Patent ID: 6951815
Filing Date: 2005-10-04
Classification: C23C,H01L

Abstract:
1. A heat treatment method using a heat treatment apparatus comprising a carrier chamber into which and out of which a substrate is carried, a conveyance chamber for conveying the substrate and a hot-wall type heat treatment unit for heat-treating the substrate, said carrier chamber, conveyance chamber, and hot-wall type heat treatment unit being connected in an airtight manner, a glass substrate for liquid crystal displays being taken from a substrate carrier in the carrier chamber by conveying means in said conveyance chamber and being conveyed into said heat treatment unit in which a heat treatment is applied to the glass substrate, the method comprising: conveying the glass substrate from said conveyance chamber into a reaction container inside said heat treatment unit; heating an interior of said reaction container at a process temperature so as to apply a heat treatment to the glass substrate; supplying a gas for heat exchange to a surface of said glass substrate so as to perform heat exchange between said glass substrate and the gas in at least one of a step of raising a temperature inside said reaction container to the process temperature and a step of decreasing the temperature of the reaction container after the heat treatment; detecting a temperature of said glass substrate; controlling at least one of an amount of flow and a temperature of the gas for heat exchange to be supplied to said glass substrate in accordance with the detected temperature of said glass substrate; and carrying the heat treated glass substrate out of said reaction container.