JP2004221610A - Semiconductor processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a semiconductor processing apparatus capable of improving the throughput of substrate processing. <P>SOLUTION: In this semiconductor processing apparatus, a semiconductor processing apparatus for performing semiconductor processing on target substrates includes first and second load-lock chambers 3a, 3b so arranged as to be stacked vertically; the substrates can be conveyed into and from the first and second load-lock chambers 3a, 3b via a gate 9b, and the chambers can be set at a reduced atmosphere; a transfer chamber 5, capable of being set in a reduced pressure atmosphere, is connected to the first and second load-lock chambers 3a, 3b via the gate 9a; processing chambers 2, 4 and 6 for performing semiconductor processing in a reduced atmosphere are connected to the transfer chamber 5 via the gate 9a; and for conveying the substrates between the first/second load-lock chambers 3a, 3b and the processing chambers 2, 4 and 6, a transfer mechanism 60x is disposed in the transfer chamber 5. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a semiconductor processing apparatus for performing semiconductor processing on an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) substrate or a semiconductor wafer. Here, the semiconductor processing means various processings performed for manufacturing a semiconductor device on a substrate to be processed such as an LCD substrate and a semiconductor wafer.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, in a manufacturing process of an LCD panel, a so-called multi-chamber type vacuum processing apparatus including a plurality of vacuum processing chambers for performing predetermined semiconductor processing such as etching and ashing on an LCD substrate under a reduced pressure atmosphere has been used. I have.

  Such a vacuum processing apparatus has a load lock chamber provided with a substrate transfer mechanism having a transfer arm and the like therein, and a plurality of vacuum processing chambers provided around the load lock chamber. The substrate to be processed is loaded into each vacuum processing chamber by the transfer arm in the load lock chamber, and the processed substrate is unloaded from each vacuum processing chamber.

  In such an LCD substrate processing apparatus, a major technical problem is how to improve the number of substrates that can be processed in a certain period, that is, how to improve the throughput of the apparatus. For this purpose, as described above, the apparatus is of a multi-chamber type, and the transfer arm is provided in two stages, upper and lower.

  When a two-stage transfer arm is used, the transfer arm accesses the mounting table in the vacuum processing chamber while the unprocessed substrate is mounted on the upper arm, and the lower arm advances first to receive the processed substrate. Thereafter, the lower arm is retracted, and then the upper arm is advanced to transfer the unprocessed substrate onto the mounting table.

  However, in the above-described board exchange operation, there is a certain limit in the time reduction, and further improvement in throughput for the LCD board is required.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor processing apparatus capable of improving throughput in substrate processing.

A first aspect of the present invention is an apparatus for performing semiconductor processing on a substrate to be processed,
A first load lock chamber capable of loading / unloading the substrate via a gate and capable of being set to a reduced pressure atmosphere;
A second load lock chamber, which is capable of carrying in and out the substrate via a gate and can be set to a reduced pressure atmosphere, and which is disposed so as to vertically overlap the first load lock chamber;
A transfer chamber connected to the first and second load lock chambers via a gate and setable in a reduced-pressure atmosphere;
A processing chamber connected to the transfer chamber via a gate and for performing the semiconductor processing in a reduced-pressure atmosphere;
A transfer mechanism disposed in the transfer chamber for transferring the substrate between the first and second load lock chambers and the processing chamber;
It is characterized by having.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the apparatus according to the first aspect, the transport mechanism is vertically movable.

  A third aspect of the present invention is the device according to the first or second aspect, wherein at least one of the first and second load lock chambers can respectively support one of the substrates and overlap vertically. It has a first and a second support level.

  A fourth aspect of the present invention is the device according to the third aspect, wherein at least one of the first and second load lock chambers having the first and second support levels comprises the first and second load lock chambers. And a plurality of support pins capable of moving up and down through the support level and supporting the substrate.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the device according to the third or fourth aspect, each of the first and second support levels is defined by a pair of openable and closable fingers supporting the substrate. Supports the substrate in a closed state, and allows the substrate to pass vertically between the one fingers in an open state.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, in a semiconductor processing apparatus, since the exchange operation of the to-be-processed board | substrate can be performed efficiently, throughput can be improved remarkably.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  Here, a multi-chamber type vacuum processing apparatus for performing an etching process and an ashing process for forming a semiconductor device or the like on a glass LCD substrate will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an overview of a vacuum processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional plan view showing the inside thereof.

  A transfer chamber 5 and a load lock chamber 3 connected via a gate valve 9a are disposed in the center of the processing apparatus 1. The transfer chamber 5 has a substantially square plane, and has three processing chambers 2, 4, via opening and closing gate valves 9 a on the remaining side faces not facing the load lock chamber 3. , 6 are respectively connected.

  Each of the processing chambers 2, 4, and 6 is connected to a supply unit for supplying a predetermined processing gas and an exhaust unit for exhausting the inside of the chamber. It is possible to set and maintain a reduced pressure atmosphere. For example, the same etching processing is performed in the processing chambers 2 and 6, and the ashing processing is performed in the other processing chamber 4. The combination of the processing chambers is not limited to this, and any appropriate processing can be combined, and arbitrary processing such as serial processing and parallel processing can be performed using a plurality of processing chambers.

  A mounting table 10 is provided in each of the processing chambers 2, 4, and 6. The mounting table 10 is provided with four support pins 11 for supporting the substrate S. Four support members 12 for supporting the substrate are also provided around the mounting table 10. Details of the support pin 11 and the support member 12 will be described later.

  The load lock chamber 3 can be set and maintained at an arbitrary reduced pressure atmosphere. A buffer rack 30 having a pair of stands 31 for supporting the substrate S is provided in the load lock chamber 3 as shown in FIG. The buffer rack 30 is configured to hold two substrates S at a time, thereby improving the efficiency of evacuation and purging.

  Each stand 31 has two shelves 32, 33 above and below. The shelves 32, 33 form two horizontal levels of substrate support corresponding to the two arms 52, 53 of the transport mechanism 50. In the present embodiment, the support level interval of the buffer rack 30 is set to be larger than the support interval of the substrate S in the cassette 42. In addition, projections 34 made of synthetic rubber having a high coefficient of friction are provided on the upper surfaces of the shelves 32 and 33, thereby preventing the board from shifting and falling.

  The pair of stands 31 of the buffer rack 30 can be moved up and down integrally. By moving the buffer rack 30 up and down, one of the two substrates can be selectively taken out without moving the transfer mechanism 60 provided in the transfer chamber 5 up and down.

  A pair of positioners 35 for aligning the two substrates at once and an optical sensor (not shown) for confirming the completion of the alignment of the substrates are arranged in the load lock chamber 3. The pair of positioners 35 are arranged so as to face each other on an extension of a diagonal line of the substrate. Each positioner 35 includes a support 36 that can be activated in the direction of the reciprocating arrow A in the figure, and a pair of rollers 37 supported on the support 36 so as to be freely rotatable.

  The positioner 35 performs alignment of the substrates in a manner to sandwich the two substrates supported by the buffer rack 30 in a diagonal direction. Since the roller 37 is positioned by pressing the side surface of the substrate S at four points, the roller 37 is particularly suitable for positioning a substantially rectangular substrate. The roller 37 is removably mounted on the support 36 and can be replaced as appropriate according to the size of the LCD substrate to be processed.

  The load lock chamber 3 is connected to an external atmosphere via a gate valve 9b. On the outside of the load lock chamber 3, two cassette indexers 41 are provided, on which the cassettes 42 for accommodating the LCD substrates are mounted. One of the cassettes 42 stores unprocessed substrates, and the other stores processed substrates. The cassette 42 can be moved up and down by an elevating mechanism 43.

  Between the two cassettes 42, a substrate transfer mechanism 50 is provided on a support table 51. The transport mechanism 50 has arms 52 and 53 disposed in two stages, upper and lower, and a base 54 that integrally supports them so as to advance, retract, and rotate. Four projections 55 for supporting the substrate are formed on the arms 52 and 53. The projection 55 is made of an elastic body made of synthetic rubber having a high coefficient of friction, and prevents the substrate from shifting or dropping during substrate support.

  The transfer mechanism 50 can transfer two substrates at a time by the arms 52 and 53. That is, two substrates can be taken out or loaded into the cassette 42 at one time. The height of each cassette 42 is adjusted by the elevating mechanism 43, and the positions where substrates are taken out or loaded by the arms 52 and 53 are set. The interval between the two arms 52 and 53 is set to be larger than the maximum value of the substrate support interval of various cassettes. For this reason, it can correspond to various cassettes.

  Note that only one cassette can be installed. In this case, the processed substrates are returned to the empty space in the same cassette.

  The transfer chamber 5 can be set and maintained at an arbitrary reduced pressure atmosphere. As shown in FIG. 3, a transfer mechanism 60 and a buffer frame 70 configured to hold a plurality of LCD substrates are provided in the transfer chamber 5. The substrate is transported between the load lock chamber 3 and the processing chambers 2, 4, and 6 by the transport mechanism 60. Further, the unprocessed substrate or the processed substrate is temporarily held by the buffer frame 70. By temporarily holding the substrate in this way, the throughput is improved.

  The transport mechanism 60 is disposed at one end of the base 68 and is rotatably disposed at the base 68. The second arm is rotatably disposed at the tip of the first arm 62. 64, and a catcher 66 rotatably disposed on the second arm 64 and holding the substrate. The substrate can be transported by moving the first arm 62, the second arm 64, and the catcher 66 by a driving mechanism built in the base 68. The transport mechanism 60 can be moved up and down by a cylinder mechanism 69 disposed below the base 68, and can be rotated around a cylinder.

  The catcher 66 of the transport mechanism 60 has forks 66a and 66b configured in two stages. An unprocessed substrate is supported by the upper fork 66a, and a processed substrate is supported by the lower fork 66b. Although not shown, each of the forks is provided with a projection made of synthetic rubber having a high coefficient of friction in order to prevent the board from shifting or dropping.

  The buffer frame 70 is installed at the other end of the base 68 so as to be able to move up and down with respect to the base 68. The frame 70 includes four buffers 72, 74, 76, 78, which form four horizontal levels of substrate support. These buffers are provided with projections 79 for supporting the substrate. The projection 79 is made of synthetic rubber having a high coefficient of friction, and prevents the substrate from shifting or dropping during substrate support.

  The transport mechanism 60 and the buffer frame 70 rotate integrally with the base 68 around a cylinder 69. By rotating the base 68 in this manner, the transport mechanism 60 can selectively face any one of the processing chambers 2, 4, 6, and the load lock chamber 3.

  The mounting table 10 is disposed in each of the processing chambers 2, 4, and 6, as described above. The mounting table 10 functions as a lower electrode for forming plasma. A ceramic shield ring 13 is provided around the mounting table 10 as shown in FIG.

  The four support pins 11 (second support members) are provided at the edge of the mounting table 10 so as to be able to advance and retract. The four support members 12 (first support members) are composed of a support rod 12a provided to be able to advance and retract on a shield ring 13 around the mounting table 10 and an overhang member 12b provided at the tip thereof. Have. The support rod 12a can support the substrate by advancing, and supports the unprocessed substrate S1 at the first position when receiving the substrate. Further, the support pins 11 can support the substrate by advancing, and support the processed substrate S2 at a second position lower than the first position when transferring the substrate.

  In the retracted position, the support member 12 is in a state where the overhang member 12b does not cover the mounting table 10 as shown in FIG. However, as shown in FIG. 9B, the support member 12 is in the support position where the overhang member 12 b protrudes toward the mounting table 10 by rotating the support rod 12 a at the support position, as shown in FIG. 9B.

  The height of the catcher 66 is set such that the upper fork 66a corresponds to the first position and the lower fork 66b corresponds to the second position. As will be described later, when the unprocessed substrate is loaded into the processing chamber with the upper fork 66a supporting the unprocessed substrate, the unprocessed substrate is transferred to the support member 12 at the first position, The processed substrate supported by the support pins 11 at the position is transferred to the fork 66b.

  Next, the operation of the device configured as described above will be described.

  First, the two arms 52 and 53 of the transport mechanism 50 are driven forward and backward to transfer the two substrates S from the one cassette 42 (the cassette on the left side in FIG. 1) containing the unprocessed substrates at a time. Carry in.

In the load lock chamber 3, the two substrates S are held by the shelves 32 and 33 of the buffer rack 30. After the arms 52 and 53 have retreated, the gate valve 9b on the atmosphere side of the load lock chamber is closed. After that, the inside of the load lock chamber 3 is evacuated, and the inside is evacuated to a predetermined degree of vacuum, for example, about 10 ⁻¹ Torr. After the evacuation is completed, the substrate S is aligned by pressing the substrate with the four rollers 37 of the pair of positioners 35.

  After the alignment as described above, the gate valve 9a between the transfer chamber 5 and the load lock chamber 3 is opened. From the viewpoint of prevention of contamination, the substrate S on the lower shelf 33 is carried into the transfer chamber 5 by the transfer mechanism 60 and held in the uppermost buffer 72 of the buffer frame 70. In this case, since the substrates S are supported on the buffer rack 30 at predetermined intervals, the operation control of the transport mechanism can be performed without depending on the substrate support intervals of the cassette 42. That is, there is no need for complicated control means for changing the operation amount and the like of the transport mechanism 60 for each support interval of different substrates. Therefore, contamination in the device can be reduced.

With the substrate loaded into the transfer chamber 5, the chamber is further evacuated to about 10 ^-4 Torr. Thereby, contamination in the device can be reduced. Next, the substrate S carried into the transfer chamber 5 by the transfer mechanism 60 and held in the buffer 72 is transferred to a predetermined processing chamber, for example, the processing chamber 2. In this case, except for the case where the substrate is first transported, the processed substrate exists in the processing chamber, and the processed substrate and the unprocessed substrate are exchanged.

  The replacement operation at this time will be described with reference to FIGS.

  First, the support member 12 is advanced from the state shown in FIG. 9A in a state where the processed substrate S2 is mounted on the mounting table 10 in the processing chamber. Further, as shown in FIG. 9B, the support rod 12a is rotated so that the overhang member 12b comes to a position where it protrudes toward the mounting table 10. In this state, the support member 12 is ready to receive the unprocessed substrate S1 at the first position.

  Next, the processed substrate S2 is lifted by advancing the support pins 11, and is supported at the second position. With the above operation, the state of FIG. 5 is formed. In this case, the height of the catcher 66 of the transport mechanism 60 is set such that the upper fork 66a corresponds to the first position and the lower fork 66b corresponds to the second position. The unprocessed substrate S1 is supported by the upper fork 66a.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 6, the catcher 66 is advanced above the mounting table 10, and the unprocessed substrate S1 is transported to a first position above the mounting table 10. In this case, the fork 66b is located immediately below the processed substrate S2 at the second position. In this state, the support rod 12a of the support member 12 is slightly raised, and at the same time, the support pin 11 is lowered. Thus, the unprocessed substrate S1 is supported by the support member 12, and the processed substrate is supported by the lower fork 66b of the catcher 66.

  Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 7, the catcher 66 supporting the processed substrate S2 is retracted. Then, as shown in FIG. 8, the support pins 11 are advanced again to support the unprocessed substrate S1, and the support member 12 is retracted to return to the state of FIG. 9A. In parallel with the operation of FIG. 8, the operation of closing the gate valve 9a between the processing chamber and the transfer chamber 5 is started, and the pre-process is started. Therefore, the operation of FIG. 8 does not affect the throughput.

  As described above, when exchanging the substrates in the processing chamber, the loading of the unprocessed substrates and the unloading of the processed substrates can be performed by one movement of the holding unit (catcher). For this reason, the replacement time of the substrate can be significantly reduced. By the way, the time required for the replacement operation was 17 seconds in the past, but was reduced to 8 seconds or less, which is less than half.

  While such an operation is being performed, the substrate on the shelf 32 in the load lock chamber 3 is also carried into the transfer chamber 5 and held in one of the buffers. Such an operation is sequentially performed on the substrates in the cassette 42. At this time, the presence of the buffers in the first and second load lock chambers 20 and 3 allows the substrates to be continuously loaded into the apparatus without waiting time, thereby contributing to an improvement in throughput.

  The processed substrate S2 is returned to the transfer chamber 5 by the transfer mechanism 60, and further passes through the load lock chamber 3 to the processed substrate cassette 42 (the right cassette in FIG. 1) by the arms 52 and 53 of the transfer mechanism 50. insert.

  In the processing described above, an extremely high throughput, which has not been achieved in the past, can be realized due to the existence of the buffer mechanism and particularly to the high efficiency of substrate exchange in the processing chamber.

  Further, in the above-described apparatus, continuous processing of etching and ashing can be performed, and the efficiency is high also in this regard. Further, by changing the program, various processes corresponding to the needs of the user, such as etching, continuous etching, and single etching, can be performed, and the versatility is extremely high.

  For example, a support bar 12a provided with a plate-shaped overhang member 12b at the tip of a support bar 12a is used. However, as shown in FIG. 10, a pin-shaped support member 12x having a hook-shaped portion 12c at the tip is used. Is also good. In the retracted position, the support member 12x is completely accommodated in the shield member 13 as shown in FIG. 11A, and a lid 12d is placed thereon. When the support member 12x advances to the support position, as shown in FIG. 11B, the lid 12 is opened, and when the support member 12x rises to the support position, the cover 12 rotates and the hook-like portion 12c projects to the mounting table 10 side. . Further, the support member (first support member) supporting the unprocessed substrate is not limited to the type that advances and retracts, that is, the type that moves up and down, but may be, for example, the type that rotates and retracts.

  Further, the catcher 66, that is, the holding portion is not limited to the above-described one, and various types can be adopted. In addition, although a fork having two fixed upper and lower forks is used as a catcher, these forks can be independently movable. Further, the substrate support portion is not limited to a fork shape, and may be a plate-like one such as the arms 52 and 53 of the transport mechanism 50.

  FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing an overview of a vacuum processing apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 13 and 14 are a schematic cross-sectional plan view and a schematic side view showing the inside thereof. In these figures, portions common to the previous embodiment described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 11 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description is omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 12, a processing apparatus 1B according to this embodiment has the same three processing chambers 2, 4, and 6 as in the previous embodiment. The processing chambers 2, 4, and 6 are connected to three sides of the transfer chamber 5 having a square plane, respectively, via gate valves 9a. For example, the same etching processing is performed in the processing chambers 2 and 6, and the ashing processing is performed in the other processing chamber 4.

  A mounting table 10 having four support pins 11 and four support members 12 is disposed in each of the processing chambers 2, 4, and 6, as in the previous embodiment. Therefore, as described above, in each of the processing chambers 2, 4, and 6, the exchange operation between the processed substrate and the unprocessed substrate can be performed by the one advance operation of the transfer mechanism 60 disposed in the transfer chamber 5. it can.

  The upper and lower two load lock chambers 3a and 3b are connected to the other side of the transfer chamber 5 via gate valves 9a, respectively. Further, in order to transport the LCD substrate S between the load lock chambers 3a and 3b and the substrate cassette 42, a transport mechanism 80 having a structure different from that of the transport mechanism 50 of the above embodiment is provided.

  The transport mechanism 80 has a base plate 81, and a slider 82 is disposed slidably along the longitudinal direction thereof. An L-shaped stand 83 is mounted on the slider 82 so as to be rotatable in a horizontal plane. Further, a horizontal plate 84 is attached to the vertical portion of the stand 83 so as to be able to move up and down.

  On the horizontal plate 84, an upper fork 85 and a lower fork 86 for mounting the substrate S are provided. The lower fork 86 is attached to the horizontal plate 84 so as to be slidable along the longitudinal direction of the horizontal plate 84. A sub-stand 87 is erected on the base 86a of the lower fork 86, and the upper fork 85 is mounted on the sub-stand 87 so as to be able to move up and down. Therefore, the upper fork 85 slides together with the lower fork 86 along the longitudinal direction of the horizontal plate 84.

  The fingers 85b, 85c of the upper fork 85 and the fingers 86b, 86c of the lower fork 86 have the same thickness in the vertical direction, and are smaller than the interval of storing the substrate S in the cassette 42. The width between the inner edges of the fingers 85b and 85c of the upper fork 85 is set slightly larger than the width between the outer edges of the fingers 86b and 86c of the lower fork 86. Further, the base 86a of the lower fork 86 is recessed below the fingers 86b and 86c by the thickness of the base 85a of the upper fork 85.

  Therefore, when the upper fork 85 descends most, the fingers 85b and 85c of the upper fork 85 and the fingers 86b and 86c of the lower fork 86 can overlap each other like a single plate when viewed from the lateral direction. At this time, the fingers 85b and 85c of the upper fork 85 are located on the same plane just outside the fingers 86b and 86c of the lower fork 86. At this time, at least the upper support surfaces of both forks 85 and 86 are aligned. Here, since the thicknesses of the upper forks 85 and 86 are the same, both the upper support surface and the lower bottom surface of the both forks 85 and 86 are aligned.

  When the transport mechanism 80 having such a configuration is used, storage of the processed substrate in the cassette 42 and removal of the unprocessed substrate from the cassette can be performed simultaneously in parallel, and the throughput is improved. Since the transport mechanism 80 has one rotation system and all the others are linear sliding systems, high-speed and stable operation can be performed.

  The load lock chambers 3a and 3b can be individually set and maintained in an arbitrary reduced pressure atmosphere. Therefore, the load lock chambers 3a and 3b are connected to the transfer chamber 5 via the individually operable gate valve 9a, while being connected to the outside atmosphere via the individually operable gate valve 9b.

  In this embodiment, both load lock chambers 3a, 3b have the same internal structure as shown in FIG. That is, each of the load lock chambers 3a and 3b has two horizontal substrate support levels and is configured to hold two substrates S at a time. The upper support level is defined by a pair of opposed hands 91, and the lower support level is defined by a pair of opposed hands 92.

  Each of the hands 91 and 92 has a pair of fingers 93 disposed so as to spread forward. The finger 93 is attached to a drive unit 94 attached to the inner wall, and is driven by the drive unit 94 to pivot between a position shown in FIG. 15 and a retracted position at which the finger 93 retracts toward the side wall.

  In each of the load lock chambers 3a and 3b, four support pins 96 which are driven up and down by a drive unit (not shown) provided below the bottom wall are provided. The support pin 96 is movable between a retracted position retracted below the bottom wall and a projecting position projecting above the upper support level defined by the hand 91, and can be stopped at any position. Become.

  When each finger 93 is closed and at the position shown in FIG. 15, the substrate S can be supported at the corresponding support level by the hands 91 and 92. Conversely, when each finger 93 opens to the retracted position, the substrate S supported by the support pins 96 can pass between the pair of opposing hands 91, 91 or between the pair of hands 92, 92.

  Further, in this embodiment, the transport mechanism 60x disposed in the transport chamber 5 includes the catcher 66 having the two upper and lower forks 66a and 66b, but does not include the buffer frame 70. This is because the upper and lower two load lock chambers 3a and 3b are provided, and the exchange operation of the processed substrate and the unprocessed substrate is performed not only in the processing chambers 2, 4, and 6 but also in the load lock chambers 3a and 3b. Can be performed by a single advance operation of the transport mechanism 60x, so that the buffer frame 70 can be omitted. Since the catcher 66 does not need to be directed toward the buffer frame 70, the catcher 66 and the base 68 are connected by one intermediate arm 63. Further, the base 68 can be driven up and down via a cylinder mechanism 69.

  With the above-described configuration, in each of the load lock chambers 3a and 3b, an operation of exchanging a processed substrate and an unprocessed substrate can be performed by one advance operation of the transport mechanism 60x. This operation is similar to the operation of exchanging a processed substrate and an unprocessed substrate, which is realized by disposing the support pins 11 and the support members 12 on the mounting tables 10 of the processing chambers 2, 4, and 6.

  The fingers 93 of each of the hands 91 and 92 of the load lock chambers 3a and 3b can be opened and closed because, for example, the substrate S that has been processed during the idle time is moved from the upper support level to the lower support level. This is for handling the operation. Therefore, if the exchange operation of the processed substrate and the unprocessed substrate is only performed by the one advance operation of the transport mechanism 60x, the fingers 93 of the hands 91 and 92 do not open and close and are fixed at the positions shown in FIG. It may be done.

  Next, an operation of exchanging a processed substrate and an unprocessed substrate in the load lock chambers 3a and 3b by the transfer mechanism 60x of the transfer chamber 5 will be described. Here, it is assumed that the processed substrate S1 is supported by the lower fork 66b of the transport mechanism 60x, and the unprocessed substrate S2 is supported by the hand 91 (upper support level) of the load lock chamber 3a. It is also assumed that the interval between the upper and lower support levels of the load lock chamber 3a is set sufficiently larger than the interval between the upper and lower support levels of the transport mechanism 60x. Description of the additional operation of the gate valve 9a and the like is omitted.

  First, the catcher 66 supporting the processed substrate S1 with the lower fork 66b is inserted into the load lock chamber 3a supporting the unprocessed substrate S2 with the hand 91. At this time, both the upper and lower forks 66a and 66b of the catcher 66 are positioned between the upper and lower hands 91 and 92 of the load lock chamber 3a.

  Next, the support pin 96 is raised, and the processed substrate S1 is received by the support pin 96 from the lower fork 66b of the catcher 66. Next, the catcher 66 is raised together with the support pins 96, and the unprocessed substrate S2 is received from the hand 91 by the upper fork 66a.

  Next, the catcher 66 supporting the unprocessed substrate S2 is retracted to the transfer chamber 5 by the upper fork 66a. Next, the support pins 96 are lowered, and the processed substrate S1 is placed on the hand 92 (the lower support level).

  Next, an operation of exchanging a processed substrate and an unprocessed substrate by the transfer mechanism 80 on the external atmosphere side in the load lock chambers 3a and 3b following the above operation will be described. Here, it is assumed that the processed substrate S1 is supported by the hand 92 (the lower supporting level) of the load lock chamber 3a, and the unprocessed substrate S3 is supported by the upper fork 85 of the transport mechanism 80. Description of the additional operation of the gate valve 9b and the like will be omitted.

  First, the transfer mechanism 80 supporting the unprocessed substrate S3 with the upper fork 85 is inserted into the load lock chamber 3a supporting the processed substrate S1 with the hand 92. At this time, the interval between the upper and lower forks 85 and 86 of the transport mechanism 80 is widened in advance so that the upper and lower hands 91 and 92 of the load lock chamber 3a are located between the upper and lower forks 85 and 86.

  Next, the upper fork 85 is moved toward the lower fork 86 while raising the horizontal plate 84 of the transport mechanism 80. By this operation, the space between the upper and lower forks 85 and 86 can be reduced while being raised. Therefore, the unprocessed substrate S3 can be placed on the upper hand 91 from the upper fork 85, and the processed substrate S1 can be received from the lower hand 92 by the lower fork 86.

  FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram sequentially showing the sequence of transporting the LCD substrate S in the vacuum processing apparatus according to the embodiment described with reference to FIGS. Here, it is assumed that the same etching process is performed in the processing chambers 2 and 6 and the ashing process is performed in the processing chamber 4. In FIG. 16, to avoid confusion, only (a) is denoted by reference numerals of the respective chambers of the processing apparatus. The numbers in (b) to (s) show only the coefficients of the substrates S1 to S8 which are the LCD substrates S.

  First, the substrate S1 is introduced into the lower load lock chamber 3b, and the substrate S2 is introduced into the upper load lock chamber 3a (FIGS. 16B and 16C). Next, the substrate S1 is loaded from the lower load lock chamber 3b into the processing chamber 2 via the transfer chamber 5 (FIG. 16D), and etching of the substrate S1 is started. The substrate S3 is loaded into the lower load lock chamber 3b in parallel with the loading of the substrate S1 into the processing chamber 2 (FIG. 16E). Then, during the processing of the substrate S1, the substrate S2 is loaded from the upper load lock chamber 3a into the processing chamber 6 via the transfer chamber 5 (FIG. 16F), and the etching of the substrate S2 is started. The substrate S4 is loaded into the upper load lock chamber 3a in parallel with the loading of the substrate S2 into the processing chamber 6 (FIG. 16 (g)).

  Next, during processing of the substrates S1 and S2, the substrate S3 is moved from the lower load lock chamber 3b to the transfer chamber 5 (FIG. 16 (h)). Further, during the processing of the substrate S2, the etched substrate S1 and the substrate S3 are exchanged by an advance operation of the transfer mechanism 60x, and the substrate S1 is unloaded into the transfer chamber 5 and the substrate S3 is loaded into the processing chamber 2. . At the same time, the substrate S5 is carried into the lower load lock chamber 3b (FIG. 16 (i)).

  Next, during the processing of the substrates S2 and S3, the substrate S1 is loaded from the transfer chamber 5 into the processing chamber 4, and ashing of the substrate S1 is started (FIG. 16 (j)). Further, during processing of the substrates S2, S3, and S1, the substrate S4 is moved from the upper load lock chamber 3a to the transfer chamber 5 (FIG. 16 (k)). Then, during the processing of the substrates S3 and S1, the etched substrate S2 and the substrate S4 are exchanged by the advance operation of the transfer mechanism 60x, and the substrate S2 is unloaded into the transfer chamber 5 and the substrate S4 is transferred to the processing chamber 6. To load. At the same time, the substrate S6 is carried into the upper load lock chamber 3a (FIG. 16 (l)).

  Next, during the processing of the substrates S3 and S4, the ashing-processed substrate S1 and the substrate S2 are exchanged by the first advance operation of the transport mechanism 60x, and the substrate S1 is unloaded into the transport chamber 5 and the substrate S2 is transferred to the processing chamber 4 (FIG. 16 (m)). Further, during the processing of the substrates S3, S4, and S2, the processing-completed substrate S1 and the substrate S5 are exchanged by the advance operation of the transport mechanism 60x, and the substrate S1 is returned to the lower load lock chamber 3b and the substrate S5 is returned to the transport chamber 5. It moves (FIG. 16 (n)). Then, during the processing of the substrates S4 and S2, the etched substrate S3 and the substrate S5 are exchanged by one advance operation of the transfer mechanism 60x, and the substrate S3 is unloaded into the transfer chamber 5 and the substrate S5 is transferred to the processing chamber 2. To load. At the same time, the processing-completed substrate S1 and the substrate S7 are exchanged by the advance operation of the transport mechanism 80 on the external atmosphere side, and the substrate S1 is unloaded and the substrate S7 is loaded into the lower load lock chamber 3b ( FIG. 16 (o)).

  Hereinafter, by repeating the same operation (FIGS. 16 (p) to (s)), the processing of the substrates S1 to S8 can be completed in ascending order of their coefficients, and the substrates can be unloaded from the vacuum processing apparatus.

  In the above-described processing, an extremely high throughput, which has not been achieved in the past, can be realized by increasing the efficiency of substrate exchange in the processing chamber and the load lock chamber.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention. In particular, although the features of the processing apparatus have been described separately for each embodiment, the features can be arbitrarily combined. For example, the transport mechanism 80 described with reference to FIG. 12 and the load lock chambers 3a and 3b described with reference to FIG. 15 can be used in the processing apparatus shown in FIG. Further, the transport mechanism 60 described with reference to FIG. 3 and the load lock chamber 3 described with reference to FIG. 4 can be used in the processing apparatus shown in FIG.

  Further, for example, the present invention can be effectively applied to a processing apparatus having a single processing chamber, and can be applied not only to vacuum processing but also to a normal-pressure or positive-pressure processing apparatus. Further, the present invention is not limited to an etching and ashing apparatus, and can be applied to various other processing apparatuses such as a film forming apparatus. Further, the substrate to be transferred is not limited to the LCD substrate, and may be another substrate such as a semiconductor substrate.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a semiconductor processing apparatus capable of improving throughput in substrate processing.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an overview of a vacuum processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional plan view showing the inside of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a transfer mechanism and a buffer frame provided in a transfer chamber of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a buffer rack and a positioner provided in a load lock chamber of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a substrate exchange operation in a processing chamber of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a substrate exchange operation in a processing chamber of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a substrate exchange operation in a processing chamber of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a substrate exchange operation in a processing chamber of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an operation of a support member that supports an unprocessed substrate in a processing chamber of the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a view showing a modification of a support member for supporting an unprocessed substrate in the processing chamber of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 11 is a view showing the operation of the support member shown in FIG. 10. FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing an overview of a vacuum processing apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a schematic cross-sectional plan view showing the inside of the apparatus shown in FIG. 12. FIG. 13 is a schematic side view showing the inside of the apparatus shown in FIG. 12. FIG. 13 is a schematic perspective view showing the inside of a load lock chamber of the device shown in FIG. 12. FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a substrate transfer sequence in the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 12 in order.

Explanation of reference numerals

  2, 4, 6 processing chamber; 3, 3a, 3b load lock chamber; 5 transport chamber; 10 mounting table; 11 support pins (second support members); ... support member (first support member); 30 buffer rack; 42 LCD substrate cassette; 50 transport mechanism; 60, 60x transport mechanism; 62 arm; 66 catcher; 66b ... fork; 80 ... transport mechanism; 85, 86 ... fork; 91, 92 ... hand; S ... LCD substrate.

Claims (5)

An apparatus for performing semiconductor processing on a substrate to be processed,
A first load lock chamber capable of loading / unloading the substrate via a gate and being set to a reduced pressure atmosphere;
A second load lock chamber, which is capable of carrying in and out the substrate via a gate and can be set to a reduced pressure atmosphere, and which is disposed so as to vertically overlap the first load lock chamber;
A transfer chamber connected to the first and second load lock chambers via a gate and setable in a reduced-pressure atmosphere;
A processing chamber connected to the transfer chamber via a gate and for performing the semiconductor processing in a reduced-pressure atmosphere;
A transfer mechanism disposed in the transfer chamber for transferring the substrate between the first and second load lock chambers and the processing chamber;
A semiconductor processing apparatus comprising:   2. The semiconductor processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transport mechanism is vertically movable.   3. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first and second load lock chambers has first and second support levels capable of supporting one of the substrates, respectively, and vertically overlapping. The semiconductor processing device according to claim 1.   The at least one of the first and second load lock chambers having the first and second support levels is movable up and down through the first and second support levels and supports the substrate. 4. The semiconductor processing apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a plurality of possible support pins.   Each of the first and second support levels is defined by a pair of openable and closable fingers for supporting the substrate, the fingers supporting the substrate in a closed state, and the fingers of the substrate in an open state. The semiconductor processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the semiconductor processing apparatus is allowed to pass vertically between spaces.

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