Quartz furnace tube and diffusion furnace
By arranging multiple thermowells and welding points on the inner wall of the quartz furnace tube, the problem of collapse of the upper wall of the furnace tube in high temperature environments is solved, thereby improving structural stability and extending service life.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202420985621.9
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Utility models(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2024-05-08
- Publication Date
- 2025-01-21
- Estimated Expiration
- 2034-05-08
AI Technical Summary
The quartz furnace tube may collapse downward in a high-temperature working environment, causing the middle part to bend and collapse, shortening the service life.
Multiple thermocouple sleeves are provided on the inner wall of the furnace tube body of the quartz furnace tube to place distributed thermocouples and are connected to the inner wall of the furnace tube body through welding points to provide additional support.
By monitoring the reaction temperature in real time and providing additional support, the structural stability of the quartz furnace tube is improved, distortion and collapse are reduced, and the service life is extended.
Smart Images
Figure CN222374836U_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and in particular to a quartz furnace tube and a diffusion furnace. Background Art
[0002] Quartz furnace tube is an indispensable high-temperature equipment component in the semiconductor manufacturing process. Quartz furnace tube is made of high-purity quartz glass material, with excellent high temperature resistance, chemical stability and good thermal insulation properties. In the semiconductor manufacturing process, quartz furnace tube is usually used in high-temperature processing equipment such as diffusion furnace. Its role is to serve as a heating carrier for the reaction silicon wafer, and at the same time provide a sealed environment for the reaction silicon wafer to ensure the uniformity of the temperature and atmosphere in the furnace.
[0003] However, quartz furnace tubes may face challenges in structural stability under continuous high-temperature working environments. Due to the lack of sufficient support on the upper wall of the quartz furnace tube, the upper wall of the quartz furnace tube may gradually collapse downward under high-temperature environments. This deformation may gradually accumulate with the increase in usage time, eventually causing the middle part of the quartz furnace tube to bend and collapse significantly, greatly shortening the service life of the quartz furnace tube and increasing the production cost. Utility Model Content
[0004] In order to at least overcome the above-mentioned deficiencies in the prior art, the purpose of the present application is to provide a quartz furnace tube and a diffusion furnace.
[0005] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a quartz furnace tube, the quartz furnace tube comprising a furnace tube body and a thermocouple sleeve, the thermocouple sleeve being used to place a distributed thermocouple;
[0006] The furnace tube body comprises a furnace tube tail end and a furnace tube open end which are arranged oppositely, and the thermocouple sleeve comprises a thermocouple sleeve bottom and a thermocouple sleeve open end which are arranged oppositely, the thermocouple sleeve bottom is located in the furnace tube body, the thermocouple sleeve open end is located outside the furnace tube body, the thermocouple sleeve open end faces the furnace tube tail end, and part of the thermocouple sleeve is fixed to the inner wall of the furnace tube body.
[0007] In a possible implementation, the furnace tube body and the thermocouple sleeve are cylindrical, the extension direction of the thermocouple sleeve is consistent with the extension direction of the furnace tube body, and the thermocouple sleeve is arranged on the inner wall of the furnace tube body along the extension direction of the body.
[0008] In a possible implementation, there are multiple thermocouple sleeves, and the multiple thermocouple sleeves are evenly spaced on the inner wall of the furnace tube body along the circumference of the inner wall;
[0009] The orthographic projections of the plurality of thermocouple sleeves on a cross section perpendicular to the central axis of the furnace tube body are symmetrical structures.
[0010] In a possible implementation, the furnace tube body further includes a plurality of sleeve marks corresponding to the positions of the thermocouple sleeves, and the sleeve marks are used to distinguish the plurality of thermocouple sleeves.
[0011] In a possible implementation, the quartz furnace tube further includes a welding point connecting the furnace tube body and the thermocouple sleeve, and a portion of the thermocouple sleeve located in the furnace tube body is connected to the inner wall of the furnace tube body through the welding point.
[0012] In a possible implementation, there are a plurality of welding points, and the plurality of welding points are evenly spaced and distributed on a portion of the thermocouple sleeve located in the furnace tube body.
[0013] In a possible implementation, the number of the thermocouple sleeves is 6 to 12.
[0014] In a possible implementation, the number of the welding points is 8 to 12, and the distance between any two adjacent welding points is 180 mm to 220 mm.
[0015] In a possible implementation, the material of the thermocouple sleeve includes quartz material.
[0016] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a diffusion furnace, comprising the quartz furnace tube described in any one of the first aspects.
[0017] Based on any one of the above aspects, the quartz furnace tube and diffusion furnace provided in the embodiment of the present application include a furnace tube body and a thermocouple sleeve, and the thermocouple sleeve is used to place a distributed thermocouple. The furnace tube body includes a furnace tube tail end and a furnace tube open end that are relatively arranged, and the thermocouple sleeve includes a thermocouple sleeve bottom and a thermocouple sleeve open end that are relatively arranged, the thermocouple sleeve bottom is located in the furnace tube body, the thermocouple sleeve open end is located outside the furnace tube body, the thermocouple sleeve open end faces the furnace tube tail end, and part of the thermocouple sleeve is fixed to the inner wall of the furnace tube body. By arranging a thermocouple sleeve on the inner wall of the furnace tube body, it can not only be used to place a distributed thermocouple, and the reaction temperature in the quartz furnace tube can be monitored in real time through the distributed thermocouple, but also provide additional support for the upper wall of the furnace tube in a high-temperature reaction environment, thereby improving the structural stability of the quartz furnace tube, reducing the distortion and collapse of the furnace tube body, and increasing the service life of the quartz furnace tube. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0018] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the drawings required in the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. It should be understood that the following drawings only show certain embodiments of the present application and therefore should not be regarded as limiting the scope. For ordinary technicians in this field, other related drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative work.
[0019] Figure 1 A possible structural schematic diagram of a quartz furnace tube provided in this application;
[0020] Figure 2 Another possible structural schematic diagram of the quartz furnace tube provided in this application;
[0021] Figure 3 for Figure 2 Cross section at the middle AA position Figure 1 ;
[0022] Figure 4 for Figure 2 Cross section at the middle AA position Figure 2 ;
[0023] Figure 5 A possible placement diagram of a quartz furnace tube is shown;
[0024] Figure 6 Schematic diagram of another possible placement of the quartz furnace tube. DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0025] In order to make the purpose, technical solution and advantages of the embodiments of the present application clearer, the technical solution in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of the present application, rather than all the embodiments. The components of the embodiments of the present application described and shown in the drawings here can be arranged and designed in various different configurations.
[0026] Therefore, the following detailed description of the embodiments of the present application provided in the accompanying drawings is not intended to limit the scope of the present application for which protection is sought, but merely represents selected embodiments of the present application. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in the field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present application.
[0027] It should be noted that similar reference numerals and letters denote similar items in the following drawings, and therefore, once an item is defined in one drawing, further definition and explanation thereof is not required in subsequent drawings.
[0028] In the description of this application, it should be noted that the terms "upper", "lower", etc. indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings, or the orientation or positional relationship in which the product of the application is usually placed when in use, which is only for the convenience of describing this application and simplifying the description, and does not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation on this application. In addition, the terms "first", "second", etc. are only used to distinguish the description, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance.
[0029] In the description of this application, it should also be noted that, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "disposed", "connected", "connected", and "connected" should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can be a direct connection, or it can be indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, or it can be the internal connection of two elements. For ordinary technicians in this field, the specific meanings of the above terms in this application can be understood according to specific circumstances.
[0030] It should be noted that, in the absence of conflict, different features in the embodiments of the present application may be combined with each other.
[0031] To solve the problems in the prior art, please refer to Figure 1 The embodiment of the present application provides a quartz furnace tube 10, which includes a furnace tube body 110 and a thermocouple sleeve 120. The thermocouple sleeve 120 is used to place a distributed thermocouple. The distributed thermocouple can monitor the reaction temperature in the quartz furnace tube 10 in real time to ensure the accuracy of the heating process. The material of the thermocouple sleeve 120 includes quartz material.
[0032] The furnace tube body 110 includes a furnace tube tail end 111 and a furnace tube open end 112 that are relatively arranged, and the thermocouple sleeve 120 includes a sleeve bottom 121 and a sleeve open end 122 that are relatively arranged, wherein the sleeve bottom 121 is located inside the furnace tube body 110, and the sleeve open end 122 is located outside the furnace tube body 110, and the sleeve open end 122 faces the furnace tube tail end 111, and a portion of the thermocouple sleeve 120 is fixed to the inner wall of the furnace tube body 110, wherein the furnace tube open end 112 can be used to place the reaction silicon wafer and pass the reaction gas, and the furnace tube tail end 111 can output the waste gas generated during the reaction. Specifically, after the distributed thermocouple is placed in the thermocouple sleeve 120, the quartz furnace tube 10 is placed in a high-temperature reaction device (for example, a diffusion furnace) for reaction, wherein the inner wall provided with the distributed thermocouple is used as the upper wall of the quartz furnace tube 10, providing additional support for the upper wall of the furnace tube, and reducing the degree of deformation of the furnace tube body 110 collapsing downward.
[0033] In the above structure, a thermocouple sleeve 120 is arranged on the inner wall of the furnace tube body 110, which can not only be used to place a distributed thermocouple and monitor the reaction temperature in the quartz furnace tube 10 in real time through the distributed thermocouple, but also provide additional support for the upper wall of the furnace tube in a high-temperature reaction environment, thereby improving the structural stability of the quartz furnace tube 10, reducing the distortion and collapse of the furnace tube body 110, and increasing the service life of the quartz furnace tube 10.
[0034] For further information, please refer again Figure 1 The furnace tube body 110 and the thermocouple sleeve 120 are cylindrical, the extension direction of the thermocouple sleeve 120 is consistent with the extension direction of the furnace tube body 110, and the thermocouple sleeve 120 is arranged on the inner wall of the furnace tube body 110 along the extension direction of the body, that is, the central axis L1 of the thermocouple sleeve 120 is parallel to the central axis L2 of the furnace tube body 110, so as to better disperse the deformation stress of the upper wall of the furnace tube and reduce deformation accumulation.
[0035] In addition, please refer to Figure 2 and Figure 3 In order to increase the support for the inner wall of the furnace tube body 110, the number of thermocouple sleeves 120 can be multiple, and the multiple thermocouple sleeves 120 are distributed on the inner wall of the furnace tube body along the circumference of the inner wall to better alleviate the deformation of the furnace tube body 110 in all directions, wherein the multiple thermocouple sleeves 120 can be distributed on the inner wall of the furnace tube body 110 along the circumference of the inner wall at equal intervals, or can be distributed on the inner wall of the furnace tube body 110 along the circumference of the inner wall without spacing. Preferably, the multiple thermocouple sleeves 120 are distributed on the inner wall of the furnace tube body 110 along the circumference of the inner wall at equal intervals. Exemplarily, the number of thermocouple sleeves 120 is 6 to 12, and preferably, the number of thermocouple sleeves 120 is 8, that is, a thermocouple sleeve 120 is arranged every 45°.
[0036] And in order to better offset the collapse deformation, please refer to Figure 3 The orthographic projections of the plurality of thermocouple sleeves 120 on the cross section perpendicular to the central axis of the furnace tube body 110 (the AA cross section shown in the figure) are symmetrical structures. Specifically, when in use, the placement of the furnace tube body 110 can be changed by rotating the quartz furnace tube 10 to balance the collapse deformation of the furnace tube body 110 in various directions, prevent the furnace tube body 110 from being excessively deformed in a certain direction, and improve the overall life of the quartz furnace tube 10.
[0037] In order to effectively distinguish the thermocouple sleeves 120 in various directions and balance the collapse deformation of the furnace tube body 110 in various directions, a plurality of sleeve marks corresponding to the positions of the thermocouple sleeves 120 may be provided on the furnace tube body 110, and the sleeve marks may be used to distinguish the plurality of thermocouple sleeves 120. For example, please refer to Figure 4When the number of thermocouple sleeves 120 is 8, the sleeve markings may be numbers 1 to 8 to distinguish the 8 thermocouple sleeves 120. For specific use, please refer to Figure 5 and Figure 6 , if the side where the sleeve mark 1 is located is the upper wall of the furnace tube, that is, when currently in use, the thermocouple sleeve 1201 corresponding to the sleeve mark 1 is used to provide support for the upper wall of the furnace tube, then during maintenance after use, the quartz furnace tube 10 is rotated along the direction F shown in Figure 5, and the side of the sleeve mark 5 symmetrical to the side where the sleeve mark 1 is located is used as the upper wall of the furnace tube (such as Figure 6 As shown), that is, during maintenance after use, the thermocouple sleeve 1208 corresponding to the sleeve mark 5 is used to provide support for the upper wall of the furnace tube to offset the collapse deformation that occurred in the previous use cycle and reduce the collapse of the middle part of the furnace tube caused by gravity in a high temperature environment.
[0038] It should be noted that during use, a distributed thermocouple can be placed in each thermocouple sleeve 120 to monitor the temperature in different directions inside the quartz furnace tube 10 to prevent local overheating; or a distributed thermocouple can be placed only in the thermocouple sleeve 120 located on the upper wall of the furnace tube to reduce the cost of use. The specific placement can be based on usage requirements.
[0039] In the present embodiment, the inventors have found that the quartz furnace tube 10 in the prior art has an average service life of only 2-4 months due to its low structural stability. The quartz furnace tube 10 provided in the embodiment of the present application improves the overall structural stability by providing a plurality of thermocouple sleeves 120, and rotates and maintains the quartz furnace tube 10 based on the sleeve markings to balance the collapse deformation of the quartz furnace tube 10 in all directions. The average service life of the quartz furnace tube 10 provided in the embodiment of the present application is effectively increased to 18-20 months, greatly reducing the production cost.
[0040] Furthermore, the quartz furnace tube 10 further includes a welding point connecting the furnace tube body 110 and the thermocouple sleeve 120 , and a portion of the thermocouple sleeve 120 located in the furnace tube body 110 is connected to the inner wall of the furnace tube body 110 through the welding point.
[0041] However, the inventors have found in specific practice that when the thermocouple sleeve 120 is fixed to the inner wall of the quartz furnace tube 10 by welding, if the number of welding points is small and the distance between adjacent welding points is large, in a high-temperature working environment, the thermocouple sleeve 120 close to the welding points is not easy to deform because it is fixed on the inner wall of the furnace tube body 110, while the position of the thermocouple sleeve 120 far away from the welding points is easily affected by gravity and bends downward. The long-term accumulation of deformation will cause the thermocouple sleeve 120 to be serpentine, and the distributed thermocouple cannot be placed and / or removed smoothly. The problem that the distributed thermocouple cannot be replaced can only be solved by replacing a new quartz furnace tube 10, which will also reduce the service life of the quartz furnace tube 10.
[0042] To this end, the number of welding points can be multiple, and the multiple welding points can be evenly spaced on the part of the thermocouple sleeve 120 located in the furnace tube body 110. The multiple welding points can provide sufficient support for the thermocouple sleeve 120 to reduce the distortion and deformation of the thermocouple sleeve 120. Exemplarily, the number of welding points includes 8 to 12, and the spacing between any two adjacent welding points is 180 mm to 220 mm. Exemplarily, the spacing between any two adjacent welding points includes 180 mm, 185 mm, 188 mm, 196 mm, 200 mm, 205 mm, 211 mm, 214 mm, 218 mm and 220 mm. Preferably, the number of welding points can be 10, and the spacing between any two adjacent welding points is 200 mm.
[0043] In this embodiment, by increasing the number of welding points, multiple supporting points can be provided for the thermocouple sleeve 120 , thereby reducing deformation of the thermocouple sleeve 120 due to gravity in a high temperature environment and increasing the service life of the quartz furnace tube 10 .
[0044] Based on the same inventive concept, an embodiment of the present application further provides a diffusion furnace, which includes any one of the quartz furnace tubes 10 in the above embodiments. Using the quartz furnace tube 10 as a heating carrier for a range of silicon wafers can effectively reduce production costs.
[0045] In summary, the embodiment of the present application provides a quartz furnace tube and a diffusion furnace, the quartz furnace tube includes a furnace tube body and a thermocouple sleeve, and the thermocouple sleeve is used to place a distributed thermocouple. The furnace tube body includes a furnace tube tail end and a furnace tube open end that are relatively arranged, and the thermocouple sleeve includes a thermocouple sleeve bottom and a thermocouple sleeve open end that are relatively arranged, the thermocouple sleeve bottom is located in the furnace tube body, the thermocouple sleeve open end is located outside the furnace tube body, the thermocouple sleeve open end faces the furnace tube tail end, and part of the thermocouple sleeve is fixed to the inner wall of the furnace tube body. By arranging the thermocouple sleeve on the inner wall of the furnace tube body, it can not only be used to place the distributed thermocouple, and the reaction temperature in the quartz furnace tube can be monitored in real time through the distributed thermocouple, but also provide additional support for the upper wall of the furnace tube in a high-temperature reaction environment, improve the structural stability of the quartz furnace tube, reduce the distortion and collapse of the furnace tube body, and increase the service life of the quartz furnace tube.
[0046] The above description is only the preferred embodiment of the present application and is not intended to limit the present application. For those skilled in the art, the present application may have various modifications and variations. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present application shall be included in the protection scope of the present application.
Claims
1. A quartz furnace tube, characterized in that: The quartz furnace tube comprises a furnace tube body and a thermocouple sleeve, and the thermocouple sleeve is used to place a distributed thermocouple; The furnace tube body comprises a furnace tube tail end and a furnace tube open end which are arranged oppositely, and the thermocouple sleeve comprises a thermocouple sleeve bottom and a thermocouple sleeve open end which are arranged oppositely, the thermocouple sleeve bottom is located in the furnace tube body, the thermocouple sleeve open end is located outside the furnace tube body, the thermocouple sleeve open end faces the furnace tube tail end, and part of the thermocouple sleeve is fixed to the inner wall of the furnace tube body.
2. The quartz furnace tube according to claim 1, characterized in that: The furnace tube body and the thermocouple sleeve are cylindrical, the extension direction of the thermocouple sleeve is consistent with the extension direction of the furnace tube body, and the thermocouple sleeve is arranged on the inner wall of the furnace tube body along the extension direction of the body.
3. The quartz furnace tube according to claim 2, characterized in that: There are multiple thermocouple sleeves, and the multiple thermocouple sleeves are evenly spaced on the inner wall of the furnace tube body along the circumference of the inner wall; The orthographic projections of the plurality of thermocouple sleeves on a cross section perpendicular to the central axis of the furnace tube body are symmetrical structures.
4. The quartz furnace tube according to claim 3, characterized in that: The furnace tube body further comprises a plurality of sleeve marks corresponding to the positions of the thermocouple sleeves, and the sleeve marks are used to distinguish the plurality of thermocouple sleeves.
5. The quartz furnace tube according to claim 2, characterized in that: The quartz furnace tube further includes a welding point connecting the furnace tube body and the thermocouple sleeve, and a portion of the thermocouple sleeve located in the furnace tube body is connected to the inner wall of the furnace tube body through the welding point.
6. The quartz furnace tube according to claim 5, characterized in that: The number of the welding points is multiple, and the multiple welding points are evenly spaced and distributed on the portion of the thermocouple sleeve located in the furnace tube body.
7. The quartz furnace tube according to claim 6, characterized in that: The number of the thermocouple sleeves is 6 to 12.
8. The quartz furnace tube according to claim 7, characterized in that: The number of the welding points is 8 to 12, and the distance between any two adjacent welding points is 180 mm to 220 mm.
9. The quartz furnace tube according to claim 7, characterized in that: The material of the thermocouple sleeve includes quartz material.
10. A diffusion furnace, characterized in that: The invention comprises the quartz furnace tube as described in any one of claims 1 to 9.