Annealing apparatus

Abstract

Provided is an annealing apparatus, which is free from a problem of reduced light energy efficiency resulted by the reduction of light emission amount due to a heat generation and capable of maintaining stable performance. The apparatus includes: a processing chamber 1 for accommodating a wafer W; heating sources 17 a and 17 b including LEDs 33 and facing the surface of the wafer W to irradiate light on the wafer W; light-transmitting members 18 a and 18 b arranged in alignment with the heating sources 17 a and 17 b to transmit the light emitted from the LEDs 33; cooling members 4 a and 4 b supporting the light-transmitting members 18 a and 18 b at opposite side to the processing chamber 1 to make direct contact with the heating sources 17 a and 17 b and made of a material of high thermal conductivity; and a cooling mechanism for cooling the cooling members 4 a and 4 b with a coolant.

1 . An annealing apparatus comprising:
 a processing chamber for accommodating an object to be processed;   a heating source including a plurality of light emitting devices and provided to face at least one surface of the object to irradiate light on the object;   a light-transmitting member arranged in alignment with the heating source to transmit the light emitted from the light emitting devices;   a support member for supporting the heating source;   a power supply mechanism provided at a rear surface side of the support member for supplying a power to the light emitting devices via the support member;   a gas exhaust mechanism for exhausting an inside of the processing chamber; and   a processing gas supply mechanism for supplying a processing gas into the processing chamber.   
     
     
         2 . The annealing apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the heating source comprises a plurality of light emitting device arrays each including:
 a support body provided at the support member;
 a plurality of electrodes formed on the support body; 
   a plurality of light emitting devices formed on the electrodes; and   a power supply electrode for supplying a power to the light emitting devices, and wherein the power supply mechanism has a plurality of electrode rods connected to the power supply electrode of each of the light emitting device arrays and extending through the support member and a plurality of power supply members through which to supply a power to the electrode rods.   
     
     
         3 . The annealing apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the electrode rods and the power supply members are brought into contact with each other by spring-biased pins. 
     
     
         4 . The annealing apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the light emitting devices are divided to be arranged in each of power supply areas, wherein the power supply area includes a plurality of the power supply electrodes in a corresponding relationship therewith, and wherein the power supply electrodes are arranged along a straight line. 
     
     
         5 . The annealing apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein the power supply electrodes include a plurality of negative electrodes and a common positive electrode. 
     
     
         6 . The annealing apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein the light emitting devices are provided in the power supply areas in a form of a parallel connection of a plurality of sets of serially connected light emitting devices. 
     
     
         7 . The annealing apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the light emitting devices are light-emitting diodes. 
     
     
         8 . The annealing apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the light emitting devices are light-emitting diodes. 
     
     
         9 . The annealing apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein the light emitting devices are light-emitting diodes. 
     
     
         10 . The annealing apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein the light emitting devices are light-emitting diodes. 
     
     
         11 . The annealing apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein the light emitting devices are light-emitting diodes. 
     
     
         12 . The annealing apparatus of  claim 6 , wherein the light emitting devices are light-emitting diodes.