JP2021077815A - Vacuum processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a vacuum processing apparatus that does not require adjustment during assembly and enables high-precision assembly.SOLUTION: A vacuum processing apparatus has a hinge mechanism 4 for opening and closing an upper lid 5 on one side of a housing 1, and the upper lid 5 can be displaced in the vertical direction by a long hole hinge hole 7, a hinge shaft 6, and a spring mechanism 8 provided in the hinge mechanism 4. Since the hinge shaft 6 can be displaced in the vertical direction, it is not necessary to adjust the height of the hinge mechanism 4 during an assembly process. As a result, an assembly time can be shortened, and an increase in manufacturing cost can be suppressed.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

The present invention relates to a vacuum processing apparatus.

In recent years, as equipment using semiconductor elements has become widespread, price competition has intensified, and it has become necessary to reduce the manufacturing cost of the semiconductor processing apparatus itself. In addition, since the site area occupied at the time of installation depends on the size of the semiconductor processing device, the size of the semiconductor processing device is regarded as a part of the operating cost, and the semiconductor is not only low-priced but also space-saving and has a high operating rate. There is a fact that processing equipment is required.

In order to satisfy such a requirement, Patent Document 1 discloses a sample processing apparatus adopting a hinge mechanism capable of opening and closing the opening / closing lid of the processing chamber. By using such a hinge mechanism, it is possible to reduce the site area of the sample processing device, improve maintainability, and realize a high operating rate.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2006-140292

1 and 2 show schematic cross-sectional views of a vacuum processing apparatus using a conventional hinge mechanism.
In FIG. 1, the housing 11 and the upper lid 15 are connected by a hinge mechanism 14. The hinge mechanism 14 is formed by inserting (fitting) a hinge shaft into holes formed in projecting pieces provided in the housing 11 and the upper lid 15, respectively, and the holes slide with respect to the hinge shaft. The upper lid 15 can be opened and closed with respect to the housing 11. A vacuum seal member 19 is arranged over the entire circumference between the ends of the housing 11 and the upper lid 15, and as shown in FIG. 2, when the upper lid 15 is closed with respect to the housing 11, a vacuum is provided inside. A processing chamber (also called a processing chamber) is formed.
In the device using the hinge mechanism 14 shown in FIG. 1, the supporting parts of the hinge mechanism 14 form a part of the housing 11.

Here, if the gap S with the housing 11 is not uniform when the upper lid 15 is closed, the amount of crushing of the vacuum seal member 19 may be non-uniform and gas leakage may occur. Therefore, in order to secure the degree of vacuum in the vacuum processing chamber, a mechanism (not shown) that can adjust the height of the hinge mechanism 14 so that the vacuum seal member 19 is uniformly crushed when the upper lid 15 is closed is provided. This mechanism is used to adjust the height direction of the hinge mechanism in the vacuum processing apparatus assembly process. However, there is a problem that it is difficult to adjust the hinge mechanism in the height direction.

Further, in the conventional device, since the hinge shaft supporting the hinge mechanism 14 is only on one side of the vacuum processing chamber, if the hinge shaft is adjusted above the optimum position as shown in FIG. 2, the upper lid 15 and the housing 11 are used. The gap between the and is uneven. Therefore, the degree of vacuum in the vacuum processing chamber may deteriorate, or in the worst case, the vacuum may not be maintained. Such defects can be solved by adjusting the hinge mechanism or replacing parts, but this leads to an increase in manufacturing man-hours and replacement parts, leading to an increase in manufacturing cost.

Further, as described above, since the portion opened and closed by the hinge mechanism 14 is the upper lid 15, if the hinge mechanism 14 is not properly adjusted, the upper lid 15 will be tilted with respect to the housing 11. In particular, in semiconductor processing, a disk-shaped substrate called a wafer is etched to generate many chips from the wafer. In order to take out more chips, it is desirable that the conditions such as pressure and gas concentration are exactly the same in the wafer surface. Therefore, the vacuum processing chamber formed by the housing 11 and the upper lid 15 is a wafer. It is desirable to have a cylindrical shape coaxial with the center.

Therefore, if the upper lid 15 is tilted with respect to the housing 11 for the above reason, the coaxiality of the vacuum processing chamber is impaired, and uniform processing may not be possible on the wafer surface. In a semiconductor device whose miniaturization is being promoted, if such deterioration of the coaxiality of the vacuum processing chamber occurs, there is a concern that the deterioration of the yield for chip acquisition will increase.

The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum processing apparatus capable of suppressing deterioration of coaxiality even when a hinge mechanism is used.

In order to solve the above problems, one of the typical vacuum processing devices according to the present invention is a vacuum processing device that processes a sample in a processing chamber, and has a housing for holding the sample inside, an upper lid, and the like. The hinge mechanism has a hinge mechanism that pivotally supports the upper lid between an open position that opens the end portion of the housing and a shielding position that shields the end portion of the housing. , The upper lid is displaceably held in the axial direction of the housing.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a vacuum processing apparatus capable of suppressing deterioration of coaxiality even when a hinge mechanism is used.
Issues, configurations and effects other than those described above will be clarified by the description of the following embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a vacuum processing device having a general hinge mechanism. FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a vacuum processing device having a general hinge mechanism. FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the vacuum processing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing the hinge mechanism in the hinge open state according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a hinge mechanism in a hinge closed state according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a hinge mechanism in a hinge closed state and a vacuum exhaust state according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the vacuum processing apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a hinge mechanism and a spring receiving mechanism in a hinge closed state according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[Example 1]
FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of the vacuum processing apparatus configuration according to the first embodiment. The vacuum processing apparatus of the present embodiment is provided in a hollow cylindrical housing 1 in which a vacuum processing chamber is formed, a stage 3 for placing a sample 2 to be processed in the vacuum processing chamber, and a housing 1. It is composed of the hinge mechanism 4 provided and the eclipsed cylindrical upper lid 5 that shields the upper end of the housing 1. The hinge mechanism 4 pivotally supports the upper lid 5 between an open position where the upper end of the housing 1 is opened and a shielding position where the upper end of the housing 1 is shielded. The upper end surface of the housing 1 and the lower end surface of the upper lid 5 are orthogonal to each axis. The shapes of the housing 1 and the upper lid 5 are not limited to the above.

FIG. 4 shows the details of the hinge mechanism 4 in the open state of the first embodiment. The hinge mechanism 4 supports a cylindrical hinge shaft 6 inserted (fitted) into a circular hole (not shown) formed in the upper projecting piece 5a of the upper lid 5 and the hinge shaft 6 so as to be displaceable up and down. Therefore, in the long hole hinge hole 7 formed in the lower projecting piece 1a of the housing 1, the communication hole 1b formed in the lower projecting piece 1a so as to communicate with the long hole hinge hole 7, and in the communication hole 1b. It is composed of a spring mechanism 8 installed so as to urge the hinge shaft 6 from below. The longitudinal direction of the cross section of the elongated hole hinge hole 7 is along the axial direction (vertical direction) of the housing 1.

The spring mechanism 8 includes a threaded portion 8a that is screwed at the lower end of the communication hole 1b to support the lower end of the spring mechanism 8. The spring urging force can be adjusted by screwing the screw portion 8a with respect to the communication hole 1b. A vacuum seal member 9 made of an elastic member such as an O-ring is arranged in the peripheral groove 1c formed on the upper end surface of the housing 1.

It is desirable that the spring mechanism 8 of the present embodiment has an urging force capable of supporting a weight equal to or greater than the weight of the upper lid 5. By doing so, the hinge shaft 6 supported by the spring mechanism 8 is lifted and held up to the upper end of the elongated hole hinge hole 7, and the hinge is opened and closed at that position.

FIG. 5 shows the details of the hinge mechanism 4 in the closed state of the first embodiment. In the present embodiment, the center-to-center distance L between the center position when the hinge shaft 6 is located at the upper end of the slotted hinge hole 7 and the center position when the hinge shaft 6 is located at the lower end of the slotted hinge hole 7 is a vacuum. It is set to be the same as or smaller than the crushing allowance H of the seal member 9 (see FIG. 6). In the state shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the hinge shaft 6 is located at the upper end of the long hole hinge hole 7, and in the state shown in FIG. 6, the hinge shaft 6 is located at the lower end of the long hole hinge hole 7. The crushing allowance H of the vacuum seal member 9 refers to the compression distance from the state before the vacuum seal member 9 is crushed to the state after the vacuum seal member is crushed.

When the upper lid 5 is closed, the lower end surface of the upper lid 5 and the vacuum seal member 9 come into contact with each other on the entire circumference. In this state, if the vacuum processing chamber in the housing 1 is connected to a vacuum source (not shown) (so-called evacuation), the air pressure in the vacuum processing chamber drops, so that the upper lid 5 approaches the housing 1 and the vacuum seal member. 9 is gradually crushed.

FIG. 6 shows the details of the hinge mechanism after the vacuum processing chamber of the first embodiment has a negative pressure. After the vacuum processing chamber in the housing 1 is made negative pressure, the upper lid 5 and the hinge shaft 6 are lowered to the lower end of the elongated hole hinge hole 7 by the pulling force due to the negative pressure, and the lower end surface of the upper lid 5 and the housing 1 The upper end surface of the is completely adhered with the vacuum seal member 9 interposed therebetween. The upper end surface of the housing 1 is made into a flat surface with high accuracy by machining, and the axis of the upper lid 5 is parallel (preferably aligned) with the axis of the housing 1 due to the close contact between the upper lid 5 and the housing 1. Will be installed. Since the coaxiality between the stage 3 and the housing 1 is secured in advance, the coaxiality of the closed upper lid 5 and the stage 3 and the sample 2 is not impaired, thereby forming a vacuum processing chamber having coaxiality. be able to. Further, according to the present embodiment, since the hinge shaft 6 is urged by the spring mechanism 8, it is not necessary to adjust the height of the hinge mechanism during the assembly process. As a result, the assembly time can be shortened, and an increase in manufacturing cost can be suppressed.

According to the present embodiment described above, the hinge mechanism does not need to be adjusted in the manufacturing process of the vacuum processing apparatus, which leads to a reduction in manufacturing cost and prevents deterioration of the coaxiality of the vacuum processing chamber due to the hinge adjustment. It leads to improvement of yield.

[Example 2]
FIG. 7 shows a schematic view of the vacuum processing apparatus according to the second embodiment. The vacuum processing apparatus of the present embodiment is provided in the hollow cylindrical housing 1 forming the vacuum processing chamber inside, the stage 3 for placing the sample 2 to be processed in the vacuum processing chamber, and the housing 1. It is composed of a hinge mechanism 4 provided, an upper lid 5 pivotally supported by the hinge mechanism 4, and a spring receiving mechanism 10 installed on the opposite side of the hinge mechanism 4 from the hinge mechanism 4 in the housing 1. To. The same configurations as those in the above-described embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and different points will be mainly described.

FIG. 8 shows the details of the hinge mechanism 4 and the spring receiving mechanism 10 in the second embodiment. Similar to the first embodiment, the hinge mechanism 4 supports the hinge shaft 6 inserted into the circular hole (not shown) formed in the upper projecting piece 5a of the upper lid 5 and the hinge shaft 6 so as to be displaceable up and down. Therefore, in the long hole hinge hole 7 formed in the lower projecting piece 1a of the housing 1, the communication hole 1b formed in the lower projecting piece 1a so as to communicate with the long hole hinge hole 7, and in the communication hole 1b. It is composed of a spring mechanism 8 installed so as to urge the hinge shaft 6 from below.

The spring receiving mechanism 10 includes a projecting member 10a provided so as to project upward from the inside of the through hole 1e formed in the projecting piece 1d of the housing 1, a coil spring 10b for urging the projecting member 10a upward, and the spring receiving mechanism 10. It has a support member 10c that is attached to the through hole 1e and supports the lower end of the coil spring 10b.

The center-to-center distance L of the elongated hole hinge hole 7 is set to be equal to or less than the crushing allowance H of the vacuum seal member 9 as in the first embodiment. On the other hand, the protruding amount X of the protruding member 10a of the spring receiving mechanism 10 is also set to the same dimension as the distance L between the centers of the elongated hole hinge holes 7. Therefore, when the upper lid 5 is closed as shown in FIG. 2, the lower end surface of the upper lid 5 is held horizontally.

Since the vacuum seal member 9 undergoes minute plastic deformation due to repeated use, the crushing allowance H gradually decreases. Therefore, when the hinge mechanism 4 has a cantilever structure as in the first embodiment, if the upper lid 5 is closed while the crushing allowance H of the vacuum seal member 9 is reduced, the upper lid 5 may be tilted according to the degree of reduction. .. When the vacuum processing chamber is finally evacuated and the upper lid 5 is in a state of being completely in close contact with the housing 1, this inclination is eliminated, but since the upper lid 5 is lowered in the inclined state, the components interfere with each other. There is a risk of being hurt. On the other hand, in the second embodiment, since the spring receiving mechanism 10 is provided on the opposite side of the hinge mechanism 4 with the axis of the housing 1 interposed therebetween, the upper lid 5 is not tilted when the upper lid 5 is closed.

When the crushing allowance H of the vacuum seal member 9 is reduced in the second embodiment, the upper lid 5 is supported by the double-sided structure of the hinge mechanism 4 and the spring receiving mechanism 10, so that the closed upper lid 5 and the vacuum seal are sealed. A gap is formed between the member 9 and the member 9, and there is a risk that outside air may be sucked through the gap during evacuation. Therefore, in the second embodiment, it is desirable to provide a screw mechanism (not shown) for pressing the upper lid 5 from above. Since such a screw mechanism is sufficient to provide a trigger for starting vacuum exhaust, it does not need to be tightened with a large force. Therefore, in order to shorten the working time, it is desirable to use a knurled knob or the like that can be turned by hand without using a tool. According to the configuration of the second embodiment, the vacuum processing apparatus can be installed with high accuracy without increasing the working time.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and includes various modifications. For example, the above-described embodiment has been described in detail in order to explain the present invention in an easy-to-understand manner, and is not necessarily limited to the one including all the described configurations. Further, it is possible to replace a part of the configuration in one embodiment with the configuration of another embodiment, and it is also possible to add the configuration of another embodiment to the configuration of one embodiment. .. Further, it is also possible to add / delete / replace a part of the configuration in each embodiment with another configuration.

1 ... Housing 2 ... Sample 3 ... Stage 4 ... Hinge mechanism 5 ... Top lid 6 ... Hinge shaft 7 ... Long hole hinge hole 8 ... Spring mechanism 9 ...・ Vacuum seal member 10 ・ ・ ・ Spring receiving mechanism

Claims (6)

A vacuum processing device that processes a sample in a processing room.
A housing that holds the sample inside and
With the top lid
The upper lid has a hinge mechanism that pivotally supports the upper lid between an open position that opens the end portion of the housing and a shielding position that shields the end portion of the housing.
The hinge mechanism is a vacuum processing device that holds the upper lid in a displaceable manner in the axial direction of the housing. The vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 1.
The hinge mechanism has a hinge shaft that fits into a hole provided in the upper lid and a long hole hinge hole that is provided in the housing and holds the hinge shaft, and the hinge shaft has the long hole hinge hole. A vacuum processing device that can be displaced in the longitudinal direction of the cross section. The vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 2.
A vacuum seal member is arranged between the upper lid and the housing.
The center-to-center distance L between the center position when the hinge shaft is located at the upper end of the slotted hinge hole and the center position when the hinge shaft is located at the lower end of the slotted hinge hole is the vacuum seal member. A vacuum processing apparatus characterized in that it is set to be the same as or smaller than the crushing allowance H. The vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 2 or 3.
The hinge mechanism is a vacuum processing device having a spring mechanism for urging the hinge shaft toward the upper end of the elongated hole hinge hole. The vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 4.
The spring mechanism is a vacuum processing device having an urging force capable of supporting a weight equal to or greater than the weight of the upper lid. The vacuum processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5.
A vacuum processing device characterized by having a spring receiving mechanism for supporting the upper lid in a closed state on the side opposite to the hinge mechanism with the axis of the housing interposed therebetween.

Images