JP2009064874A - Vacuum treatment apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make a vacuum treatment apparatus compact while simplifying the operation thereof and the structure of a mechanism for conveying a substrate between a treatment chamber and a lock chamber. <P>SOLUTION: The vacuum treatment apparatus is arranged such that the constitution members of the treatment chamber 1 or the load lock chamber 30 do not interfere with the rotary operation of the conveyance arm 22b in the mechanism 22 for conveying a substrate 4 during rotary operation of the conveyance arm 22b. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a transport mechanism necessary for transporting a processing target such as a substrate in manufacturing a semiconductor device, and a vacuum processing apparatus using the transport mechanism. In addition, the vacuum processing apparatus said here refers to the apparatus which maintains a certain area | region below atmospheric pressure, and also processes a target object in the pressure state.

  In general, a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus includes a vacuum processing chamber that performs surface treatment on a substrate, a vacuum transfer chamber that forms a space for transferring a processed substrate, and the outside of the apparatus while maintaining the vacuum state of these chambers. And a load lock chamber that allows the substrate to be taken in and out. The load lock chamber is used as a load chamber or an unload chamber, for example. A mechanism for transporting the substrate between the processing chamber and the transfer chamber or the load lock chamber and a mechanism for isolating each chamber with a gate valve isolate the interior of each chamber from the atmosphere and send the substrate without human intervention. Often used as a mechanism.

In particular, in a vacuum processing apparatus such as a gas processing apparatus or a plasma processing apparatus, a deposition gas, an etching gas, or a sputtering gas is used in the vacuum processing chamber. Can cause contamination. Furthermore, impure gas from other than the vacuum processing chamber may flow into the vacuum processing chamber and adversely affect deposition, etching, and sputtering. For this reason, load lock chambers, gate valves, and transport mechanisms are often used as means for preventing these problems (see Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent Publication No. 06-70475

  However, since the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus including the gate valve, the transfer mechanism, the load lock chamber, and the like as described above has a large number of rooms, the transfer mechanism for moving to another room needs to perform a complicated operation. Specifically, a rotation (or linear movement) motion for moving the arm holding the substrate, a back-and-forth motion (bending and stretching motion) for feeding the substrate to the substrate mounting means in each room, and a fed substrate in each room It was necessary to move up and down to get on the substrate mounting means.

  In such an apparatus, since the operation of the transport mechanism is complicated, the ratio of the operation time of the transport mechanism to the processing time cannot be ignored. Also, the structure of the transport mechanism is complicated. Furthermore, since a failure occurs almost in proportion to the number of operations and in proportion to the number of parts, there is a problem that the transport mechanism occupies a large proportion of the failure portion of the apparatus. In addition, the arm for bending and stretching movements for feeding the substrate to the substrate mounting means becomes longer, and the moment also increases. Therefore, there is a problem that the arm and the rotation mechanism are large and thick so as to endure it, and the weight increases and the failure tends to become more and more difficult, and it is difficult to reduce the size of the apparatus due to the length of the arm.

  The present invention has been made to remedy such problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a transport mechanism that can be simplified in structure, simplified in operation, hardly damaged, and a vacuum processing apparatus using the transport mechanism. Yes.

  The vacuum processing apparatus of the present invention is an apparatus including a processing chamber, a load lock chamber, and a transport mechanism for transporting a substrate between the processing chamber and the load lock chamber. In this vacuum processing apparatus, the transport mechanism includes a substrate holding unit that holds the substrate and a transfer arm that moves the substrate holding unit only in a plane parallel to the substrate holding unit. The interior space of the processing chamber is formed at the end of the movement path of the substrate holding unit by the transfer arm, and the load lock chamber is arranged so that the movement path of the substrate holding unit passes above or below the load lock chamber. It is provided. According to this configuration, it is not necessary for the transport arm of the transport mechanism to perform a movement (for example, an up / down operation or an expansion / contraction operation) other than a movement in a plane parallel to the substrate holding part for substrate transfer. In addition to being simplified, the operation is also simpler and less likely to break down.

  According to the present invention, the structure of the transport mechanism that transports the substrate between the processing chamber and the load lock chamber can be simplified, and the operation can be simplified.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Here, a plasma etching apparatus will be described as an example of a vacuum processing apparatus according to the present invention. The present invention can be applied not only to a plasma processing apparatus such as a sputtering apparatus, a plasma CVD apparatus, and an ashing apparatus but also to a gas processing apparatus such as a thermal CVD apparatus, an ion implantation apparatus, and an exposure apparatus.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing the overall structure of a plasma etching apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of the plasma etching apparatus of the present embodiment. In addition, FIG. 1 is an AA arrow view of FIG.

  The plasma etching apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 has a processing chamber 1 that forms a chamber when a surface treatment is performed on a substrate 4. Furthermore, this apparatus includes a transfer chamber 20 that forms a chamber through which the substrate 4 passes before and after processing in the processing chamber 1, and a load lock chamber 30 that is a chamber in which the substrate 4 is taken in and out between the transfer chamber 20 and the outside of the apparatus. Have. In this example, two processing chambers 1 are provided, and a load chamber and an unload chamber are also prepared for the load lock chamber 30. The load lock chamber 30 (load chamber 30 </ b> A, unload chamber 30 </ b> B) is configured inside the transfer chamber 20, and the inside of the load lock chamber 30 is external to the apparatus via an opening provided in a part of the side surface of the transfer chamber 20. Communicating with

  In the processing chamber 1, there are a substrate mounting electrode 3 on which the substrate 4 is placed, an electrostatic chuck 5 for electrostatically attracting the substrate 4 on the electrode, and a counter electrode 2 disposed to face the substrate mounting electrode 3. Is provided. Further, the processing chamber 1 includes a turbo pump 7 that is an exhaust pump that evacuates the processing chamber. The substrate mounting electrode 3 is fixed to a wall constituting the bottom of the processing chamber 1 via an insulator 10 and is connected to a substrate mounting electrode power source 13 for supplying high frequency power in the HF band. On the other hand, the counter electrode 2 is fixed to a wall constituting the ceiling portion of the processing chamber 1 via an insulator 10 and connected to a counter electrode power source 12 for supplying high-frequency power in the VHF band. Further, the counter electrode 2 is formed with a gas plate 2 a having a supply hole for supplying a processing gas over the entire surface of the substrate 4. This processing gas can be supplied by a gas supply system 8 disposed outside the apparatus.

  The processing chamber 1 communicates with the transfer chamber 20 through an opening provided in a part of the side surface of the processing chamber 1, and the opening can be opened and closed by a gate valve (gate valve) 21. The gate valve 21 has a sealing surface in airtight contact with the periphery of the communication opening of the processing chamber 1. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the gate valve 21 has a structure along the curved outer wall sealing surface of the processing chamber 1. Such a curved gate valve structure is advantageous in that the vacuum processing apparatus can be reduced in size without contacting the transfer mechanism as shown in FIG. However, the gate valve 21 may have a normal flat structure.

  Further, a gate valve 41 is installed in an opening of the load lock chamber 30 communicating with the outside of the apparatus. A hatch valve 42 is provided on the ceiling portion of the load lock chamber 30, and the ceiling portion of the load lock chamber 30 can be opened and closed by moving the drive shaft 42 a of the hatch valve 42 up and down. Further, inside the load lock chamber 30, a substrate mounting means comprising a plurality of substrate support pins 31 for supporting the lower surface of the substrate 4 is installed so as to be interlocked with the drive shaft 42 a.

  In the apparatus of the present embodiment, the load lock chamber 30 and the processing chamber 1 are each provided with a transport mechanism 22 that transports the substrate 4 through the transport chamber 20. The transport mechanism 22 includes a transport arm 22b that rotates about a vertical axis 22a on a horizontal plane, and a fork 22c that is a substrate holding unit that places the substrate 4 provided at the tip of the transport arm 22b in a horizontal state. . The transfer arm 22b only needs to move on a plane parallel to the substrate holder. Then, the processing chamber 1 (1a) and the load lock chamber 30 (load) are moved so that the substrate 4 can move between the processing chamber 1 and the load lock chamber 30 without interfering with walls or mechanical parts by the rotation of the transfer arm 22b. The shape and arrangement of the chamber 30A, the unload chamber 30B), and the transfer chamber 20 are determined. The two processing chambers 1 and 1a are arranged at both ends (start and end) of the rotational movement of the transfer arm 22b, and the load lock chamber 30 is arranged in the middle of the rotational movement. More specifically, the substrate mounting electrode 3 and the electrostatic chuck 5 of the processing chamber 1 are disposed below the circumferential locus (movement path) of the fork 22c due to the rotational movement of the transfer arm 22b, and the load lock chamber 30 is provided. The hatch valve 42 and the substrate support pin 31 are arranged. Therefore, the substrate 4 can be transferred to the processing chamber 1 when the fork 22 c comes above the substrate placement electrode 3, and the load lock chamber 30 is positioned above the load lock chamber 30. When the fork 22c comes, the substrate 4 can be delivered.

  The processing chamber 1 is a chamber for performing surface treatment on the substrate 4, and the other processing chamber 1a is used as a cleaning chamber such as a heating chamber or a pre-etching chamber.

  Next, the operation of the plasma etching apparatus will be described in detail. Note that FIG. 2 illustrates all of a plurality of states in which the forks 22c of the transfer mechanism 22 are disposed in the processing chambers 1 and 1a and the load lock chambers 30A and 30B. There is one arm 22b and one fork 22c.

  First, with the gate valve 21, gate valve 41, and hatch valve 42 closed, the processing chamber 1, the transfer chamber 20, and the rod lock chamber 30 (load chamber 30A) are evacuated by the turbo pump 7 and an exhaust means (not shown). Pull it down. Thereafter, the load chamber 30A is brought into the atmosphere by a vent mechanism (not shown), the gate valve 41 is opened, and the substrate 4 on the loader (not shown) is placed on the substrate support pins 31 of the load chamber 30A from the transport mechanism (not shown) outside the apparatus. Then, the gate valve 41 is tightened and exhausted by an exhaust means (not shown).

  Next, the drive shaft 42 a is driven to raise the substrate 4 on the substrate support pins 31 installed therebelow together with the hatch valve 42, and the intermediate position of the substrate support pins 31 comes to the substrate delivery position to the transport mechanism 22. In this way, the substrate 4 is moved to a position slightly above the substrate delivery position.

  Next, the transport arm 22b of the transport mechanism 22 is rotationally driven to move the fork 22c to the substrate delivery position. Then, the substrate support pins 31 are lowered to place the substrate 4 on the forks 22c of the transport mechanism 22.

  Thereafter, the substrate 4 held on the fork 22c is moved to the position of the unload chamber 30B by the rotation of the transfer arm 22c. Then, the hatch valve 42 of the load chamber 30A is closed, the gate valve 21 of the processing chamber 1 is opened, the transfer arm 22b of the transfer mechanism 22 is rotated, and the substrate 4 is brought to a predetermined position above the substrate mounting electrode 3. . Then, a push-up pin 31d (not shown in FIG. 1) is driven by a push-up pin drive mechanism (not shown) to lift the substrate 4 from the fork 22c and place the substrate 4 on the push-up pin. Thereafter, the transfer arm 22b of the transfer mechanism 22 on which nothing is placed is retracted from the processing chamber 1, and the gate valve 21 is closed.

  An unillustrated push-up pin on which the substrate 4 is placed is lowered, the substrate 4 is placed on the electrostatic chuck 5, and an electrostatic potential is applied to an electrostatic chuck electrode (not shown) from an electrostatic chuck power source (not shown) Adsorb.

  Then, a processing gas is sent from the gas supply system 8 to the counter electrode 2 to make the inside of the processing chamber 1 have a constant pressure. Thereafter, high frequency power in the VHF band (for example, 60 MHz) is supplied from the counter electrode power source 12 to the counter electrode 2, and high frequency power in the HF band (for example, 1.6 MHz) is supplied to the substrate mounting electrode 3 from the substrate mounting electrode power source 13. Supply. Then, relatively high-density plasma and etchant are generated by the high-frequency power in the VHF band, and ion bombardment energy is controlled independently of the plasma density by the high-frequency power in the HF band, and the intended etching process is executed.

  When the etching process is completed, the processed substrate is returned to the loader (not shown) through the unload chamber 30B. In this procedure, basically, an operation reverse to the transfer from the load chamber 30A to the processing chamber 1 may be performed.

  The transport mechanism 22 of the present embodiment is configured so as not to move up and down and extend and contract only by the rotational movement of the arm 22b. Thereby, since the conveyance mechanism can be simplified by omitting a mechanism for vertical movement and telescopic movement, there is an advantage that failure is reduced. It should be noted that the effect of the present invention can be obtained simply by omitting the telescopic operation mechanism of the vertical operation mechanism and the telescopic operation mechanism. Therefore, the transport mechanism 22 of this embodiment is provided with a vertical operation mechanism to move the fork 22c up and down. Thus, the substrate 4 may be transferred.

  In the present embodiment described above, the substrate 4 is placed on the substrate support pins 31 provided so as to be mechanically interlocked with the hatch valve 42. Therefore, the substrate 4 can be moved to the substrate transfer position by one opening operation of opening the hatch valve 42, and as a result, the substrate transfer mechanism in the load lock chamber 30 can be omitted.

  The positional relationship between the transport mechanism 22 and the substrate support pins 31 and the push-up pins 31d is important together with the structure of the gate valve 21 in carrying out the present invention. explain.

  In the processing chamber 1, the fork 22c does not move counterclockwise from the state shown in FIG. Therefore, based on the shape of the fork 22c, when the transport mechanism 22 reciprocates between the substrate delivery position of the processing chamber 1 to the substrate placement electrode 3 and the transport chamber 20, the push-up pin 31d is moved to the fork 22c or the transport arm 22b. The push-up pin 31d is arranged so that it does not collide with. Specifically, the push-up pin 31d may be disposed so as to avoid the portion indicated by the shade in FIG. The shaded portion B is a region where the fork 22c is scanned, and the shaded portion C is a region where the transport arm 22b is scanned. On the other hand, in the other processing chamber 1a, a push-up pin 31d is arranged as shown in FIG. Of course, the region where the push-up pin 31d can be arranged varies depending on the shape of the fork 22c and the transfer arm 22b. In this embodiment, the dent portion 23 is provided in a part of the outer peripheral portion of the fork 22c, but this can be eliminated. In this case, the arrangement of the push-up pins 31d in the processing chamber 1a is as shown in FIG.

  Further, as in the apparatus configuration shown in FIG. 2, when the substrate 4 is transferred at the position of the load chamber 30A, the fork 22c enters the position of the load chamber 30A from the position of the unload chamber 30B. It is preferable to be able to retreat to the position of the load chamber 30B. Further, when the substrate 4 is transferred at the position of the unload chamber 30B, the fork 22c enters the position of the unload chamber 30B from the position of the load chamber 30A, and can be retracted to the position of the load chamber 30A after delivering the substrate. preferable. Otherwise, the gate valve 21 of the processing chamber 1 or 1a and the hatch valve 42 of the load chamber 30A or 30B are simultaneously opened, and the impure gas flows into the processing chamber 1 or 1a.

  In such a configuration, when the load chamber 30A and the unload chamber 30B are arranged as shown in FIG. 2, the arrangement of the substrate support pins 31 in the unload chamber 30B is the same as the arrangement of the push-up pins 31d in the processing chamber 1. . Furthermore, the arrangement of the substrate support pins 31 in the load chamber 30A is the same as the arrangement of the push-up pins 31d in the processing chamber 1a. Of course, this pin arrangement is determined by how the fork 22c moves. Therefore, when the positions of the load chamber 30A and the unload chamber 30B shown in FIG. 2 are reversed, the arrangement of the substrate support pins 31 in the load chamber 30A corresponds to the position of the push-up pins 31d in the processing chamber 1. Become. In the unload chamber 30B, the substrate support pin 31 is located at a position corresponding to the arrangement position of the push-up pin 31d in the processing chamber 1a.

(Second embodiment)
FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of an apparatus showing a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a schematic front view showing a load chamber and an unload chamber of the second embodiment. Here, the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. However, the same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted. 4 illustrates all of the plurality of states in which the forks 22c of the transfer mechanism 22 are disposed in the processing chambers 1 and 1a and the load lock chamber 30, but in reality, the arms 22b of the transfer mechanism 22 are illustrated. There is one fork 22c.

  In the apparatus of the present embodiment, the two load lock chambers 30 (that is, the load chamber 30A and the unload chamber 30B) arranged horizontally in the transfer chamber 20 in the first embodiment (FIG. 2) are shown in FIG. As shown, it is arranged vertically (up and down) so as to sandwich the movement trajectory of the fork 22c. Although FIG. 5 shows a structure in which the load chamber 30A is arranged above the unload chamber 30B, the arrangement may be reversed. The structure of the load chamber 30A and the unload chamber 30B is the same as that of the first embodiment, and supports the hatch valve 42, its drive shaft 42s, and the lower surface of the substrate 4 provided in conjunction with the drive shaft 42a. A plurality of substrate support pins 31 and the like are provided. However, among the two load lock chambers 30 arranged above and below, the load lock chamber 30 (the load chamber 30A in this example) arranged on the upper side of the substrate 4 when the fork 22c comes to the lower position thereof. Delivery is possible. Therefore, the hatch valve 42 is provided at the bottom of the load chamber 30A, and the bottom of the load chamber 30A can be opened and closed by moving the drive shaft 42a of the hatch valve 42 up and down. Further, on the inner side surface of the hatch valve 42 of the load chamber 30A, a substrate mounting means comprising a plurality of substrate support pins 31 for supporting the lower surface of the substrate 4 is installed so as to be linked to the drive shaft 42a.

  In the apparatus configuration shown in FIG. 4, there is no place in the transfer chamber 20 where the fork 22 c is retracted when the hatch valve 42 or the substrate support pin 31 is driven. Therefore, it is necessary to open the gate valve 21 of the processing chamber 1 or 1a and move the fork 22c from the position of the load chamber 30 or the unload chamber 30a. As a result, the gate valve 41 and the hatch valve 42 are opened at the same time. However, this configuration has an advantage that the installation area of the apparatus can be reduced. In particular, if the load chamber 30A and the unload chamber 30B are shared by the single load lock chamber 30 as in this embodiment, the apparatus can be simplified. In this case, with respect to the substrate support pin 31, the substrate is operated in the first operation direction X in which the fork 22c approaches from the processing chamber 1 side and in the second operation direction Y in which the fork 22c approaches from another processing chamber 1a side. It is necessary to change the height position of the support pin 31.

  The common pin 31a of the load lock chamber 30 shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B is a substrate support pin that can be shared in both the first operation direction X and the second operation direction Y. The first pin 31b is a substrate support pin used when the fork 22c is moved from the processing chamber 1 to the position of the load lock chamber 30, and further, when the fork 22c is moved from the position of the load lock chamber 30 to the processing chamber 1. It is. The second pin 31c is a substrate support pin used when the fork 22c is moved from the processing chamber 1a to the position of the load lock chamber 30, and further, when the fork 22c is moved from the position of the load lock chamber 30 to the processing chamber 1a. It is. When using the first pin 31b, the second pin 31c needs to be lowered by a drive mechanism (not shown) so that the fork 22c does not interfere. When using the second pin 31c, if the first pin 31b is not lowered, the fork 22c collides. 4A shows a pin state when the fork 22c is moved in the first operation direction X. FIG. FIG. 4B shows a pin state when the fork 22c is moved in the second operation direction Y. The pins shown in white in these drawings are pins that are lowered so as not to interfere with the fork 22c.

(Third embodiment)
FIGS. 6 and 7 are schematic plan views of a plasma etching apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a schematic plan view of the apparatus when load lock chambers are vertically arranged in the third embodiment. Here, the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 8. However, the same reference numerals are used for the same components as those in the first embodiment, and the description thereof is omitted. In FIG. 7, the outer wall of the transfer chamber 20 as shown in FIG. 6 is not shown. Each figure also shows a plurality of states in which the fork 22c of the transfer mechanism 22 is disposed in the processing chamber 1 and the load lock chambers 30A and 30B. Only one arm 22b is provided.

  In the present embodiment, a bridge 22d is provided at the tip of the transfer arm 22b, and forks 22c-1 and 22c-2 are installed at both ends of the bridge 22d, respectively. That is, the two forks 22c-1 and 22c-2 are arranged on the left and right sides of the arm on the tip side of the transfer arm 22b. Then, only the substrate 4 placed on the first fork 22c-1 is transported to the first processing chamber 1 by the rotational movement of the transport mechanism 22, and only the substrate 4 placed on the second fork 22c-2 is transported. It is configured to be transferred to the second processing chamber 1 a by the rotational movement of the mechanism 22.

  With this configuration, the transfer arm 22b does not need to enter the processing chamber 1 or the processing chamber 1a up to its root portion (portion on the rotating shaft 22a side of the arm 22b), so that the size of the gate valve 21 can be reduced. .

  In the example of the apparatus shown in FIG. 6, the transfer arm 22b is configured not to enter the processing chamber 1 or the processing chamber 1a. In this case, the size of the gate valve 21 only needs to be slightly larger than the size of the substrate 4. However, the area of the entire apparatus including the transfer chamber 20 is larger than that of the first embodiment. On the other hand, in the apparatus example shown in FIG. 7, the tip of the transfer arm 22b is configured to enter the processing chamber 1 or the processing chamber 1a. In this case, since the bridge 22d of the transport mechanism of the apparatus of FIG. 6 can be shortened, the overall size of the apparatus is reduced. However, the size of the gate valve 21 is smaller than that of the first embodiment, but larger than that of the device example of FIG.

  In these apparatuses, when the substrate 4 placed on the first fork 22c-1 is transferred to the first processing chamber 1, the substrate 4 placed on the second fork 22c-2 leaves the unloader chamber 30B. The configuration is arranged in the transfer chamber 20. When the substrate 4 placed on the second fork 22c-2 is transferred to the second processing chamber 1c, the substrate 4 placed on the first fork 22c-1 leaves the load chamber 30A and is transferred to the transfer chamber. It is the structure arrange | positioned in 20. FIG. Therefore, it is not necessary to open the gate valve 21 of the processing chamber 1 or 1a and the hatch valve 42 of the load chamber 30A or the unload chamber 30B at the same time.

  Furthermore, in the apparatus example shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the load chamber 30A and the unload chamber 30B are provided at the same interval as the interval between the fork 22c-1 and the fork 22c-2. Therefore, the substrate can be loaded and unloaded at the same time with each of the forks 22c-1 and 22c-2. Further, if the load chamber 30A and the unload chamber 30B are brought close to each other without leaving a space between them, the apparatus can be reduced in size. When the gate valve 21 of the processing chamber 1 or 1a and the hatch valve 42 of the load chamber 30A or the unload chamber 30B may be opened simultaneously, the size can be further reduced.

  FIG. 8 shows a case where the load chamber and the unload chamber are arranged vertically as another mode of the third embodiment. However, the forks 22c-1 and 22c-2 are omitted in this figure. 6 and 7, the two load lock chambers 30 (that is, the load chamber 30A and the unload chamber 30B) are arranged horizontally in the transfer chamber 20. However, in the example of the apparatus shown in FIG. The chamber 30A and the unload chamber 30B are arranged vertically (up and down). If comprised in this way, the small apparatus which can be conveyed without opening simultaneously the gate valve 21 of the process chamber 1 or 1a, and the hatch valve 42 of the load chamber 30A and the unload chamber 30B can be comprised.

  As described above, several embodiments of the present invention have been described. In any of the embodiments, the internal spaces of the two processing chambers (1, 1a) are at the transfer level, and the electrodes (2 , 3) need not be moved up and down. Further, the two processing chambers are respectively arranged at the end of the rotational movement of the transport arm of the transport mechanism (22), and the load chamber (30A) and the unload chamber (30B) are intermediate positions of the rotational motion but from the transport level. It is placed at a position that is off the top and bottom. For this reason, when another room does not deliver the substrate, that is, with the gate valve (21) or the hatch valve (42) closed, the transfer mechanism (22) can access any room being processed.

  In any case, the structure is such that the substrate delivery operation (substrate delivery by raising and lowering the substrate support pins 31) is also performed by the hatch valve operation (opening and closing of the hatch valve 42). However, if a substrate transfer operation mechanism is provided independently, vibration associated with the hatch valve opening / closing operation is not transmitted to the substrate, and the substrate can be reliably transferred to the transport mechanism.

  In the above embodiment, the plasma etching apparatus has been described. However, the same effect can be obtained when the structure of the present invention is used not only in a plasma processing apparatus such as a sputtering apparatus, a plasma CVD apparatus, and an ashing apparatus but also in a gas processing apparatus such as a thermal CVD apparatus, an ion implantation apparatus, and an exposure apparatus. It is clear. That is, according to the present invention, it is possible to realize a simple transport mechanism that does not have a vertical motion or a bending / extending motion of an arm only by a rotational motion, and it is possible to reduce the probability of failure as well as cost. Furthermore, the overall size of the apparatus can be greatly reduced, the area of the clean room can be reduced, and the total running cost can be reduced combined with the reduction of failures.

1 is an overview showing the overall structure of a plasma etching apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a schematic plan view of a plasma etching apparatus according to a first embodiment. It is a figure explaining the positional relationship of the fork of a conveyance mechanism shown in FIG. 2, a pushing-up pin, or a board | substrate support pin. It is the plane schematic diagram of the plasma etching apparatus which is the 2nd Example of this invention. It is the front schematic which shows the load chamber and unload chamber of a 2nd Example. It is a plane schematic diagram of the plasma etching apparatus which is the 3rd example of the present invention. It is a plane schematic diagram of the plasma etching apparatus which is the 3rd example of the present invention. It is an apparatus top schematic diagram when a load lock room is arranged up and down in the 3rd example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 1a Processing chamber 2 Counter electrode 2a Gas plate 3 Substrate mounting electrode 4 Substrate 5 Electrostatic chuck 7 Exhaust pump 8 Gas supply system 10 Insulator 12 Power source for counter electrode 13 Power source 20 for substrate mounting electrode Transfer chamber 21 Gate valve 22 transport mechanism 22a vertical shaft 22b transport arm 22c fork 22d bridge 30 load lock chamber 30A load chamber 30B unload chamber 31 substrate support pin 31a common pin 31b first pin 31c second pin 31d push-up pin 41 gate valve (gate valve)
42 hatch valve 42a drive shaft

Claims (8)

In a vacuum processing apparatus comprising a processing chamber, a load lock chamber, and a transport mechanism for transporting a substrate between the processing chamber and the load lock chamber,
The transport mechanism includes a substrate holding unit that holds the substrate and a transfer arm that moves the substrate holding unit only in a plane parallel to the substrate holding unit;
The load lock is formed such that an inner space of the processing chamber is formed at an end of a movement path of the substrate holding unit by the transfer arm, and the movement path of the substrate holding unit passes above or below the load lock chamber. A vacuum processing apparatus comprising a chamber. A transport chamber that forms a space through which the substrate transported by the transport mechanism passes between the load lock chamber and the processing chamber;
The load lock chamber includes a hatch valve that partitions the interior from the transfer chamber on the outer wall along the movement path of the substrate holding unit,
2. The vacuum according to claim 1, further comprising a substrate placing unit that moves to a substrate delivery position with the substrate holding unit above or below the load lock chamber in conjunction with an opening operation of the hatch valve. Processing equipment. The processing chamber includes a gate valve that partitions the interior from the transfer chamber on the outer wall through which the movement trajectory of the substrate holder passes.
The vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a substrate mounting unit that moves to a substrate delivery position with the substrate holding unit in the internal space of the processing chamber.   The vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transfer arm performs only a rotational movement on a plane parallel to the substrate holding unit.   2. The load lock chamber includes a load chamber and an unload chamber, and the load chamber and the unload chamber are arranged vertically so as to sandwich a movement path of the substrate holding unit. 5. The vacuum processing apparatus according to any one of 4.   The load lock chamber includes a load chamber and an unload chamber, and the load chamber and the unload chamber are arranged horizontally along a movement path of the substrate holding unit. 5. The vacuum processing apparatus according to any one of 4.   The vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing chambers are respectively provided at both ends of a movement path of the substrate holding unit.   8. The vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein two substrate holders are horizontally disposed at a tip of the transfer arm so as to sandwich the transfer arm. 9.

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