JP2000334290A - Vacuum treating apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vacuum treating apparatus which blows off the dust adhered to the surface of a substrate to be treated by vent gas when venting a load locking chamber and is capable of preventing the soaring up of the dust in the load locking chamber. SOLUTION: This apparatus has a process chamber which houses the substrate W to be treated therein and treats the substrate under a vacuum, the load locking chamber 1 which is capable of switching a vacuum state and an atmospheric state independently from the process chamber, and temporarily houses the substrate W to be treated when carrying the substrate W to be treated into and out of the process chamber, a venting means 2 which introduces the vent gas G into the load locking chamber 1 in the vacuum state and switches the vacuum state to the atmosphere state and a planar vent filter 4 which faces the surface of the substrate W to be treated housed in the load locking chamber 1 and is arranged apart therefrom. The vent filter 4 approximately covers the entire surface of the substrate W to be treated. The vent gas G introduced from the vent means 1 into the load locking chamber 1 is filtered by the vent filter 4 and is then blown to approximately the entire part of the surface of the substrate W to be treated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a vacuum processing apparatus for processing a substrate to be processed, particularly a semiconductor substrate under a vacuum.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a semiconductor manufacturing process, a substrate to be processed which is a semiconductor substrate is etched under vacuum.
Various vacuum processing apparatuses for performing processes such as ashing and sputtering are used.

[0003] In general, a vacuum processing apparatus includes a processing chamber for accommodating a substrate to be processed therein and performing processing under vacuum, and a substrate to be processed which is temporarily loaded or unloaded when the substrate is loaded or unloaded into the processing chamber. And a load lock chamber accommodated in the vehicle. The load lock chamber is capable of switching between a vacuum state and an atmospheric pressure state, and when loading or unloading the substrate to be processed into or from the processing chamber, the load lock chamber is in a vacuum state.
When loading or unloading a substrate to be processed from the outside (atmospheric pressure state) of the vacuum processing apparatus to the load lock chamber, the load lock chamber is set to the atmospheric pressure state.

When switching the load lock chamber in a vacuum state to the atmospheric pressure state, a vent gas such as air is introduced into the load lock chamber. FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram for explaining a vent means in a conventional vacuum processing apparatus. Vent air supplied to the inside of the load lock chamber 20 uses a filter 2 disposed in the load lock chamber 20.
1 is supplied into the load lock chamber 20. The filter 21 removes dust in the vent air and prevents dust from being wound up in the load lock chamber 20. Thereby, contamination of the processing target substrate W by the wound dust can be prevented.

[0005]

However, the venting means of the conventional vacuum processing apparatus shown in FIG. 2 can prevent dust from being wound up, but removes the dust adhering to the surface of the substrate W to be vented. Cannot be blown away by

In order to blow off the dust adhering to the surface of the substrate to be processed by the air for venting, for example, a filter is omitted as shown in FIG. A direct spray method is conceivable.

However, in the venting method as shown in FIG. 3, since the venting air is blown to one portion of the surface of the substrate W to be processed, a turbulent flow is generated in the load lock chamber 20 and the dust rises. The processing substrate W may be contaminated instead.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and when venting a load lock chamber, a vent gas blows off dust adhering to the surface of a substrate to be processed and generates dust in the load lock chamber. It is an object of the present invention to provide a vacuum processing apparatus that can prevent soaring.

[0009]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a vacuum processing apparatus according to the present invention comprises a processing chamber for accommodating a substrate to be processed therein and performing a processing under a vacuum; It is possible to switch independently of the processing chamber, and a load lock chamber for temporarily storing the processing target substrate when the processing target substrate is carried into or out of the processing chamber. A vent means for introducing a vent gas into the load lock chamber in a vacuum state to switch to an atmospheric pressure state, and a spaced-apart arrangement facing the surface of the substrate to be processed accommodated in the load lock chamber. A plate-shaped vent filter, wherein the vent filter covers substantially the entire surface of the substrate to be processed, and wherein the vent gas introduced into the load lock chamber from the vent means is disposed in front of the substrate. Wherein said that the blown substantially the entire surface of the substrate after being filtered by the vent filter.

The vent means has a gas inlet for introducing the vent gas into the load lock chamber, and the gas inlet is positioned concentrically with the substrate to be processed accommodated in the load lock chamber. It is preferable that the vent filter is disposed between the gas inlet and the substrate to be processed.

It is preferable that the gas inlet is formed in a valve lid that is opened when the substrate to be processed is loaded into or unloaded from the load lock chamber.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a vacuum processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a portion of a load lock chamber 1 of a vacuum processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. Further, the vacuum processing apparatus includes a processing chamber (not shown) for accommodating the substrate to be processed W therein and performing processing under vacuum. In this processing chamber, processing such as etching and ashing is performed on the substrate W to be processed.

The load lock chamber 1 shown in FIG. 1 is capable of switching between a vacuum state and an atmospheric pressure state independently of the processing chamber, and loads a substrate W to be processed into or from the processing chamber. When unloading, as shown in FIG.
Is temporarily housed therein.

Further, the vacuum processing apparatus according to the present embodiment comprises:
There is provided a vent means 2 for introducing a vent gas G such as air into the load lock chamber 1 in a vacuum state to switch to an atmospheric pressure state. The vent means 2 has a gas inlet 3 for introducing a vent gas G into the load lock chamber 1, and the gas inlet 3 carries the substrate to be processed W into the load lock chamber 1 or loads the load lock chamber 1. It is formed at the center of the valve lid 5 which is opened when the product is carried out from the container. In other words, the gas inlet 3 is disposed concentrically above the center of the substrate W to be processed housed in the load lock chamber 1.

Further, in the vacuum processing apparatus according to the present embodiment, the processing target substrate W accommodated in the load lock chamber 1 is provided.
And a plate-shaped vent filter 4 arranged close to the surface of the filter. The vent filter 4 is disposed between the gas inlet 3 and the substrate W and covers substantially the entire surface of the substrate W.

The substrate W to be processed in a vacuum state is held on the upper surface of the mounting table 6 which can be moved up and down. When the mounting table 6 is lowered from the state shown in FIG. The processing substrate W is delivered to the substrate receiving portion 8 of the rotatable transport table 7. Then, the transfer table 7 is rotated while the mounting table 6 is lowered below the transfer table 7, whereby the substrate to be processed W can be transferred to a processing chamber (not shown).

In this embodiment having the above structure, when the load lock chamber 1 in a vacuum state is vented, the vent gas G introduced into the load lock chamber 1 from the gas inlet 3 of the vent means 2. After being filtered by the vent filter 4, the dust is uniformly sprayed on substantially the entire surface of the substrate W to be processed, and dust adhering to the surface of the substrate W is blown off by the vent gas G.

As described above, according to the vacuum processing apparatus of the present embodiment, the vent gas G filtered by the vent filter 4 is evenly blown over substantially the entire surface of the substrate W to be processed. Not only can be removed, but also dust adhering to the surface of the substrate to be processed W can be blown off by the vent gas G.

Further, since the vent gas G is blown uniformly over substantially the entire surface of the substrate W to be processed, no turbulent flow is generated inside the load lock chamber 1, and contamination of the substrate W due to dust rising is prevented. Can be prevented.

Further, since the vent gas G is supplied through the entire surface of the plate-shaped vent filter 4, the vent speed is increased and the load lock chamber 1 can be quickly vented.

[0022]

As described above, according to the vacuum processing apparatus of the present invention, the vent gas filtered by the vent filter is blown over substantially the entire surface of the substrate to be processed, so that dust in the vent gas can be removed. Not only can it be possible, but it is possible to blow off the dust adhering to the surface of the substrate W to be processed by a vent gas,
Also, no turbulence is generated inside the load lock chamber, so that contamination of the substrate to be processed due to dust rising can be prevented. Further, the vent speed is increased, and the load lock chamber is quickly vented. Can be.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a load lock chamber of a vacuum processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram for explaining a vent means of a load lock chamber of a conventional vacuum processing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram for explaining another example of a vent unit of a load lock chamber of a conventional vacuum processing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Load lock chamber 2 Vent means 3 Gas inlet 4 Vent filter 5 Valve lid G Vent gas W Substrate to be processed

Claims (3)

[Claims] A processing chamber for accommodating a substrate to be processed therein and performing processing under vacuum; and a vacuum state and an atmospheric pressure state can be switched independently of the processing chamber. A load lock chamber for temporarily accommodating the substrate to be processed when loading or unloading the processing chamber from the processing chamber; and introducing a vent gas into the load lock chamber in a vacuum state to achieve an atmospheric pressure state. And a plate-shaped vent filter opposed to and separated from the surface of the substrate to be processed accommodated in the load lock chamber, wherein the vent filter is substantially the same as the substrate to be processed. The vent gas, which covers the entire surface and is introduced into the load lock chamber from the vent means, is filtered by the vent filter and blows over substantially the entire surface of the substrate to be processed. The vacuum processing apparatus characterized by being kicked. 2. The load lock chamber has a gas inlet for introducing the vent gas into the load lock chamber. The gas inlet is concentric with the substrate to be processed accommodated in the load lock chamber. 2. The vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the vent filter is disposed between the gas inlet and the substrate to be processed. 3. The gas inlet according to claim 1, wherein the gas inlet is formed in a valve lid that is opened when the substrate to be processed is loaded into or unloaded from the load lock chamber. 3. The vacuum processing apparatus according to 2.