Prime-mover dynamo plants – Electric control – Traction
Reexamination Certificate
2001-11-21
2002-12-31
Walberg, Teresa (Department: 3742)
Prime-mover dynamo plants
Electric control
Traction
C219S405000, C219S411000, C118S724000, C118S725000, C392S416000, C392S418000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06501191
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a heat treatment apparatus and method for forming a film such as an interlayer insulating film on a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the manufacturing process of a semiconductor device, a dielectric film such as an interlayer insulating film is formed by using an spin on dielectric (SOD) system. In the SOD system, a film is spin-coated on a semiconductor wafer by, for example, a sol-gel method, a silk method, a speed film method or a Fox method, followed by applying a chemical treatment, or a heat treatment to the coated film so as to form a desired film.
Where the interlayer insulating film is formed by the silk method, the speed film method or the FOX method, a semiconductor wafer maintained at a predetermined temperature is coated with a coating solution so as to form a coated film, followed by applying a heating treatment to the wafer and subsequently cooling again the wafer to a predetermined temperature. Further, a curing treatment, in which a heating treatment and a cooling treatment are applied under an atmosphere having a low oxygen concentration, is applied to the coated film so as to cure the coated film, thereby obtaining an interlayer insulating film.
If the oxygen concentration is increased during the curing treatment under the state that the wafer temperature is elevated, a disadvantage arises that the dielectric constant of the formed interlayer insulating film is increased. In order to solve the problem, the curing treatment is performed in practice by allowing an inert gas such as a nitrogen gas to flow into the chamber in which the wafer is disposed.
However, the curing treatment is not performed nowadays under the state that the oxygen concentration within the chamber is measured during the curing treatment for confirming whether or not the curing treatment is being performed under an atmosphere having an oxygen concentration not higher than a predetermined level. When the oxygen concentration during the curing treatment is higher than the predetermined level, disadvantages arise that the dielectric constant of the formed interlayer insulating film is increased, and that the formed interlayer insulating films are rendered nonuniform in the film quality every wafer.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A first object of the present invention is to provide a heat treatment apparatus and a heat treatment method that permit confirming whether or not the heat treatment such as the curing treatment is being carried out under an atmosphere having an oxygen concentration not higher than a predetermined level. Further, a second object of the present invention is to provide a heat treatment apparatus that permits controlling the fluctuation in the oxygen concentration in performing the heat treatment.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a heat treatment apparatus for applying a predetermined heat treatment to a substrate having a coated film formed thereon, comprising a hot plate on which the substrate is disposed; a chamber for housing the substrate disposed on said hot plate; and oxygen concentration measuring means for measuring the oxygen concentration within said chamber; wherein the oxygen concentration can be measured by said oxygen concentration measuring means while a heat treatment is being applied to said substrate.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a heat treatment apparatus for applying a predetermined heat treatment to a substrate having a coated film formed thereon, comprising a hot plate capable of supporting a substrate a predetermined distance apart from the surface thereof; a chamber for housing the substrate supported by said hot plate; a gas collecting port for collecting the gas within the chamber, said gas collecting port being formed in said hot plate in a position facing the lower surface of the substrate when the substrate is disposed on the hot plate; and oxygen concentration measuring means for measuring the oxygen concentration in the gas collected from said gas collecting port; wherein the oxygen concentration can be measured by said oxygen gas measuring means while a heat treatment is being applied to the substrate.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a heat treatment apparatus, which includes a heating process chamber and a cooling process chamber, for applying a predetermined heat treatment to a substrate having a coated film formed thereon, said heating process chamber comprising a hot plate capable of supporting a substrate a predetermined distance apart from the surface thereof; a chamber for housing the substrate supported by said hot plate; gas supply means for supplying an inert gas into said chamber; exhaust means for exhausting said chamber from an upper portion of the chamber; a first gas collecting port for collecting the gas from within said heating process chamber or from within the chamber, said first gas collecting port being formed in the hot plate in a position facing the lower surface of the substrate when the substrate is disposed on the hot plate; and first oxygen concentration measuring means for measuring the oxygen concentration in the gas collected from said first gas collecting port; and said cooling process chamber comprising a cooling plate capable of supporting the substrate a predetermined distance apart from the surface thereof; a second gas collecting port for collecting the gas from within said cooling process chamber, said second gas collecting port being formed in said cooling plate in a position facing the lower surface of the substrate when the substrate is disposed on said cooling plate; and second oxygen concentration measuring means for measuring the oxygen concentration in the gas collected from said second gas collecting port; wherein the oxygen concentration can be measured by said first oxygen concentration measuring means and said second oxygen concentration measuring means while a heat treatment is being applied to the substrate.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a heat treatment method for applying a predetermined heat treatment to a substrate having a coated film formed thereon, comprising a first step of disposing a substrate on a thermal processing plate; a second step of collecting a predetermined gas from below the substrate disposed on said thermal processing plate for measuring the oxygen concentration of said predetermined gas; and a third step of holding said substrate for a predetermined time while measuring said oxygen concentration.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a heat treatment method for applying a predetermined heat treatment to a substrate having a coated film formed thereon, comprising a first step of holding a substrate in a predetermined position above a thermal processing plate and supplying an inert gas toward said substrate; a second step of collecting for measuring the oxygen concentration in a predetermined gas said predetermined gas from a position on the upper surface of said thermal processing plate and below the lower surface of said substrate when the substrate is disposed on said thermal processing plate; a third step of disposing the substrate close to said thermal processing plate and holding the substrate for a predetermined time while measuring said oxygen concentration; and a fourth step of taking out the substrate held for the predetermined time on the thermal processing plate so as to stop the measurement of the oxygen concentration.
According to the heat treatment apparatus and method of the present invention, it is possible to apply a heat treatment while measuring the oxygen concentration in forming, for example, an interlayer insulating film, thereby preventing the quality of the interlayer insulating film from being changed by the oxidation caused by the fluctuation in the oxygen concentration, thereby maintaining constant the quality o
Nagashima Shinji
Sakai Hiroyuki
Tanaka Takashi
Fuqua Shawntina T
Oblon & Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt P.C.
Tokyo Electron Limited
Walberg Teresa
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