ease of use are incomparably more interesting than the case of arc lamps: it is a question generally of so called "tungsten-halogen" lamps, namely, incandescent lamps with tungsten filament and halogens, these latter being used for reducing the blackening of the bulb or tube which contains the filament, cf. in particular the review SEMICONDUCTOR INTERNATIONAL/79, N: of May 1985.
However, in this type of apparatus, the uniformity of the temperatures is obtained by disposing the "tungsten-halogen" lamps in the vicinity of these parts, which limits the thermal treatments which may be carried out thereon to ambient pressure treatments, such as annealing for example.
The purpose of the present invention is consequently to provide an apparatus for thermal treatments of thin parts, such as silicon wafers, of the type using very high power linear lamps as thermal source, such as "tungsten-halogen" lamps, which answer better the requirements of practice than the apparatus relating to the same purpose, known in the prior art, particularly in that thermal treatments can be carried out other than annealing at ambient temperature and, generally, any treatment requiring the creation of particular ambient conditions about the parts to be treated, for example under pressure or in a vacuum, while ensuring the required uniformity of the temperatures of the parts.
The present invention has as object an apparatus for the thermal treatment of at least one thin part, such as a silicon wafer, comprising a thermal light source including linear lamps of very high unitary power, such as "tungsten-halogen" lamps, and a housing containing the part or the parts to be treated and whose geometric axis of symmetry coincides with the optical axis of symmetry of said thermal light source, which apparatus is characterized in that it includes inside the housing, which has a circular symmetry, a chamber making it possible to create about the part or parts to be treated particular thermal treatment conditions, particularly under pressure or in a vacuum and in an atmosphere of an appropriate gas, which treatment chamber has its geometrical axis of symmetry coinciding with said optical axis of symmetry and comprises means ensuring sealing with respect to the housing which contains it, and in that in the treatment chamber is disposed a compensation means for the thermal losses of the part or parts to be treated, namely losses through the faces and small side wall (surface or axial losses) and end or radial losses of this part or of these parts, thus making it possible to maintain its temperature or their temperature substantially uniform.
In another preferred embodimen

REFERENCES:
patent: 3627590 (1971-12-01), Mammel
patent: 4041278 (1977-08-01), Boah
patent: 4101759 (1978-07-01), Anthony
patent: 4221956 (1980-09-01), Fielding
patent: 4493977 (1985-01-01), Arai
patent: 4535228 (1985-08-01), Mimura
patent: 4539933 (1985-09-01), Campbell
patent: 4649261 (1987-03-01), Sheets
Juh Tzeng Lue, "Arc Annealing . . . Flash Lamp", App. Physics Letters, vol. 36, Jan. 1, 1980.

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