JP2001338967A - Board processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the quality of board processing by removing harmful matter adhering to the walls of an airtight chamber such as a load lock chamber, a carrying chamber and a processing chamber. SOLUTION: A plurality of the airtight chambers 1, 2, 3 in which boards 15 pass are provided, each airtight chamber has measuring ports 27, 28, 29, and a harmful matter detection device 31 can be connected to the measuring ports.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a silicon wafer,
The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus for forming a thin film on a substrate such as a glass substrate and performing etching to form a required circuit to manufacture a semiconductor device such as an integrated circuit.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional substrate processing apparatus will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 2 shows a main part of a single-wafer type substrate processing apparatus. An airtight transfer chamber 1 is provided with an airtight processing chamber 2 and an airtight load lock chamber 3 via gate valves 4 and 5, respectively. The load lock chamber 3 is provided with a plurality of (or one each) gate valves 6 for exchanging with an external transfer device (not shown). The load lock chamber 3 can store a cassette 16 loaded with a substrate 15, and the transfer chamber 1 is provided with a substrate transfer machine 17 for transferring the substrate 15.

The transfer chamber 1 has an air supply line 7 and an exhaust line 8, the processing chamber 2 has an air supply line 9 and an exhaust line 10, and the load lock chamber 3 has an air supply line 11 and an exhaust line 12. The transfer chamber 1, the processing chamber 2, and the load lock chamber 3 are connected to a gas supply source (not shown) through the air supply lines 7, 9, 11, and the exhaust line 8,
It is connected to an exhaust device (not shown) via 10, 12 so that an inert gas such as a reaction gas or a nitrogen gas is supplied and exhausted according to the processing step.

Hereinafter, an outline of the substrate processing step will be described.

[0006] The cassette 16 is carried into the load lock chamber 3 in the atmospheric state from the external transfer device (not shown) through the gate valve 6. The cassette 16 is loaded with substrates 15 to be processed. With the gate valve 6 and the gate valve 5 closed, the load lock chamber 3 is evacuated through the exhaust line 12 to have the same atmosphere as the transfer chamber 1. With the gate valve 4 closed, the gate valve 5 is opened, and the wafer transfer device 17 removes the substrate 15 from the cassette 1.
6 and is carried into the transfer chamber 1 by the gate valve 5.
Is closed, the gate valve 4 is opened, and the substrate 15 is closed.
Is transferred to a substrate mounting table (not shown) in the processing chamber 2.

The gate valve 4 is closed, a reaction gas is supplied from the gas supply line 9 to the processing chamber 2, and required processing such as film formation and etching is performed on the substrate 15. After the processing is completed, the processing chamber 2 is connected to the exhaust line 10.
The air is further evacuated, or a gas purge with an inert gas is performed.

After the processing chamber 2 and the transfer chamber 1 have the same atmosphere, the gate valve 4 is opened, and the substrate 15 is discharged from the processing chamber 2 to the transfer chamber 1 by the wafer transfer device 17. Then, after the gate valve 4 is closed, the gate valve 5 is opened, and the substrate 15 is transferred to the cassette 16. Unprocessed substrate 15 is in cassette 1
6 and is carried into the transfer chamber 1, and the above-described processing steps are repeated.

When the processing of the predetermined number of substrates 15 is completed,
The gate valve 5 is closed, an inert gas is supplied from the air supply line 11, the inside of the load lock chamber 3 returns to atmospheric pressure, the gate valve 6 is opened, and the cassette is opened by an external transfer device (not shown). 16 is carried out.

[0010]

In the above-mentioned processing steps, moisture and organic substances adhering to the surface of the substrate 15 are brought into the load lock chamber 3, the transfer chamber 1, and the processing chamber 2 together with the loading of the substrate 15, In addition, moisture and organic substances contained in gases such as a reaction gas and an inert gas are brought in by gas supply.
The introduced moisture and organic substances adhere to the wall surfaces of the load lock chamber 3, the transfer chamber 1, and the processing chamber 2.

The adhering moisture and organic substances eventually separate from and separate from the wall surface and adhere to the substrate. The attached moisture and organic substances are harmful substances in the substrate processing and lower the processing quality.

In view of such circumstances, the present invention is intended to remove harmful substances attached to the walls of an airtight chamber such as a load lock chamber, a transfer chamber, and a processing chamber, and to improve the quality of substrate processing.

[0013]

According to the present invention, a plurality of hermetic chambers through which a substrate passes are provided, each hermetic chamber has a measurement port, and a harmful substance detection device can be connected to the measurement port. The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, the same components as those shown in FIG. 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

Each of the transfer chamber 1, the processing chamber 2, and the load lock chamber 3 has a baking heater 18, 1 for overheating the room.
9 and 20 are attached. The exhaust line 8 has a measurement port 2 having a stop valve 21 and a connection flange 22.
The exhaust line 10 is provided with a stop valve 2.
3. A measurement port 28 having a connection flange 24 is provided, and a stop valve 25 and a measurement port 29 having a connection flange 26 are provided in the exhaust line 12.

A harmful substance detecting device 31 can be attached to and detached from the measuring ports 27, 28 and 29. Whether the harmful substance detection device 31 has a portable structure,
Or, it is installed on a trolley or the like and has a movable structure.

The harmful substance detecting device 31 will be described.

A flexible connection pipe 33 such as a bellows pipe is connected to the airtight measurement chamber 32. The connection pipe 33 has a distal end connected to the connection flange 22, the connection flange 24, and the connection flange 26 detachably. The flange 34 is fixed. An analyzer 35 is connected to the measurement chamber 32, and a suction pump 36 is connected to the suction pump 36.
Is connected to an exhaust device (not shown) via an exhaust pipe 37.

As described above, when the substrate processing is repeated, the substrate 15 is stored in the load lock chamber 3, the transfer chamber 1, and the processing chamber 2.
Moisture and organic substances adhering to the surface are brought in with the carry-in of the substrate 15, and moisture and organic substances contained in gases such as a reaction gas and an inert gas are brought in by gas supply. The introduced moisture and organic matter are stored in the load lock chamber 3, the transfer chamber 1,
It adheres to the wall surface of the processing chamber 2. In the state where the substrate is being processed, the stop valve 21 and the stop valve 2 are used.
3. The stop valve 25 is closed.

When the operating time of the substrate processing apparatus has reached a predetermined time, or periodically, or during maintenance, the harmful substance detection device 31 is connected to the measurement port 27 and the measurement port 2.
8, one of the measurement ports 29, for example, the measurement port 28
Connect to For connection, the connection flange 34 and the connection flange 24 are air-tightly fixed by bolts.

After the harmful substance detecting device 31 is connected, the stop valve 23 is opened, and the suction pump 36 is driven to suck the gas in the processing chamber 2. The sucked gas is exhausted through the measurement chamber 32, and the analyzer 35
Performs a component analysis of the gas in the measurement chamber 32,
Measure whether there is moisture or organic matter in the gas. When moisture and organic substances are detected in the measurement, or when the detected amount exceeds a predetermined amount, the measurement result is warned to the measurer. Appropriate equipment such as a buzzer and a lamp is used as a warning means.

The measurement is performed in the transfer chamber 1 and the load lock chamber 3.
And so on for all chambers through which the substrate passes.

For example, when moisture and organic substances are detected as a result of the measurement in the processing chamber 2 or when the detected amount exceeds a predetermined amount, the processing chamber 2 is overheated by the baking heater 19. , And simultaneously with overheating, the suction pump 3
6 and an inert gas such as nitrogen gas is supplied from an air supply line 9 to remove moisture and organic substances adhering to the processing chamber 2.

Removal of water and organic matter by baking
The same applies to the transfer chamber 1 and the load lock chamber 3.

Since moisture and organic substances are removed by baking before separating and desorbing from the wall surface, moisture and organic substances do not adhere to the substrate, and the quality and reliability of substrate processing are improved.

In the above embodiment, the harmful substance detection device 31 was replaced with the measurement port 27, the measurement port 28, and the measurement port 29 to measure the moisture and the organic substance in the corresponding chamber. As many as the number of rooms for measuring the object detectors 31 are prepared, and the harmful object detectors 31 are connected to all measurement ports.
May be attached. Also, one set of the harmful substance detection device 31 is prepared, and all the measurement ports 27, 28, and 2 are connected by the branch pipe.
9, the measurement valve may be opened by opening the stop valve of the measurement port of the chamber to be measured.

When the harmful substance detecting device 31 is connected to all the measuring ports 27, 28, and 29, respectively, and when the harmful substance detecting device 31 is connected to all the measuring ports via branch pipes, the stop valve is provided. The solenoid valve is controlled by a control device of the substrate processing apparatus, and is opened and closed every predetermined operation time to measure moisture and organic matter in the chamber. Based on the measurement result, the baking heater 19 and the suction pump are used. 36
May be operated to perform baking. Furthermore,
The analyzer 35 is connected to the exhaust line 8, the exhaust line 10,
It may be directly attached to the exhaust line 12 to constantly monitor moisture and organic substances in the exhaust gas.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention, a plurality of hermetic chambers through which a substrate passes are provided, each hermetic chamber has a measurement port, and a harmful substance detection device can be connected to the measurement port. Therefore, it adheres to the substrate surface and is brought into the room when the substrate is carried in, and is contained in a gas such as a reactive gas or an inert gas, and water and organic substances brought into the room by gas supply contaminate the substrate. Since it can be removed by a process such as baking before, an excellent effect such as improvement of the processing quality and reliability of the substrate is exhibited.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic explanatory view of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 transfer chamber 2 processing chamber 3 load lock chamber 18 baking heater 19 baking heater 20 baking heater 21 stop valve 23 stop valve 25 stop valve 27 measurement port 28 measurement port 29 measurement port 31 harmful substance detection device 35 analyzer

Claims (1)

[Claims] A plurality of airtight chambers through which a substrate passes;
A substrate processing apparatus, wherein each airtight chamber has a measurement port, and a harmful substance detection device can be connected to the measurement port.