Rapid annealing device for vanadium oxide film

Abstract

The invention relates to a rapid annealing device for a vanadium oxide film, which is used for preparing a film material, and is characterized in that a halogen lamp group is used for heating and annealing a material carrying boat in a material containing disc on the lower side of the halogen lamp group, the position of the material carrying boat is regularly rearranged in the annealing process, and the material containing disc rotates under the action of a servo motor fixedly connected with the material containing disc; the multiple material carrying boats move to the edge position of the inner wall of the material containing disc under the action of rotating centrifugal force, after the material containing disc stops rotating, the magnetic blocks in the multiple material carrying boats repel each other due to the fact that like poles face upwards, and the multiple material carrying boats move irregularly under the action of repulsive force, so that the material carrying boats move to the edge position of the inner wall of the material containing disc. And finally, the material loading boats reach the balance position under the action of magnetic repulsive force, regular rearrangement of the multiple material loading boats is achieved, the possibility that the multiple vanadium oxide thin films are heated unevenly in the annealing process due to the position relation is reduced, the consistency of the vanadium oxide thin films is improved, and finally the finished product quality of the vanadium oxide thin films is improved.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to a rapid thermal annealing device, in particular to a rapid thermal annealing device for vanadium dioxide thin film applied in the field of semiconductor manufacturing technology. BACKGROUND

[0002] Vanadium dioxide (VO2) thin film is a core sensitive material for preparing semiconductor devices such as non-refrigeration infrared detector and optical switch, due to its reversible metal-insulator transition (MIT) near about 68°C, accompanied by a change in resistivity of several orders of magnitude. The preparation of high-performance VO2 thin film, especially after solution method or low-temperature deposition technology, rapid thermal annealing (RTA) is a crucial process step. This process uses the strong light emitted by halogen lamp array to provide high energy instantaneously, which can effectively promote the crystallization of amorphous precursor thin film into VO2 (M1) crystal phase with excellent phase transition characteristics, and effectively inhibit the excessive oxidation of vanadium element into high-valence oxides such as V2O5 without phase transition characteristics, so as to accurately control the stoichiometric ratio of the thin film. In addition, by adjusting the annealing process parameters, the grain size, orientation and oxygen vacancy concentration of the thin film can be optimized, which directly determines the core performance indicators of the finally prepared semiconductor device, such as phase transition steepness, resistance change rate and noise characteristics.

[0003] However, for the preparation of wafer-level or large-scale array devices, the high temperature uniformity within and between chips is one of the decisive factors to ensure the consistency and yield of device performance. In the existing rapid thermal annealing device, due to the inherent non-uniformity of the thermal field distribution of the halogen lamp group (such as edge effect), and the difference in distance between the samples at different positions on the substrate holder and the radiant heat source, the thermal history experienced by multiple thin film samples in the same batch (or different regions on the same large-size substrate) will be different. This annealing non-uniformity will directly lead to the inconsistent distribution of the crystallization quality, doping activation efficiency and the final electrical performance (such as phase transition temperature and resistance value) of the thin film in space.

[0004] Chinese patent CN101792182B discloses a tungsten-doped vanadium dioxide powder material and its preparation method, which uses V2O5, C and WO3 as raw materials, which are low in price and easy to obtain. The transportation, storage and use process are very convenient. The core equipment is a resistance sintering furnace that can be connected to a protective gas, which is matched with an intelligent flow meter and temperature control instrument to accurately adjust the key parameters such as gas flow and heating rate, making the operation extremely simple, and non-professionals can easily master it.

[0005] Chinese patent CN104261873B discloses a method for adjusting the phase transition temperature of vanadium dioxide film, which can realize accurate adjustment of the phase transition temperature of vanadium dioxide film by single regulation of annealing oxygen flow, and is fully compatible with other regulation means such as doping, and proposes a hierarchical strategy of "doping coarse adjustment + oxygen flow fine adjustment": the doping determines the phase transition temperature reference, and the fine control of oxygen flow realizes continuous regulation of the temperature. The combined scheme effectively makes up for the defect of poor flexibility of the doping method, breaks through the limit of single regulation, significantly widens the regulation interval, and provides a more flexible and efficient film design approach for intelligent windows, infrared detectors and other applications.

[0006] In the production process of vanadium oxide film, temperature control is one of the important factors of the quality of the final product. Although the existing technology can realize accurate regulation of the temperature in the annealing device, the temperature in the furnace will have some difference due to the different distances from the halogen lamp used for heating. When the annealing device anneals multiple vanadium oxide film products at a time, it is easy to cause uneven heating between the multiple vanadium oxides, which affects the quality of the final vanadium oxide film product. SUMMARY

[0007] In view of the above prior art, the technical problem to be solved by the present application is that when the annealing device anneals multiple vanadium oxide film products at a time, it is easy to cause uneven heating between the multiple vanadium oxides, which affects the quality of the final vanadium oxide film product.

[0008] To solve the above problems, the present application provides a rapid annealing device for vanadium oxide film, which comprises a rapid annealing device main body, a halogen lamp group fixedly connected to the inner top wall of the rapid annealing device main body, a material containing tray placed on the lower inner wall of the rapid annealing device main body, a servo motor embedded in the lower inner wall of the rapid annealing device main body, a power output end of the servo motor fixedly connected with the material containing tray, a plurality of material carrying boats placed in the material containing tray, a boat body, a magnetic block fixedly connected to the lower end of the boat body, the magnetic blocks of the plurality of material carrying boats having the same magnetic pole upward, a material carrying groove opened at the upper end of the boat body, and a to-be-annealed material placed in the material carrying groove, the to-be-annealed material comprising a matching lining body and a film body.

[0009] In the above rapid annealing device for vanadium oxide film, the problem of uneven heating of the film body caused by fixed position is reduced by position rearrangement, and the quality of the final film body is increased.

[0010] As a further improvement of the present application, a plurality of anti-collision stakes are threadedly connected to the side wall of the boat body, a plurality of fracture grooves are opened at the lower end of each of the plurality of anti-collision stakes, the depth of the plurality of fracture grooves increases with the increase of the distance from the outer wall of the boat body, the impact on the to-be-annealed material loaded in the material carrying boat is reduced, and the to-be-annealed material is more stable.

[0011] As a further improvement of the present application, the container tray comprises a tray body, and an inner side wall of the tray body is provided with a storage groove, which provides a storage space for the broken anti-collision pile during the rearrangement of the carrier boat, and reduces the influence of the anti-collision pile on the rearrangement movement of the carrier boat.

[0012] As a further improvement of the present application, the upper edge of the storage groove is higher than the height of the anti-collision pile, so that the anti-collision pile is not easy to break due to direct impact with the inner wall of the tray body during the rearrangement of the carrier boat.

[0013] As a further improvement of the present application, the inner wall of the storage groove is fixedly connected with a plurality of capturing units made of high-temperature-resistant elastic material, and the plurality of capturing units are overlapped together, so that the three-dimensional space formed by the overlapping of the capturing units continues to capture the broken anti-collision pile, so that the anti-collision pile is not easy to return to the tray body and affect the rearrangement movement of the carrier boat.

[0014] As a further improvement of the present application, the quick annealing device main body is fixedly connected with an electric push rod between the inner top plate and the halogen lamp group, and the lower inner wall of the quick annealing device main body is fixedly connected with a sensor module, so that the length of the electric push rod can be controlled according to the temperature detected by the sensor module to change the distance between the halogen lamp group and the container tray, and then change the heating rate of the plurality of film bodies, so that the plurality of film bodies are heated more uniformly, and the quality of the finished film bodies is increased.

[0015] As a further improvement of the present application, the electric push rod is sleeved with a tension spring, and the two ends of the tension spring are fixedly connected with the quick annealing device main body and the halogen lamp group, respectively, so that when the electric push rod fails and cannot realize self-locking, the existence of the tension spring can avoid excessive sagging of the halogen lamp group, so that the halogen lamps loaded on the halogen lamp group are not easy to be damaged by directly colliding with the container tray, and the environment in the quick annealing device main body is not easy to be affected, and safety accidents are not easy to be induced.

[0016] As a further improvement of the present application, a plurality of connecting ropes are fixedly connected between the quick annealing device main body and the halogen lamp group, and the lengths of the plurality of connecting ropes are all longer than the limit length of the tension spring in the normal working state, so that when the tension spring fails due to high temperature, the connecting ropes are used as a second guarantee, so that the halogen lamp group is not easy to fall.

[0017] In summary, the halogen lamp assembly heats the material carrier boats in the lower tray, annealing the film substrate loaded within. During the heating and holding phase within the rapid annealing device, the positions of the material carrier boats are periodically rearranged. The tray rotates under the action of a servo motor fixedly connected to it. Multiple material carrier boats move to the edge of the inner wall of the tray under the centrifugal force of the rotation. After the tray stops rotating, the magnetic blocks within the multiple material carrier boats, with their like poles facing upwards, repel each other. Under the action of this repulsive force, the multiple material carrier boats undergo irregular movement and eventually reach a balanced position under the action of magnetic repulsion, redistributing themselves relatively evenly within the tray. This rearrangement of the multiple material carrier boats, achieved over a period of time, reduces the uneven heating of the film substrate caused by fixed positions, thus increasing the final quality of the finished film substrate.

[0018] In addition, an electric push rod was added to the halogen lamp assembly to change the distance between the halogen lamp assembly and the material tray, thereby changing the heating rate of multiple film bodies, making the heating of multiple film bodies more uniform, increasing the finished quality of the film bodies, and through the double protection of tension springs and connecting cables, the halogen lamps mounted on the halogen lamp assembly are less likely to collide directly with the material tray and be damaged, less likely to affect the environment inside the rapid annealing device, and less likely to induce safety accidents. Attached Figure Description

[0019] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the rapid annealing device cabinet door in the first embodiment of this application when it is opened; Figure 2 This is a front view of the cabinet door of the rapid annealing apparatus according to the first embodiment of this application when it is open; Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the material tray according to the first embodiment of this application; Figure 4 This is a side cross-sectional view of the material tray according to the first embodiment of this application; Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the material carrier boat according to the first embodiment of this application; Figure 6 This is a front sectional view of the material carrier boat according to the first embodiment of this application; Figure 7 for Figure 6 Schematic diagram of the structure at point A; Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram showing how the material tray changes with the working state in the first embodiment of this application; Figure 9 This is a front view of the cabinet door of the rapid annealing device according to the second embodiment of this application when it is open; Figure 10 forFigure 9 Structure diagram at B.

[0020] Explanation of figure labels: 1 fast annealing device main body, 2 halogen lamp group, 3 material holding tray, 301 tray body, 302 storage groove, 303 capture unit, 4 material carrying boat, 401 boat body, 402 material carrying groove, 403 magnetic block, 404 anti-collision pile, 405 fracture groove, 5 material to be annealed, 501 lining body, 502 film body, 6 electric push rod, 7 tension spring, 8 connecting rope, 9 sensor module. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] The two embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0022] First embodiment: Figure 1 - Figure 2 and Figure 5 - Figure 6 A fast annealing device for vanadium oxide film is shown, which comprises a fast annealing device main body 1, a halogen lamp group 2 is fixedly connected to the inner top wall of the fast annealing device main body 1, a material holding tray 3 is placed on the lower inner wall of the fast annealing device main body 1, a servo motor is embedded in the lower inner wall of the fast annealing device main body 1, the power output end of the servo motor is fixedly connected with the material holding tray 3, a plurality of material carrying boats 4 are placed in the material holding tray 3, the material carrying boat 4 comprises a boat body 401, a magnetic block 403 is fixedly connected to the lower end of the boat body 401, the magnetic blocks 403 of the plurality of material carrying boats 4 have the same magnetic pole upward, a material carrying groove 402 is excavated at the upper end of the boat body 401, a material to be annealed 5 is placed in the material carrying groove 402, the material to be annealed 5 comprises a lining body 501 and a film body 502 which match each other.

[0023] In particular, in the present embodiment, the fast annealing device main body 1 should also be provided with an auxiliary atmosphere control module for assisting the annealing work of the fast annealing device main body 1 to ensure the atmosphere in the annealing process of the fast annealing device main body 1, and the control of the electrical structures such as the halogen lamp group 2 and the servo motor needs to be controlled by a control terminal, and the corresponding power supply equipment is also provided. The above content is the common technical knowledge of those skilled in the art, and therefore is not disclosed in detail in the present application. Those skilled in the art can reasonably design according to actual needs to meet the use requirements.

[0024] At the same time, in order to facilitate the display, the structures in the present application are not strictly drawn according to the proportion, and the number of material carrying boats 4 in the material holding tray 3 is also not strictly drawn according to the actual working requirements. Those skilled in the art can reasonably design the proportion of each structure and the number of material carrying boats 4 according to the actual production needs.

[0025] In this embodiment, the halogen lamp group 2 is used to heat the carrier boat 4 in the self-lower material containing disc 3, and the film body 502 loaded in the carrier boat 4 is annealed, and during the heating and holding stages of the rapid annealing device main body 1, the position of the carrier boat 4 is rearranged periodically, and the material containing disc 3 rotates under the action of the servo motor fixedly connected thereto, as shown in FIG. Figure 8 After the material containing disc 3 stops rotating, the magnetic blocks 403 in the plurality of carrier boats 4 repel each other due to the same polarity, and under the action of the repulsive force, the plurality of carrier boats 4 move irregularly, and finally balance each other under the action of the magnetic repulsion, and are relatively balanced in the material containing disc 3 again, so that the plurality of carrier boats 4 are rearranged, the position of the plurality of carrier boats 4 is rearranged after a period of time, and the problem of uneven heating of the film body 502 caused by the fixed position is reduced, and the quality of the finished film body 502 is improved.

[0026] The vanadium oxide film in the application is a VO2 film, and the annealing temperature is about 500 DEG C.

[0027] When the carrier boat 4 is in the heating state in the rapid annealing device main body 1, the rearrangement work is performed once every 100 DEG C of temperature rise, and when the rapid annealing device main body 1 is in the holding state, the rearrangement work is performed once every 5 minutes, and in the cooling work, the rearrangement work is performed once every 50 DEG C of temperature drop, and the magnetic block 403 needs to be made of high-temperature-resistant material, such as aluminum-nickel-cobalt magnet, and other structures also need to be selected according to the actual situation.

[0028] Please refer to Figure 5 Figure 7 The side wall of the boat body 401 is threadedly connected with a plurality of anti-collision piles 404, the lower end of each anti-collision pile 404 is provided with a plurality of fracture grooves 405, the depth of each fracture groove 405 increases with the distance from the outer wall of the boat body 401, and when the rotation speed of the material containing disc 3 is too high and the kinetic energy of the carrier boat 4 is too high, the plurality of carrier boats 4 may collide to overcome the magnetic repulsion generated by the magnetic block 403, the anti-collision pile 404 can be contacted in advance before the plurality of carrier boats 4 collide, and under the impact of the carrier boat 4, the anti-collision pile 404 is broken along the direction of the fracture groove 405, and the anti-collision pile 404 is broken from the side far away from the outer wall of the boat body 401 according to the depth of the plurality of fracture grooves 405, so as to reduce the kinetic energy of the two carrier boats 4 colliding and the impact on the annealing material 5 loaded in the carrier boat 4, so that the annealing material 5 is more stable, and the threadedly connected anti-collision pile 404 facilitates the subsequent replacement work.

[0029] Please refer to​Figures 3-4 The material container 3 includes a container body 301, and an inner side wall of the container body 301 is provided with a storage groove 302. The storage groove 302 provides a storage space for the broken anti-collision piles 404 during the rearrangement of the material boats 4, reduces the influence of the anti-collision piles 404 on the rearrangement of the material boats 4, and the upper edge of the storage groove 302 is higher than the height of the anti-collision piles 404, so that the anti-collision piles 404 are not easily broken by directly colliding with the inner wall of the container body 301 during the rearrangement of the material boats 4. A plurality of capturing units 303 are fixedly connected to the inner wall of the storage groove 302. The capturing units 303 are made of high-temperature-resistant elastic materials, such as alumina inorganic ceramic-based fibers improved by sol-gel method. The plurality of capturing units 303 are overlapped with each other, and the three-dimensional space formed by the overlapping of the capturing units 303 continues to capture the broken anti-collision piles 404, so that the broken anti-collision piles 404 are not easily returned to the container body 301 and do not easily affect the rearrangement of the material boats 4.

[0030] In the annealing process of the rapid annealing device main body 1, the material container 3 is periodically rearranged in the heating, holding and cooling stages. The centrifugal force generated by the rotation of the material container 3 moves the plurality of material boats 4 to the edge of the inner wall of the container body 301, and then the repulsive force of the plurality of magnetic blocks 403 causes irregular movement of the plurality of material boats 4. When the positions of the plurality of material boats 4 are balanced by the repulsive force of the magnetic blocks 403, the plurality of material boats 4 are relatively balanced and distributed in the material container 3. The plurality of material boats 4 are rearranged, the positions of the plurality of material boats 4 are rearranged after a period of time, the possibility of uneven heating of the plurality of film bodies 502 during the annealing process is reduced, and the quality of the finished film bodies 502 is improved.

[0031] Second embodiment: Figures 9-10 A rapid annealing device for vanadium oxide film is shown. An electric push rod 6 is fixedly connected between the inner top plate of the rapid annealing device main body 1 and the halogen lamp group 2. A sensor module 9 is fixedly connected to the lower inner wall of the rapid annealing device main body 1. During the annealing process of the rapid annealing device main body 1, the length of the electric push rod 6 can be controlled according to the temperature detected by the sensor module 9, so as to change the distance between the halogen lamp group 2 and the material container 3, and then change the heating rate of the plurality of film bodies 502, so that the plurality of film bodies 502 are heated more uniformly, and the quality of the finished film bodies 502 is improved.

[0032] The change amount of the length of the electric push rod 6 is determined according to the difference between the temperature detected by the electric push rod 6 and the preset temperature at the current time. According to the positive or negative and size of the temperature difference (actual and preset), the electric push rod 6 is controlled to perform corresponding elongation or shortening movement, and the moving distance is proportional to the absolute value of the temperature difference, and the specific moving coefficient is determined by the technician before use through multiple experimental detections to obtain the most suitable proportional coefficient.

[0033] The sensor module 9 can also be arranged in the material container 3, but since the material container 3 needs to rotate during the rearrangement of the material boat 4, the sensor module 9 needs to be replaced with a wireless type, which increases the use cost of the sensor module 9 and greatly increases the accuracy of temperature detection of the position of the material container 3. Therefore, the specific type and position of the sensor module 9 can be set by a person skilled in the art according to actual use requirements.

[0034] The outer side of the electric push rod 6 is sleeved with a tension spring 7, and the two ends of the tension spring 7 are fixedly connected with the rapid annealing device body 1 and the halogen lamp group 2, respectively. When the electric push rod 6 fails and cannot realize self-locking, the existence of the tension spring 7 can avoid excessive sagging of the halogen lamp group 2, so that the halogen lamps loaded on the halogen lamp group 2 are not easy to directly collide with the material container 3 and be damaged, and are not easy to affect the environment in the rapid annealing device body 1 and induce safety accidents.

[0035] A plurality of connecting ropes 8 are fixedly connected between the rapid annealing device body 1 and the halogen lamp group 2, and the lengths of the plurality of connecting ropes 8 are all longer than the limit length in the normal working state of the tension spring 7. When the tension spring 7 fails due to high temperature, the connecting rope 8 is used as a second guarantee, so that the halogen lamp group 2 is not easy to fall.

[0036] The electric push rod 6, the tension spring 7, the connecting rope 8 and the sensor module 9 all need to select a high-temperature type, and in this embodiment, the anti-collision stake 404 on the material boat 4 is not used, so that the anti-collision stake 404 is not easy to splash the residual part to hit the halogen lamp group 2 with a low height when it breaks, and the halogen lamps in the halogen lamp group 2 are not easy to be damaged. The buffer of the material boat 4 can rely on the magnetic repulsion force generated by the magnetic block 403 with high magnetic repulsion force, or the outer wall of the material boat 4 can be coated with a high-temperature-resistant elastic material.

[0037] This embodiment adds the electric push rod 6 to the halogen lamp group 2 to change the distance between the halogen lamp group 2 and the material container 3, thereby changing the heating rate of the plurality of thin film bodies 502, so that the plurality of thin film bodies 502 are heated more uniformly, the quality of the finished thin film bodies 502 is increased, and the halogen lamps loaded on the halogen lamp group 2 are not easy to directly collide with the material container 3 and be damaged, not easy to affect the environment in the rapid annealing device body 1, and not easy to induce safety accidents. However, compared with the first embodiment, the control of the electric push rod 6 and the data processing of the sensor module 9 will increase the use cost, which is suitable for the production of high-cost thin film bodies 502 with higher temperature control precision.

[0038] The above-mentioned embodiments of the present application are combined with the current actual demand, the protection scope is not limited to this, various changes made within the knowledge range of the person skilled in the art without departing from the concept of the present application still fall within the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A rapid annealing apparatus for vanadium oxide thin films, comprising a rapid annealing apparatus body (1), characterized in that: Halogen lamp assembly (2) is fixedly connected to the inner top wall of the main body (1) of the rapid annealing device. A material tray (3) is placed on the lower inner wall of the main body (1) of the rapid annealing device. A servo motor is embedded in the lower inner wall of the main body (1) of the rapid annealing device. The power output end of the servo motor is fixedly connected to the material tray (3). Multiple material carrier boats (4) are placed in the material tray (3). Each material carrier boat (4) includes a boat body (401). A magnetic block (403) is fixedly connected to the lower end of the boat body (401). The magnetic blocks (403) of the multiple material carrier boats (4) have the same magnetic pole facing upward. A material loading groove (402) is chiseled at the upper end of the boat body (401). The material to be annealed (5) is placed in the material loading groove (402). The material to be annealed (5) includes a matching liner (501) and a film body (502).

2. The rapid annealing apparatus for vanadium oxide thin films according to claim 1, characterized in that: The side wall of the hull (401) is threaded with multiple anti-collision piles (404), and the lower end of each of the multiple anti-collision piles (404) is chiseled with multiple fracture grooves (405). The depth of the multiple fracture grooves (405) increases with the distance from the outer wall of the hull (401).

3. The rapid annealing apparatus for vanadium oxide thin films according to claim 2, characterized in that: The material tray (3) includes a tray body (301), and the inner side wall of the tray body (301) is provided with a storage groove (302).

4. The rapid annealing apparatus for vanadium oxide thin films according to claim 3, characterized in that: The upper edge of the storage trough (302) is higher than the height of the anti-collision pile (404).

5. The rapid annealing apparatus for vanadium oxide thin films according to claim 3, characterized in that: Multiple capture units (303) are fixedly connected to the inner wall of the storage tank (302). The multiple capture units (303) are made of high temperature resistant elastic material and are overlapped together.

6. The rapid annealing apparatus for vanadium oxide thin films according to claim 1, characterized in that: An electric push rod (6) is fixedly connected between the top plate of the main body (1) of the rapid annealing device and the halogen lamp group (2), and a sensor module (9) is fixedly connected to the lower inner wall of the main body (1) of the rapid annealing device.

7. The rapid annealing apparatus for vanadium oxide thin films according to claim 6, characterized in that: The electric push rod (6) is fitted with a tension spring (7) on its outer side. The two ends of the tension spring (7) are fixedly connected to the main body (1) of the rapid annealing device and the halogen lamp group (2), respectively.

8. The rapid annealing apparatus for vanadium oxide thin films according to claim 7, characterized in that: The main body (1) of the rapid annealing device is fixedly connected to the halogen lamp group (2) by multiple connecting cables (8), and the length of each of the multiple connecting cables (8) is longer than the limit length of the tension spring (7) under normal working conditions.

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