1978results about "Muffle furnaces" patented technology

A substrate heat treatment apparatus for heat-treating a substrate includes a bake plate having projections on an upper surface thereof, a seal unit disposed peripherally of the upper surface of the bake plate for closing a lateral area of a minute space formed between a lower surface of the substrate and the upper surface of the bake plate when the substrate is placed on the bake plate, and exhaust bores for exhausting gas from the minute space. The substrate placed on the bake plate is heat-treated in a state of the gas exhausted from the minute space through the exhaust bores.

A heat-treating plate has support elements projecting from an upper surface thereof. The support elements are located at apexes of equilateral triangles arranged regularly and continually. The heat-treating plate and a substrate placed on the support elements form a minute space therebetween which is sealed by a sealer. The substrate is sucked by reducing the pressure in the minute space to a negative pressure through exhaust bores. Since all the distances between adjoining support elements are equal, the substrate sags in the same amount between these support elements. With such arrangement of the support elements, sagging of the substrate is inhibited efficiently by a reduced number of support elements.

An apparatus for supporting a substrate is described that has a ball adapted to minimize damage between the substrate support and the substrate supported thereon. In one embodiment, an apparatus for supporting a substrate includes ball disposed on an inclined ball support surface. The ball support surface is adapted to bias the ball toward one side of the ball support surface thereby providing space for the ball to roll as the substrate supported thereon changes in length when exposed to thermal influences. In another embodiment, the apparatus further comprises a cage adapted to capture the ball to the ball support surface.

A ceramic heater for a semiconductor producing / examining device including a ceramic substrate having a heating surface for receiving a semiconductor wafer, a heating device for generating heat sufficient for producing / examining the semiconductor wafer and formed on the heating surface or inside the ceramic substrate, and a temperature measuring device for measuring a temperature of the heating surface and pressed against the ceramic substrate.

A semiconductor substrate processing apparatus (1), comprising a substrate support assembly (30), including a substrate support (32) defining an outer support surface (34) for supporting a substrate or substrate carrier (24) thereon, and a heater (50) comprising a heat dissipating portion (54) that is disposed within the substrate support (32) and that extends underneath and substantially parallel to the support surface (34), said substrate support (32) being rotatably mounted around a rotation axis (L) that extends through said support surface (34), such that the support surface (34) is rotatable relative to the heat dissipating portion (54) of the heater (50).

A vacuum chuck and a process chamber equipped with the same are provided. The vacuum chuck assembly comprises a support body, a plurality of protrusions, a plurality of channels, at least one support member supporting the support body, at least one resilient member coupled with the support member, a hollow shaft supporting the support body, at least one electrical connector disposed through the hollow shaft, and an air-cooling apparatus. The support body has a support surface for holding a substrate (such as a wafer) thereon. The protrusions are formed on and project from the support surface for creating a gap between the substrate and the support surface. The channels are formed on the support surface for generating reduced pressure in the gap. The air-cooling apparatus is used for providing air cooling in the vicinity of the electrical connector.

Embodiments of the present invention pertain to substrate processing equipment and methods incorporating light emitting diodes (LEDs) for thermally processing substrates. Such light sources offer a variety of advantages including higher efficiency and more rapid response times. Pulse widths are selectable down to under a millisecond but can be for long pulses up to and exceeding a second. LEDs are preferable to tungsten-halogen lamps even in circumstances that allow longer processing times, since LEDs produce light with greater than 50% efficiency and tungsten-halogen lamps operate with less than 5% efficiency.

In an embodiment, heat treatment equipment comprises a process tube, an exhaust duct connected to the process tube, and, during operation, exhausting gases present within the process tube. The heat treatment equipment also comprises a hollow pressure control member interposed between the process tube and the exhaust duct, the pressure control member being operatively connected to the process tube and the exhaust duct respectively, and including one or a number of openings. Negative pressure is avoided in the process tube during heat treatment processes so that unwanted gas and impurities cannot enter the process tube from outside.

A reactor chamber is positioned between a top array of LED heat lamps and a bottom array of LED heat lamps. The LED heat lamps forming the top and bottom arrays are individually or controllable in groups such that power output along each array of LED heat lamps can dynamically differ. The LED lamps can be controlled in response to, for example, feedback from chamber sensors, a desired temperature profile, and a failed LED lamp. In this way, the methods and systems described herein can dynamically compensate for operational characteristics of the reactor chamber. In one configuration, the LED heat lamps are arranged in a rectangular pattern. In some configurations, the LED heat lamps are arranged in a circular or a concentric pattern.

A thermal processing system has a processing vessel 4, a support post 30 stood on the bottom wall of the processing vessel 4, and a support table 32 internally provided with a heating means 38 and supported on the support post 30. A workpiece W is placed on the upper surface of the support table 32 and is subjected to a predetermined thermal process. The upper, the side and the lower surface of the support table 32 are covered with heat-resistant covering members 72, 74 and 76 to prevent the thermal diffusion of metal atoms causative of contamination from the support table 32. thus, various types of contamination, such as metal and organic contamination, can be prevented.

A vacuum thermal annealing device is provided having a temperature control for use with various materials, such as semiconductor substrates. A vacuum is used to remove air and outgas residual materials. Heated gas is injected planar to a substrate as pressure is quickly raised. Concurrent with the heated gas flow, a chamber wall heater is turned on and maintains a temperature for a proper annealing time. Upon completion of the annealing process, the chamber wall heater shuts down and air is forced around the chamber wall heater. Additionally, cool gas replaces the heated gas to cool the substrate.

Provided is a substrate processing apparatus. The substrate processing apparatus includes a chamber body having a passage, through which substrates are transferred, in one side thereof, the chamber body having opened upper and lower portions, an inner reaction tube disposed above the chamber body to provide a process space in which a process with respect to the substrates is performed, the inner reaction tube having an opened lower portion, a substrate holder disposed in the opened lower portion of the chamber to move between a stacking position at which the substrates transferred through the passage are vertically stacked and a process position at which the substrate holder ascends toward the process space to perform the process with respect to the stacked substrates, a blocking plate connected to a lower portion of the substrate holder to ascend or descend together with the substrate holder, the blocking plate closing the opened lower portion of the inner reaction tube at the process position, a connection cylinder vertically disposed on a lower portion of the blocking plate to ascend or descend together with the blocking plate, and a blocking member connected between the opened lower portion of the chamber body and the connection cylinder to isolate the opened lower portion of the chamber body from the outside.

A firing furnace comprising: a muffle formed so as to ensure a space for housing a formed body to be fired; a member that constitutes a heat generator and is placed on and / or around the muffle; and a heat insulating layer that contains said muffle and said heat generator inside thereof, wherein a carbon-natured sheet is placed in the vicinity of corner portions of an inner face of said heat insulating layer.

An SOI substrate having on the surface thereof a single crystal silicon film formed on an insulator is heat-treated in a hydrogen-containing reducing atmosphere in order to smooth the surface and reduce the boron concentration without damaging the film thickness uniformity in a single wafer and among different wafers. The method is characterized in that the single crystal silicon film is arranged opposite to a member of non-oxidized silicon for heat treatment.

A method and apparatus for oxidizing materials used in semiconductor integrated circuits, for example, for oxidizing silicon to form a dielectric gate. An ozonator is capable of producing a stream of least 70% ozone. The ozone passes into an RTP chamber through a water-cooled injector projecting into the chamber. Other gases such as hydrogen to increase oxidation rate, diluent gas such as nitrogen or O2, enter the chamber through another inlet. The chamber is maintained at a low pressure below 20 Torr and the substrate is advantageously maintained at a temperature less than 800° C. Alternatively, the oxidation may be performed in an LPCVD chamber including a pedestal heater and a showerhead gas injector in opposition to the pedestal.

A solid state thermal control device contains a substrate and a plurality of solid state thermal elements on the substrate. The thermal elements are adapted to provide thermal control to a device under test (DUT). Each solid state thermal element contains at least one solid state heater and an active control circuit adapted to control a thermal output of the heater. Optionally, the each thermal element may also include a solid state temperature sensor.