JP2009116926A - Disk substrate etching method, disk substrate etching device, and magnetic disk media manufacturing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a disk substrate etching method, disk substrate etching device, or magnetic disk media manufacturing apparatus which continuously etch a plurality of disks simultaneously roe each side of a magnetic film of a disk substrate by circulating a palette which contains a plurality of disk substrates. <P>SOLUTION: A plurality of bosses are prepared in a first palette and a plurality of disk substrates are contained on a first palette by inserting each boss in a central opening respectively, and one side of each of a plurality of disk substrates in the first palette loaded onto the etching device are simultaneously etched. A plurality of disk substrate are reversed and transferred to a second palette by covering the first palette with the second palette of the same type after etching and turning it over, and the palette is circulated in the device. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a disk substrate etching method, a disk substrate etching apparatus, and a magnetic disk medium manufacturing apparatus, and more specifically, circulating a pallet for storing a plurality of disk disk substrates to form a magnetic film on the disk substrate one side at a time. The present invention relates to a disk substrate etching method and apparatus capable of continuously performing dry etching on a plurality of sheets simultaneously and improving the dry etching processing efficiency, thereby improving the manufacturing efficiency of magnetic disk media.

HDDs (Hard Disk Drives) are now widely used in the fields of automobile products, home appliances, and acoustic products, and various hard disk drive devices ranging from 3.5 inches to 1.8 inches and 1.0 inches or less are available. Built in and used. As a result, lower prices and mass production of HDDs are required, and the storage capacity has never been large.
In order to meet such demands, perpendicular high-density recording perpendicular magnetic storage magnetic disk media, which has recently been put into practical use, has been adopted in the above-mentioned fields and is rapidly spreading.

The magnetic disk media of the ultra-high density recording perpendicular magnetic storage system uses a composite magnetic head having a TMR (tunnel magnetoresistive) head or a GMR (giant magnetoresistive) head, and the distance from the head is set to 10 nanometers or less. A storage medium whose distance is controlled.
In such magnetic disk media, a glass substrate is generally used, a soft magnetic layer is formed on the glass substrate, and a magnetic layer is provided thereon. When this magnetic layer is etched, a discrete track through the groove is formed on a disk substrate (here, the disk substrate is a material for a magnetic disk for reading / writing data as a material thereof). It refers to various types of disk substrates in the stage.)
Etching of the grooves separating the tracks is performed through a photoresist film having irregularities. The unevenness of the photoresist film is passed through a film with grooves formed by applying a photoresist film to the magnetic layer of the disk substrate by nanoimprint lithography and pressing a stamper with unevenness over the photoresist film layer. Done. The width of the discrete track formed by this dry etching is about 100 nm, and the groove separating the tracks is filled with a nonmagnetic material in a later step (Patent Documents 1 and 2).
JP 2007-012119 A JP 2007-149155 A

  A magnetic disk medium is a double-sided storage medium. Normally, dry etching is one that etches one surface of a disk substrate. In addition, the disk substrate must avoid adhesion of foreign matters to the front and back surfaces and formation of wrinkles, stains, chuck marks, and the like as much as possible. Therefore, the disk substrate is etched one by one by chucking the outer periphery or inner periphery of each disk substrate and reversing them individually. As a result, there is a problem that the etching efficiency of the disk substrate is lowered.

Therefore, we considered increasing the processing efficiency by storing multiple disk substrates in a pallet, placing the disk substrate on the pallet, performing etching, and circulating the pallet for use. Even if the substrate can be loaded into the etching system and unloaded from there, the disk substrate stored in the pallet must be reversed in units of pallets. It takes time to invert the disk substrate on the pallet by the robot, and the overall efficiency of the etching process is not improved.
On the other hand, if the number of stored disc substrates is as small as about 2 to 3, even if the processing is performed in units of pallets, the improvement in etching efficiency cannot be expected so much, and the meaning of processing in units of pallets is diminished.

An object of the present invention is to solve such a problem of the prior art, and circulates a pallet containing a plurality of disk disk substrates to continuously and continuously form the magnetic films on the disk substrates one side at a time. An object of the present invention is to provide a disk substrate etching method or a disk substrate etching apparatus capable of simultaneously etching a plurality of sheets and improving the dry etching processing efficiency.
Another object of the present invention is to increase the efficiency of manufacturing magnetic disk media by simultaneously circulating a pallet for storing a plurality of disk disk substrates and simultaneously etching the plurality of disk disk substrates. It is an object of the present invention to provide a magnetic disk medium manufacturing apparatus that can perform the above-described process.

In order to achieve such an object, the disk substrate etching method, the disk substrate etching apparatus or the magnetic disk medium manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention comprises a plurality of disk substrates on a first pallet having a plurality of bosses. Each boss is inserted into and stored in its center opening, the first pallet is carried into an etching apparatus, and etching is performed on one side of a plurality of disk substrates,
Cover the first pallet taken out from the etching apparatus with a second pallet of the same type that does not contain the disk substrate so that the bosses correspond to each other, and turn both the first and second pallets upside down. The plurality of disk substrates are transferred from the first pallet to the second pallet via each boss, and the plurality of disk substrates inverted to the second pallet are stored, and the second pallet is etched. The first pallet is carried into the apparatus or another etching apparatus and the remaining one surface of the plurality of disk substrates of the second pallet is etched, and the inverted first pallet is used as the second pallet. In the same way as above, it is used as a cover on another pallet, and is removed after the etching process is completed in the etching device or other etching device. And Dakkyo a plurality of discs substrates from a second pallet that is is to use a second pallet which is empty as the first pallet or other pallets.

As described above, according to the present invention, a plurality of bosses are provided on the first pallet, and a plurality of disk substrates are respectively inserted into the center openings of the pallets and stored in the first pallet. It is carried into an etching apparatus and simultaneously etches one side of a plurality of disk substrates. After the etching process, the first pallet is covered with a second pallet of the same type and turned upside down. Thus, the plurality of disk substrates are reversed and transferred to the second pallet.
In this case, the positions of the first pallet and the second pallet are switched by stacking the two pallets and turning upside down, the first pallet becomes the second pallet position, and the second pallet becomes the first pallet. The position of the pallet. Since these pallets are of the same shape, the second pallet can be treated as the first pallet containing the disc substrate with the front and back inverted after being inverted, and conversely, the first pallet after being inverted is Since it can be used as a second pallet after reversal, it can be used to cover another pallet, so that the etching of both sides of the disk substrate can be efficiently processed one by one.

Thereby, both the first pallet and the second pallet can be circulated and used. In addition, since a plurality of disk substrates can be reversed simultaneously through the bosses of each pallet, the handling efficiency of the reversal process is improved.
Each boss holds the disc substrate with a small gap from the surface of the pallet. By storing a plurality of disc substrates in the pallet via each boss, the etching gas wraps around the back of the disc substrate. Is prevented, and both surfaces of a plurality of magnetic disk media can be continuously dry etched one by one.
As a result, the efficiency of manufacturing the magnetic disk media can be improved.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a disk substrate etching apparatus according to an embodiment to which the disk substrate etching method of the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of a disk substrate holding pallet handled by a handling robot. 3B is an explanatory view of the circulation processing in the apparatus of the disk substrate holding pallet, FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of the disk substrate reversing mechanism by the pallet, and FIG. 5A is a disk substrate mounting operation of the disk substrate reversing mechanism. FIG. 5B is an explanatory view of the disk substrate reversing operation by the disk substrate reversing mechanism, and FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional explanatory view of the manufacturing process of the magnetic disk medium.
In FIG. 1, 10 is a disk substrate etching apparatus (etcher), 1 is a disk substrate processed by this apparatus, 2 is an etching stage on the disk substrate surface side, and 3 is a disk substrate. This is an etching stage on the back surface side, and the etching stage 2 and the etching stage 3 are provided on both sides of the apparatus at a predetermined distance.

Between the etching stage 2 and the etching stage 3, a pallet handling robot 4 provided in the middle, a disk handling robot 5 provided adjacent to the periphery of the pallet handling robot 4, and a disk substrate reversing mechanism 6 provided on the rear side. , A robot moving line 7 of the pallet handling robot 4, a disk media loading / unloading table 8 provided on the front side of the apparatus adjacent to the disk handling robot 5, and a pallet 9.
The pallet 9 has twelve boss holes 11 (see FIG. 2) and accommodates twelve disc substrates 1 simultaneously. Eight pallets 9 are provided in the apparatus, and these eight pallets 9 circulate in the apparatus.

The pallet handling robot 4 includes an arm for placing the pallet on the tip side, a moving table, and an arm advance / retreat / rotation support mechanism. The arm advance / retreat / rotation support mechanism performs the advance / retreat and rotation operations of the arm. The moving table has a built-in mechanism that moves minutely in the Z direction, and can move the arm slightly up and down in the Z direction. The pallet handling robot 4 moves back and forth (vertical direction in the drawing) on a robot moving line 7 provided on a straight line between the disk media loading / unloading table 8 and the disk substrate reversing mechanism 6.
The disk media loading / unloading table 8 is provided with a rotation positioning mechanism (not shown) for rotating the pallet 9 and positioning it at a predetermined position.
A control device 20 controls the etching stage 2 and the etching stage 3, and further controls the pallet handling robot 4 and the pallet etc. of the disk substrate reversing mechanism 6 and the handling process, and the disk handling robot 5 Control the handling process.

The etching stage 2 includes a first etching chamber 21, a second etching chamber 22, a pallet handling robot 23, a pallet input port 24, and a pallet output port 25. Note that the bell jars of the etching chambers in the first etching chamber 21 and the second etching chamber 22 are indicated by dotted lines for convenience of explanation.
The pallet handling robot 23 is a handling robot provided in common between the first etching chamber 21 and the second etching chamber 22. The pallet handling robot 23 receives the pallet 9 from the pallet input port 24 and receives the first etching chamber 21. The pallet 9 is carried into one of the second etching chambers 22, and when the surface side etching of the disk substrate 1 is completed, the pallet 9 on which the pallet 9 is mounted is carried out of any one of these chambers and placed on the pallet output port 25. .

The etching stage 3 includes a first etching chamber 31, a second etching chamber 32, a pallet handling robot 33, a pallet input port 34, and a pallet output port 35. Note that the bell jars of the etching chambers in the first etching chamber 31 and the second etching chamber 32 are also shown by dotted lines for convenience of explanation.
The pallet handling robot 33 is a handling robot provided in common between the first etching chamber 31 and the second etching chamber 32. The pallet handling robot 33 receives the pallet 9 from the pallet input port 34 and receives the first etching chamber 31. The pallet 9 is loaded into one of the second etching chambers 32, and when the surface side etching of the disk substrate 1 is completed, the pallet 9 loaded with the pallet 9 is unloaded from either of these chambers and placed on the pallet output port 35. .
Each of the pallet handling robot 4 and the pallet handling robots 23 and 33 has a pallet outer periphery chuck mechanism for chucking the outer periphery of the pallet 9 on the tip side.

A cassette conveyor line 12 is provided on the front side of the disk substrate etching apparatus 10, and a disk supply cassette 13 and a disk storage cassette 14 flow on the cassette conveyor line 12. The disc supply cassette 13 and the disc storage cassette 14 each store 24 disc substrates 1 (see FIG. 6A) having both sides stamped and grooves 104 formed in the resist film 102 on the front and back surfaces. ing.
Reference numeral 15 denotes a cassette load / unload port provided on the front side of the apparatus. Reference numeral 16 denotes a cassette load line of the disk supply cassette 13. The cassette load / unload port 15 is connected to the cassette conveyor line 12. It is provided in between. Reference numeral 17 denotes a cassette unload line of the disk storage cassette 14, which is provided between the cassette load / unload port 15 and the cassette conveyor line 12. The load line 16 and the unload line 17 are connected to the cassette conveyor line 12 via switching ports 18 and 19, respectively.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a pallet handled by the handling robot.
As shown in FIG. 2A, the pallet 9 is a disk having twelve boss holes 11 and having a chamfered outer periphery, and each boss hole 11 has a small gap from the surface of the pallet 9. It comprises a sleeve 11b having a stepped protrusion 11a (see FIG. 2B) for holding the disk substrate at the head. The outer diameter of the protrusion 11a is slightly smaller than the center opening 1a (see FIG. 2C) of the disc substrate 1, and the center opening 1a of the disc substrate 1 is loosely fitted to the protrusion 11a so that the level difference of the protrusion 11a. The surface of the disk substrate 1 that is placed on the portion is slightly higher than the height of the protrusion 11a (see FIG. 2A).
As shown in FIG. 2 (b), the sleeve 11 b is inserted into the pallet 9 from the surface side into 12 holes formed in the pallet 9 to form the boss holes 11. In the hole 11c of the sleeve 11b, there are three positioning pins 45, 46 and 47 (see FIG. 4B) provided on the arm 41 (see FIG. 4B) of the pallet handling robot 4, and a disk substrate. Positioning pins (described later) provided on the arms 61 and 62 (see FIGS. 3A and 3B) of the reversing mechanism 6 are inserted, and the pallet 9 is supported by the arms.
The height of the step of the protrusion 11a is smaller than the thickness D of the disk substrate 1 indicated by the alternate long and short dash line (see FIG. 2B). Further, the chamfered outer peripheral portion 9a shown in FIG. 2A has an inclination that can be chucked by the disc substrate reversing mechanism 6 as will be described later.

As shown in FIG. 2 (c), the disk substrate 1 is provided with a central opening 1a. The diameter of the central opening 1a corresponds to the diameter of the head of the protrusion 11a, as shown in FIG. 2 (a). In addition, the pallet 9 has the center openings 1a inserted into the projections 11a of the boss holes 11 and 12 disc substrates 1 are arranged in a triangular shape and are densely stored as indicated by dotted lines.
Therefore, the twelve boss holes 11 are arranged at the vertices of an equilateral triangle having sides slightly larger than the diameter of the disk substrate 1 so that the stored disk substrates 1 do not contact each other. One side of each equilateral triangle is shared and shared with other equilateral triangles, and each boss hole 11 is symmetrical with respect to the center line dividing the disk pallet 9 into two as shown in the figure. Arranged in a Δ shape. The first step as viewed from the tray surface side of the protrusion 11a forms a minute gap that holds the disk substrate 1 slightly floating above the surface of the pallet 9.

By the way, two of the eight pallets 9 in the apparatus are arranged in advance in the disk media loading / unloading table 8 and the disk substrate reversing mechanism 6 in an initial state. The remaining six sheets are added to the disk media load / unload table 8 from the outside, and eight pallets 9 are supplied to the apparatus. At this point, eight pallets 9 are circulated in the apparatus.
The pallet 9 placed on the disk media loading / unloading table 8 is positioned by a rotary positioning mechanism. Assume that the first empty pallet 9 is positioned and placed on the disk media loading / unloading table 8 in the initial state.
The disc substrate reversing mechanism 6 holds an eighth pallet 9 with the storage side facing downward.
The disk handling robot 5 has a chuck mechanism for chucking the outer periphery of the disk substrate 1 on the tip side, and the disk substrate 1 before being etched by the outer periphery chuck from the disk supply cassette 13 (FIGS. 2C and 6A). (See FIG. 2), and the disc substrate 1 is placed on a single-side pallet 9 on the disc media loading / unloading table 8, and the projection 11a (see FIG. 2) of each boss hole 11 is placed in the center opening 1a (see FIG. 2 (a)). 2 (see FIG. 2A), and 12 disk substrates 1 are arranged and stored in a Δ shape on the pallet 9 so as not to overlap each other with reference to the position coordinates of the 12 boss holes 11.

A processing procedure in which the pallet 9 is circulated to dry-etch the magnetic films on the disk substrate 1 continuously on a single side and at the same time will be described with reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B.
FIGS. 3A and 3B are explanatory diagrams of the in-device circulation processing of the disk substrate holding pallet. Each component of the disk substrate etching apparatus 10 in FIG. It is. Each circle symbol is denoted by the same reference numeral as that in FIG. 1, and the component having the pallet 9 is hatched. The ellipse at the center of each figure is the pallet handling robot 4 arranged at the center of the apparatus.
Two vertically arranged circles on the left and right outer sides respectively indicate etching chambers. Two circles on the lower upper and outer sides respectively represent the disk media load / unload table 8 and the disk substrate reversing mechanism 6. In these figures, the numbers in the circles indicate what number the pallet 9 is. In addition, two small circles arranged in front of the etching chamber indicate a pallet input port and a pallet output port, respectively.

When twelve disk substrates 1 are placed on the pallet 9 on the disk media loading / unloading table 8, the pallet handling robot 4 transfers the pallet 9 (the first pallet in the initial state) to the pallet input port 24. Is transported to and placed.
The pallet handling robot 23 receives the pallet 9 placed on the pallet input port 24 and carries it into the first etching chamber 21.
In the initial state, a second new empty pallet 9 is simultaneously supplied to the disk media load / unload table 8 on the disk media load / unload table 8 at this time. Then, the disk handling robot 5 performs a process of storing 12 disk substrates 1 in the pallet 9 (FIG. 3A (a)).

When 12 disc substrates 1 are placed on the second pallet 9 on the disc media loading / unloading table 8, the pallet handling robot 4 conveys the pallet 9 to the pallet input port 24 and places it. Put.
The pallet handling robot 23 receives the pallet 9 placed on the pallet input port 24 and carries it into the first etching chamber 21.
At the same time, the third empty pallet 9 is supplied to the disk media loading / unloading table 8 on the disk media loading / unloading table 8, and the disk substrate 1 and 12 disks are placed on the pallet 9 by the disk handling robot 5. The storing process is subsequently performed (FIG. 3B).

When 12 disk substrates 1 are placed on the third pallet 9 on the disk media loading / unloading table 8, the pallet handling robot 4 transports the pallet 9 to the pallet input port 24. To place.
Therefore, a fourth empty pallet 9 is further supplied to the disk media load / unload table 8 on the disk media load / unload table 8 (FIG. 3C). Next, the disk handling robot 5 performs a process of storing the disk substrates 1 and 12 on the pallet 9.
As a result, a total of four pallets 9 are supplied to the apparatus, and a total of five pallets 9 are arranged in the apparatus together with one of the disk substrate reversing mechanisms 6, and the first and second pallets are arranged. 9 is carried into the first etching chamber 21 and the second etching chamber 22, where 12 surface sides of the disk substrate 1 housed in the pallet 9 are simultaneously etched.

After either the first etching chamber 21 or the second etching chamber 22 of the etching stage 2 has been subjected to surface side dry etching processing (processing of the first pallet 9 of the first etching chamber 21 in the initial state), the etching chamber The pallet 9 holding the disk substrate 1 (the first pallet 9 in the initial state) is carried out to the pallet output port 25, and then the third pallet 9 placed on the pallet input port 24 is removed. The new pallet 9 (the third pallet in the initial state) is carried into either the first etching chamber 21 or the second etching chamber 22 (the first etching chamber 21 in the initial state) from which the pallet 9 has been received.
At the same time, the fourth pallet 9 of the disk media loading / unloading table 8 is transported to the pallet input port 24 and placed, and a fifth empty pallet is further placed on the disk media loading / unloading table 8. 9 is supplied, and the disk handling robot 5 performs a process of storing 1 or 12 disk substrates on the pallet 9 (FIG. 3D).

At the same time, the pallet handling robot 4 receives from the pallet output port 25 the pallet 9 that holds the disk substrate 1 that has been subjected to the surface-side dry etching process and is transported to the pallet output port 25, and receives it from the first pallet. To the disk substrate reversing mechanism 6. .
The first pallet is a pallet 9 containing the disk substrate 1 in which the pallet handling robot 4 has finished etching the surface side (one side) of the disk substrate 1 at the etching stage 2. On the other hand, the second pallet is a pallet 9 held downward by the disk substrate reversing mechanism 6, and when the position of the pallet is reversed by the disk substrate reversing mechanism 6 and the position is changed, The pallet accommodates a plurality of disc substrates 1 with the back side of the disc substrate 1 as the front surface.

The disk substrate reversing mechanism 6 receives the first pallet from the pallet handling robot 4 and receives the second pallet (the eighth pallet 9 in the initial state) loaded in advance (the pallet 9 ( These pallets are reversed over the first pallet), and the disk substrate 1 is transferred from the first pallet to the second pallet.
At this time, the disk substrate 1 whose disk substrate 1 is inverted and the back side is the front surface is stored in the second pallet. The second pallet is received from the disk substrate reversing mechanism 6 and placed on the pallet input port 34 of the etching stage 3 (FIG. 3E).
In the initial state, the pallet handling robot 33 receives the second pallet (the eighth pallet 9) placed on the pallet input port 34 and carries it into the first etching chamber 31.

After that, when the surface side dry etching processing (processing of the second pallet 9 of the second etching chamber 22 in the initial state) is completed in either the first etching chamber 21 or the second etching chamber 22 of the etching stage 2, The pallet handling robot 23 carries out the pallet 9 (the second pallet in the initial state) holding the disk substrate 1 subjected to the surface side dry etching process from the etching chamber to the pallet output port 25. Subsequently, either the first etching chamber 21 or the second etching chamber 22 (the second etching chamber 22 in the initial state) that received the fourth pallet 9 placed on the pallet input port 24 and took out the pallet 9 is placed in the initial state. The pallet 9 is carried in (FIG. 3 (f)).
At the same time, when the placement of the 12 disc substrates 1 on the fifth pallet 9 on the disc media loading / unloading table 8 is completed, the pallet handling robot 4 inputs the pallet 9 into the pallet input. It is transported to the port 24 and placed (FIG. 3 (f)).

Next, a sixth empty pallet 9 is supplied to the disk media loading / unloading table 8 on the disk media loading / unloading table 8, and the disk handling robot 5 removes the 1st and 12th disk substrates from the pallet 9. The process of storing in is performed.
At the same time, the pallet handling robot 4 palletally outputs the pallet 9 (the second pallet in the initial state) holding the disk substrate 1 that has been subjected to the surface side dry etching process and transferred to the pallet output port 25. Receiving from the port 25, it is conveyed to the disk substrate reversing mechanism 6 as a first pallet.
Subsequently, in the initial state, the first pallet 9 that has been reversed by the disk substrate reversing mechanism 6 becomes the second pallet, and is superposed on the conveyed pallet 9 (first pallet) and reversed. Twelve of the disk substrates 1 with the first pallet 9 inverted are stored, and the pallet handling robot 4 places the first pallet 9 on the pallet input port 34 of the etching stage 3 (FIG. 3 (g)).

The pallet handling robot 33 receives the first pallet 9 placed on the pallet input port 34, and loads the first pallet 9 into the second etching chamber 32 (FIG. 3 (h)).
After that, when the surface side dry etching process (processing of the third pallet in the first etching chamber 21 in the initial state) is completed in either the first etching chamber 21 or the second etching chamber 22 of the etching stage 2, the pallet The handling robot 23 is a pallet 9 (the third pallet in the initial state) that holds the disk substrate 1 that has been subjected to the surface side dry etching process in either the first etching chamber 21 or the second etching chamber 22 of the etching stage 2. Of the first etching chamber 21 and the second etching chamber 22 in which the pallet 9 is taken out by receiving the fifth pallet 9 placed in the pallet input port 24. Or In the initial state, to carry the new palette 9 in the first etching chamber 21) (FIG. 3 (h)).
When the 12 disk substrates 1 have been placed on the sixth pallet 9 supplied to the disk media loading / unloading table 8, the pallet handling robot 4 moves to the pallet 9 (initial state). Then, the sixth pallet) is transported to the pallet input port 24 and placed (FIG. 3 (h)).
At the same time, a seventh empty pallet 9 is further supplied to the disk media load / unload table 8 on the disk media load / unload table 8 (FIG. 3 (h)).

At the same time, the pallet handling robot 4 palletally outputs the pallet 9 (the third pallet in the initial state) holding the disk substrate 1 that has been subjected to the dry etching process on the front side and is transported to the pallet output port 25. Receiving from the port 25, it is conveyed to the disk substrate reversing mechanism 6 as a first pallet.
In the initial state, the second pallet 9 reversed by the disk substrate reversing mechanism 6 becomes the second pallet, and the pallet 9 (first pallet) conveyed to the disk substrate reversing mechanism 6 is used. 12 pieces of the disk substrate 1 in which the second pallet 9 is turned upside down are stored, and the second pallet 9 is loaded onto the pallet input port 34 of the etching stage 3 by the pallet handling robot 4. (FIG. 3 (i)).
The state shown in FIG. 3I is a state in which eight pallets 9 are arranged in the disk substrate etching apparatus 10, which is a steady state.

The disk handling robot 5 takes out the disk substrate 1 from the disk supply cassette 13 and puts the disk substrates 1 and 12 on the pallet 9 on the seventh empty pallet 9 in the disk media loading / unloading table 8. Store.
On the other hand, the pallet handling robot 33 performs the back side dry etching process in either the first etching chamber 31 or the second etching chamber 32 of the etching stage 3 (processing of the eighth pallet 9 in the first etching chamber 31 in the initial state). Is completed, the pallet 9 holding the disk substrate 1 that has been subjected to the back side dry etching process is carried out to the pallet output port 35 (FIG. 3 (j)).

  After that, when the surface side dry etching process (processing of the fourth pallet in the second etching chamber 22 in the initial state) is completed in either the first etching chamber 21 or the second etching chamber 22 of the etching stage 2, pallet handling is performed. The robot 23 holds the pallet 9 (the fourth pallet in the initial state) holding the disk substrate 1 that has been subjected to the surface side dry etching process in either the first etching chamber 21 or the second etching chamber 22 of the etching stage 2. One of the first etching chamber 21 and the second etching chamber 22 that has been taken out to the pallet output port 25 and received the sixth pallet 9 placed on the pallet input port 24 and has taken out the pallet 9 (in the initial state) Second etch Members 22) to the new palette 9 (in the initial state to carry the pallet) of the 6th (Fig 3 (k)).

When 12 disc substrates 1 are placed on the seventh pallet 9 on the disc media loading / unloading table 8, the pallet handling robot 4 conveys the pallet 9 to the pallet input port 24 and places it. (FIG. 3 (k)).
Subsequently, the pallet handling robot 4 takes out the pallet 9 (the eighth pallet in the initial state) from the pallet output port 35 of the etching stage 3 and sends it to the disk media load / unload table 8 (FIG. 3 (k)). ).
The disk handling robot 5 takes out the disk substrate 1 that has been etched on both sides from the pallet 9 (the eighth pallet in the initial state) placed on the disk substrate loading / unloading table 25 and transfers it to the disk storage cassette 14. Store (FIG. 3 (l)).
Further, when the disk substrate 1 subjected to double-side etching on the pallet 9 is emptied, the pallet 9 (as described above) includes 12 unprocessed disk substrates 1 of the disk supply cassette 13 on the disk substrate 1. In the initial state, it is stored in the eighth pallet (FIG. 3 (l)).

  Thereafter, the pallet handling robot 33 finishes the back side dry etching process in either the first etching chamber 31 or the second etching chamber 32 of the etching stage 3 (the first pallet of the first etching chamber 32 in the initial state). Then, the pallet 9 holding the disk substrate 1 that has been subjected to the back side dry etching process is conveyed to the pallet output port 35 (FIG. 3 (l)). The pallet handling robot 33 receives the third pallet 9 placed on the pallet input port 34 and carries the third pallet 9 into the second etching chamber 31.

Thereafter, when the surface side dry etching process is completed in either the first etching chamber 21 or the second etching chamber 22 of the etching stage 2, the pallet 9 holding the processed disk substrate 1 is moved to the pallet output port 25. , The new pallet 9 of the pallet input port 24 is loaded into either the first etching chamber 21 or the second etching chamber 22 that has been subjected to the surface side dry etching process.
The pallet 9 sent to the pallet output port 25 is conveyed to the disk substrate reversing mechanism 6 as a first pallet, the first and second pallets are both reversed, and the reversed disk substrate 1 is the first pallet. Two pallets are sent to the pallet input port 34.
On the other hand, when the back side dry etching process is completed in either the first etching chamber 31 or the second etching chamber 32 of the etching stage 3, the pallet 9 holding the processed disk substrate 1 is transferred to the pallet output port 35. Sent. Then, it is carried into either the first etching chamber 31 or the second etching chamber 32 of the etching stage 3 in a chamber that has undergone the back side dry etching process.

As a result, the pallet 9 holding the disk substrate 1 that has been subjected to the back side dry etching process is conveyed from the pallet output port 35 to the disk media loading / unloading table 8 so that eight pallets 9 continuously move inside the apparatus. It will be used in circulation.
Even if the dry etching process time in each of the first etching chamber and the second etching chamber varies, the pallet input port 24 and pallet output port 25 of the etching stage 2 and the pallet input port 34 and pallet output of the etching stage 3 are output. The presence of the ports 35 makes these ports buffers, and the pallet returns from the 8th sheet to the 1st sheet in the arrangement of FIG. 3 (i), and is sequentially updated to continue the processing flow.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a disk substrate reversing mechanism using the pallet.
As shown in the side view of FIG. 4A, the disk substrate reversing mechanism 6 includes a lower arm 61 that holds the pallet 9 (first pallet) with the disk storage side up, and a pallet 9 (second pallet). The upper arm 62 that holds the pallet) with the disk storage side down, a vertical movement mechanism 63 provided at the base of the upper arm 62 and the lower arm 61, and a rotating disk 64 to which the vertical movement mechanism 63 is fixed. (See FIG. 4B), and a stepping motor 65 (see FIG. 4B) having a rotating shaft coupled to the center of the rotating disk 64. Reference numeral 66 denotes a drive-side housing of the disk substrate reversing mechanism 6.

L-shaped outer peripheral chuck claws 61 a and 61 b and outer peripheral chuck claws 62 a and 62 b are provided at both ends of the lower arm 61 and the upper arm 62, respectively. Each of the outer peripheral chuck claws 61 a to 62 b is pivotally supported by a pin 70 so that an L-shaped intermediate portion can be rotated at each end of each of the lower arm 61 and the upper arm 62. In addition, coil springs 61 c, 61 d, 62 c, and 62 d that are compressed in order to urge the claws to rotate inward are mounted between the root ends of the claws and the back surface of the pallet 9.
A pallet base 71 is implanted at a position corresponding to each of the outer peripheral chuck claws 61 a to 62 b of the pallet 9.
Thereby, the chamfered outer peripheral portion 9a of the pallet 9 is held on both sides between the outer peripheral chuck claws 61a and 61ba or the outer peripheral chuck claws 62a and 62b and the pallet base 71 (see FIG. 4B).
Note that the opening of the pallet 9 by the outer peripheral chuck claws 61a and 61ba and the outer peripheral chuck claws 62a and 62b is caused by the rotation of the pallet 9 to the outside and the opening of the pawls. The opening mechanism is performed by pressing the root of the claw and compressing the coil springs 61c and 61d or the coil springs 62c and 62d, but the claw opening mechanism provided in the disk substrate reversing mechanism 6 is omitted in the drawing. .

As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the lower arm 61 is provided with male positioning pins 67a, 67b and 67c at three positions, one at the front end and two at the rear. The arrangement of each male positioning pin is the same as that of the positioning pins 45, 46 and 47 of the arm 41. The upper arm 62 is also provided with female positioning pins 68a, 68b, and 68c at three positions (see FIG. 4 (b)), one at the tip and two at the rear, respectively. 45, 46 and 47 are the same.
The twelve boss holes 11 arranged in the Δ shape pass through the centers of the outer peripheral chuck claws 62a and 62b or the outer peripheral chuck claws 61a and 61ba (not shown in the figure), as shown in FIG. 4B. The upper arm 62 and the lower arm 61 in the longitudinal direction are arranged so as to be symmetric with respect to the center line of the pallet 9 corresponding to the center line. Thereby, when the downward upper pallet 9 (second pallet) is put on the upward downward pallet 9, each boss hole 11 of the lower pallet 9 (first pallet) and the upper pallet The position of the boss hole 11 of 9 (second pallet) corresponds.

  The body portions of the male positioning pins 67a, 67b, and 67c and the female positioning pins 68a, 68b, and 68c have diameters that are positioned and fitted into the holes 11c of the sleeve 11b, and are fitted into the sleeve 11b through the holes 11c. As shown in FIGS. 4B and 5A showing the fitting state, the pallet 9 has positioning pins in the holes 11c of the sleeve 11b at one tip portion and two rear portions. The disc substrate reversing mechanism 6 fits from the back side and is held. The protrusions 69 of the female positioning pins 68a, 68b, 68c are at a height that protrudes from the head of the sleeve 11b, and when the upper arm 62 is lowered, the protrusion 69 is the head of the male positioning pins 67a, 67b, 67c. (See FIG. 5B (b)). As a result, the heads of the bosses 11 of the lower pallet 9 (first pallet) and the upper pallet 9 (second pallet) are fitted together, and the second pallet is placed on the first pallet. Positioned.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4B, the positions where the male positioning pins 67a, 67b, and 67c and the female positioning pins 68a, 68b, and 68c fit into the sleeve 11b are vertically moved in the lower arm 61 and the upper arm 62. In the corresponding position.
However, since the lower arm 61 and the upper arm 62 are in a direction rotated 135 ° counterclockwise with respect to the arm 41 of the pallet handling robot 4, the positioning pins 45, 46, 47 of the arm 41 are connected to the sleeve 11b. The lower arm 61 and the upper arm 62 are located at different positions where they are fitted. Further, the heights of the positioning pins 45, 46, 47 are lower than the heights of the body portions of the male positioning pins 67a, 67b, 67c and the female positioning pins 68a, 68b, 68c (FIG. 5A (b)).
Thereby, the pallet 9 is held by the arm 41 of the pallet handling robot 4 and is disposed on the lower arm 61 so that the pallet 9 can be delivered to the lower arm 61. This process will be described later.
The vertical movement mechanism 63 moves the lower arm 61 and the upper arm 62 independently in the vertical direction and lowers the upper arm 62 toward the lower arm 61 so that the lower pallet 9 (first pallet) is moved. The upper pallet 9 (second pallet) is placed on top of each other, and the respective boss holes 11 are brought into contact with each other one to one.
The center of the rotating disk 64 serving as the center of rotation is the midpoint between the upper arm 62 and the lower arm 61 when the upper pallet 9 (second pallet) is put on the lower pallet 9. When the rotary disk 64 is rotated 180 °, the positions of the upper arm 62 and the lower arm 61 are switched.

FIG. 5A is an explanatory diagram of the operation of mounting the disk substrate on the disk substrate reversing mechanism. In the figure, for the sake of simplicity, only the lower arm 61 and the upper arm 62 are shown only on the tip side.
First, the upper pallet 9 (second pallet) is chucked and held by the upper arm 62 downward by the outer peripheral chuck claws 62a and 62b in an empty state (no disk substrate is accommodated).
The pallet handling robot 4 takes out the pallet 9 (first pallet) from the etching stage 2 and sends it to the disk substrate reversing mechanism 6 after the etching of the surface side of the 12 disk substrates 1 is completed. At this time, the arm 41 is inserted between the upper arm 62 and the lower arm 61 so that the pallet 9 held at three points by the arm 41 is positioned on the lower arm 61 through the hole 11c of the sleeve 11b. Then, the pallet 9 is conveyed to a predetermined position (FIG. 5A (a)).
Here, when the disk substrate reversing mechanism 6 opens the outer peripheral chuck claws 61a and 61b of the lower arm 61 and then the pallet handling robot 4 lowers the arm 41, the lower arm is inserted into the hole 11c of the sleeve 11b of the pallet 9. The male positioning pins 67a, 67b, 67c of 61 are fitted, and the pallet 9 is delivered to the lower arm 61 (FIG. 5A (b)).
Here, the disk substrate reversing mechanism 6 closes the outer peripheral chuck claws 61 a and 61 b of the lower arm 61 and holds the pallet 9 on the lower arm 61. At the same time, the pallet handling robot 4 retracts the arm 41 and retracts from the disk substrate reversing mechanism 6 (FIG. 5A (c)).
As a result, the pallet 9 is placed on the lower arm 61 as the first pallet and chucked.

FIG. 5B is an explanatory diagram of the reversing operation of the disk substrate by the disk substrate reversing mechanism.
Next, the disk substrate reversing mechanism 6 operates the vertical movement mechanism 63 to lower the upper arm 62 toward the lower arm 61 so that the upper pallet 9 (first pallet) is moved to the upper pallet 9 (first pallet). 2 pallets) are overlaid (FIG. 5B (a)).
That is, the upper arm 62 is lowered by the vertical movement mechanism 63 so that the upper pallet 9 (second pallet) approaches the lower arm 61, and the male positioning pins 67 a and 67 b between the lower arm 61 and the upper arm 62. 67c and female positioning pins 68a, 68b, 68c are fitted, and the boss hole 11 of the lower pallet 9 and the boss hole 11 of the upper pallet 9 (second pallet) contact each other (FIG. 5B ( a)). As a result, the upper and lower pallets are aligned via the bosses 11.

As described above, the outer diameter of the protrusion 11a is slightly smaller than the central opening 1a of the disk substrate 1 (see FIG. 2C), and the central opening 1a of the disk substrate 1 is loosely fitted into the protrusion 11a. Since the surface side of the disk substrate 1 is slightly higher than the height of the protrusion 11a, the disk substrate 1 includes a lower pallet 9 (first pallet) and an upper pallet. 9 (second pallet) is fitted to the projections 11a of the bosses 11 of both.
Next, the rotating shaft of the stepping motor 65 is rotated 180 °, the rotating disk 64 is rotated 180 °, and the upper and lower sides of the arm are reversed. As a result, the positions of the lower arm 61 and the upper arm 62 are switched (FIG. 5B (b)).

At this time, the twelve disc substrates 1 housed in the pallet 9 move from the upper pallet 9 (first pallet) to the lower pallet 9 (second pallet) through the boss holes 11. And held in the boss hole 11 of the lower pallet 9 (FIG. 5B (b)).
The lower arm 61 positioned on the upper side escapes upward and is placed on the upper arm 62 positioned on the lower side in a state where the twelve disk substrates 1 are inverted (FIG. 5B). c)).
The pallet 9 (second pallet) at this time is stored with the back side of the 12 disc substrates 1 being the front side.
In this state, the pallet handling robot 4 operates the lower pallet 9 (second pallet) in the opposite direction to that shown in FIG. 5A, and the state moves from FIG. 5A (c) to FIG. 5A (a). The pallet 9 (second pallet) is picked up from the upper arm 62 located at the arm 41 to the arm 41.
The pallet 9 (second pallet) stored with the back side of the twelve disc substrates 1 as the front side is carried into the etching stage 3 by the pallet handling robot 4.

On the other hand, the inverted first pallet is in an empty state (no disk substrate is accommodated). Moreover, it is chucked downward by the upper arm 62 by the outer circumferential chuck claws 61a and 61b. This first pallet is now in the same state as the empty second pallet. Therefore, here, the first pallet is used as the second pallet.
That is, after the etching of the surface side of the 12 disc substrates 1 is completed, when the disc substrate reversing mechanism 6 receives another pallet 9 taken out from the etching stage 2 by the pallet handling robot 4 as the first pallet. In addition, the first pallet that has been inverted previously is used as the second pallet.
Of course, at this time, when another pallet is reversed by the disk substrate reversing mechanism 6, this another pallet becomes the second pallet.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory cross-sectional view of the magnetic disk medium manufacturing process.
The disk substrate 1 supplied to the disk substrate etching apparatus 10 via the disk supply cassette 13 has grooves formed in the resist film on both sides by stampers.
The manufacturing process will be described. First, a soft magnetic layer 101 is vapor-deposited on a disk 100 of a glass substrate having a central opening 1a and formed on both surfaces of the glass substrate. The groove 104 is cut on both sides of the resist film 102 by the stamper 103 by applying the nanoimprint lithography method (FIG. 6A).
The disc substrate 1 in which the grooves 104 are formed on both sides of the resist film 102 is stored in the disc supply cassette 13 and supplied to the disc substrate etching apparatus 10, and as described above, the disc substrate etching apparatus. 10 is etched one side at a time (etching step, FIG. 6B).
The stamper 103 is a disk, and on its surface, a large number of protrusions having a width of about several tens of nm are formed on concentric circles at intervals of about 100 nm corresponding to the track width.
The disk substrate 1 that has been etched on both sides by the disk substrate etching apparatus 10 is then sent to a non-magnetic material embedding processing apparatus, where the non-magnetic material 105 is embedded to form the recording track layer 106 ( Nonmagnetic material embedding process, FIG. 6 (c)). Then, the surface is polished and flattened by a polishing apparatus to form a protective film 107 having a thickness of about 10 to 150 mm made of, for example, a carbon film, a hydrogenated carbon film, a nitrogenated carbon film, etc. (protective film forming step, FIG. 6 (d)). Finally, after forming a protective film in such a manufacturing process, the surface of the magnetic disk is further cleaned by a polishing apparatus in order to remove small protrusions and clean the surface generated in the film forming process ( Burnishing and wiping process, FIG. 6 (e)), and magnetic disk media are manufactured.

As described above, in the embodiment, two etching chambers are provided in each of the etching stage on the front surface side and the etching stage on the back surface side, but each of these may be one etching chamber. The edging process on both the front and back surfaces may be sequentially performed in the etching chamber.
In the embodiment, an example in which eight pallets are circulated is used. However, the number of pallets is not limited to eight as long as there are a plurality of pallets.
Furthermore, although the embodiment uses a pallet, it may be a tray, and the pallet in this specification and claims includes a tray.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a disk substrate etching apparatus according to an embodiment to which the disk substrate etching method of the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a holding pallet for a disk substrate handled by a handling robot. FIG. 3A is an explanatory diagram centering on an initial state of in-device circulation processing of the disk substrate holding pallet. FIG. 3B is an explanatory diagram of the circulation process following FIG. 3A in the disk substrate holding pallet apparatus. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a disk substrate reversing mechanism using a two-sheet pallet. FIG. 5A is an explanatory diagram of the disk substrate mounting operation of the disk substrate reversing mechanism. FIG. 5B is an explanatory diagram of the disk substrate reversing operation by the disk substrate reversing mechanism. FIG. 6 is an explanatory cross-sectional view of the magnetic disk medium manufacturing process.

Explanation of symbols

1 ... disk substrate, 1a ... central opening,
2 ... Etching stage on the disk substrate surface side,
3 ... Etching stage on the back side of the disc substrate,
4 ... Pallet handling robot,
5 ... Disc handling robot,
6 ... Disc substrate reversing mechanism,
7 ... Robot movement line,
8: Disc media loading / unloading table,
9 ... pallet,
10: Disc substrate etching device,
11 ... boss hole, 12 ... cassette conveyor line,
13 ... Disc supply cassette, 14 ... Disc storage cassette,
15 ... cassette loading / unloading port,
16 ... cassette loading line, 17 ... cassette unloading line,
18, 19 ... switching port, 20 ... control device,
21, 31 ... first etching chamber,
22, 32 ... second etching chamber,
23, 33 ... Pallet handling robot,
24, 34 ... Pallet input port,
25, 35 ... Pallet output port.

Claims (10)

In a disk substrate etching method of forming a groove in a resist film formed on the surface of a magnetic film of a disk substrate and etching the magnetic film through the groove,
A plurality of disc substrates are inserted into a first pallet having a plurality of bosses, and the respective bosses are inserted into the central openings, respectively, and stored.
The first pallet is carried into an etching apparatus, and etching is performed on one side of the plurality of disk substrates,
Covering the first pallet taken out from the etching apparatus with a second pallet of the same type and not containing the disk substrate so that the bosses correspond to each other,
The first and second pallets are both turned upside down, and the plurality of disk substrates are transferred from the first pallet to the second pallet via the bosses and turned to the second pallet. Storing the plurality of disc substrates,
The second pallet is carried into the etching apparatus or another etching apparatus, and the remaining one side of the plurality of disk substrates of the second pallet is etched.
Use the first pallet after the inversion as the second pallet to cover another pallet of the same type,
The second pallet is made empty by removing a plurality of the disk substrates from the second pallet taken out after the etching process is completed by the etching apparatus or another etching apparatus. Or the disk substrate etching method used as said other pallet.   The boss has a stepped projection for holding the disc substrate with a minute gap from the surface of each of the first and second pallets, and the height of the step is smaller than the thickness of the disc substrate. The disk substrate etching method according to claim 1.   3. The disk substrate etching according to claim 2, wherein the etching apparatus and the other etching apparatus are apparatuses for dry etching one surface of the disk substrate, and the second pallet is carried into the other etching apparatus. Method.   A pallet handling robot for handling the first pallet and the second pallet; and a reversing mechanism for vertically inverting both the first and second pallets; and the etching apparatus and the other etching around the pallet handling robot An apparatus and the reversing mechanism are arranged, and the first and second pallets are discs, and a plurality of the bosses are provided symmetrically with respect to a center line dividing the disc into two. The disc substrate etching method according to claim 3. In a disk substrate etching apparatus for forming a groove in a resist film formed on the surface of a magnetic film of a disk substrate and etching the magnetic film through the groove,
A first pallet having a plurality of bosses and storing a plurality of disk substrates by inserting the bosses into a central opening thereof;
An etching apparatus in which the first pallet is carried and etching is performed on one side of the plurality of disk substrates;
The first pallet taken out from the etching apparatus is held, and a second pallet that is the same type and does not contain the disk substrate is held on the first pallet. The first and second pallets are both turned upside down over the first pallet so that the bosses correspond to each other, and the first pallet to the second pallet is passed through the bosses. A disk substrate reversing mechanism that accommodates the plurality of disk substrates transferred to the second pallet by transferring a plurality of disk substrates;
The second pallet taken out from the disk substrate reversing mechanism is carried into the etching apparatus or another etching apparatus, and the remaining one side of the plurality of disk substrates of the second pallet is etched. And
The first pallet after the inversion is used as the second pallet to be put on another pallet of the same type,
The second pallet taken out after the etching process is completed in the etching apparatus or another etching apparatus is emptied by removing a plurality of the disk substrates, and the first pallet or the other pallet is removed. Surface etching equipment for disk substrates used as pallets.   The boss has a stepped projection for holding the disc substrate with a minute gap from the surface of each of the first and second pallets, and the height of the step is smaller than the thickness of the disc substrate. 6. A disk substrate etching apparatus according to claim 5.   7. The disk substrate etching according to claim 6, wherein the etching apparatus and the other etching apparatus are apparatuses that dry-etch one side of the disk substrate, and the second pallet is carried into the other etching apparatus. apparatus.   A pallet handling robot for handling the first pallet and the second pallet; and a reversing mechanism for vertically inverting both the first and second pallets; and the etching apparatus and the other etching around the pallet handling robot An apparatus and the reversing mechanism are disposed, and the first and second pallets are disks, and a plurality of the bosses are provided symmetrically with respect to a center line dividing the disk into two. The disk substrate etching apparatus according to claim 7.   5. A magnetic disk medium manufacturing apparatus using the disk substrate etching method according to claim 1.   9. A magnetic disk medium manufacturing apparatus comprising the disk substrate etching apparatus according to claim 5.

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