US 7,537,448 B2
Thermal processing method and thermal processing unit
Takanori Saito, Tokyo-To (Japan); Kazuhide Serizawa, Tokyo-To (Japan); and Takashi Ichikawa, Tokyo-To (Japan)
Assigned to Tokyo Electron Limited, Tokyo (Japan)
Appl. No. 10/551,033
PCT Filed Mar. 29, 2004, PCT No. PCT/JP2004/004454
§ 371(c)(1), (2), (4) Date Sep. 27, 2005,
PCT Pub. No. WO2004/090959, PCT Pub. Date Oct. 21, 2004.
Claims priority of application No. 2003-097672 (JP), filed on Apr. 01, 2003.
Prior Publication US 2007/0095288 A1, May 03, 2007
Int. Cl. F27D 15/02 (2006.01)
U.S. Cl. 432—81  [432/77; 432/247; 219/390] 10 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
5. A thermal processing unit for conducting a thermal process to a plurality of objects to be processed held in a tier-like manner in a processing container, wherein
the processing container is cylindrically shaped and made of metal,
a heating unit that heats the objects to be processed, and a cooling-gas introducing unit having a plurality of blowing holes for introducing a cooling gas into respective areas in the processing container divided in a height direction of the objects to be processed, are provided in the processing container, and
each blowing hole is provided with a porous member;
wherein the cooling-gas introducing unit is a plurality of cooling-gas introducing pipes arranged at intervals in a circumferential direction of a circular space of the processing container and extending vertically along a side wall of the processing container, each cooling-gas introducing pipe comprising a plurality of blowing holes arranged in the height direction above one another along the pipe, the circular space being formed between the processing container and the plurality of objects to be processed held in a tier-like manner, the plurality of blowing holes for blowing a slewing flow of the cooling gas in a tangential direction of the circular space to uniformly cool said objects and
wherein each blowing hole is formed at a pipe wall of the cooling-gas introducing pipe to face in the same tangential direction of the processing container such that each blowing hole blows out the cooling gas in said tangential direction of the circular space, the cooling gas not coming directly into contact with said objects.