JP2013131542A - In-line film forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an in-line film forming device capable of downsizing a footprint of a whole device.SOLUTION: The in-line film forming device comprises: a vacuum conveying mechanism 14 which deposits a film on a substrate while conveying a carrier attached with the substrate in a vacuum atmosphere; and a return mechanism 16 which conveys the carrier in an ambient atmosphere in a direction opposite to the substrate conveying direction of the vacuum conveying mechanism 14. The return mechanism 16 is provided adjacent to a side wall of the vacuum conveying mechanism 14.

Description

  The present invention relates to an in-line film forming apparatus that forms a film in a vacuum atmosphere.

  In the manufacturing process of flat panel displays such as LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), PDP (Plasma Display Panel) and EL (Electro Luminescence) displays, solar cells, electronic components and optical components, metal films, oxide films and transparent to the substrate As a method for forming a conductive film or the like, a vacuum film forming method is used. Among these, the vacuum deposition method with the highest productivity is an in-line vacuum deposition method.

  The in-line type film forming apparatus is equipped with a preparation chamber for transporting a substrate from an atmospheric pressure atmosphere to a vacuum atmosphere, a film forming chamber, a take-out chamber for taking out the substrate from the vacuum atmosphere to the atmospheric pressure atmosphere, and processing the substrate. At least a transport mechanism for sequentially transporting the chambers. The substrate is fixed to a carrier for transport, and the carrier is sequentially transported to a preparation chamber, a film formation chamber, and a take-out chamber by a transport mechanism.

  Generally, this type of in-line film forming apparatus includes a return mechanism that transports a film-formed substrate from the take-out chamber side to the preparation chamber side. As an apparatus provided with such a return mechanism, for example, an apparatus has been proposed in which a conveyance path that is a carrier conveyance path is set in a rectangular shape, and a plurality of vacuum vessels are arranged along the conveyance path (for example, Patent Documents). 1). In this apparatus, a space is formed inside the rectangular conveyance path, and a rotation chamber for rotating the carrier is provided at four corners of the conveyance path. The carrier sent out from the preparation chamber is rotated by 90 degrees in the first rotating chamber, and conveyed to the second rotating chamber while performing the film forming process. Next, the carrier conveyed to the second rotation chamber is rotated 90 degrees by the second rotation chamber, and is conveyed toward the third rotation chamber while performing the film forming process. Further, the carrier conveyed to the third rotation chamber is rotated by 90 degrees and conveyed to the fourth rotation chamber while performing the film forming process. The carrier conveyed to the fourth rotating chamber is conveyed to the take-out chamber.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 10, there is also a vacuum return type apparatus that folds a carrier to which a substrate is fixed in a vacuum chamber. This apparatus performs the first film forming process on the carrier conveyed from the substrate attaching / detaching mechanism 105 by the first vacuum conveying mechanism 103 that conveys the carrier in one direction. Then, the carrier rotation mechanism 106 rotates the carrier, and the second film forming process is performed by the return-side vacuum transfer mechanism 104 provided in parallel with the first vacuum transfer mechanism 103. For this reason, this apparatus is suitable for forming a thick film with two or more types of substances or with high tact. Further, since the vacuum transfer mechanisms 103 and 104 are arranged in parallel, the installation area of the apparatus can be reduced.

JP-A-8-274142

  However, in the rectangular conveyance path as described above, the installation area of the apparatus main body is increased due to the space inside the conveyance path. In the case of the vacuum return type apparatus shown in FIG. 10, when the apparatus is stopped for maintenance or the like, it stays inside the apparatus in order to avoid damage to the substrate due to residual heat of the heater in the apparatus. It is necessary to temporarily retract the carrier to the carrier stocker 110. For this reason, it is necessary to secure a space for placing the carrier stocker 110 in the installation space of the in-line type film forming apparatus, and it takes time to take out the carrier from the inside of the apparatus.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide an in-line type film forming apparatus capable of reducing the installation area of the entire apparatus.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention described in claim 1 includes a vacuum transfer mechanism that forms a film on a substrate while transferring the carrier to which the substrate is attached in a vacuum atmosphere, and the carrier in an atmospheric pressure atmosphere. An atmospheric pressure side conveyance mechanism that conveys in a direction opposite to the substrate conveyance direction of the vacuum conveyance mechanism, and the atmospheric pressure side conveyance mechanism is provided adjacent to a side wall of the vacuum conveyance mechanism. And

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the atmospheric pressure transfer mechanism is provided in contact with the side wall of the vacuum transfer mechanism, the apparatus can be miniaturized in a direction perpendicular to the substrate transfer direction. Further, since the apparatus is provided with an atmospheric pressure transfer mechanism, a carrier having a substrate fixed to the atmospheric pressure transfer mechanism can be stocked when the apparatus is stopped. Therefore, a carrier stocker for temporarily retracting the substrate when the apparatus is stopped. Is no longer necessary. For this reason, the installation area of the apparatus can be reduced.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the inline-type film forming apparatus according to the first aspect, the vacuum transfer mechanism includes a vacuum chamber and a drive system accommodated in the vacuum chamber, and the atmospheric pressure side The transfer mechanism includes a casing having an atmospheric pressure side transfer chamber inside and a drive system accommodated in the atmospheric pressure side transfer chamber, and the atmospheric pressure side transfer chamber is adjacent to the casing and the vacuum adjacent to the casing. The gist is defined by the side wall of the tank.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the side wall of the casing of the atmospheric pressure side transport mechanism is constituted by the side wall of the vacuum chamber, the substrate is transported by omitting a part of the side wall of the casing. The apparatus can be further miniaturized in a direction orthogonal to the direction.

  A third aspect of the present invention is the inline-type film forming apparatus according to the first or second aspect, wherein at least the vacuum transport mechanism includes a heating unit on the atmospheric pressure side transport mechanism side.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the vacuum transfer mechanism includes the heating unit on the side of the atmospheric pressure transfer mechanism that is in contact with the mechanism, heat is easily transmitted from the heating unit to the side of the atmospheric pressure transfer mechanism. For this reason, the temperature in an atmospheric pressure conveyance mechanism can be raised, and the moisture content which the gas in this mechanism contains can be decreased. Therefore, the amount of water adhering to the substrate is reduced, and adverse effects on the film quality can be suppressed.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the in-line type film forming apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, the atmospheric pressure side transport mechanism has low dew point clean air, nitrogen, or The gist is provided with a gas introduction part for introducing a dry gas composed of a mixed gas of low dew point clean air and nitrogen, and a gas discharge part for discharging the dry gas in the casing.

  According to the invention described in claim 4, since low dew point clean air, nitrogen, or a mixed gas of low dew point clean air and nitrogen is allowed to flow in the housing, moisture is adsorbed to the substrate or carrier after film formation. Can be prevented. In addition, these gases can be brought into contact with the substrate and the carrier to remove moisture attached to the substrate and the carrier. Accordingly, it is possible to suppress adverse effects on the subsequent film formation process due to moisture released from the substrate and the carrier.

  The gist of the invention described in claim 5 is that, in the in-line type film forming apparatus according to claim 4, the dew point of the dry gas supplied to the casing of the atmospheric pressure side transport mechanism is set to minus 30 degrees or less. .

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, since the dew point of the dry gas is set to minus 30 degrees or less, it is possible to prevent moisture from being adsorbed on the substrate or carrier after film formation. In addition, the amount of moisture removed by the dry gas out of the amount of moisture attached to the carrier and the substrate increases. Accordingly, it is possible to suppress adverse effects on the subsequent film formation process due to moisture released from the substrate and the carrier.

The top view which shows typically the whole apparatus about 1st Embodiment which actualized the in-line type film-forming apparatus of this invention. (A) is sectional drawing of the preparation chamber which comprises the apparatus, (b) is an enlarged view which shows the drive system in a preparation chamber. Sectional drawing of the film-forming chamber which comprises the apparatus. The graph which shows the discharge | release gas amount from an indium tin oxide (ITO) thin film. The graph which shows the relationship between the sheet resistance of an ITO thin film, and the oxygen flow rate of a film-forming process. The graph which shows the relationship between the dew point of the dry gas which flows through the return mechanism as an atmospheric pressure side conveyance mechanism which comprises the apparatus, and the moisture content to adsorb | suck to an ITO thin film. Sectional drawing which showed typically the film-forming chamber which comprises the apparatus about 2nd Embodiment which actualized the in-line type film-forming apparatus of this invention. The top view which shows typically the modification of the in-line type film-forming apparatus of this invention. Sectional drawing which shows the modification of the in-line type film-forming apparatus of this invention typically. The schematic diagram of the conventional in-line type film-forming apparatus.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, an embodiment of an in-line film forming apparatus embodying the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The in-line film forming apparatus is an apparatus for forming a metal film, a transparent electrode film, an insulating film or an optical film on a substrate made of glass or ceramics by a sputtering method, a vapor deposition method or a CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) method. In this embodiment, the in-line film forming apparatus will be described as an apparatus for forming a thin film made of ITO on a glass substrate by a sputtering method.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the in-line type film forming apparatus 11 includes a substrate attaching / detaching mechanism 12, a preparation side traverser 13, a vacuum transfer mechanism 14 that performs various processes for forming a film on the substrate S, and an extraction side traverser 15. And a return mechanism 16 as an atmospheric pressure side transport mechanism. Further, in the installation space of the in-line type film forming apparatus 11, components 17 such as a sputtering power source, a vacuum pump, and a gas cylinder are disposed. In the in-line type film forming apparatus 11, a transport path R for transporting the carrier C to which the substrate S is attached is set from the preparation side traverser 13 to the vacuum transport mechanism 14, the takeout side traverser 15, and the return mechanism 16. . As shown in FIG. 2, a magnet 37 is installed on the upper part of the carrier C, and is transported in a state where the substrate S is set up vertically, that is, in a state where the main surface of the substrate S is substantially parallel to the vertical direction. .

  The substrate attaching / detaching mechanism 12 is a mechanism for attaching the substrate S to the carrier C and removing the deposited substrate S from the carrier C by a robot (not shown). The substrate S is a rectangular substrate having a large area of, for example, 1000 mm × 1200 mm, 1100 mm × 1300 mm, or the like.

  The preparation side traverser 13 removes the substrate S formed by the robot and moves the carrier C, to which the substrate S before film formation is attached, in a direction substantially perpendicular to the transfer direction of the transfer path R. Transport to the side. In addition, an air curtain for flowing low dew point clean air (clean dry air; CDA) at a rate of 5 cm / sec or more is formed at the access portion between the preparation side traverser 13 and the substrate attaching / detaching mechanism 12.

  The vacuum transfer mechanism 14 includes seven vacuum chambers 20 along the transfer path R. The vacuum chamber 20 is formed from a vacuum material made of metal or the like. The boundaries of the vacuum chambers 20 are opened and connected to the adjacent vacuum chambers 20 so that the vacuum chambers 20s, which are the internal spaces, communicate with each other. Further, gate valves 20v are provided at a plurality of positions in the boundary of the vacuum chamber 20, and the inside of the vacuum chamber 20 sandwiched between the gate valves 20v can be sealed. The vacuum chamber 20 includes an exhaust system composed of a turbo molecular pump or the like independently, or a plurality of vacuum chambers 20 include a common exhaust system. These vacuum chambers 20 constitute a preparation chamber 21, a heating chamber 22, a film formation inlet chamber 23, a film formation chamber 24, a film formation outlet chamber 25, a buffer chamber 26, and a take-out chamber 27, respectively.

  The preparation chamber 21 is provided to move the carrier C from the atmospheric pressure atmosphere to the vacuum atmosphere, and includes a gate valve 20v at the boundary with the preparation side traverser 13 and the boundary with the heating chamber 22, respectively. The preparation chamber 21 includes an exhaust system that evacuates the interior independently and a clean gas supply system that supplies a clean gas that protects the substrate S from particles. In the charging chamber 21, after performing slow exhaust while flowing clean gas, vacuum exhaust is rapidly performed by driving the exhaust system.

  As shown in FIG. 2A, the vacuum chamber 20 of the preparation chamber 21 is placed on the gantry 30. The vacuum chamber 20 s is provided with a drive system 32 for transporting the substrate S to the heating chamber 22. As shown in FIG. 2B, the drive system 32 includes a rotation shaft 33 and a roller 34 that rotates in conjunction with the rotation shaft 33. The rotating shaft 33 is rotatably supported by a support base 35 fixed to the bottom wall portion of the vacuum chamber 20. In addition, one end of the rotating shaft 33 is connected to a motor (not shown) via a transmission portion 33 a disposed outside the vacuum chamber 20.

  Moreover, the roller 34 is provided with the recessed part 34a formed in the cross-sectional substantially U shape in the side surface of the circumferential direction. When the motor is driven, the rotation of the motor is transmitted to the rotation shaft 33 via the transmission unit 33a, and the roller 34 is rotated. The roller 34 conveys the carrier C while supporting the carrier C from below by sliding the surface of the recess 34a and the lower end of the carrier C.

  As shown in FIG. 2A, a hanging portion is provided at the upper part in the vacuum chamber 20. The suspension portion is provided with a magnet 38 that magnetically suspends the magnet 37 installed on the carrier C by attracting the carrier C with a magnetic force, and a magnet fixing portion 36 that fixes the magnet 38 to the vacuum chamber 20. ing. That is, the carrier C to which the substrate S is fixed is conveyed by the roller 34 while maintaining an upright posture by the magnet 37 installed on the top of the carrier C and the magnet 38 installed on the top of the vacuum chamber 20.

  In addition, a housing 39 of the return mechanism 16 is installed on the gantry 30. The housing 39 has a substantially U-shaped cross section and has a shape in which the vacuum chamber 20 side is open. Further, a drive system 32 is provided in the housing 39 in the same manner as the preparation chamber 21. The rotating shaft 33 of the drive system 32 is connected to a motor (not shown) provided on the side opposite to the vacuum transfer mechanism 14.

  Then, by attaching the opening side to the vacuum chamber 20, the side wall 20 a of the vacuum chamber 20 constitutes the side wall of the housing 39 of the return mechanism 16, and the atmospheric pressure side transfer chamber 39 s is defined by the side wall 20 a and the housing 39. Is done. In other words, the vacuum chamber 20 and the housing 39 share a side wall that separates the vacuum atmosphere in the vacuum chamber 20 and the atmospheric pressure atmosphere in the housing 39.

  The side walls of the vacuum chamber 20 of the heating chamber 22, the film forming inlet chamber 23, the film forming chamber 24, the film forming outlet chamber 25, the buffer chamber 26, and the take-out chamber 27 are not limited to the charging chamber 21. It is composed. For this reason, the apparatus can be miniaturized in a direction orthogonal to the substrate transfer direction of the vacuum transfer mechanism 14 and the return mechanism 16.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the vacuum transfer mechanism 14 is heavier than the return mechanism 16 because it includes a sputtering mechanism, exhaust system components, and the like. Therefore, in order to balance the vacuum transfer mechanism 14 and the return mechanism 16, the vacuum transfer mechanism 14 and the return mechanism 16 are arranged such that their centers of gravity substantially coincide with the center in the width direction of the gantry 30. As a result, the return mechanism 16 is arranged so as to slightly protrude outside the gantry 30.

  Next, the heating chamber 22 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the heating chamber 22 is provided for heating the substrate S and the carrier C to a predetermined film formation temperature, and a gate valve is provided at the boundary with the preparation chamber 21 and the film formation inlet chamber 23. 20v and an exhaust system (not shown) for independently decompressing the inside of the heating chamber 22. In the vacuum chamber of the heating chamber 22, heaters 22a and 22b as a pair of heating units are provided. The heaters 22a and 22b are non-contact type and have a flat plate shape. One heater 22a is attached in the vicinity of the side wall 20a on the return mechanism 16 side or in contact with the side wall 20a, and the other heater 22b It is attached at a position opposite to the mechanism 16. By passing the carrier C to which the substrate S is fixed between the heaters 22a and 22b, the amount of moisture attached to the carrier C and the substrate S is reduced.

  Further, since the vacuum chamber 20 and the return mechanism 16 are separated only by the side wall 20a, the heat of the heaters 22a and 22b is easily transmitted to the atmospheric pressure side transfer chamber 39s through the side wall 20a in the vicinity of the heater 22a. . For this reason, the air in the atmospheric pressure side transfer chamber 39 s rises in temperature and volatilizes moisture and the like attached to the housing 39. As a result, the moisture content in the atmosphere of the atmospheric pressure side transfer chamber 39s is reduced.

  The film formation inlet chamber 23, the film formation chamber 24, and the film formation outlet chamber 25 include a gate valve 20 v at the boundary with the heating chamber 22 and the boundary with the buffer chamber 26 and a common exhaust system. The film formation inlet chamber 23, the film formation chamber 24, and the film formation outlet chamber 25 are provided with the above-described drive system 32 and the hanging portion in the vacuum chamber 20s, like the preparation chamber 21 and the heating chamber 22. In the film formation inlet chamber 23, the carrier C carried into the film formation chamber 24 is temporarily kept in standby, and in the film formation outlet chamber 25, the carrier C transferred from the film formation chamber 24 to the buffer chamber 26 is temporarily kept in standby.

  In this embodiment, the film forming chamber 24 is a DC sputtering apparatus, and as shown in FIG. 3, a cathode 40, a gas supply system that supplies a mixed gas composed of argon and oxygen, and a voltage applied to the cathode 40. Power supply and the like (not shown). The film forming chamber 24 includes three cathodes 40 on the side wall opposite to the return mechanism 16 side. A target 41 made of ITO is provided on a side surface of the cathode 40 facing the carrier C. A DC voltage is supplied to the target 41 from the power source. When performing maintenance such as replacement of the target 41 in the film forming chamber 24, the side wall provided with the cathode 40 is opened and closed. Furthermore, a heater 42 for maintaining the film forming temperature is provided on the side wall 20a opposite to the cathode 40.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the buffer chamber 26 includes a gate valve 20v at the boundary with the film forming outlet chamber 25 and the boundary with the extraction chamber 27, and an exhaust system (not shown) that independently decompresses the inside of the vacuum chamber 20s. ). The buffer chamber 26 includes a pair of non-contact type cooling panels 26a and 26b, and the cooling panels 26a and 26b are arranged so as to face each other with the conveyance path R in between. By transporting the carrier C between the cooling panels 26a and 26b, the substrate S and the carrier C are cooled. The cooled substrate S and carrier C are transferred to the take-out chamber 27.

  The take-out chamber 27 is provided with a gas shower supply system for flowing clean gas, like the preparation chamber 21. In the take-out chamber 27, the slow vent is performed while flowing the clean gas by the gas shower supply system, and then the main vent is performed by the main vent valve so that the vacuum atmosphere is changed to the atmospheric pressure atmosphere.

The carrier C sent out from the take-out chamber 27 is transported to the return mechanism 16 side by the take-out side traverser 15 in a direction substantially perpendicular to the transport direction of the transport path R.
As described above, the return mechanism 16 includes a plurality of drive systems 32 and suspension portions inside the housing 39, and moves the carrier C from the take-out side traverser 15 toward the preparation side traverser 13 on the transport path R. Convey along. The atmospheric pressure side transfer chamber 39s in the housing 39 is not depressurized and is at atmospheric pressure.

  Further, the extraction side traverser 15 is provided with a gas introduction part 15a for introducing a dry gas composed of low dew point clean air, nitrogen, or a mixed gas of low dew point clean air and nitrogen. Further, the preparation-side traverser 13 is provided with a gas discharge part 13a through which the dry gas flowing through the return mechanism 16 is discharged. The dry gas is introduced into the atmospheric pressure side transfer chamber 39s from the gas introduction part 15a and discharged from the gas discharge part 13a, so that the dry gas does not stay in the atmospheric pressure side transfer chamber 39s and moves along the transfer path R. Flowing. This dry gas prevents moisture from adsorbing to the substrate S and the carrier C after film formation. Further, the drying gas contacts the substrate S and the carrier C in the process of flowing through the atmospheric pressure side transfer chamber 39s, and volatilizes the moisture attached to them. That is, although the atmospheric pressure side transfer chamber 39s is at atmospheric pressure, the moisture content is kept extremely small compared to the moisture content in the atmosphere outside the housing 39.

  Further, when the apparatus is stopped for maintenance or the like, the carrier C in the return mechanism 16 stands by in the atmospheric pressure side transfer chamber 39s. On the other hand, when the return-side vacuum transfer mechanism 104 is configured from a vacuum chamber as shown in FIG. 10, the carrier C is taken out from the return-side vacuum transfer mechanism 104 and is disposed in the installation space of the entire apparatus. Must be housed in a stocker. On the other hand, in the apparatus of this embodiment, the carrier stocker used when the apparatus is stopped and the installation space for the carrier stocker become unnecessary.

  Next, an operation of performing a film forming process on the substrate S using the above-described inline film forming apparatus 11 will be described. First, the substrate S is set up vertically by the robot of the substrate attaching / detaching mechanism 12 and fixed to the carrier C in the preparation side traverser 13.

  The carrier C to which the substrate S is fixed moves in parallel in a direction orthogonal to the transport path R of the vacuum transport mechanism 14 from the substrate attaching / detaching mechanism 12 side toward the vacuum transport mechanism 14 side. When the carrier C reaches the start end of the transport path R of the vacuum transport mechanism 14, the gate valve 20 v is opened and transported from the preparation side traverser 13 to the preparation chamber 21.

  When the carrier C is transported to the charging chamber 21, after the slow exhaust is performed with the clean gas, the interior of the charging chamber 21 is rapidly evacuated by driving the exhaust system. Further, the gate valve 20 v between the preparation chamber 21 and the heating chamber 22 is opened, and the carrier C is transferred to the heating chamber 22. When the carrier C is transported to the heating chamber 22, the gate valve 20v between the preparation chamber 21 and the heating chamber 22 is closed.

  The carrier C conveyed to the heating chamber 22 passes between the heaters 22a and 22b while being conveyed by the drive system 32. The temperatures of the heaters 22a and 22b are set to temperatures at which the substrate S can be raised to about the film formation temperature. By the heat treatment in the heating chamber 22, the amount of moisture attached to the substrate S and the carrier C is reduced.

  When the heat treatment is completed, the gate valve 20v between the heating chamber 22 and the film forming inlet chamber 23 is opened, and the carrier C is transferred from the heating chamber 22 to the film forming inlet chamber 23. When the carrier C is transferred to the film forming inlet chamber 23, the gate valve 20v between the heating chamber 22 and the film forming inlet chamber 23 is closed. The carrier C is transported to the film forming chamber 24 by the drive system 32 of the film forming inlet chamber 23.

  A mixed gas of argon and oxygen is supplied to the film forming chamber 24 at a constant flow rate. When the carrier C is transported to a position where the substrate S faces the target 41, a DC voltage is applied from the power source to the target 41. As a result, argon between the target 41 and the substrate S is ionized and sputtered, and a thin film made of ITO is formed on the substrate S. Note that the target 41 may be always discharged, and the carrier C may be sequentially and continuously conveyed to form a thin film.

  When the film forming process is completed, the carrier C is transferred to the buffer chamber 26 side by the drive system 32 of the film forming outlet chamber 25, and the gate valve 20v between the film forming outlet chamber 25 and the buffer chamber 26 is opened. Is done. The carrier C is transferred to the buffer chamber 26 via the gate valve 20v. When the carrier C is transferred to the buffer chamber 26, the gate valve 20v between the film forming outlet chamber 25 and the buffer chamber 26 is closed.

  The carrier C transported to the buffer chamber 26 passes between the cooling panels 26a and 26b while being driven by the drive system 32. The substrate S is cooled in a non-contact manner by the cooling panels 26a and 26b.

  Further, the carrier C is transferred to the extraction chamber 27 via the gate valve 20v between the buffer chamber 26 and the extraction chamber 27. The carrier C exposed to the atmospheric pressure atmosphere in the take-out chamber 27 is transported to the take-out side traverser 15.

  The carrier C transported into the take-out side traverser 15 moves in parallel in a direction orthogonal to the transport path R toward the return mechanism 16 side. When the carrier C reaches the start end of the transport path R of the return mechanism 16, the carrier C is transported from the take-out side traverser 15 to the return mechanism 16.

  In the return mechanism 16, as described above, the dry gas supplied from the gas introduction part 15a of the take-out side traverser 15 flows toward the charging side traverser 13, and the dry gas is discharged from the gas discharge part 13a. Yes. This dry gas prevents moisture from adsorbing to the substrate S and the carrier C after film formation. Further, when the dry gas comes into contact with the carrier C and the substrate S, the moisture adsorbed on the carrier C and the substrate S is contained in the dry gas and discharged from the gas discharge unit 13a. By flowing the dry gas in this way, moisture is prevented from adsorbing to the substrate S and the carrier C after film formation, and the amount of moisture attached to the carrier C and the substrate S is reduced. There is no need to lengthen the heating time of C or the substrate S or raise the heating temperature.

On the other hand, when no dry gas is allowed to flow through the return mechanism 16, the thin film made of an oxide such as ITO has a property of easily absorbing moisture, and therefore absorbs moisture in the atmospheric pressure atmosphere of the return mechanism 16. FIG. 4 shows the emission from sample A in which the glass substrate is left in an atmospheric pressure atmosphere and samples B and C in which the substrate with the ITO thin film is left in an atmospheric pressure atmosphere by TDS (temperature-programmed desorption method). The results of measuring the amount of gas were shown. The standing time was 210 seconds, and the ITO film thickness was 15,000 mm for sample B and 150,000 mm for sample C. In Sample B, the amount of released gas was doubled compared to a simple glass substrate. Moreover, when the composition of the gas was examined by RGA (residual gas analyzer) for the released gas, it was found that the main emitted gas was H ₂ O. Furthermore, when the thickness of the ITO thin film reached 150,000 mm, the amount of released gas was 20 times the amount of released gas from the 15,000 mm ITO thin film.

  Therefore, when no dry gas is allowed to flow through the return mechanism 16, oxides and the like attached to the carrier C in the film forming process also absorb moisture in the atmospheric pressure atmosphere of the return mechanism 16. Moisture absorbed by the adhering matter is released while the carrier C circulates in the apparatus. For example, when moisture is released in the film formation chamber 24, the water molecules are decomposed into hydrogen and oxygen by the plasma generated in the film formation chamber 24. Since the decomposed oxygen changes the ratio of oxygen in the plasma, there is a problem that the film forming conditions change.

  FIG. 5 shows the relationship between the amount of oxygen introduced in the sputtering process and the sheet resistance value of the ITO film when the film formation target is ITO. When the amount of oxygen introduced, that is, the ratio of oxygen in the plasma increases, the sheet resistance once decreases but increases through a minimum value. The oxygen flow rate when the sheet resistance becomes the minimum value is 3 sccm.

  In addition, it is preferable that the dew point temperature of the drying gas flowing through the return mechanism 16 is minus 30 degrees or less. In the case of minus 30 degrees or less, as shown in FIG. 6, the amount of adsorbed moisture is about 0.22 (2/9) times as compared with the case where the ITO thin film is exposed to the atmosphere. As a result, the continuous operation time without changing the carrier could be 144 hours (6 days). As described above, moisture released from the carrier in the film formation chamber is decomposed into hydrogen and oxygen. Continuous operation can be performed without exchanging the carrier C until the amount of oxygen reaches 3 sccm. By setting the dew point temperature of the drying gas to minus 30 degrees or less, the amount of moisture adsorbed to the ITO film adhering to the carrier is about 0.22 times that when exposed to the atmosphere, and continuous operation without carrier replacement is performed. The time could be 144 hours.

  When the carrier C is transported to the end of the return mechanism 16, the carrier C is sent to the preparation side traverser 13. The substrate attaching / detaching mechanism 12 removes the substrate S on which the ITO thin film is formed from the carrier C conveyed to the preparation side traverser 13. When the substrate S is exposed to the dry gas, the moisture is suppressed from being adsorbed and the amount of adsorbed water is reduced. For this reason, in the film-forming process subsequent to the process of forming the ITO thin film, the amount of water evaporated from the ITO thin film is reduced, and adverse effects on the film-forming conditions are suppressed. On the other hand, the carrier C is also prevented from adsorbing moisture by being exposed to the dry gas, and the amount of adsorbed water is reduced. For this reason, in the next film-forming process, moisture evaporated from the ITO film unintentionally attached to the carrier C is reduced, and adverse effects on the film-forming conditions are suppressed. In addition, when the substrate S before film formation attached by the substrate attaching / detaching mechanism 12 is exposed to the dry gas by the preparation side traverser 13, the amount of adsorbed moisture decreases. This suppresses adverse effects on the film forming conditions.

According to the first embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) In the first embodiment, the return mechanism 16, which is an atmospheric pressure transfer mechanism, is provided in contact with the side wall 20 a of the vacuum chamber 20 of the vacuum transfer mechanism 14, so that it is orthogonal to the substrate transfer direction of the vacuum transfer mechanism 14. Therefore, the device can be downsized in the direction in which it is performed. Further, since the return mechanism 16 in the atmospheric pressure atmosphere is provided in the apparatus, the carrier C with the substrate S fixed to the return mechanism 16 can be stocked when the apparatus is stopped, so that the substrate is temporarily retracted when the apparatus is stopped. This eliminates the need for a carrier stocker. For this reason, the installation area of the whole apparatus can be reduced.

  (2) In the first embodiment, the side wall of the casing 39 of the return mechanism 16 is constituted by the side wall 20a of the vacuum chamber 20, and therefore, by omitting a part of the side wall of the casing 39, the substrate transport direction The apparatus can be further miniaturized in the direction orthogonal to. Further, by omitting the side wall of the casing 39, the casing 39 can be reduced in weight.

  (3) In the first embodiment, the vacuum transfer mechanism 14 includes the heaters 22a, 22b, and 42 on the return mechanism 16 side in contact with the mechanism, so that heat easily propagates to the return mechanism 16 side. For this reason, the temperature in the return mechanism 16 can be raised and the moisture content which the gas in this mechanism contains can be decreased. Accordingly, since the amount of moisture attached to the substrate S and the carrier C is reduced, the amount of moisture released in the subsequent film forming process can be reduced. For this reason, the bad influence with respect to the film | membrane quality by a water | moisture content can be suppressed.

  (4) In the first embodiment, low dew point clean air, nitrogen, or low dew point clean air and a dry gas of nitrogen are allowed to flow in the housing 39 of the return mechanism 16. Therefore, in the process in which the carrier C is transported into the return mechanism 16, the dry gas comes into contact with the substrate S and the carrier C, so that moisture is prevented from adsorbing on the substrate S and the carrier C after film formation. Further, the amount of moisture attached to the substrate S and the carrier C can be reduced. That is, by reducing the amount of moisture adhering to the substrate S, it is possible to suppress adverse effects on film forming conditions and the like in other processes after the ITO thin film is formed. Further, by reducing the amount of water adhering to the carrier C circulating in the apparatus, the amount of water released in the process of transporting the carrier C into the vacuum transport mechanism 14 is decreased, which adversely affects the film quality of the ITO thin film. Can be suppressed. Further, when the substrate S before film formation attached by the substrate attaching / detaching mechanism 12 is exposed to the dry gas by the preparation side traverser 13, the amount of adsorbed moisture decreases. This suppresses adverse effects on the film forming conditions.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment of the in-line film forming apparatus embodying the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In addition, since 2nd Embodiment is a structure which only changed the return mechanism 16 of 1st Embodiment, the detailed description is abbreviate | omitted about the same part.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the housing 39 of the return mechanism 16 has an upper wall portion, a bottom wall portion, and a pair of side wall portions, and surrounds a hanging portion including a drive system 32 and a magnet fixing portion. That is, the housing 39 has a cylindrical shape that opens on the side of the preparation side traverser 13 and the side of the extraction side traverser 15.

  The casing 39 is installed on the gantry 30 with its side wall in contact with the vacuum chamber 20 of the vacuum transfer mechanism 14. Heat from the heaters 22 a and 22 b in the heating chamber 22 and the heater 42 in the film forming chamber 24 is also transmitted to the return mechanism 16 through the side wall of the vacuum chamber 20 and the side wall of the housing 39.

According to the second embodiment, the following effects can be obtained in addition to the effects described in the first embodiment.
(5) In the second embodiment, since the return mechanism 16 is installed on the gantry 30 with the side wall of the casing 39 adjacent to the side wall of the vacuum transfer mechanism 14, the return mechanism 16 is orthogonal to the substrate transfer direction of the vacuum transfer mechanism 14. The device can be miniaturized in the direction. Moreover, since the housing | casing 39 is formed in a cylinder shape, it only has to install it in the state which contacted the housing | casing 39 and each vacuum chamber 20, and the effort which attaches the housing | casing 39 to each vacuum chamber 20 is reduced.

In addition, you may change each said embodiment as follows.
In each of the above embodiments, the rotary shaft 33 of the drive system 32 of the vacuum transfer mechanism 14 is connected to a motor disposed on the side opposite to the return mechanism 16, and the rotary shaft 33 of the drive system 32 of the return mechanism 16 is vacuumed. It connected with the motor arrange | positioned on the opposite side to the conveyance mechanism 14. FIG. In addition to this configuration, as shown in FIG. 9, the rotation shaft 33 of the drive system 32 of the vacuum transfer mechanism 14 is extended to the outside of the return mechanism 16 via the return mechanism 16, and disposed outside the return mechanism 16. It may be connected to a motor. That is, drive sources (motors) for the vacuum transfer mechanism 14 and the return mechanism 16 are arranged on the return mechanism 16 side. At this time, the rotation shaft 33 of the vacuum transfer mechanism 14 and the rotation shaft 33 of the return mechanism 16 may be connected to a common motor via a gear and a clutch. In this case, the vacuum transport mechanism 14 having a large weight is reduced in weight by the amount of the motor. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the weight deviation of the unit including the vacuum transport mechanism 14 and the return mechanism 16 and to easily balance the unit. it can.

  In the in-line film forming apparatus, the position of the substrate attaching / detaching mechanism 12 and the number and types of processing chambers of the vacuum transfer mechanism 14 may be changed as appropriate. For example, the substrate attaching / detaching mechanism 12 and the preparation side traverser 13 may be arranged along the substrate transport direction of the vacuum transport mechanism 14. Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the substrate attaching / detaching mechanism 12 may be provided along the longitudinal side wall of the return mechanism 16. Further, as shown in FIG. 8, a traverser mechanism may be installed in the preparation chamber 21 and the extraction chamber 27, and the preparation side traverser and extraction side traverser installed in an atmospheric pressure atmosphere may be omitted. The operation of the apparatus is performed by evacuating the preparation chamber 21 with the carrier C and the substrate S, and evacuating the extraction chamber 27 without the carrier C and the substrate S. For this reason, in the extraction chamber 27, it is not necessary to consider the gas released from the carrier C and the substrate S, and it is not necessary to perform slow exhaust. Therefore, since the volume of the extraction chamber 27 may be larger than the volume of the preparation chamber 21, an atmospheric pressure traverser is installed on the preparation chamber 21 side, the atmospheric pressure traverser is omitted on the extraction chamber 27 side, and the traverser is installed in the extraction chamber. An installed configuration may be used. Furthermore, the vacuum transfer mechanism 14 may have a configuration in which a plurality of heating chambers, transfer chambers, and the like are provided.

In the above embodiment, the heating chamber 22 is provided between the preparation chamber 21 and the film formation inlet chamber 23. However, the heaters 22a and 22b may be omitted and a buffer chamber may be configured.
In the above embodiment, the extraction side traverser 15 is provided with the gas introduction part 15a, and the charging side traverser 13 is provided with the gas discharge part 13a, so that the dry gas flows from the gas introduction part 15a to the gas discharge part 13a. In short, it is only necessary that the dry gas can flow in the return mechanism 16 without being retained. For example, a gas inlet and a gas outlet may be provided on the side wall of the return mechanism 16 opposite to the vacuum transfer mechanism 14.

  In the above embodiment, the film forming chamber 24 is embodied as a sputtering apparatus, but a film forming material is evaporated (sublimated) from a vapor deposition source to form a thin film on the substrate, and a thin film is formed on the substrate by chemical vapor deposition. The present invention may be embodied in a CVD apparatus or the like that forms the film.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... In-line type film-forming apparatus, 13a ... Gas discharge part, 14,104 ... Vacuum conveyance mechanism, 15a ... Gas introduction part, 16 ... Atmospheric pressure side conveyance mechanism, 20 ... Vacuum tank, 20a ... Side wall, 20s ... Vacuum chamber, 22a, 22b, 42 ... heater as heating unit, 32 ... drive system, 39s ... atmospheric pressure side transfer chamber, 39 ... casing, C ... carrier, S ... substrate.

Claims (5)

A vacuum transfer mechanism for forming a film on the substrate while transferring the carrier with the substrate attached in a vacuum atmosphere;
An atmospheric pressure side transport mechanism that transports the carrier in an atmospheric pressure atmosphere in a direction opposite to the substrate transport direction of the vacuum transport mechanism;
The in-line type film forming apparatus, wherein the atmospheric pressure side transfer mechanism is provided adjacent to a side wall of the vacuum transfer mechanism. The vacuum transfer mechanism includes a vacuum chamber and a drive system accommodated in the vacuum chamber,
The atmospheric pressure side transfer mechanism includes a housing having an atmospheric pressure side transfer chamber inside, and a drive system accommodated in the atmospheric pressure side transfer chamber,
The in-line type film forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the atmospheric pressure side transfer chamber is partitioned by the casing and a side wall of the adjacent vacuum chamber.   The in-line film forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the vacuum transfer mechanism includes a heating unit at least on the atmospheric pressure side transfer mechanism side.   The atmospheric pressure side transport mechanism includes a gas introduction unit that introduces a dry gas composed of low dew point clean air, nitrogen, or a mixed gas of low dew point clean air and nitrogen into the housing, and the dry gas in the housing. The in-line type film forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a gas discharge unit that discharges the gas.   The in-line film forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein a dew point of the dry gas supplied to the casing of the atmospheric pressure side transport mechanism is −30 degrees or less.

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