JP2005279603A - Coating apparatus and coating method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a coating apparatus and a coating method by which a coating film is uniformly formed on the inside surface of a body to be coated. <P>SOLUTION: A nozzle 22 is attached to a nozzle arm 16 rotatable in a vertical plane to the nozzle arm 16 and the body W to be coated is inclined at a prescribed angle to be rotatable. A coating agent is applied on the inside surface of the body to be coated while rotating the body W-to-be-coated inclined at the prescribed angle and gradually changing the spray angle of the nozzle to form the uniform coating film on the inside of the body to be coated. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a coating apparatus and a coating method, and for example, relates to a coating apparatus and a coating method capable of uniformly forming a coating film on the inner surface of a hemispherical object to be coated.

  In the manufacturing process of a semiconductor device, an etching device or a sputtering device that performs fine processing on a semiconductor wafer, a CVD device that forms a film on a semiconductor wafer, or the like is used. Among these manufacturing apparatuses, there is a configuration having a plasma generation mechanism for the purpose of high integration.

  On the other hand, in this type of manufacturing apparatus, a corrosive gas such as a chlorine-based gas such as boron chloride or a fluorine-based gas such as fluorocarbon is used. For this reason, plasma resistance is required for components exposed to plasma in a corrosive gas atmosphere, such as the inner wall of a processing chamber (chamber). In response to such requirements, alumina-based sintered bodies, silicon nitride-based sintered bodies, aluminum nitride-based sintered bodies, and the like are used as the plasma-resistant member.

However, plasma-resistant members such as the above-mentioned alumina-based sintered bodies, silicon nitride-based sintered bodies, and aluminum nitride-based sintered bodies gradually corrode when exposed to plasma in a corrosive gas atmosphere. The crystal grains constituting the detachment cause a problem of so-called particle contamination.
Therefore, in order to solve this problem, the applicant of the present application has proposed a plasma-resistant member in which an yttrium aluminum garnet (also referred to as yttrium aluminate, YAG) film is formed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-68864. ing.

The manufacturing method of the plasma-resistant member published in this gazette will be specifically described.
First, raw material powder is prepared by adding and blending magnesia with alumina particles. Next, after granulating the raw material powder, the granulated powder is molded by, for example, an isostatic press, and the compact is subjected to calcination and degreasing treatment.
Thereafter, a slurry of yttrium aluminum garnet is applied and dried on the surface of the calcined and degreased molded body. Next, heat treatment is performed, and the molded body is fired and sintered.
As a result, a plasma-resistant member whose surface is integrally covered with the yttrium aluminum garnet layer can be obtained by melting the yttrium aluminum garnet particles applied to the surface.

JP 2002-68864 A

By the way, as a method of applying the yttrium aluminum garnet slurry to the molded body, generally, since it was manually brushed, unevenness and dripping of the slurry are likely to occur, and the film thickness of the yttrium aluminum garnet is made uniform. It was difficult. In particular, it has been difficult to uniformly apply a yttrium aluminum garnet slurry to the inner peripheral surface of a semispherical molded body (object to be coated) like a chamber to form the film uniformly.
As a result, there has been a technical problem that the film thickness of yttrium aluminum garnet varies from product to product and the plasma resistance performance varies from product to product, in other words, the product life varies from product to product.
Moreover, when the film is fired in a state where the film thickness is not uniform, there is a technical problem that a crack occurs in the yttrium aluminum garnet film due to a difference in shrinkage between the yttrium aluminum garnet film and the coated body.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides a coating apparatus and a coating method capable of uniformly forming a coating film on the inner surface of an object to be coated. It is another object of the present invention to provide a coating apparatus and a coating method capable of uniformly forming an yttrium aluminum garnet film on the inner surface of a body to be coated (molded body).

  The present invention has been made to achieve the above object, and a coating apparatus according to the present invention holds a coating mechanism having a nozzle for spraying a coating agent, and an object to be coated on which the coating agent is coated on the inner surface. In the coating apparatus constituted by a holding mechanism, the coating mechanism includes a nozzle, a nozzle arm on which the nozzle is rotatably mounted in a vertical plane, and a moving unit that allows the nozzle arm to move forward and backward. The holding mechanism is formed so as to be tiltable by a predetermined angle, and is provided along a base having an opening through which a central portion passes, and an opening in the base, and a belt is wound around an outer peripheral side surface. An object holding plate having a pulley portion, a fixing means for fixing the object to be applied provided on the object holding plate, and a rotation guide provided on the base for guiding the rotation of the object holding plate. Guidero And a motor for rotationally driving the substrate holding plate via a belt, rotating the substrate to be coated at a predetermined angle and changing the spray angle of the nozzle while applying the coating agent. Is applied to the inner surface of the object to be coated.

In this way, the nozzle is attached to the nozzle arm so as to be rotatable in the vertical plane, and the object to be coated is configured to be rotatable in a state where it is inclined at a predetermined angle.
Therefore, it is possible to apply the coating agent to the inner surface of the object to be coated while rotating the object to be coated at a predetermined angle and changing the spray angle of the nozzle. As a result, a uniform coating film can be formed on the inner surface of the coated body.

Here, it is desirable that the coating mechanism includes a nozzle for spraying the coating agent and a nozzle for spraying water, or a nozzle for switching and spraying the coating agent and water.
Since it is comprised in this way, water can be injected toward the inner surface of a to-be-coated body from a nozzle.
When the coated body is a porous body, first, a minute gap is filled with water, and then a coating agent can be applied. As a result, since the coating agent does not enter the minute gap, the amount of the coating agent used is suppressed, and a coating film can be uniformly formed on the surface of the coated body.

The coating mechanism preferably includes a nozzle that ejects air.
As described above, since the air is jetted, after filling the gap with water as described above, air can be jetted from the nozzle toward the inner surface of the coated body to blow off excess moisture. Thereafter, the coating agent can be applied.
As a result, dripping of the coating agent is prevented, and a coating film can be uniformly formed on the surface of the coated body.

  Further, the above-described coating apparatus can be suitably used when the object to be coated is a ceramic molded body and the coating agent is a yttrium aluminum garnet slurry.

  The present invention has been made to achieve the above object, and a coating method according to the present invention includes a nozzle for spraying a coating agent and a nozzle for spraying water, or a nozzle for switching and spraying a coating agent and water. In a coating method using a coating apparatus that includes a coating mechanism having a nozzle for injecting air, and a holding mechanism that holds the coated body on which the coating agent is coated on the inner surface, the coated body is set at a predetermined angle. The coated body is tilted by a predetermined angle after the step of applying water to the inner surface of the coated body and rotating the nozzle while changing the spray angle of the nozzle and the water coating process. While rotating in a state and changing the spray angle of the nozzle, spraying air from the nozzle onto the inner surface of the coated body, drying the coated body, and after the drying process of the coated body, To be coated Is rotated in a state of being fixed angle inclined, and while varying the injection angle of the nozzle, is characterized in that the coating material comprises a, a step of applying to the inner surface of the member to be coated.

Thus, in order to apply water from the nozzle to the inner surface of the coated body while rotating the coated body at a predetermined angle and changing the spray angle of the nozzle, the surface of the coated body ( Water can be uniformly applied to a minute space. Then, since air is sprayed on the inner surface of the coated body, excess water on the surface of the coated body can be removed.
Then, in order to apply the coating agent to the inner surface of the coated body from the nozzle while rotating the coating body in a state inclined at a predetermined angle and changing the spray angle of the nozzle, the coating agent is placed in the minute gap. Does not invade. As a result, a coating film can be uniformly formed on the surface of the coated body and the amount of coating agent used can be suppressed.

  The coating method described above can be suitably used when the coated body is a ceramic molded body and the coating agent is a yttrium aluminum garnet slurry.

  According to the coating apparatus and the coating method according to the present invention, a coating film can be uniformly formed on the inner surface of an object to be coated. For example, even when the coated body is a ceramic molded body and the coating agent is yttrium aluminum garnet, the uniform film can be formed.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 is a side view of a coating apparatus according to an embodiment, FIG. 2 is a plan view of a holding mechanism of the coating apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is an operation state of the coating apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 3.

The coating apparatus 1 according to the present invention includes a coating mechanism 10 having a nozzle that sprays a coating agent, and a holding mechanism 30 that holds a workpiece W to which the coating agent is applied.
The coating mechanism 10 includes a horizontal guide rail 12 provided on a base 11, a horizontal moving table 13 movably mounted on the horizontal guide rail 12, and a vertical guide mounted on the horizontal moving table 13. A rail 14 and a vertical moving table 15 movably attached to the vertical guide rail 14 are provided.
The coating mechanism 10 includes a nozzle arm 16 attached to the vertical moving table 15 and a nozzle mechanism 20 attached to the tip of the nozzle arm 16.

The horizontal moving table 13 is engaged with a screw 17 a provided along the guide rail 12, and the screw 17 a is rotated by a motor 17 to enable horizontal movement.
Similarly, the vertical moving table 15 is engaged with a screw 18 a provided along the guide rail 14, and the screw 18 a is rotated by a motor 18 to enable vertical movement.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the nozzle mechanism 20 includes a nozzle attachment base 21 that is rotatably attached to the tip of the nozzle arm 16 within a vertical plane, and water attached to the nozzle attachment base 21. And a nozzle 22 for injecting a slurry of yttrium aluminum garnet.
A water supply pipe 22a for supplying water and a slurry supply pipe 22b for supplying the slurry are connected to the nozzle 22, and either water or slurry is ejected from the nozzle 22 by a switching valve (not shown). It is configured as follows.
The rear end portion of the nozzle 22 is configured to be supplied with high-pressure air from an air supply pipe 22c. The pressure of this air can be adjusted by the regulator 22d, and the pressure is adjusted according to the viscosity of the slurry. That is, the slurry is smoothly ejected from the nozzle 22 by adjusting the pressure by the regulator 22d.

An air blow nozzle 23 is attached to the nozzle mounting base 21 so that the injection direction thereof is parallel to the injection direction of the nozzle 22. An air supply pipe 23 a for supplying air is connected to the air blow nozzle 23.
Further, a pulley 26 is formed integrally with the rotating shaft of the nozzle mounting base 21, and a belt 24 is wound around the pulley 26. The belt 24 is housed inside the nozzle arm 16, and the other end of the belt 24 is connected to a pulley 25 attached to a motor (not shown) via a tension pulley 24a as shown in FIG. It is wound.
Therefore, the nozzle mechanism 20 can be rotated by a predetermined angle in the plane of the nozzle arm 16 (in the vertical plane) via the belt 24 by driving the motor.

  On the other hand, the holding mechanism 30 that holds the workpiece W is formed so as to be tiltable by a predetermined angle with respect to the first base 31 and the first base 31, and the central portion thereof penetrates. A second base 32 in which a circular opening is formed, and a pulley portion 33a that is provided along the opening 32a of the second base 32 and around which the belt 38 is wound is provided. A body holding plate 33, a fixing means 34 for fixing the body W to be coated provided on the body to be coated 33, and a rotation of the body to be coated 33 provided on the second base 32. And a guide roller 35 for guiding.

As shown in FIG. 4, the fixing means 34 includes a base 34c fixed on the substrate holding plate 33, a holding arm 34b attached to the base 34c with screws 34a, and the holding arm 34c. And a buffer member 34d attached to one end for holding the coated body.
Accordingly, by loosening the screw 34a, placing the coated body W between the coated body holding plate 33 and the buffer member 34d, and tightening the screw 34a, the coated body is placed on the coated body holding plate 33. W can be fixed.

The holding mechanism 30 for holding the workpiece W includes a motor 36 attached to the lower surface of the side portion of the second base 32, a pulley 37 formed on the rotating shaft of the motor 36, and the pulley. 37 and a belt 38 wound between the pulley portions of the coated object holding plate 33.
Accordingly, by driving the motor 36, the object to be coated W can be rotated on the second base 32.

As shown in FIG. 2, the first base 31 is provided with a bearing 40 and rotatably supports a shaft 32 b that supports the second base 32. The shaft 32 b is configured such that a rotational force is applied via the rotation transmission member 41 by rotating the handle 42.
Therefore, the second base 32 can be inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the first base 31 by rotating the handle 42.

  Further, an upper cover 44 is provided on the second base 32, and a lower cover 43 is provided on the lower surface of the second base 32. The lower cover 43 is provided with an opening 43 a for the nozzle mechanism 20 to enter and an exhaust port 43 b for exhausting the lower cover 43.

  Next, a case where a ceramic molded body is used as the article W to be coated and a slurry of yttrium aluminum garnet is applied to the inner peripheral surface of the coating apparatus 1 will be described. The ceramic molded body used here is an alumina-based molded body, a silicon nitride-based molded body, an aluminum nitride-based molded body, or the like. And as explained in the background art, these molded products are obtained by granulating the raw material powder and then molding the granulated powder with, for example, an isostatic press, and subjecting the molded product to calcining / degreasing treatment. It is done.

First, the fixing member 34 provided on the coated object holding plate 33 holds the outer periphery of the hemispherical ceramic molded body W, thereby fixing the ceramic molded body W on the coated object holding plate 33. To do.
After fixing, the handle 42 is rotated to tilt the second base 32 by 45 degrees. Along with the inclination of the second base 32, the coated object holding plate 33 is similarly inclined by 45 degrees. By inclining 45 degrees in this way, the opening 43 a of the lower cover 43 faces the nozzle arm 16, and the nozzle arm 16 can advance and retreat into the lower cover 43.

Next, the motor 36 is driven to rotate the workpiece holding plate 33 via the belt 38. By rotating the to-be-coated body holding plate 33, the ceramic molded body W rotates in a state inclined by 45 degrees.
Subsequently, the screw 17 a is rotated by the motor 17 to advance the horizontal moving table 13, and the screw 18 a is rotated by the motor 18 to vertically move the vertical moving table 15, so that the nozzle mechanism 20 is moved to the lower cover 43. Move to the painting position inside.

After the movement, water is sprayed from the nozzle 22 toward the inner surface of the ceramic molded body W. At this time, the nozzle 22 is gradually rotated in the vertical plane by the driving force of the motor. In other words, as indicated by arrows in FIG. 4, the injection direction of the nozzle 22 changes from the inner surface of the opening of the ceramic molded body W to the ceiling.
Accordingly, the ceramic molded body W rotates in an inclined state, and the spraying direction of the nozzle 22 gradually changes from the inner surface of the opening to the ceiling portion, and from the ceiling portion to the inner surface of the opening. Uniformly applied. As a result of the application of water in this way, the minute space of the ceramic molded body W is filled with water.

  After applying water to the inner surface of the ceramic molded body W, the excess water adhering to the inner surface of the ceramic molded body W is blown off using the air blow nozzle 23. At this time, similarly to the water injection, the ceramic molded body W rotates in an inclined state, and the air injection direction of the air blow nozzle 23 changes from the inner surface of the opening to the ceiling and from the ceiling to the inner surface of the opening. Therefore, excess water can be removed uniformly.

Further, the switching valve is switched so that the supply to the nozzle 22 is switched from water to the supply of yttrium aluminum garnet slurry. Then, the slurry is sprayed from the nozzle 22 toward the inner surface of the ceramic molded body W.
Also at this time, as in the case of the above-described application of water, the ceramic molded body W rotates in an inclined state, and the injection direction of the slurry gradually changes from the inner surface of the opening to the ceiling, and from the ceiling to the inner surface of the opening. Therefore, the slurry is uniformly applied to the inner peripheral surface of the ceramic molded body W.

Then, the ceramic molded body W maintains a rotating state, and dries the slurry of yttrium aluminum garnet. When applying the yttrium aluminum garnet slurry, application and drying are repeated to obtain a desired film thickness.
After the application of the slurry, the nozzle arm 16 is retracted to return to the initial state.

In the embodiment, the case where the slurry of yttrium aluminum garnet is applied has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to the slurry, and can be widely applied to the case where an application agent such as a paint is applied. it can.
Further, in the embodiment, the case where the air blow nozzle and the nozzle for injecting water are provided has been described, but it is not particularly necessary to provide the air blow nozzle and the nozzle for injecting water, and at least a coating agent is applied. It suffices if a nozzle is provided.
Furthermore, in the said embodiment, although hemispherical ceramic molded body was demonstrated as an example to be coated, the material and shape of the coated body are not particularly limited. For example, the shape may be a bell shape, a dome shape, or a gate shape, and the horizontal sectional shape may be not only a circular shape but also a rectangular shape. Moreover, as a material, a metal and a synthetic resin may be used, for example.

  The present invention is suitable for applying a coating agent to the inner surface of an object to be coated. For example, it can be suitably used as a coating apparatus and a coating method for forming a coating film of a chamber in a semiconductor device.

FIG. 1 is a side view of an embodiment according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view of a holding mechanism of the coating apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a side view showing an operation state of the coating apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged view of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Application | coating apparatus 10 Application | coating mechanism 12 Horizontal guide rail 13 Horizontal moving stand 14 Vertical guide rail 15 Vertical moving stand 16 Nozzle arm 22 Nozzle 22a Water supply pipe 22b Slurry supply pipe 30 Holding mechanism 32 Second base 33 Coating object holding plate 33a Pulley section 34 Fixing means 35 Guide roller 36 Motor 38 Belt W Object to be coated (ceramic molded body)

Claims (6)

In a coating apparatus composed of a coating mechanism having a nozzle for spraying a coating agent, and a holding mechanism for holding a body to be coated on which the coating agent is applied,
The coating mechanism includes a nozzle, a nozzle arm on which the nozzle is rotatably mounted in a vertical plane, and a moving unit that allows the nozzle arm to move forward and backward.
The holding mechanism is formed so as to be tiltable at a predetermined angle, and is provided along a base in which an opening penetrating the central portion is formed, and the opening of the base, and a belt is wound around an outer peripheral side surface. A coated body holding plate having a pulley section, a fixing means for fixing the coated body provided on the coated body holding plate, and a base provided on the base for guiding the rotation of the coated body holding plate. A guide roller, and a motor that rotationally drives the substrate holding plate to be coated via a belt,
A coating apparatus that applies the coating agent to an inner surface of the coated body while rotating the coated body at a predetermined angle and changing the spray angle of the nozzle.   2. The coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the coating mechanism includes a nozzle for spraying the coating agent and a nozzle for spraying water, or a nozzle for switching and spraying the coating agent and water. .   The coating apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the coating mechanism includes a nozzle that ejects air.   4. The coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the coated body is a ceramic molded body, and the coating agent is a yttrium aluminum garnet slurry. An application mechanism having a nozzle for injecting a coating agent and a nozzle for injecting water, or a nozzle for switching and spraying between the coating agent and water, and a nozzle for injecting air; In a coating method using a coating device composed of a holding mechanism for holding a body,
Applying water to the inner surface of the object to be coated while rotating the object to be coated at a predetermined angle and changing the spray angle of the nozzle;
After the water application step, the object to be coated is rotated in a state inclined at a predetermined angle, and while changing the spray angle of the nozzle, air is sprayed from the nozzle onto the inner surface of the object to be coated. Drying the body,
A step of applying the coating agent to the inner surface of the coated body while rotating the coated body at a predetermined angle and changing the spray angle of the nozzle after the drying step of the coated body;
A coating method characterized by comprising:   6. The coating method according to claim 5, wherein the coated body is a ceramic molded body, and the coating agent is a yttrium aluminum garnet slurry.

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