Vertical Thermal Processing Substrate Supporter Narrow Pitch Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional vertical thermal processing apparatuses face limitations in reducing wafer pitch, which restricts the number of substrates that can be processed simultaneously, due to structural constraints that lead to deformation under thermal influences.
Innovation Solution
The apparatus features a substrate supporter with support columns and annular plates that have a tier-like arrangement, where the annular plates have a thinner intermediate part than the peripheral parts, allowing for a narrower pitch and increased substrate capacity by enabling more efficient transfer and processing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If annular plates are welded to support columns in conventional design, then structural strength is improved, but thermal deformation causes clearance narrowing and pitch reduction
Solution Approach 1:
The annular plate is divided into three distinct sections: thick peripheral parts for structural support and thin intermediate parts for substrate clearance. This segmentation allows the plate to maintain overall strength while creating the necessary clearances for narrow pitch substrate arrangement.
Solution Approach 2:
Different parts of the annular plate have different thicknesses - the peripheral parts are thick to provide structural strength and resistance to thermal deformation, while the intermediate parts are thin to create adequate clearance for substrates. This local quality variation resolves the contradiction between strength and pitch.
2Reliability
If substrate support pieces are disposed on upper surfaces of annular plates, then substrate support is achieved, but pitch narrowing is difficult due to structural constraints
Solution Approach 1:
The annular plate structure with thin intermediate parts removes the need for substrate support pieces on the upper surface. The thin intermediate part itself provides the clearance space needed for narrow pitch substrate arrangement, eliminating the structural constraint that limited the number of substrates.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of adding substrate support pieces in the vertical dimension (which would increase pitch), the design uses dimensional variation in the plate thickness itself to create horizontal clearance space, allowing more substrates to be arranged in the same space.
3Ease of operation
If conventional ring boat design is used, then transfer operation is facilitated, but number of wafers to be processed is limited to at most 75
Solution Approach 1:
The annular plate is segmented into thick peripheral parts for structural integrity and thin intermediate parts for creating clearance. This allows the boat to maintain ease of transfer operation while accommodating more than 75 wafers through the increased substrate capacity enabled by narrow pitch.
Solution Approach 2:
The local quality variation in annular plate thickness provides both the structural properties needed for easy transfer operation and the clearance space needed for high substrate capacity, resolving the contradiction between operational ease and quantity of substrates.
Data Source
AI summary
A vertical thermal processing apparatus including: a substrate supporter; a transfer mechanism to transfer substrates between the substrate supporter and a container; and a thermal processing furnace to process substrates that have been loaded thereinto with the substrate supporter. The substrate supporter includes: support columns located at intervals therebetween to surround the substrates, supporting parts for substrate and supporting parts for annular plate provided at the support columns in a tier-like manner, for alternately supporting peripheral parts of the substrates and of annular plates at predetermined intervals therebetween, and annular plates to be supported by the supporting parts for annular plate, when seen from a direction in which the substrates are transferred. Each of the annular plates has an intermediate part having a thickness smaller than thicknesses of the peripheral parts thereof to be supported by the support columns.