JP2013084772A - Substrate placement structure and substrate processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a substrate placement structure and a substrate processing apparatus which improve the positioning accuracy of substrates and reduce influences on processes.SOLUTION: A substrate placement structure comprises: a substrate tray including multiple through holes in which substrates are respectively housed and holding parts which are provided at three positions on an inner wall of each through hole protruding therefrom, the holding parts holding the substrate on upper surfaces; and a placement plate 10 which includes multiple placement bases 11 provided so as to correspond to the through holes and protrude, and cut-out parts 13 which are formed at three positions in an outer peripheral portion of each placement base 11 so as to correspond to the holding parts and house the holding parts. When the substrate tray is placed on the placement plate 10, the placement bases 11 are respectively disposed inside the through holes and the substrates are placed on the upper surfaces of the placement bases 11. In the substrate placement structure, an outer diameter of each placement base 11 is formed so as to be larger than an outer diameter of the substrate, and a guide 12, which guides an outer edge of the substrate, is provided at the enlarged outer peripheral portion of each placement base 11.

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate mounting structure using a substrate tray and a substrate processing apparatus.

  A small-diameter substrate is accommodated in each of the plurality of accommodation holes of the substrate tray, and in that state, the substrate tray is transported onto the substrate susceptor in the plasma processing apparatus, and the substrate is electrostatically adsorbed on the substrate mounting portion of the substrate susceptor. It is known to perform a desired process (Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent No. 4361405

  In the substrate mounting structure disclosed in Patent Document 1 and the like, when the substrate tray is transported onto the substrate susceptor, a guide (for example, a patent) between the substrate tray outer peripheral portion and the substrate susceptor is provided for mechanical positioning of the substrate. 17 (refer to FIGS. 17, 18A, 18B, etc. of Document 1), a guide (for example, see FIGS. 5A, 5B, etc. of Patent Document 1) between the inner diameter of the accommodation hole of the substrate tray and the outer diameter of the substrate mounting portion of the substrate susceptor, A plurality of guide mechanisms such as a guide for the diameter and the inner diameter of the accommodation hole of the substrate tray are provided, and using these, the substrate tray and the substrate susceptor are mechanically positioned, and the substrate and the substrate mounting portion And mechanical positioning.

  The guide mechanisms described above require a mechanical gap (for example, see δ1, δ3, etc. in FIG. 5B of Patent Document 1) in each guide mechanism, and thus there is a limit in improving the positioning accuracy of the substrate itself. Further, the outer diameter of the substrate mounting portion is made smaller than the outer diameter of the substrate (see, for example, FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B of Patent Document 1), so that the outer peripheral portion of the back surface of the substrate is not in contact with the substrate mounting portion. In the worst case, the process is affected by temperature or the like, and in the worst case, the substrate may be warped and deformed.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a substrate mounting structure and a substrate processing apparatus that improve the positioning accuracy of the substrate and reduce the influence on the process.

The substrate mounting structure according to the first invention for solving the above-mentioned problems is
A substrate tray provided with a plurality of through-holes that accommodate the substrate inside, and holding portions that protrude from at least three locations on the inner wall of the through-hole and hold the substrate on the upper surface;
A plurality of mounting tables projecting corresponding to the through-holes, and corresponding notches formed in at least three of the outer peripheral portions of the mounting table corresponding to the holding units. A mounting portion;
When the substrate tray is placed on the placement unit, the placement table is disposed inside the through hole, and the substrate is placed on the top surface of the placement table.
The outer diameter of the mounting table is made larger than the outer diameter of the substrate, and a guide for guiding the outer edge of the substrate is provided on the outer peripheral portion of the mounting table.

The substrate mounting structure according to the second invention for solving the above-mentioned problems is as follows.
In the substrate mounting structure according to the first invention,
The inner peripheral side of the guide is inclined toward the outer peripheral side from the upper surface of the mounting table on which the substrate is mounted.

A substrate mounting structure according to a third invention for solving the above-described problems is as follows.
In the substrate mounting structure according to the first or second invention,
The guide is provided on the entire circumference of the outer peripheral portion of the mounting table excluding the notch.

A substrate mounting structure according to a fourth invention for solving the above-described problems is as follows.
In the substrate mounting structure according to the first or second invention,
The guide is provided in at least three places on the outer peripheral portion of the mounting table excluding the notch.

The substrate processing apparatus which concerns on 5th invention which solves the said subject is,
The substrate mounting structure according to any one of the first to fourth inventions,
The temperature of the plurality of substrates is controlled via the mounting table, and a desired process is performed on the plurality of substrates.

  According to the present invention, when mounting a substrate on the mounting table of the mounting unit using a substrate tray that collectively conveys a plurality of substrates, the outer diameter of the mounting table is made larger than the outer diameter of the substrate. A guide that guides the outer edge of the substrate is provided on the outer periphery of the mounting table, so that the tolerance for the positioning accuracy of the substrate tray is increased, while original conveyance that increases the positioning accuracy of the substrate to the mounting table is realized. it can. As a result, the specification of the operation accuracy of the transfer robot that transfers the substrate tray can be relaxed, and the cost can be reduced. In addition, since the mounting table of the mounting unit on which the substrate is mounted is larger than the substrate, almost the entire back surface of the substrate can be brought into contact with the surface of the mounting table, and the temperature of the entire surface of the substrate can be controlled. The influence on the process caused by the temperature can be reduced, and the performance of the substrate processing apparatus can be improved. For example, if the substrate processing apparatus is a plasma CVD apparatus, the film quality during film formation can be improved.

It is a figure which shows embodiment (Example 1) of the mounting structure of the board | substrate which concerns on this invention, (a) is the top view, (b) is the sectional view on the AA arrow of (a). is there. It is a top view which shows the mounting plate of the mounting structure shown in FIG. It is a top view which shows the board | substrate tray of the mounting structure shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the robot arm which conveys the board | substrate tray shown in FIG. 3, (a) is the top view, (b) is BB arrow sectional drawing of (a). It is the top view to which a part of mounting structure shown in FIG. 1 was expanded. (A) is CC sectional view taken on the line of FIG. 5 just before board | substrate mounting, (b) is a modification of (a). It is CC sectional view taken on the line of FIG. 5 after board | substrate mounting. It is the upper side figure which expanded a part of modification of the mounting board shown in FIG.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of a substrate mounting structure and a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  Although illustration and detailed description are omitted, the substrate mounting structure according to the present invention may be, for example, a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus including a plasma CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) apparatus or an LED (Light Emitting Diode) manufacturing MEMS (MEMS). (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) It can be applied to a substrate processing apparatus such as a manufacturing apparatus. Further, the substrate mounting structure according to the present invention includes a mounting plate and a substrate tray. By replacing the mounting plate and the substrate tray in accordance with the size of the substrate to be used, an existing substrate processing apparatus can be used. Can also be installed. Accordingly, the substrate mounting structure according to the present invention will be described with reference to a mounting plate and a substrate tray that constitute the mounting structure.

Example 1
A mounting plate and a substrate tray constituting the substrate mounting structure of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7, and a modification thereof will be described with reference to FIG.

  Here, FIG. 1A is a top view showing the substrate mounting structure of the present embodiment, and FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. FIG. 2 is a top view showing a mounting plate having the mounting structure shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a top view showing a substrate tray having the mounting structure shown in FIG. 4A is a top view showing a robot arm that conveys the substrate tray shown in FIG. 3, and FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 4A. is there. 5 is an enlarged top view of a part of the mounting structure shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 6A is a cross-sectional view taken along the line CC in FIG. 6 (b) is a modification of FIG. 6 (a), and FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line CC in FIG. 5 after the substrate is placed. FIG. 8 is a modification of the mounting plate shown in FIG.

  The substrate mounting structure of this embodiment includes a disk-shaped mounting plate 10 and a substrate tray 20. On the upper surface 10a of the mounting plate 10, a plurality (five in the present embodiment) of substrate mounting tables 11 whose overall shape is substantially cylindrical are provided. The substrate mounting table 11 is formed corresponding to the number, position, shape, size, and the like of through holes 21 of the substrate tray 20 to be described later. The number of the substrate mounting table 11 and the through holes 21 depends on the mounting plate 10. The setting is appropriately made according to the size of the substrate tray 20 and the size of the substrate W to be placed. The substrate W to be placed has a diameter smaller than that of the placement plate 10 (diameter less than the radius of the placement plate 10). Here, a circular shape is illustrated, but other shapes may be used.

  On the substrate mounting table 11, a flat mounting surface 11a on which the substrate W is mounted is formed. The diameter of the mounting surface 11 a is larger than the diameter of the substrate W, so that the outer diameter of the substrate mounting table 11 is also larger than the diameter of the substrate W.

  A plurality of arc-shaped guides 12 are provided on the outer peripheral portion of the substrate mounting table 11 larger than the diameter of the substrate W (along the entire circumference except for a notch portion 13 to be described later) along the circumferential direction. In this embodiment, three) are formed. The guide 12 is formed such that the inner peripheral side thereof is inclined from the mounting surface 11a toward the outer peripheral side, and the outer edge of the substrate W to be mounted is guided toward the mounting surface 11a. . By guiding with this guide 12, almost the entire back surface of the substrate W (the entire back surface excluding the portion corresponding to the notch 13) comes into contact with the mounting surface 11a.

  A plurality (three in this embodiment) of notches 13 are formed between the guides 12. A substrate holding part 22 to be described later is accommodated in the notch 13. The notches 13 may be formed corresponding to the number, position, shape, and the like of the substrate holders 22, and since at least three substrate holders 22 are required, at least three notches may be formed. However, since this substrate holding part 22 holds the substrate W, the innermost peripheral position of the notch 13 is inside the outer edge of the placement surface 11a, that is, inside the outer edge of the placed substrate W. Is arranged. On the other hand, the notch portion 13 does not need a guide function like the guide 12, and is sufficient if it has a size that can accommodate the substrate holding portion 22. For example, the size of the notch 13 is a size obtained by adding the transfer accuracy (for example, ± 0.3 mm) of the transfer robot that transfers the substrate tray 20 to the size of the substrate holding unit 22 or larger than that. I just need it. However, since the temperature control of the substrate W is performed, it is desirable to set the size of the notch 13 within a range that does not affect the temperature control of the substrate W.

  A plurality of pin holes 14 (three in the present embodiment) are formed in the outer peripheral portion of the mounting plate 10 and away from the substrate mounting table 11, and a substrate tray is formed in the pin holes 14. Lift pins 15 that raise and lower 20 are inserted.

  What is necessary is just to form the pin hole 14 according to the number, position, shape, etc. of the lift pin 15, and since at least three lift pins 15 are required, it is sufficient to form at least three. Although not shown in the figure, electrodes for electrostatically adsorbing the substrate W are embedded in each substrate mounting table 11, and by applying a voltage to these electrodes, the substrate W Is electrostatically attracted so as to be in close contact with the mounting surface 11a. As described above, the mounting plate 10 is formed of a dielectric made of ceramics (for example, aluminum nitride (AlN)) or the like because the substrate W is electrostatically attracted.

  The mounting plate 10 having the above-described configuration is attached to the upper surface of the support base 16 disposed in a processing container such as a plasma CVD apparatus, for example. Then, the substrate tray 20 is transported onto the mounting plate 10 together with the substrate W, the substrate W is mounted on the mounting surface 11a of the substrate mounting table 11, and electrostatically attracted, and then a desired process, for example, a film forming process. Will do. In order to control the temperature of the substrate W, a temperature control mechanism, for example, a flow path through which a heater or a refrigerant flows is provided inside the support base 16, and performs temperature control of the temperature control mechanism inside the support base 16. At the same time, the substrate W can be controlled to a desired temperature by bringing the substrate W into close contact with the placement surface 11a by electrostatic attraction.

  Further, since the mounting plate 10 can be attached to the upper surface of the support base 16, it can be applied to an existing substrate processing apparatus, and can support substrates of different sizes. For example, if an existing substrate processing apparatus is compatible with a large-diameter substrate (for example, a 12-inch substrate), the mounting plate has a plurality of substrate mounting tables 11 corresponding to small-diameter substrates. If it replaces | places with the mounting plate 10, it can respond easily. The small-diameter substrate is not limited to Si but includes a compound semiconductor such as GaAs, sapphire, quartz, and the like, and has a size of 2 inches or 3 inches, for example.

  The substrate tray 20 has a plurality of circular through holes 21 (five in this embodiment) formed through the substrate tray 20, and the inner wall of the through hole 21 protrudes inward. A plurality of (three in this embodiment) substrate holding portions 22 are formed. When the substrate W is disposed inside the through hole 21 of the substrate tray 20, the substrate W is placed on the upper surfaces of the three substrate holding portions 22. In order to hold the substrate W, at least three substrate holding portions 22 may be formed. When the substrate tray 20 is placed on the placement plate 10, the substrate placement table 11 is disposed inside the through hole 21, and the substrate holding portion 22 is located inside the notch 13 of the substrate placement table 11. Will be housed.

  Further, a notch 23 formed so as to cut out one portion is provided on the outer periphery of the substrate tray 20, and the direction of the substrate tray 20 is determined using the notch 23 as will be described later.

The substrate tray 20 is formed of a ceramic material such as alumina (Al ₂ O ₃ ), silicon carbide (SiC), or aluminum nitride (AlN).

  The substrate tray 20 having the above-described configuration detects the outer periphery of the substrate tray 20 and the notch 23 using an alignment mechanism provided in an existing substrate processing apparatus, thereby determining the centering and orientation of the substrate tray 20, that is, Positioning can be performed. Accordingly, the substrate tray 20 is positioned by using the alignment mechanism, and is placed on the placement plate 10 within a predetermined error range by the robot arm 30 of the transfer robot. Therefore, each substrate W may be placed inside the through hole 21 of the substrate tray 20. As described above, the substrate tray 20 only needs to perform at least the transfer function of the substrate W.

  On the other hand, the substrate W placed on the substrate tray 20 is positioned by the guide 12 of the substrate placement table 11 of the placement plate 10 and is correctly placed on the placement surface 11a. That is, the guide 12 serving as a positioning function for the substrate W is provided on the substrate mounting table 11 itself to be placed, and the substrate W is directly mechanically positioned.

  Here, a series of operations when the substrate W is placed using the substrate tray 20 will be described with reference to FIGS. Here, the substrate processing apparatus is described as a plasma CVD apparatus.

  First, the substrate W is placed on the substrate tray 20. At this time, the substrate W only needs to be arranged inside the through hole 21. For example, the operator may arrange the substrate W using the substrate tweezers.

  Next, the substrate tray 20 on which the substrates W are arranged is inserted into the slot of the substrate cassette. If the substrate tray 20 has a 12-inch diameter, a 12-inch substrate cassette can be used.

  Next, the substrate cassette is set in the load lock chamber of the plasma CVD apparatus. The load lock chamber is evacuated, and the substrate tray 20 can be transferred under vacuum.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 4, the substrate tray 20 is pulled out from the slot of the substrate cassette using a robot arm 30 having a U-shaped hand portion 31 and an arm portion 32 that supports the hand portion 31. At this time, the substrate tray 20 is placed on the upper surface of the hand unit 31 and transported. Thereafter, the substrate tray 20 is positioned (centering and direction determination) using the alignment mechanism.

  Next, the substrate tray 20 is transported above the mounting plate 10 attached to the support 16 in the processing container of the plasma CVD apparatus. When the lift pins 15 are raised, the transported substrate tray 20 is lifted by the lift pins 15 and placed on the lift pins 15. Thereafter, the robot arm 30 is pulled out from below the substrate tray 20 lifted by the lift pins 15. At this time, as shown in FIG. 6A, the positional relationship between the mounting plate 10 and the substrate tray 20 is such that the through hole 21 is positioned above the substrate mounting table 11 and the substrate holding unit 22 is positioned above the notch 13. And the substrate W is positioned above the placement surface 11a.

  The length from the inner wall of the through hole 21 to the tip of the substrate holding part 22 is G, where G is the distance between the outer edge of the substrate W and the inner wall of the through hole 21 when the substrate W is arranged at the center of the through hole 21. It is desirable that the length is 2 × G or more. As a result, even if the substrate W is biased and placed inside the through hole 21, the substrate W does not fall from the substrate tray 20. Further, as shown in FIG. 6B, when the inclined portion 21a for guiding the outer edge of the substrate W to the substrate holding portion 22 is provided and placed from the inner wall of the through hole 21 to the upper surface of the substrate holding portion 22. The deviation of the substrate W may be suppressed. In this case, the length up to the tip of the substrate holding portion 22 described above may be shortened according to the length of the inclined portion 21 a protruding from the inner wall of the through hole 21.

  Next, when the lift pins 15 are lowered to a position lower than the surface of the mounting plate 10, the substrate tray 20 is mounted on the mounting plate 10, but within the predetermined error range by the alignment mechanism described above. It will be mounted on the mounting plate 10. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, the substrate mounting table 11 is inserted into the through hole 21, the notch 13 is inserted into the substrate holding unit 22, and the substrate W is disposed on the mounting surface 11a. At this time, the thickness of the substrate tray 20 is formed so that the upper surface of the substrate W and the upper surface of the substrate tray 20 are at substantially the same height position.

  As for the substrate tray 20, it is sufficient that the substrate mounting table 11 is disposed inside the through hole 21 and the substrate holding portion 22 is disposed in the notch 13 of the substrate mounting table 11. The position accuracy of itself may not be high. That is, the positioning accuracy of the transfer robot and alignment mechanism of the robot arm 30 that transfers the substrate tray 20 can be relatively low (for example, ± 0.3 mm).

  Conventionally, unless a high-accuracy transfer robot or the like is used, there is a risk of problems in stable operation of the apparatus, such as the substrate tray riding on the substrate mounting table of the mounting plate. On the other hand, in the substrate mounting structure of the present embodiment, even if the positioning accuracy of the substrate tray 20 itself is not high, the tolerance of the accuracy is large, so the substrate tray 20 is the substrate of the mounting plate 10. Problems on stable operation of the apparatus such as riding on the mounting table 11 can be reduced.

  On the other hand, when the substrate tray 20 is placed on the placement plate 10, the substrate W is placed on the substrate placement table 11. The substrate W is guided by the guide 12 of the substrate placement table 11. Thus, the entire back surface of the substrate W is guided to a position in contact with the mounting surface 11 a of the substrate mounting table 11, and the substrate W is placed with high accuracy by the guide 12. In this state, since the substrate W is electrostatically attracted to the mounting surface 11a of the substrate mounting table 11, almost the entire back surface of the substrate W (the entire back surface excluding the portion corresponding to the notch 13) is in close contact with the mounting surface 11a. Will do.

  Then, a film forming process using plasma is performed in a processing vessel of the plasma CVD apparatus, and a desired film is formed on the substrate surface. At this time, since almost the entire back surface of the substrate W is electrostatically attracted to the mounting surface 11a of the substrate mounting table 11 and is in close contact with the mounting surface 11a, the temperature distribution in the surface of the substrate W is made uniform. In addition, mechanical deformation can be suppressed.

  When the film forming process is completed, the lift pins 15 are raised to a position higher than the surface of the mounting plate 10, and the substrate tray 20 is transported from the processing container by the robot arm 30. Thereafter, the above-described procedure is repeated for each substrate tray 20.

  As described above, in the substrate mounting structure of the present embodiment, the substrate mounting table 11 and the mounting surface 11a have outer diameters larger than the outer diameter of the substrate W, and larger than the outer diameter of the substrate W. 11 is provided with a guide 12 for positioning the substrate W on the mounting surface 11a. By using such a structure, the substrate W is directly mechanically positioned on the mounting surface 11a of the substrate mounting table 11 without being affected by the positioning accuracy of the substrate tray 20, and the substrate W is mounted on the substrate. It can be mounted on the mounting surface 11a of the mounting table 11 with high accuracy.

  As described above, since the temperature distribution in the surface of the substrate W can be made uniform and mechanical deformation can be suppressed, adverse effects on the process can be reduced, and the performance of the substrate processing apparatus can be reduced. Improvements can be made. Further, since the tolerance of the positioning accuracy of the substrate tray 20 itself is large, the specification of the operation accuracy of the transfer robot can be relaxed, and the cost of the substrate processing apparatus can be reduced.

  In the present embodiment, the guides 12 in the substrate mounting table 11 are arranged on the entire circumference except for the notch 13. However, as in the modification shown in FIG. If at least three are formed in the outer peripheral part of the mounting table 11, the length may be shortened. The guide 12 has a triangular cross-section arc shape, but the guide 15 has a substantially triangular prism shape having an inclined surface on the inner peripheral side. Even in this case, the substrate tray 20 shown in FIG. 3 can be used as it is.

  The present invention can be applied to a substrate processing apparatus such as a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and a MEMS manufacturing apparatus including a plasma CVD apparatus. In these apparatuses, the present invention can be used in general substrate transport systems using a substrate tray.

10 Placement plate (placement part)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Substrate mounting base 12, 15 Guide 13 Notch 16 Support base 20 Substrate tray 21 Through hole 22 Substrate holding part 30 Robot arm

Claims (5)

A substrate tray provided with a plurality of through-holes that accommodate the substrate inside, and holding portions that protrude from at least three locations on the inner wall of the through-hole and hold the substrate on the upper surface;
A plurality of mounting tables projecting corresponding to the through-holes, and corresponding notches formed in at least three of the outer peripheral portions of the mounting table corresponding to the holding units. A mounting portion;
When the substrate tray is placed on the placement unit, the placement table is disposed inside the through hole, and the substrate is placed on the top surface of the placement table.
A substrate mounting structure characterized in that the outer diameter of the mounting table is made larger than the outer diameter of the substrate, and a guide for guiding the outer edge of the substrate is provided on the outer peripheral portion of the mounting table. In the board | substrate mounting structure of Claim 1,
2. A substrate mounting structure characterized in that the inner peripheral side of the guide is inclined from the upper surface of the mounting table to the outer peripheral side before mounting the substrate. In the board | substrate mounting structure of Claim 1 or Claim 2,
A substrate mounting structure, wherein the guide is provided on the entire periphery of the outer peripheral portion of the mounting table excluding the notch. In the board | substrate mounting structure of Claim 1 or Claim 2,
The substrate mounting structure according to claim 1, wherein the guide is provided in at least three places on the outer peripheral portion of the mounting table excluding the notch. A substrate mounting structure according to any one of claims 1 to 4, comprising:
A substrate processing apparatus that performs temperature control of the plurality of substrates and performs desired processing on the plurality of substrates through the mounting table.

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