Working principle of rapid temperature rise and fall annealing furnace

The working principle of the rapid temperature rise and fall annealing furnace (RTP) is as follows:

1. Core Work Stage
Rapid heating stage
High power heating element start-up: using halogen infrared lamps, resistance heaters, or high-power flashlights as heat sources, directly applying radiation heating to the material surface to achieve extremely fast heating rates (usually tens to hundreds of degrees Celsius per second). For example, halogen infrared lamps can heat materials to 300 ℃ -1200 ℃ within seconds, meeting the rapid heating requirements of semiconductor processes.
Accurate temperature control: Equipped with a high-precision temperature control system (such as PID closed-loop control), combined with thermocouples or infrared thermometers to monitor temperature in real time, ensuring that the heating process conforms to the preset curve.
Insulation stage
Maintain target temperature: When the material reaches the preset temperature, the heating element continues to work to maintain temperature stability, ensuring that internal defects (such as lattice damage, stress) of the material are fully repaired or alloying reactions are fully carried out. The insulation time is usually a few seconds to a few minutes, depending on the process requirements.
Atmosphere control: Introducing specific gases (such as nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen) through a multi-channel gas control system to regulate the composition of the atmosphere inside the chamber and affect material properties. For example, introducing oxygen in the oxide growth process and nitrogen in the alloying process.
Rapid cooling stage
Inert gas blowing: By rapidly removing heat from the furnace through inert gases such as nitrogen, the cooling rate can reach tens to hundreds of degrees Celsius per minute.
Water cooling system assistance: Some equipment adopts a double-layer water-cooled shell structure to accelerate the heat dissipation inside the chamber, while ensuring low surface temperature of the furnace shell and improving operational safety.

2. Key technical support
Efficient heating technology
Radiation heating: The heating element directly radiates energy to the surface of the material, reducing the heat conduction path and improving heating efficiency.
Partition temperature control: By independently controlling the top and bottom heating elements, the temperature inside the furnace is evenly distributed (such as temperature non-uniformity ≤ ± 3% of the set temperature), avoiding local overheating or underheating.
Rapid cooling technology
Gas dynamic design: Optimize the layout of gas channels and nozzles to ensure uniform coverage of inert gas on the material surface and improve heat transfer efficiency.
Compatibility between vacuum and atmosphere: Supports vacuum environment (maximum vacuum up to 0.1Pa) and multi-channel gas control to meet the processing needs of different materials. For example, material oxidation can be avoided in a vacuum environment, and reduction reactions can be achieved in a hydrogen atmosphere.
Intelligent control system
Programmed process management: supports multiple preset temperature, time, and atmosphere parameters to achieve automated process operation. For example, users can edit parameters such as heating rate, holding time, cooling rate, etc., and store them as process menus for subsequent use.
Real time monitoring and feedback: Real time data is collected through temperature and pressure sensors, and PID algorithm is used to dynamically adjust heating power and gas flow rate to ensure process stability.

3. Typical application scenarios
Semiconductor Manufacturing
Ion implantation annealing: repairing lattice damage caused by ion implantation on wafers, activating doping elements, and improving device performance.
Ohmic contact alloy: Low resistance contact is formed through rapid annealing, reducing contact resistance and improving signal transmission efficiency.
Oxide/nitride growth: Quickly generate insulation or passivation layers at high temperatures to protect device surfaces from environmental erosion.
material modification
Nanomaterial synthesis: Controlling grain size through rapid annealing to optimize material electrical and optical properties. For example, in the preparation of graphene, rapid annealing can reduce defect density and improve carrier mobility.
Densification of thin film materials: Eliminating internal pores in thin films, improving density and mechanical strength. For example, in solar cells, rapid annealing can improve the light absorption efficiency and stability of thin films.
Research and development of new materials
Photovoltaic applications: such as the selenium deposition process in copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) photovoltaic cells, which achieves uniform distribution of selenium through rapid annealing and improves cell conversion efficiency.
MEMS devices: Rapid annealing is used to release stress or repair lattice defects, improving device reliability and lifespan.