Method for cooling a furnace, and furnace provided with a cooling device
US6328561A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 13, 1999 |
| Grant date | Dec 11, 2001 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 13, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC C)Chemistry; Metallurgy
- CPC primaryC30B31/12
- WIPO fieldSurface technology, coating
- WIPO sectorChemistry
Abstract
A furnace includes a core tube that has an elongate boundary wall and is configured to accommodate wafers for processing the wafers in a treatment atmosphere. The furnace includes a cooling chamber defined between the elongate boundary wall and an outer casing of the furnace, wherein the outer casing includes a heating element and has first lateral, circumferentially spaced openings in proximity of a first end of the outer casing and second lateral, circumferentially spaced openings in proximity of a second end of the outer casing. Cooling gas is supplied through one of the first and second lateral, circumferentially spaced openings to a region of one end of the cooling chamber and provides for a cooling atmosphere. The cooling gas is guided along the cooling chamber with a uniform distribution of flow and discharged through one of the first and second lateral, circumferentially spaced openings from a region of an opposite end of the cooling chamber. A direction of flow of the cooling gas is periodically reversed during cooling, wherein the cooling gas is guided along an essentially closed circuit so that the cooling gas is preserved and so that the cooling atmosphere is separated …
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.