Patent ID: 8124181

Claim:
An oxidation method for a semiconductor process for oxidizing surfaces of a plurality of target substrates, the method comprising: placing the target substrates at intervals in a vertical direction within a process field of a process container; supplying an oxidizing gas and a deoxidizing gas to the process field by spouting the oxidizing gas and the deoxidizing gas only in lateral directions respectively from a first group of gas spouting holes and a second group of gas spouting holes, each group of which is disposed adjacent to the target substrates on one side of the process field and arrayed over a length corresponding to the process field in a vertical direction, while exhausting gas through an exhaust port disposed opposite to the first and second groups of gas spouting holes with the process field interposed therebetween and present over a length corresponding to the process field in the vertical direction, to cause the oxidizing gas and the deoxidizing gas spouted from the first and second groups of gas spouting holes to flow uniformly along the surfaces of the target substrates into the exhaust port, while forming gas flows parallel with the target substrates; and heating the process field by a heater disposed around the process container to activate the oxidizing gas and the deoxidizing gas to cause the oxidizing gas and the deoxidizing gas to react with each other so as to generate oxygen radicals and hydroxyl group radicals within the process field while performing an oxidation process on the surfaces of the target substrates by use of the oxygen radicals and the hydroxyl group radicals.