Vertical batch furnace assembly, and method for cooling vertical batch furnace

Vertical batch furnace assembly including cooling gas supply

VERTICAL BATCH FURNACE ASSEMBLY COMPRISING A COOLING GAS SUPPLY

The present disclosure generally relates to vertical batch furnace assemblies that include a cooling gas supply.

Most vertical batch furnaces have core tubes configured to accommodate wafers to be processed in the vertical batch furnace. During processing in a vertical batch furnace, the wafers and core tubes can become hot. In order to accelerate the throughput of the vertical batch furnace assembly, the core tube may be cooled. Cooling gas may be supplied from circumferentially spaced openings at the sides of the cooling chamber between the circumferential wall of the core tube and the outer shell.

This disclosure is provided to introduce a series of concepts in a simplified form. These concepts are described in further detail below in the Implementation of Example embodiments of the present disclosure. This disclosure is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

As can be appreciated, the circumferentially spaced openings can locally create cold spots on the circumferential wall of the core tube. Such cold spots can lead to temperature differences within the circumferential wall, which can lead to stresses in the circumferential wall. In addition, the wafer within the core tube may also be exposed to temperature differences, which can cause wafer breaking.

Accordingly, it may be an objective to provide a vertical batch furnace assembly in which the above-mentioned problems can be alleviated.

To this end, a vertical batch furnace assembly as claimed in claim 1 of the patented scope can be provided. More specifically, a vertical batch furnace assembly can be provided that includes a core tube, an outer shell, a cooling chamber bounded and enclosed by the outer shell and the core tube, and at least one emitting in the cooling chamber. Cooling gas supply. The core tube may have an elongated circumferential wall extending in a longitudinal direction, and the core tube may be configured to receive wafers for processing in a vertical batch furnace. The housing may extend around the core tube and may contain a heating element for applying a thermal treatment to the wafers contained in the core tube. The cooling gas supply may include at least one cooling gas supply opening configured such that the cooling gas enters the cooling chamber in a flow direction that is substantially tangent to the circumferential wall.

A method for cooling a vertical batch furnace as claimed in claim 16 of the patented scope may also be provided. More specifically, a method can be provided comprising providing a vertical batch furnace 10 in accordance with the present specification, and supplying a cooling gas in the cooling chamber 20 in a flow direction substantially tangential to the circumferential wall. The substantially tangential flow direction may include an angle wherein the longitudinal direction of the elongated circumferential wall 14 is in the range of 90° ± 15°; and may include an angle in the range of 0° ± 10°, wherein A plane of a point is closest to the respective cooling gas supply opening and is tangent to the circumferential wall.

For the purpose of summarizing the present disclosure and the advantages achieved over the prior art, certain objects and advantages of the present disclosure have been described above. Of course, it should be understood that all such objects or advantages may not be achieved in accordance with any particular embodiment of the present disclosure. Thus, for example, one of ordinary skill in the art should understand that the present disclosure may be implemented or carried out in a manner that achieves or optimizes one advantage or some advantages as taught or suggested herein, without the need to achieve what may be taught or suggested herein. other goals or advantages.

Various embodiments are claimed in the appended claims, which will be further elucidated with reference to an example shown in the drawings. Embodiments may be combined or may be applied separately from each other.

All of these embodiments are intended to fall within the scope of the present disclosure disclosed herein. These and other embodiments will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art from certain embodiments described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings, the present disclosure being not limited to any particular embodiment disclosed.

Throughout this application, similar or corresponding features are denoted by similar or corresponding reference numerals. The descriptions of the various embodiments are not limited by the examples shown in the drawings and the reference numerals used in the implementations, and the scope of the claims is not intended to limit the descriptions of the embodiments, but is included to illustrate the embodiments.

While certain embodiments and examples are disclosed below, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the present disclosure extends beyond the specifically disclosed embodiments and/or uses of the present disclosure and its obvious modifications, and equivalents. Therefore, it is intended that the scope of the present disclosure as disclosed should not be limited by the specific disclosed embodiments described below. The drawings presented herein are not intended to be actual views of any particular material, structure, or device, but are merely idealized representations used to describe embodiments of the present disclosure.

As used herein, the term "wafer" may refer to any underlying material on which a device, circuit, or film may be used or formed.

In the most general terms, the present disclosure may provide a vertical batch furnace assembly 10 . The vertical batch furnace assembly 10 may include a core tube 12; an outer shell 16; a cooling chamber 20 bounded on the radially outer side by the outer shell 16 and on the radially inner side by the core tube 12; and at least one cooling gas supply, which is emanating in the cooling chamber 20 . The core tube 12 may have an elongated circumferential wall 14 extending in the longitudinal direction L, and the core tube 12 may be configured to receive wafers for processing in the vertical batch furnace assembly 10 . The housing 16 may surround the core tube 12 and may contain heating elements 18 for applying thermal processing to the wafers contained in the core tube 12 . The cooling gas supply may include at least one cooling gas supply opening 26 configured such that the cooling gas enters the cooling chamber 20 in a flow direction substantially tangential to the circumferential wall 14 . The substantially tangential flow direction may include an angle wherein the longitudinal L direction of the elongated circumferential wall 14 is in the range of 90° ± 15°. A substantially tangential flow direction may include angles in the range of 0° ± 10° where a plane passing through a point of the circumferential wall 14 closest to the respective cooling gas supply opening 26 is tangent to the circumferential wall 14 .

Where the direction of flow of the gas exiting the gas supply opening 26 is at least initially tangential to the circumferential wall 14 , the cooling gas will not immediately flow in the longitudinal direction of the elongated circumferential wall 14 , but will instead flow tangentially to the circumferential wall 14 Spread out. Only after the cooling gas has diffused in the tangential direction of the circumferential wall 14, the cooling gas will flow along the longitudinal direction L of the elongated circumferential wall 14, as indicated by arrow F in FIG. 1 . By first distributing the cooling gas tangentially, the circumferential wall 14 is cooled more uniformly. In this way, no cold spots are formed and the disadvantages associated with these so-called cold spots are prevented.

In an embodiment, an example of which is shown in the exploded view of FIG. The end 24 , also shown in FIG. 4 , may be provided with at least one cooling gas supply opening 26 . Each cooling gas inlet pipe 22 may be made in one piece. Each cooling gas inlet pipe 22 may be made of a ceramic material. The axial end 28 of the cooling gas inlet pipe 22 extending into the cooling chamber 20 can be closed.

In the example shown in FIG. 4 , the cooling gas inlet pipe 22 extends into the cooling chamber 20 . Cooling gas inlet tube 22 may extend through opening 44 in housing 16 . By closing the axial end 28 of the cooling gas inlet pipe 22 , the cooling gas is prevented from entering the cooling chamber 20 parallel to the longitudinal direction of the elongated circumferential wall 14 . The end of the cooling gas inlet pipe 22 shown is provided with two cooling gas supply openings 26 . Each supply opening is oriented such that cooling gas entering the cooling chamber 20 via the openings enters the cooling chamber 20 tangentially with respect to the circumferential wall 14 . The cooling gas inlet tube 22 may be provided with a cam 46 configured to cooperate with a corresponding recess 48 in the housing 16 that is part of the opening 44 through which the cooling gas inlet tube 22 extends. The combination of cam 46 on cooling gas inlet tube 22 and recess 48 in housing 16 fixes the orientation of cooling gas inlet tube 22 relative to housing 16 and thus also relative to vertical batch furnace assembly 10 and core tube 12 . This ensures that the cooling gas supply opening 26 will have the correct orientation relative to the core tube 12 so that cooling gas with a flow direction substantially tangential to the circumferential wall 14 will enter the cooling chamber 20 .

During processing of the wafers in the core tube 12, the cooling gas inlet tube 22 may be heated. When cooling begins, the supplied cooling gas may cause a substantial drop in the temperature of the cooling gas inlet pipe 22 . This temperature drop can cause internal stress in the cooling gas inlet tube 22 . By embodying the cooling gas inlet tube 22 as a unitary component, there are no weak joints in the cooling gas inlet tube 22 that could lead to cracking of the cooling gas inlet tube 22 caused by such internal stresses. Preferably, each cooling gas inlet pipe 22 is made of ceramic material. Ceramic materials can withstand both high temperatures and large temperature fluctuations. This makes the ceramic material very suitable for cooling the gas inlet tube 22 .

In one embodiment, an example of which is shown in FIG. 2 , the at least one cooling gas supply 22 includes a plurality of cooling gas supplies equally spaced around the core tube 12 . By equally spacing the cooling gas supply around the core tube 12, a uniform inflow of cooling gas can be obtained along the elongated circumferential wall 14.

In one embodiment, an example of which is shown in FIG. 1 , the vertical batch furnace assembly 10 may further include at least one cooling gas discharge 30 including at least one discharge opening 31 to discharge cooling gas from the cooling chamber 20 . In operation, the emitted cooling gas may flow along the elongated circumferential wall 14 of the core tube 12 from at least one cooling gas supply to at least one cooling gas discharge 30 .

The at least one cooling gas discharge 30 may include a plurality of cooling gas discharges 30 equally spaced around the core tube 12 . By equally spacing the cooling gas discharges 30 around the core tube 12, a uniform outflow of cooling gas is obtained along the elongated circumferential wall 14.

As shown in FIG. 1, at least one cooling gas supply may be positioned at or near the first longitudinal end 32 of the cooling chamber, and at least one cooling gas discharge 30 may be positioned at or near the second longitudinal end of the cooling chamber 34 . In this way, the cooling gas will flow along the elongated circumferential wall 14 parallel to the longitudinal direction, as indicated by arrow F.

The vertical batch furnace assembly 10 may further include cooling gas recirculation passages 36 extending from at least one cooling gas discharge 30 to at least one cooling gas supply 22 . The cooling gas recirculation passage 36 may include a pressurization device 38 , such as a fan or blower, and a heat exchanger 40 configured to cool the cooling gas in the recirculation passage 36 . Reusing the cooling gas by recirculating the cooling gas means that no new cooling gas needs to be supplied. This is particularly advantageous when the cooling gas is not ambient air but eg high concentration nitrogen which must be purchased and whose supply may be depleted. Furthermore, by not continuously introducing new cooling gas into the cooling chamber 20, no debris or contamination can enter the cooling chamber 20. Likewise, harmful contamination from the cooling chamber or other components of the vertical batch furnace assembly 10 is not exhausted to the surrounding environment with the cooling gas.

Preferably, the booster device 38 may be disposed downstream of the heat exchanger 40 . It may be desirable to have the pressure at the cooling gas supply opening 26 at a certain level. By having the supercharging device 38 disposed downstream of the heat exchanger 40, as opposed to a configuration in which the supercharging device 38 is disposed upstream of the heat exchanger 40, the supercharging device 38 requires less power to achieve the cooling gas supply Specific pressure at opening 26 .

The configuration of the at least one cooling gas discharge 30 may be similar to the configuration of the at least one cooling gas supply, wherein the flow direction of the cooling gas within the cooling chamber 20 is reversible. At least one cooling gas discharge opening may be configured such that when the flow direction of the cooling gas within the cooling chamber 20 is reversed and the cooling gas discharge opening acts as the cooling gas supply opening 26, the cooling gas flows in a direction substantially tangential to the circumferential wall 14 into the cooling chamber 20 .

The cooling gas can cool the core tube 12 by absorbing heat from the core tube 12 . Flowing in one direction, the cooling gas is coldest as it enters the cooling chamber 20 and warmest as it exits via the cooling gas discharge 30 . This means that the portion of the circumferential wall 14 closest to the cooling gas discharge 30 will be cooled less by the cooling gas than the portion of the circumferential wall 14 that is closer to the cooling gas supply pipe 22 . In order to increase the overall cooling rate of the elongated circumferential wall 14, it may be advantageous to also flow cooling gas from the cooling gas discharge 30 towards the cooling gas supply. The cooling gas may then flow along the circumferential wall 14 from the cooling gas supply to the cooling gas discharge 30 for a specified time, thereby primarily cooling the portion of the circumferential wall 14 closest to the cooling gas supply. After a certain time, the flow direction may be reversed and cooling gas may flow along the circumferential wall 14 from the cooling gas discharge 30 to the cooling gas supply 22 for a certain time, thereby primarily cooling the portion of the circumferential wall 14 closest to the cooling gas discharge 30 . In this way, the overall cooling efficiency of the cooling gas flow is improved.

In the example shown in FIG. 1 , this flow reversal can work because the inlet of the booster device 38 can be connected to the two suction members 36b of the recirculation channel 36 . Each suction member 36b may include a discharge valve 52a, 52b. The outlet of the booster device 38 may be connected to the pressure member 36a of the recirculation channel 36 . The supply part 36a of the cooling gas recirculation channel 36 is divided into two parts, and each part may include diverter valves 42a, 42b. In use, only one of the suction members 36b is operable to deliver cooling gas, while the other can be closed by the associated vent valve 52a or 52b. By cleverly switching diverter valves 42a, 42b and discharge valves 52a, 52b, cooling gas can be directed to at least one cooling gas supply 22 and then via cooling chamber 20 to at least one cooling gas The discharge 30 , or alternatively is directed to at least one cooling gas discharge 30 , and then via the cooling chamber 20 to at least one cooling gas supply 22 .

In addition to being functionally identical, the cooling gas discharge 30 may also be structurally identical to the cooling gas supply 22 . This facilitates the construction of the cooling gas exhaust 30 and cooling gas supply 22, since only one type of component needs to be manufactured.

The present disclosure may also provide a method for cooling a vertical batch furnace. This method may include providing a vertical batch furnace 10 in accordance with the present specification, and supplying cooling gas in the cooling chamber 20 in a flow direction substantially tangential to the circumferential wall 14 .

In one embodiment, the substantially tangential flow direction includes an angle where the longitudinal direction L of the elongated circumferential wall 14 is in the range of 90° ± 15°.

In one embodiment, the substantially tangential flow direction includes angles in the range of 0° ± 10° where a plane passing through a point of the circumferential wall is closest to the respective cooling gas supply opening 26 and tangent to the circumferential wall 14 .

In the case of an initial flow tangential to the circumferential wall 14 , the cooling gas will not flow immediately along the longitudinal direction L of the elongated circumferential wall 14 , but will instead spread out in the tangential direction of the circumferential wall 14 . The cooling gas will flow in the longitudinal direction L along the elongated circumferential wall 14 only after the cooling gas has spread in the tangential direction of the circumferential wall 14 . In this way, no cold spots are formed and the disadvantages associated with these so-called cold spots are prevented.

Although illustrative embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above in part with reference to the accompanying drawings, it should be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to these embodiments. Variations of the disclosed embodiments can be understood and effected by those of ordinary skill in the art in practicing the claimed invention from a study of the drawings, this disclosure, and the appended claims.

Reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one of the present disclosure in the examples. Thus, appearances of the phrases "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" in various places throughout this description are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.

Furthermore, it is noted that the specific features, structures, or characteristics of one or more of the various embodiments described above may be implemented independently of one another and may be combined in any suitable manner to form new non-explicitly described embodiments. The reference numerals used in the detailed description and the scope of the claims do not limit the description of the embodiments nor the scope of the claims. Component symbols are for clarity only.

<p>10: Vertical batch furnace assembly</p><p>12: Core Tube</p><p>14: Circumferential Wall</p><p>16: Shell</p><p>18: Heating element</p><p>20: Cooling Room</p><p>22: Cooling gas inlet pipe</p><p>24: (of the cooling gas inlet pipe) end</p><p>26: Cooling gas supply opening</p><p>28: (of the cooling gas inlet pipe) axial end</p><p>30: Cooling gas discharge</p><p>31: Discharge opening</p><p>32: (of the cooling chamber) the first longitudinal end</p><p>34: (of the cooling chamber) the second longitudinal end</p><p>36: Cooling gas recirculation channel</p><p>36a: Pressure parts, supply parts</p><p>36b: Suction part</p><p>38: Booster</p><p>40: heat exchanger</p><p>42a: Steering valve</p><p>42b: Steering valve</p><p>44: (in the shell) opening</p><p>46: Cam</p><p>48: Recess</p><p>52a: Drain valve</p><p>52b: Drain valve</p><p>F: Arrow</p><p>L: portrait orientation</p>

Although the specification concludes with the claims specifically pointed out and expressly asserted to be deemed to be the claims of the disclosed embodiments, it can be more easily understood from the description of certain examples of the disclosed embodiments when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Advantages of embodiments of the present disclosure are discovered, wherein:

Figure 1 shows an example of a vertical batch furnace assembly according to this specification;

Figure 2 shows an upside-down view of the top portion of the housing of the example of Figure 1;

Figure 3 schematically shows an exploded perspective view of the details of Figure 2; and

Figure 4 schematically shows a cross-sectional view of one example of the end of the cooling gas inlet pipe according to the present specification.

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