JP2011054912A - Device and method for manufacturing thin film - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device capable of easily sealing the insides of chambers even when the size of a CVD device is increased, and easily sealing chambers of various shapes and various combinations; and to provide a method for manufacturing a thin film. <P>SOLUTION: In this device 1 for manufacturing a thin film, an opening for a substrate to pass therethrough and a slide door for closing the opening are arranged in a substrate doorway of each chamber constituting a film formation chamber group 14 to enter/extract a substrate to be an object for forming a thin film thereon; a tube having airtightness and elasticity is attached to a circumference of the opening or a corresponding position of a door part; the tube is expanded by introducing gas into the tube; and the expanded tube is pressed against the circumference of the facing opening or the corresponding position of the door part, whereby the inside of the chamber can be sealed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a thin film manufacturing apparatus and a thin film manufacturing method, and more particularly to a thin film manufacturing apparatus that performs chemical vapor deposition by reducing the pressure in a room, and a thin film manufacturing method using the manufacturing apparatus.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, power generation using solar cell panels has attracted attention due to soaring fossil raw materials such as petroleum and environmental considerations when generating power. Because solar cells generate electricity based on sunlight, it is a measure against the finite nature of exhaustible fuel, and because it does not emit carbon dioxide during power generation, it can be a mitigation measure for global warming, etc. Is due to.

Here, the solar cell panel (thin film solar cell) has a plate shape, and is manufactured by sequentially laminating a transparent conductive film, a semiconductor layer, a metal conductive film, and an organic protective film on a glass substrate.
These transparent conductive film, semiconductor layer, and metal conductive film are formed by a CVD method (chemical vapor deposition method).
For example, when a transparent conductive film is formed, the LPCVD method (low pressure chemical vapor deposition method) is used. Here, the LPCVD method is a CVD method performed in a reduced pressure atmosphere. Specifically, in a reduced pressure atmosphere, a gas containing a raw material for the transparent conductive film is arranged around the glass substrate, and thermal CVD is performed. By executing the above, a transparent conductive film is generated. Here, thermal CVD is a type of CVD that forms a thin film by utilizing a decomposition product of a source gas by energy or a chemical reaction.

More specifically, the substrate is carried into a film formation chamber under reduced pressure, and a gas serving as a supply source of tin or zinc is introduced into the film formation chamber. Then, by heating the substrate with a heater, a film such as SnO ₂ or ZnO is formed on the substrate.

  By the way, in a CVD apparatus (thin film manufacturing apparatus) for forming a film by reducing the pressure, an entrance / exit from the outside of the chamber, a chamber for forming a film and a chamber connectable to the chamber (for example, preparation for film formation) Seals for sealing the interior of each chamber between chambers (film formation preparation chambers), chambers for performing post-processing after film formation (unload chambers, chambers for transporting substrate materials, etc.) A member may be used. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a CVD apparatus (semiconductor manufacturing apparatus) in which a self-expanding seal member is provided between a chamber and a moving chamber in a CVD apparatus that performs film formation by reducing pressure. In the invention disclosed in Patent Document 1, the sealing member is made to be a self-expanding type, and the chambers are sealed, so that the adhesion can be easily secured even if the apparatus is enlarged.

JP 2008-34480 A

  However, in the invention disclosed in Patent Document 1, since a seal member is provided in the transfer chamber or the chamber connected to the transfer chamber, a member (clamp mechanism) that holds the position and posture of both chambers is required. However, there is a limitation in device creation that it is necessary to match the shape of the seal member to the shape of the opening. Therefore, when sealing the entrance / exit from the outside of the chamber or between the chambers that do not move relative to each other, it is not possible to seal with a high degree of freedom.

  Accordingly, the present invention provides a thin film manufacturing apparatus and a thin film manufacturing method capable of easily sealing the inside of a chamber even when the CVD apparatus is enlarged and capable of easily sealing various shapes and combinations of chambers. For the purpose.

  The invention described in claim 1 for solving the above-described problems includes one or a plurality of chambers having a substrate inlet / outlet through which a substrate on which a thin film is to be formed is taken in / out, and at least one of the chambers is formed on the substrate. In the thin film manufacturing apparatus which is a film forming chamber, the chamber can be depressurized, and the substrate entrance has an opening through which the substrate passes and a door that closes the opening, and the door includes the chamber This is a sliding door that slides relative to the main body part, and a tube having airtightness and elasticity is circulated around the opening of the main body part or a corresponding position of the door part, and the tube is expanded by introducing gas into the tube. Thus, the thin film manufacturing apparatus is characterized in that a part of the tube can be brought into contact with the periphery of the facing opening or a corresponding position of the door.

  In the thin film manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, a tube is provided at a position corresponding to the sliding door. And since the door part can be designed as appropriate, unlike the case where a seal material is provided in the vicinity of the opening between the chambers, each of which has an opening and is arranged so that each opening is opposed, the shape and arrangement method of the tube is the opening. There is an advantage that it does not depend on the shape. Moreover, since the sliding door part has the tube which expand | swells, the sliding operation | movement of a door part is not prevented by opening and closing a door part in the state which deflated the tube. Therefore, there is an advantage that the degree of freedom of the installation position of the door portion is higher than in the case where a member such as a normal O-ring is provided.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, the chamber further includes a film formation preparation chamber provided in the front stage of the film formation chamber and / or an unload chamber provided in the rear stage of the film formation chamber. The thin film manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1.

  The thin film manufacturing apparatus of the present invention further includes a film formation preparation chamber provided at the front stage of the film formation chamber and / or an unload chamber provided at the rear stage of the film formation chamber as the chamber. Therefore, preparation before film formation and post-treatment after film formation can be performed in a separate chamber from the film formation chamber. Accordingly, during the film formation of the substrate, it is possible to prepare the substrate on which the film is to be formed next, or to perform post-treatment on the substrate on which the film has already been formed. Therefore, work can be performed efficiently when the substrate is continuously formed.

  The invention according to claim 3 has a guide for linearly moving the door portion, and when the escape portion is provided in a part of the guide and the door portion is in a position covering the opening portion, the escape portion The thin film manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the door is movable in the approaching / separating direction with respect to the opening.

  In the thin film manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, when the guide for linear movement has a relief portion, and the door portion is in a position covering the opening portion, the door portion approaches and separates from the opening portion by the relief portion. It can move in the direction. For this reason, even if the door portion moves due to reasons such as decompression of the room, surrounding members are not damaged by the movement of the door portion. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide a member or the like for firmly fixing the position of the door, and it is not necessary to provide an unnecessarily strong strength to the tube disposed between the door and the vicinity of the opening. The labor and cost of assembling and installing the manufacturing equipment can be reduced.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the thin film manufacturing apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the pressure in the tube can be changed according to the atmospheric pressure of the main body portion of the chamber.

  In the thin film manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, the pressure in the tube can be changed according to the atmospheric pressure of the main body portion of the film formation chamber, the film formation preparation chamber, or the unload chamber. Therefore, the strength of sealing by the tube and the shape of the tube at the time of sealing can be changed as appropriate according to the amount of reduced pressure in each chamber (chamber). Therefore, the indoor sealing can be performed efficiently.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for producing a thin film, characterized in that a thin film is formed on the surface of a substrate using the thin film manufacturing apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects.

  In the thin film manufacturing method of the present invention, the thin film is formed on the surface of the substrate using the above-described thin film manufacturing apparatus of the present invention. As a result, regardless of the scale of the film formation (the size of the thin film production equipment), it is possible to seal the room indoors with low cost, high efficiency, high accuracy, and high flexibility in the shape and material of the members. Film formation can be performed by an apparatus. Therefore, film formation in a favorable environment can be performed at low cost.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the thin film manufacturing apparatus includes a film formation chamber, a film formation preparation chamber, and an unload chamber, and heats the substrate to be formed in the reduced pressure film formation preparation chamber. A process, a process for connecting a film preparation chamber and a film formation chamber whose pressure is reduced to each other so that the substrate can be transferred, a process for forming a film on the substrate surface by sealing the inside of the film formation chamber, and a process for reducing the pressure inside each other. The method includes: a step of connecting the film forming chamber and the unload chamber so that the substrate can be transferred, and a step of pressurizing the inside of the unload chamber to a pressure substantially equal to the atmospheric pressure. It is a manufacturing method of the described thin film.

  The invention according to claim 7 is the method for producing a thin film according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the substrate is glass, and the thin film is a transparent conductive film.

In the method for producing a thin film of the present invention, substrate materials can be delivered in a highly accurate reduced pressure state between the chambers in the film formation preparation chamber, the film formation chamber, and the unload chamber that can be depressurized. Therefore, each procedure of decompression, heating, film formation, and pressurization can be divided into each chamber. For this reason, a so-called line production system in which the next substrate material is heated during the film formation of the preceding substrate material can be employed, which has the advantage of improving the production efficiency.
Moreover, in the manufacturing method of the thin film of this invention, it can use suitably, when producing | generating a transparent conductive film on a glass substrate.

  According to the thin film manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to provide a thin film manufacturing apparatus that can easily seal the inside of the chamber even when the apparatus is enlarged, and can seal various shapes and combinations of chambers. In addition, the thin film manufacturing method of the present invention can provide a technique for performing film formation in a favorable environment at low cost.

It is a perspective view of the thin film manufacturing apparatus which has a chamber provided with the substrate entrance-and-exit structure concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is AA sectional drawing of the film-forming chamber group of the thin film manufacturing apparatus of FIG. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of each chamber forming a film forming chamber group of the thin film manufacturing apparatus of FIG. 1, wherein (a) shows the vicinity of the film forming preparation chamber, (b) shows the vicinity of the film forming chamber, and (c) shows The vicinity of the load chamber is shown. It is a partial cross section perspective view which shows the structure inside the opening connection part which expanded a part of Fig.3 (a). It is explanatory drawing which shows the recessed part of the guide groove which expanded a part of guide groove of FIG. It is the perspective view which looked at the door part used for a board | substrate entrance / exit structure from the front side. It is the perspective view which looked at the door part used for a board | substrate entrance / exit structure from the back side. It is the perspective view which expanded the sealing member attached to the door part of FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the sealing member of FIG. 8, (a) shows the state which the tube deflated, (b) shows the state which the tube swelled. It is sectional drawing which shows the state which the tube expanded and sealed the film-forming preparation chamber. It is sectional drawing which shows the state which attached the door part to the opening connection part. It is explanatory drawing which shows the structure inside an opening connection part, (a) shows the state which the door part opened, (b) shows the state which the door part closed. It is sectional drawing which shows a mode that the tube attached to the door part expand | swells and seals the film-forming preparation chamber, (a) shows before expansion of a tube, (b) shows after expansion of a tube, (c ) Shows a state in which the tube is expanded, and the door portion is close to the film formation preparation chamber. It is sectional drawing which shows the state which the tube expanded and sealed the film-forming preparation chamber. It is sectional drawing which shows the sealing member different from the sealing member of FIG. 9, (a) shows the state which the tube deflated, (b) shows the state which the tube expanded. It is sectional drawing which shows the sealing member different from the sealing member of FIG.9 and FIG.15, (a) shows the state which the tube deflated, (b) shows the state which the tube swelled. It is the perspective view which looked at the door part used for the board | substrate entrance / exit structure different from FIG. 6 from the front side. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a film forming chamber group different from FIG. 2. FIG. 19 is an explanatory view of each chamber forming the film formation chamber group of FIG. 18, (a) shows the vicinity of the film formation preparation chamber, (b) shows the vicinity of the film formation chamber, and (c) shows the vicinity of the unload chamber. Show.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.
A thin film manufacturing apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 forms a transparent conductive film on a glass substrate by LPCVD. The thin film manufacturing apparatus 1 is roughly composed of a robot 12, a substrate carrier 13, and a film forming chamber group 14. The film formation chamber group 14 includes a film formation chamber 2 (process chamber), a film formation preparation chamber 3 (load lock heat chamber), an unload chamber 4 (unload chamber), and opening connection portions 23 to 26. .
Here, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, each of the opening connecting portions 23 to 26 has a rectangular parallelepiped appearance, and has a space inside the outer wall. And the opening which penetrates each outer wall is provided in the outer wall located in the both ends of the conveyance direction (X direction of FIG. 2) of the board | substrate carrier 13. As shown in FIG. Accordingly, the opening connecting portions 23 to 26 can introduce the substrate carrier 13 into the internal space from one opening, and can lead out the substrate carrier 13 in the internal space from the other opening. Therefore, the substrate carrier 13 can advance so as to penetrate the opening coupling portions 23 to 26.
At least one of these openings is an opening (opening 2a, 2b, 3a) provided on the outer wall of the adjacent chamber body (any one of the film formation chamber 2, the film formation preparation chamber 3, and the unload chamber 4). , 3b, 4a, 4b). Thereby, the space inside the opening coupling portions 23 to 26 is continuous with the space inside the adjacent chamber body. That is, the substrate carrier 13 can proceed in the order of the opening connecting portion 23, the film forming preparation chamber 3, the opening connecting portion 24, the film forming chamber 2, the opening connecting portion 25, the unload chamber 4, and the opening connecting portion 26. When the film formation is performed, the substrate carrier 13 advances in the X direction in FIG.
Among these, each opening connection part 23-26 which comprises the film-forming chamber group 14 is provided with the characteristic structure of this invention. Hereinafter, each structure of the thin film manufacturing apparatus 1 is demonstrated in order mentioned above.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the robot 12 is a device that can attach and detach the substrate holding member 21 on the substrate carrier 13. Specifically, the robot 12 is fitted with a glass substrate (not shown) before film formation. The substrate holding member 21 thus mounted is attached to the substrate carrier 13, and the substrate holding member 21 into which the glass substrate (not shown) after film formation is fitted is removed from the substrate carrier 13.

As shown in FIG. 1, the substrate carrier 13 is a box-shaped cart, and a groove (not shown) is provided on the upper surface thereof. Therefore, the substrate holding member 21 can be erected on the substrate carrier 13 by fitting the flat substrate holding member 21. Since the substrate holding member 21 can integrally attach a glass substrate, the substrate carrier 13 can be loaded with a glass substrate.
As a result, a plurality of glass substrates are simultaneously moved in a specified direction and position by moving the substrate carrier 13 in each chamber constituting the traveling path provided in the thin film manufacturing apparatus 1 and the film forming chamber group 14. Can be made.

  Next, each chamber constituting the film forming chamber group 14 and the opening connecting portion will be described.

As shown in FIG. 3B, the film forming chamber 2 is a part of a chamber that performs spraying of a gas that is a raw material of the transparent conductive film on the glass substrate in a state where the pressure is reduced, and is adjacent to the glass substrate. The opening connecting portions 24 and 25 and the chamber are formed. For this reason, a supply port for supplying a film forming gas (not shown), a suction port connected to a vacuum pump, and the like are provided inside.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3B, the film forming chamber 2 has a rectangular parallelepiped appearance, and the substrate carrier is placed on the outer wall located at both ends in the traveling direction of the substrate carrier 13 (X direction in FIG. 2). 13 openings 2a and 2b are provided. Specifically, an opening 2a serving as an entrance for the substrate carrier 13 is provided on the right end side in FIGS. 2 and 3B, and an opening 2b serving as an exit is provided on the left end side.

As shown in FIG. 3A, the film formation preparation chamber 3 is a part of a chamber for heating the glass substrate in a state where the interior is decompressed, and forms a chamber with the adjacent opening connection portions 23 and 24. To do. Therefore, it has a suction port connected to a vacuum pump (not shown), a heater, and the like.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3A, the film formation preparation chamber 3 has a rectangular parallelepiped appearance, and the substrate is placed on the outer wall located at both ends in the traveling direction of the substrate carrier 13 (X direction in FIG. 2). Openings 3 a and 3 b serving as entrances and exits of the carrier 13 are provided. Specifically, an opening 3a serving as an entrance of the substrate carrier 13 is provided on the right end side in FIGS. 2 and 3B, and an opening 3b serving as an exit is provided on the left end side.

As shown in FIG. 3C, the unload chamber 4 is a chamber that can reduce the atmospheric pressure to a vacuum state and return the pressure from the reduced pressure to the atmospheric pressure equivalent to the atmospheric pressure. Forming a chamber with the adjacent opening connecting portions 24 and 25. Therefore, it has a suction port or the like connected to a vacuum pump (not shown).
The unload chamber 4 has a rectangular parallelepiped appearance, and openings 4a and 4b serving as entrances and exits of the substrate carrier 13 are provided on outer walls located at both ends in the traveling direction of the substrate carrier 13 (X direction in FIG. 2). . Specifically, an opening 4a serving as an entrance for the substrate carrier 13 is provided on the right end side in FIGS. 2 and 3C, and an opening 4b serving as an exit is provided on the left end side.

The opening connecting portion 23 has a rectangular parallelepiped appearance, and the lateral width (the length in the Y direction in FIGS. 2 and 3) is longer than the width of the film forming preparation chamber 3 (the length in the Y direction in FIGS. 2 and 3). Yes. And it has a space inside the outer wall. Openings 23a and 23b are provided on the outer walls at both ends of the traveling direction (X direction in FIGS. 2 and 3) of the substrate carrier 13 among the outer walls forming the internal space. The openings 23 a and 23 b are at positions facing each other, the opening 23 a is a hole that connects the outside and the inside of the opening connecting portion 23, and the opening 23 b communicates with the opening 3 a of the adjacent film formation preparation chamber 3. When the substrate carrier 13 is transported, the opening 23a serves as an entrance and the opening 23b serves as an exit.
Moreover, the opening connection part 23 has the door part 70 in internal space. Although details will be described later, the door portion 70 is a slide door that can slide and can close the opening 23b and the opening 3a in the closed state.

The opening connecting portion 24 has a rectangular parallelepiped appearance, and the lateral width (the length in the Y direction in FIGS. 2 and 3) is the width of the film forming preparation chamber 3 and the film forming chamber 2 (the length in the Y direction in FIGS. 2 and 3). ) It is longer. And it has a space inside the outer wall. Openings 24a and 24b are provided in the outer walls at both ends in the traveling direction (X direction in FIGS. 2 and 3) of the substrate carrier 13 among the outer walls forming the internal space, respectively. The openings 24 a and 24 b are in positions facing each other, the opening 24 a communicates with the opening 3 b of the adjacent film formation preparation chamber 3, and the opening 24 b communicates with the opening 2 a of the adjacent film formation chamber 2. . When the substrate carrier 13 is transported, the opening 24a serves as an entrance and the opening 24b serves as an exit.
Moreover, the opening connection part 24 has the door part 71 in internal space. The door portion 71 is a sliding door that can slide and can close the opening 24b and the opening 2a in a closed state.

The opening connecting portion 25 has a rectangular parallelepiped appearance, and the lateral width (the length in the Y direction in FIGS. 2 and 3) is the width of the film forming chamber 2 and the unload chamber 4 (the length in the Y direction in FIGS. 2 and 3). It is getting longer. And it has a space inside the outer wall. Openings 25a and 25b are provided in the outer walls at both ends in the traveling direction (X direction in FIGS. 2 and 3) of the substrate carrier 13 among the outer walls forming the internal space. The openings 25 a and 25 b are in positions facing each other, the opening 25 a communicates with the opening 2 b of the adjacent film forming chamber 2, and the opening 25 b communicates with the opening 4 a of the adjacent unload chamber 4. When the substrate carrier 13 is transported, the opening 25a serves as an entrance and the opening 25b serves as an exit.
Moreover, the opening connection part 24 has the door part 72 in internal space. The door portion 72 is a sliding door that can be slid and can close the opening 25a and the opening 2b in a closed state.

The opening connecting portion 26 has a rectangular parallelepiped appearance, and the lateral width (the length in the Y direction in FIGS. 2 and 3) is longer than the width of the unload chamber 4 (the length in the Y direction in FIGS. 2 and 3). . And it has a space inside the outer wall. Openings 26a and 26b are respectively provided on the outer walls at both ends in the traveling direction of the substrate carrier 13 (X direction in FIGS. 2 and 3) among the outer walls forming the internal space. The openings 26a and 26b are in positions facing each other, the opening 26a communicates with the opening 4b of the adjacent unload chamber 4, and the opening 23b is a hole that connects the inside and the outside of the opening connecting portion 26. When the substrate carrier 13 is transported, the opening 26a serves as an entrance and the opening 26b serves as an exit.
Moreover, the opening connection part 23 has the door part 73 in internal space. The door 73 is a sliding door that can slide and can close the opening 4b and the opening 26a in a closed state.

  Hereinafter, although the member for attaching the door part 70-door part 73 which the opening connection parts 23-26 have is demonstrated, only the opening connection part 23 is demonstrated, the opening connection parts 24-26 and the door part attached to it. The same description is omitted for 71-73. Moreover, only the door part 70 is demonstrated also about the structure of a door part, and description is abbreviate | omitted about the other door parts (door part 71-door part 73) with the same structure.

  The door part 70 is slidable in the width direction of the opening connecting part 23 (Y direction in FIGS. 2 and 4), and is attached so that the opening 3a can be opened and closed. As will be described in detail later, as shown in FIG. 4, the opening connecting portion 23 includes a guide groove 41 (guide), a rail 60, and a gear 51. The door part 70 is attached to the opening connection part 23 by the body guide 30, the driving roller 35, and the rack part 31 engaging with each other. Each will be described in detail below.

As shown in FIG. 4, the guide groove 41 is composed of two plate-like members, and is formed by arranging them in parallel in an upright state. The guide groove 41 is disposed in the vicinity of the upper surface of the opening connecting portion 23.
In addition, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, of the two plate members constituting the guide groove 41, the plate member located near the film forming preparation chamber 3 has a recess 41 a (escape portion). Is provided. The recess 41a is a bottomed hole extending in the direction of travel of the substrate carrier 13 (X direction in FIG. 4). Two concave portions 41a are provided, and when the door portion 70 is in a position to close the opening 3a, the concave portion 41a is in a position adjacent to the valve element guide 30 of the door portion 70.

As shown in FIG. 4, the rail 60 is composed of two plate-like members, and is formed by arranging them in parallel in an upright state. The rail 60 is disposed in the vicinity of the lower surface of the opening connecting portion 23.
In addition, similar to the above-described guide groove 41, a concave portion 60a (a relief portion) is provided in the plate-like member located near the film forming preparation chamber 3 among the two plate-like members. The recess 60a is a bottomed hole extending in the traveling direction of the substrate carrier 13 (X direction in FIG. 4). Four concave portions 60a are provided, and when the door portion 70 is in a position to close the opening 3a, the concave portion 60a is in a position adjacent to the guide roller 34 of the door portion 70.

  The gear 51 is connected to a driving mechanism (not shown) such as a motor embedded in the basement side of the opening connecting portion 23, and is attached to be rotatable clockwise and counterclockwise by the driving mechanism.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the door portion 70 is a plate-like member having a substantially square shape when viewed from the front. The door portion 70 includes a guide roller 34 on the bottom surface and a driving roller 35 on the lower ends of the front and rear surfaces. A rack portion 31 is provided at the lower end. Further, a valve body guide 30 is provided on the upper surface, and a convex portion 33 and a seal member 29 are provided on the front surface.

  The guide roller 34 is a roller rotatably attached to the bottom surface of the door portion 70 as shown in FIGS. The axis of the rotation shaft of the guide roller 34 is perpendicular to the bottom surface of the door portion 70.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the driving roller 35 is a roller that is rotatably attached to both ends of the lower end portion of the front surface and the rear surface of the door portion 70. The axes of these rotating shafts are perpendicular to the front and back surfaces, and can be rotated clockwise and counterclockwise as viewed from the front. The drive roller 35 can be rotatably installed on the rail 60 described above.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the rack portion 31 is integrally attached to the lower end portion of the back surface of the door portion 70, and has a shape in which teeth are attached to a rectangular parallelepiped rod-shaped member. The rack portion 31 can mesh with the gear 51 described above and moves horizontally as the gear 51 rotates.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the valve body guide 30 protrudes from the upper surface of the door portion 70 and has a roller portion 30 a. The roller portion 30 a is a roller rotatably attached to the protruding end of the valve body guide 30, and the axis of the rotation shaft is perpendicular to the upper surface of the door portion 70.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the convex portion 33 is a rectangular bar-like portion protruding from the front surface of the door portion 70, and is provided integrally with the door portion 70.

As shown in FIG. 6, the seal member 29 is annularly attached (circulated) to the front surface of the door portion 70, and is configured by the tube 7 and the expansion regulating member 32.
As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the expansion regulating member 32 is provided with a plurality of bolt insertion holes 45, which are fixed to the door portion 70 with bolts. The tube 7 is fixed to the door part 70 by being sandwiched between the expansion regulating member 32 and the door part 70.

  Moreover, as shown in FIG. 9, the tube 7 is provided with an opening 7b communicating with the hollow portion 7a. The opening 7b supplies a pressurized gas such as nitrogen or air into the hollow part a to expand the expansion part 7c, or discharges the gas in the hollow part 7a to dent the expansion part 7c. It is an entrance / exit. Therefore, it is preferable to install the openings 7b at a plurality of locations so that the gas can be quickly supplied into the hollow portion 7a or can be discharged from the hollow portion 7a.

In order to install the seal member 29, the door portion 70 is provided with a screw hole 46 at a position corresponding to the bolt insertion hole 45 of the expansion regulating member 32.
The door portion 70 is provided with a hole 47 that communicates with the opening 7 b of the tube 7.

  The tube 7 is made of an elastically deformable material such as synthetic rubber such as silicon rubber, fluorine rubber, ethylene propylene rubber, chloroprene rubber, and nitrile rubber, or natural rubber. Moreover, in order to improve pressure resistance, it is preferable to reinforce with a nylon cloth etc. as needed.

Moreover, the expansion | swelling control member 32 has the standing wall parts 32a and 32b which control the expansion direction (direction to deform | transform) of the expansion part 7c of the tube 7, as FIG. 9 shows. These standing wall portions 32 a and 32 b have a flat plate shape, and are provided as if standing on the door portion 70. And it is provided so that the expansion part 7c may be pinched | interposed between the standing wall part 32a and the standing wall part 32b.
The expansion regulating member 32 is made of a material having rigidity that can regulate the deformation of the tube 7. Specifically, it is formed by adopting a shape steel (an angle steel, a groove steel, etc.) or welding flat steels in a right angle posture. It can also be formed of reinforced plastic or the like.
Thereby, the expansion part 7c can expand | swell (deform) in the direction which protrudes from the door part 70 so that the standing wall parts 32a and 32b may be met.

  The pipe 44 is inserted in the hole 47 of the door 70 described above while keeping airtightness. The tip of the pipe 44 is connected to the opening 7 b of the tube 7. A compressor (not shown) is connected to the pipe 44, and pressurized gas such as nitrogen or air is supplied into the hollow portion 7 a of the tube 7 through the pipe 44, or the gas in the hollow portion 7 a is discharged. You can do that.

  When pressurized gas is supplied into the hollow portion 7a through the pipe 44 and the tube 7 expands, the expansion portion 7c is parallel to the front surface of the door portion 70 by the expansion regulating member 32 as shown in FIG. Expansion (deformation) in a certain direction is restricted, and the protrusions d1 protrude beyond the standing wall portions 32a and 32b of the expansion restriction member 32. Moreover, when gas is discharged | emitted from the hollow part 41c, as shown to Fig.9 (a), the expansion part 7c will shrink | contract so that it may become lower than the height of the standing wall parts 32a and 32b. Actually, as shown in FIG. 10, the outer wall having the opening of the chamber is disposed at a distance d2 from the tips of the standing wall portions 32a and 32b. Therefore, when the gas is supplied into the hollow portion 7a, the expansion portion 7c is deformed while closely contacting (contacting) the outer wall of the film forming preparation chamber 3 and the standing wall portions 32a and 32b.

  As shown in FIG. 10, when gas is supplied to the hollow portion 7 c of the tube 7 and is inflated and deformed, the inflated portion 7 c comes into close contact with each side of the wall having the opening 3 a of the film forming preparation chamber 3. The airtightness between the internal space of the connecting portion 23 and the internal space of the film forming preparation chamber 3 is maintained.

  Next, the opening / closing operation of the door portion 70 including the seal member 29, which is a characteristic configuration of the present invention, will be described in order.

First, a structure for attaching the door portion 70 to the opening connecting portion 23 will be described.
When the door part 70 is attached to the opening connection part 23, the door part 70 is placed on the rail 60 via the driving roller 35 as shown in FIG. 11. Specifically, the driving rollers 35 provided on the front side and the back side of the door portion 70 at opposite positions are respectively placed on the upper surfaces (upper surfaces in FIG. 11) of the two plate-like members constituting the rail 60. Is done.
At this time, the driving roller 35 can rotate while being in contact with the upper surface of the rail 60 (the upper surface in FIG. 11).

  The valve body guide 30 is disposed between the two plate members of the guide groove 41, and the guide roller 34 is disposed between the two plate members of the rail 60. At this time, there are gaps between the roller portion 30a of the valve element guide 30 and the guide groove 41 and between the guide roller 34 and the rail 60, respectively. Therefore, when the door part 70 moves in either the direction perpendicular to the opening / closing direction (the left-right direction in FIG. 11), the roller part 30a and the guide roller 34 are respectively located inside the guide groove 41 or the inner side of the plate-like member of the rail 60. It can rotate while in contact with the side.

Thus, when the valve body guide 30 and the guide roller 34 are fitted between the guide groove 41 and the rail 60 on the upper side and the lower side of the door part 70, the direction perpendicular to the opening and closing direction of the door part 70 (in FIG. 11). When moving in the left-right direction), the roller 30a of the valve element guide 30 contacts the guide groove 41, and the guide roller 34 contacts the rail 60. Therefore, the movement of the door portion 70 in the direction perpendicular to the opening / closing direction (the left-right direction in FIG. 11) is restricted, so that the position of the door portion 70 is determined and the driving roller 35 is prevented from being removed from the rail 60. be able to.
In addition, since the roller portion 30a and the guide roller 34 can rotate while being in contact with the guide groove 41 and the rail 60, the sliding movement of the door portion 70 is not hindered.

  That is, the door 70 is attached to the opening connecting portion 23 with play in a direction perpendicular to the opening and closing direction (left and right direction in FIG. 11), and the guide groove 41 and the rail 60 of the opening connecting portion 23 and the roller (drive) Since they are in contact with each other via the roller 35, the roller 30a of the valve body guide 30, and the guide roller 34), they can be opened and closed smoothly.

Next, an operation when the door part 70 is closed will be described.
When the gear 51 is rotated by operating a drive mechanism (not shown) from the state of FIG. 12A, the rack portion 31 meshing with the gear 51 moves horizontally as the gear 51 rotates. At this time, since the rack portion 31 is integrally attached to the door portion 70, the door portion 70 moves from the state of FIG. 12A to the state of FIG. 12B together with the rack portion 31. In other words, the door part 70 moves to a position that covers the opening 3 a of the film forming preparation chamber 3 and the opening 23 b of the opening connecting part 23.

  When the door portion 70 is in the state shown in FIGS. 12B and 13A, the tube 7 is expanded by introducing a pressurized gas (nitrogen or the like) into the tube 7 of the seal member 29. Then, since the expansion in the vertical direction (the vertical direction in FIGS. 13 and 10) of the door portion 70 is regulated by the expansion regulating member 32, the tube 7 moves toward the direction approaching the outer wall of the film forming preparation chamber 3. , Projecting from the door 70. Then, the tube 7 comes into contact with the outer wall 3 c of the film formation preparation chamber 3.

The tube 7 expands while expanding the contact area with the outer wall 3c by continuing to expand after contacting the outer wall 3c of the film forming preparation chamber 3, and closely contacts the outer wall 3c (FIGS. 10 and 13B). .
At this time, as shown in FIG. 14, the space E <b> 2 outside the tube 7 of the door 70 and the space E <b> 1 inside the tube 7 are divided by the tube 7 in a state where gas cannot flow. Here, since the opening 3 a of the film forming preparation chamber is located inside the tube 7, the film forming preparation chamber 3 is sealed against the outside air (the internal space of the opening connecting portion 23).

Here, in a state where the opening 3 a is sealed by the door 70, the door when the pressure difference is generated in the film forming preparation chamber 3 and the opening connecting portion 23 by reducing the pressure in the film forming preparation chamber 3. The operation 70 will be described.
When the inside of the film forming preparation chamber 3 is depressurized, the door 70 moves in a direction approaching the film forming preparation chamber 3 by being pressed to atmospheric pressure. If it demonstrates in detail, as FIG.13 (c) shows, as the door part 70 approaches the film-forming preparation chamber 3, a shape will deform | transform so that the tube 7 may be crushed. This is because the tube 7 has elasticity. Therefore, the tube 7 does not hinder the movement of the door part 70. Further, since the door portion 70 is in a position to close the opening 3a, there is a concave portion 41a (relief portion) of the guide groove 41 in the moving direction of the valve body guide 30, and a concave portion 60a of the rail 60 in the moving direction of the guide roller 34. (Escape part) is present (FIG. 14). And after the movement of the door part 70, a part of the valve body guide 30 is arranged inside the concave part 41a (FIG. 13C), and a part of the guide roller 34 is arranged inside the concave part 60a. The groove 41 and the rail 60 do not hinder the movement of the door part 70.
Here, the door portion 70 is provided with a convex portion 33, and the tip of the convex portion 33 is closer to the film formation preparation chamber 3 than the tips of the standing wall portions 33 a and 33 b of the expansion regulating member 33 ( As shown in FIG. 10, the length d 4 of the convex portion 33 is longer than the length d 3 of the standing wall portions 33 a and 33 b), and thus the door portion 70 is brought into contact with the outer wall of the film formation preparation chamber 3. Stops moving.
In addition, by this, since the force which the door part 70 receives from atmospheric pressure can be supported by the convex part 33 whose intensity | strength is higher than the expansion control member 32 grade | etc., Durability of the door 70 is securable.

  In addition, when the inside of the film forming preparation chamber 3 is depressurized and then the inside of the film forming pressurization chamber is pressurized so that there is no pressure difference between the film forming preparation chamber 3 and the opening connecting portion 23, the tube 7 is connected to the film forming preparation chamber. By pressing the outer wall 3c, the state shown in FIGS. 10 and 13 (b) is restored. In other words, the door 70 is separated from the film formation preparation chamber 3.

  Next, an operation when the door part 70 is opened will be described. When the door 70 is opened, the door 70 is in a state where there is no pressure difference between the film formation preparation chamber 3 and the opening connecting portion 23 as described above (the state shown in FIGS. 10 and 13B). The gear 51 is rotated in the opposite direction to that when the portion 70 is closed. Since the door part 70 moves in the rotation direction in the contact part with the gear 51, it moves to the near side in FIG. That is, the door part 70 moves from the state of FIG. 12B to the state of FIG.

  In the above-described example, the opening / closing operation of the door unit 70 is performed by setting the inside of the film forming preparation chamber 3 and the outside of the film forming preparation chamber 3 to an atmospheric pressure equivalent to the atmospheric pressure, but the atmospheric pressure may not be equal to the atmospheric pressure. It is sufficient that there is no large atmospheric pressure difference between the room and the room, and it may be in a vacuum state. That is, when the door 71 and the door 72 are opened, the door can be opened and closed even if the film forming chamber 2 and the opening connecting portion 24 and the opening connecting portion 25 are in a vacuum.

  Next, a procedure for forming a transparent conductive film on a glass substrate by LPCVD (and thermal CVD) using the thin film manufacturing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  The robot 12 inserts the substrate holding member 21 to which a glass substrate (not shown) is attached in advance into a groove (not shown) on the substrate carrier 13. Then, when the robot 12 repeats this operation, the substrate holding member 21 is erected on the substrate carrier 13 by a predetermined number.

When the loading of the substrate holding member 21 onto the substrate carrier 13 is completed, the substrate carrier 13 is moved to the film forming chamber group 14. At this time, the door portions 70 to 73 (FIG. 2) of the opening connecting portions 23 to 26 are closed, and the film forming chamber 2 and the unload chamber 4 are decompressed in advance.
The door part 70 of the opening connecting part 23 is opened, and the substrate carrier 13 loaded with the substrate holding member 21 is moved into the film forming preparation chamber 3. At this time, the atmospheric pressure in the film forming preparation chamber 3 is set equal to the atmospheric pressure. And the door part 70 of the opening connection part 23 is closed, and the film-forming preparation chamber 3 is sealed. In this state, the film formation preparation chamber 3 is depressurized, and the glass substrate is preheated. Specifically, the gas in the film formation preparation chamber 3 is discharged by starting a vacuum pump (decompression device) (not shown) in a state where the door portions 70 and 71 of the opening connection portions 23 and 24 are closed. In addition, the glass substrate is heated by heating the substrate holding member 21 with a conventionally known heater.

  Next, the door part 71 of the opening connection part 24 is opened, the substrate carrier 13 is moved to the inside of the film forming chamber 2 whose pressure has been reduced in advance, and the door part 71 of the opening connection part 24 is closed. Then, each raw material necessary for film formation such as process gas and water (water serving as an oxygen source) is introduced into the film formation chamber 2. As a result, a transparent conductive film is deposited on a portion of the glass substrate (not shown) that has been heated, exposed from the substrate holding member 21. Further, the movement of the substrate carrier 13 into the film forming chamber 2 is completed, and another substrate carrier 13 is moved into the film forming preparation chamber 3. At the same time as the film formation in the film formation chamber 2, the glass substrate to be formed next is preheated under reduced pressure to improve productivity.

After film formation is completed, excess process gas is discharged from the film formation chamber 2. And the door part 72 of the opening connection part 25 is opened, the board | substrate carrier 13 is moved to the unload chamber 4 which pressure-reduced beforehand, and the door part 72 of the opening connection part 25 is closed.
Further, air is injected into the sealed unload chamber 4 so that the atmospheric pressure in the chamber is equal to the atmospheric pressure. In that state, the door 73 of the opening connection 26 is opened, and the substrate carrier 13 is moved from the unload chamber 4. The substrate carrier 13 moves to the vicinity of the robot 12, and the substrate holding member 21 is removed from the substrate carrier 13 by the robot 12. Thereafter, the glass substrate having the transparent conductive film can be obtained by removing the glass substrate from the substrate holding member 21 by an appropriate means.

  In the embodiment described above, air is introduced into the tube 7 from the back side of the door, but the position where the air inlet (opening 7b) is installed is not limited to this. Further, the shape of the tube 7 is not limited to the above-described shape. For example, as shown in FIGS. 15 and 16, openings 80 b and 81 b that are air inlets may be provided on the side surfaces of the tubes 80 and 81. Further, the shape of the tube may be a substantially rectangular shape with a rounded tip in the protruding direction as shown in FIG. 15 (b), and the cross-sectional shape is half as shown in FIG. 16 (b). It may be circular.

  In the above-described embodiment, the tube 7 is fixed to the door portion 70 by the expansion regulating member 32, but the method for fixing the tube 7 is not limited to this. You may change suitably according to the shape of the tube 7, a magnitude | size, etc. For example, as shown in FIG. 16, the tube 7 itself may be provided with a flat plate portion 81c, a hole through which a bolt can be inserted is provided in the flat plate portion 81c, and the tube 7 may be fixed by the bolt.

In the above-described embodiment, the seal member 29 is arranged so as to have a square shape when viewed from the front, but the shape of the seal member 29 is not limited to this. Further, the shape of each door portion is not limited to the above shape, and the shape and number of the convex portions 33 are not limited to those described above.
For example, as shown in FIG. 17, a seal member 29 is arranged in a pentagonal shape on a door portion 75 whose upper portion is rounded, and two convex portions 33 are provided on the upper side and one on the lower side. Also good. These may be changed as appropriate.

  In this embodiment, the film formation chamber group 14 is formed by the film formation chamber 2, the film formation preparation chamber 3, the unload chamber 4, and the opening connection portions 23 to 26. The configuration of is not limited to this. For example, without forming the film formation preparation chamber 3 and the opening connecting portion 23, the film formation may be performed after the substrate material is depressurized and heated in the film formation chamber 2. Alternatively, the unload chamber 4 and the opening connection portion 26 may be omitted, and the film forming chamber 2 may be pressurized. Alternatively, a new chamber may be added, and the steps performed in the film formation chamber 2, the film formation preparation chamber 3, and the unload chamber 4 may be performed in the main body of the new chamber. That is, at least one chamber is sufficient, and the configuration of the film forming chamber group 14 may be changed as appropriate.

  Further, as in the above-described embodiment, all the opening connecting portions (opening connecting portions) adjacent to the film forming chamber 2, the film forming preparation chamber 3, and the unload chamber 4 which are the main bodies of the chambers constituting the film forming chamber group 14. 23 to 26), it is preferable to attach a door portion (hereinafter referred to as a door portion of the present invention) provided with a seal member 29, which is a characteristic configuration of the present invention, but the door portion of the present invention is not necessarily all opening connecting portions. There is no need to provide it. For example, the door portion of the present invention may be provided only in the opening connecting portions 24 and 25 that require high airtightness, and other portions may be sealed by a conventionally known sealing method. Further, when the configuration of the film forming chamber 14 is changed, the position or number of the door portions according to the present invention may be changed accordingly. That is, you may change freely the position and number which provide the door part of this invention.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a chamber is formed by the film formation preparation chamber 3 and the opening connection portions 23 and 24, and the unload chamber 4 and the opening connection portions 25 and 26. The chamber in which the door part of the invention is provided is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIGS. 18 and 19, the openings 70 and 73 may be provided by changing the shapes of the outer walls of the film formation preparation chamber 3 and the unload chamber 4 without providing the opening connection portions 23 and 26. Good. That is, the chamber may or may not be continuous with the outside through the opening connecting portion having a space inside.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Thin film manufacturing apparatus 2 Deposition chamber 2a, 2b Opening (opening part)
3 Deposition preparation room 3a, 3b Opening (opening)
4 Unload chamber 4a, 4b Opening (opening)
7 Tube 41 Guide groove (guide)
41a Concave part (relief part)
60a Concave part (relief part)
70, 71, 72, 73 Door

Claims (7)

In a thin film manufacturing apparatus comprising a chamber having a substrate inlet / outlet for taking in / out a substrate on which a thin film is to be formed, wherein at least one of the chambers is a film forming chamber for forming a film on the substrate,
The chamber can be depressurized inside,
The substrate entrance has an opening through which the substrate passes and a door that closes the opening,
The door is a sliding door that slides relative to the main body of the chamber,
A tube having airtightness and elasticity is circulated around the opening of the main body part or a corresponding position of the door part,
A thin film manufacturing apparatus characterized in that a gas is introduced into a tube to expand the tube so that a part of the tube can be brought into contact with the periphery of the opposed opening or a corresponding position of the door.   2. The thin film manufacturing according to claim 1, further comprising: a film formation preparation chamber provided in a front stage of the film formation chamber and / or an unload chamber provided in a rear stage of the film formation chamber as the chamber. apparatus.   The guide has a guide for linearly moving the door part, and a relief part is provided in a part of the guide, and when the door part is in a position covering the opening part, the door part is made to the opening part by the relief part. The thin film manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the thin film manufacturing apparatus is movable in the approaching / separating direction.   4. The thin film manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pressure in the tube can be changed according to the atmospheric pressure of the main body portion of the chamber.   A thin film manufacturing method, comprising: forming a thin film on a surface of a substrate using the thin film manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1. The thin film manufacturing apparatus includes a film formation chamber, a film formation preparation chamber, and an unload chamber.
Heating the substrate to be deposited in the decompressed deposition preparation chamber;
A step of connecting the substrate and the film-forming preparation chamber and the film-forming chamber, whose internal pressures are reduced,
Sealing the inside of the deposition chamber and depositing a film on the substrate surface;
A step of connecting the deposition chamber and the unload chamber, each of which has a reduced pressure inside, such that the substrate can be delivered,
The method for producing a thin film according to claim 5, comprising the step of pressurizing the inside of the unload chamber to a pressure substantially equal to the atmospheric pressure.   The method for producing a thin film according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the substrate is made of glass, and the thin film is a transparent conductive film.

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