Apparatus for and method of heat-treating a wafer

Abstract

An apparatus for and a method of heat-treating a wafer for use in producing a semiconductor device ensures a desired distribution of surface temperatures across the wafer. Spacers are used to space the wafer above a heat transfer plate. The spacers can be used to adjust the spacing and inclination of the wafer relative to the heat transfer plate by predetermined amounts determined in advance to produce the desired distribution of surface temperatures across the wafer during heat-treatment. With the present invention, wafers can be heat-treated during production using a plurality of bake units disposed in parallel because each of the bake units can be precisely adjusted using the spacers to produce surface temperature distributions similar to a standard surface temperature distribution. Accordingly, the productivity of the semiconductor manufacturing process can be markedly enhanced.

1 . An apparatus for temperature-conditioning a wafer, the apparatus comprising: 
 a heat transfer plate having an upper surface;    a heating or cooling device integrated with said heat transfer plate; and    a plurality of spacers projecting upwardly from the upper surface of said heat transfer plate at different locations thereon spaced from one another such that a wafer to be temperature-conditioned by heat transferred between said heat transfer plate and the wafer can be supported by the spacers while facing and being spaced from said heat transfer plate, said spacers being supported in the apparatus in such a way that the heights of projections provided by the spacers, as taken from the upper surface of said heat transfer plate, can be individually adjusted, whereby the spacing between a wafer, supported by the spacers, and the heat transfer plate and the inclination of the wafer relative to the upper surface of said heat transfer plate can be adjusted.    
     
     
         2 . The apparatus for temperature-conditioning a wafer as claimed in  claim 1 , and further comprising a plurality of guide pins extending from the upper surface of said heat transfer plate at the periphery of the upper surface, and wherein each of said spacers comprises an annular member fitted freely around a respective one of said guide pins, whereby the annular member can be freely withdrawn from the guide pin so as to be replaceable.  
     
     
         3 . The apparatus for temperature-conditioning a wafer as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein each of said spacers is supported in the apparatus so as to be to be vertically movable and fixable in different vertical positions relative to the upper surface of said heat transfer plate.  
     
     
         4 . The apparatus for temperature-conditioning a wafer as claimed in  claim 3 , wherein each of the spacers comprises a pin threaded to the heat transfer plate so that the amount by which the spacer projects from the upper surface of said heat transfer plate can be adjusted by rotating the pin.  
     
     
         5 . The apparatus for temperature-conditioning a wafer as claimed in  claim 4 , and further comprising a plurality of motors each operatively associated with a respective one of said spacers, and a power transmission mechanism coupled between each of said motors and the spacer operatively associated therewith so as to transmit output torque of the motor to the spacer, whereby the motors rotate the spacers to raise and lower the same relative to said heat transfer plate.  
     
     
         6 - 9  (cancelled).