JP2533459Y2 - Substrate entrance / exit shut-off device for substrate surface treatment chamber - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a substrate surface treating apparatus for treating a surface of a substrate such as a semiconductor substrate or a glass substrate in a manufacturing process of a semiconductor device or a liquid crystal display, etc. The present invention relates to a shut-off device for a carry-out port.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A surface treatment apparatus for various substrates such as a semiconductor substrate and a glass substrate transports a substrate to be processed into a surface treatment chamber through a substrate entrance by means of a transfer means such as an automatic transfer robot.
After a surface treatment fluid such as a chemical solution is supplied to the surface of the substrate in the surface treatment chamber to perform a predetermined surface treatment, the treated substrate is carried out of the surface treatment chamber through the substrate outlet, and then washed and dried. And so on. In such a surface treatment apparatus, dust or the like flows into the surface treatment chamber from outside through the substrate carrying-in / out port, causing contamination of the substrate, or from the surface treating chamber through the substrate carrying-in / out port. To prevent the harmful vapor such as chemicals from leaking out of the room and deteriorating the work environment, the substrate entrance / exit of the surface treatment chamber should have a surface that is not at the time of loading / unloading the substrate to be processed. A shutoff device is provided to isolate the atmosphere inside and outside the processing chamber from each other.

Conventionally, as a device for shutting off a substrate loading / unloading port in a surface treatment chamber, as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. Sho 62-163934, a mechanical opening / closing drive is performed in accordance with a processing sequence. A blocking shutter is used, and in that case, various mechanisms are used as a mechanism for driving the shutter up and down. Further, an air outlet and an air inlet are provided above and below the substrate inlet / outlet of the surface treatment chamber, respectively, and clean air is continuously blown out from the air outlet, and the blown air is blown into the air inlet. Conventionally, means for forming an air flow at the substrate loading / unloading port by forcibly sucking and exhausting the air through the substrate loading / unloading port so that the air curtain separates the atmosphere inside and outside the surface treatment chamber from each other is also conventionally used. Have been.

[0004]

However, in the conventional mechanical shutter, it is necessary to completely seal both sides and the like that are in sliding contact with the side frame of the apparatus main body, which complicates the structure, and There is a problem that dust is generated from the seal portion by the sliding contact caused by the repeated opening and closing operations of the shutter, and the dust enters a processing tank provided near the shutter and becomes a contamination source. If there is a gap between the lower end of the shutter and the upper surface of the lower frame of the apparatus body when the shutter is lowered, the atmosphere inside and outside the surface treatment room sandwiching the shutter cannot be completely shut off. You need to lower the shutter until you can no longer do. For this reason, there is a problem that the moving distance of the shutter becomes large, and the up-and-down driving mechanism of the shutter becomes large.

Further, in the conventional air curtain type shut-off system, the downflow of the downflow air constituting the air curtain is long, and the downflow of the air is affected by the change in the pressure difference between the atmosphere inside and outside the surface treatment chamber. May become unstable, and a desired blocking effect may not always be obtained.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and solves the respective problems of the conventional mechanical and air curtain type shut-off devices, has a simple structure, and has a small dust generation. Substrate surface that has little possibility and that there is no fear that it will cause contamination even if dust is generated, and that it is also advantageous in terms of the structure of the device and can always obtain the desired blocking effect. Substrate loading / unloading port /
It is a technical object to provide a carry-out exit blocking device.

[0007]

According to the present invention, an air outlet and an air inlet are provided above and below at least one of a substrate carrying-in port and a substrate carrying-out port, and an air passage penetrating in a vertical direction is provided. A shutter formed inside is arranged so as to be able to advance and retreat in the direction from the air outlet to the air inlet, and the shutter is driven to move up and down as the substrate is loaded into and unloaded from the surface treatment chamber.

In the apparatus having the above-described structure, the shutter rises when the substrate is loaded / unloaded into the surface treatment chamber, and the substrate loading / unloading port is opened. When the substrate is not loaded / unloaded, the shutter is lowered. In this case, even if the seal at the sliding contact portions on both sides of the shutter is not completely formed,
Since air flows from the upper air outlet to the lower air inlet at the substrate loading / unloading port,
Due to the downflow of the air, the atmosphere inside and outside the surface treatment chamber is prevented from flowing through the sliding contact portions on both sides of the shutter. And, compared to the case where a complete seal is performed, there is little possibility that dust is generated from the sliding contact portions on both sides of the shutter, and even if dust is generated, the generated dust flows to the air suction port along with the downflow, It is not discharged from the air suction port and mixed into the processing tank. Also, at the time of shutter lowering, a part of the air supplied to the air outlet is blown out from the opening on the lower end surface of the shutter through the air passage inside the shutter, and is sucked into the air inlet opposite to the opening, Since an air curtain is formed between the two, there is no need to lower the shutter until there is no gap between the lower end of the shutter and the upper surface of the lower frame where the air suction port is formed. Can be. Since the vertical width of the air curtain formed between the lower end of the shutter and the upper surface of the lower frame is short, the air curtain is not significantly affected by changes in the pressure difference between the atmosphere inside and outside the surface treatment chamber, and the state of the air curtain is small. stable. Further, since air always flows along the surface of the shutter, even when a corrosive chemical is used in the surface treatment chamber, corrosion of the shutter is prevented.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 1 to 3 show an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic structure of an atmosphere shut-off device provided at a substrate carrying-in port of a surface treatment chamber of a surface treatment apparatus. (A) and FIG. 3 are sectional views taken along the line AA of FIG. 1, and FIG. 2 (b) is a sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. In FIG. 1, the air introduction duct portion is indicated by a two-dot chain line.

This atmosphere shut-off device includes an air curtain system having an air outlet 10 and an air inlet 12 provided above and below a substrate carrying-in port, respectively, and facing each other, and a shutter 14 driven up and down. And a shutter device. And the shutter
14 is arranged so as to be able to advance and retreat in the direction from the air outlet 10 to the air inlet 12.

The shutter device is configured such that the shutter 14 is supported by a pair of left and right sliding support portions 16 so as to be able to move up and down freely, and the shutter 14 is moved up and down by a shutter up / down driving mechanism 18. The sliding support portion 16 vertically mounts and vertically fixes a guide support member 20 in which a sliding contact groove 22 into which a side portion of the shutter 14 is slidably fitted is formed in a vertical direction. Cover duct in which the slit 26 movably inserted in
24 is configured to be erected and fixed in the vertical direction so as to surround the guide support member 20. The guide support member 20 is formed of a material having excellent slidability, for example, a resin such as Teflon (registered trademark). As the sliding guide support mechanism of the shutter 14, various types such as a type using a bearing, a type combining a guide rod and a rolling wheel, and the like can be adopted. In addition, the raising and lowering drive mechanism of the shutter 14 also uses a combination of a rotary screw bar and a nut, one that uses a rack and pinion mechanism, one that combines a timing belt and a pulley, one that uses a rodless cylinder, and that uses a link mechanism. Various ones, such as those described above, may be used.

An air passage 28 is formed in the shutter 14 so as to penetrate in the vertical direction. A pair of left and right shields is provided on the outer surface of the shutter 14 at a position close to the slit 26 of the cover duct 24. The plate 30 is fixed in the vertical direction. Then, as shown in FIG. 1, the upper half of the pair of sliding support portions 16, 16 is moved so that the upper end of the shutter 14 is located above the air outlet 10 with the shutter 14 moved to the lowest position. An air introduction duct 32 including the upper portion of the shutter 14 is provided. When the shutter 14 moves to the lowermost position, the lower end of the shutter 14 and the air suction port 12 are, for example, 150 to 200 mm.
They are separated by a distance D of the order.

Next, the operation of the atmosphere shut-off device having the above configuration will be described. First, when a substrate is carried into the surface treatment chamber through the substrate carry-in port, the shutter 14 is raised by the shutter lifting / lowering drive mechanism 18, and as shown in FIG. 2, the shutter 14 is moved to the uppermost position and stopped.
In this state, the substrate carrying-in port is opened, and the substrate can be carried into the surface treatment chamber through the opening surface between the lower end of the shutter 14 and the upper surface of the underframe 34 in which the air suction port 12 is formed. In this case, since clean air is constantly supplied to the air introduction duct 32 from an air supply source (not shown), as shown by arrows in FIGS. The blown air passes through an opening between the lower end of the shutter 14 and the upper surface of the underframe 34, is forcibly sucked into the air suction port 12, and is discharged to the outside. A part of the air supplied to the air introduction duct 32 flows downward through the inside of the cover duct 24 and is exhausted. Note that a damper may be provided inside the air introduction duct 32 and the damper may be closed when the substrate is carried in so that the air is not blown out from the air blowout port 10.

Next, when the substrate is not carried in during the surface treatment, the shutter 14 is lowered by the shutter raising / lowering drive mechanism 18, and the two-dot chain line in FIGS. 1 and 3 (and FIG. 2B). ), The shutter 14 is moved to the lowermost position and stopped. By this operation, the substrate carrying-in port is partially closed by the shutter 14, and the atmosphere inside and outside the surface treatment chamber is shut off by the shutter 14. Further, as indicated by an arrow in FIG. 3, part of the air sent from the air supply source to the air introduction duct 32 is blown out from the opening at the lower end surface of the shutter 14 through the air passage 28 inside the shutter 14, and When the blown air is forcibly sucked into the air suction port 12, an air curtain is formed between the lower end of the shutter 14 and the air suction port 12, and the air curtain forms an atmosphere inside and outside the surface treatment chamber. Is shut off. Thus, the shutter
14 The shielding effect of the air curtain together with the shielding effect of the air itself can more reliably block the atmosphere inside and outside the surface treatment chamber. A part of the air sent from the air supply source to the air introduction duct 32 flows downward through the inside of the cover duct 24 and is exhausted. Then, even if dust is generated due to the sliding operation between the side portions of the shutter 14 and the guide support member 20, the generated dust is discharged to the outside by the airflow in the cover duct 24 and enters the processing tank. No mixing occurs. Further, since the air is constantly flowing down along the surface of the shutter 14, the shutter 14 is hardly corroded even when a corrosive chemical is used in the surface treatment chamber.

In the above embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to the substrate loading / unloading port has been exemplified. However, the present invention can be similarly applied to the loading / unloading of the substrate. Further, the blocking device may be installed at only one of the substrate entrance and the exit, or may be installed at both of them.

[0017]

Since the present invention is constructed and operates as described above, according to the present invention, both problems of the conventional mechanical and air curtain type shut-off devices are eliminated. That is, in the substrate inlet / outlet shutoff device of the substrate surface treatment chamber according to the present invention, the structure of the substrate inlet / outlet shutoff device is simplified, and the possibility of dust generation due to the operation of the shutoff device is reduced. In addition, even if dust is generated, there is no fear that the dust may cause a contamination, and the moving distance of the shutter can be reduced. Then, the desired atmosphere shielding effect can always be reliably obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention and showing a schematic configuration of an atmosphere shut-off device provided at a substrate carrying-in port of a surface treatment chamber of a surface treatment apparatus.

FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 1;
FIG. 2B is a sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a similar sectional view showing an operation state different from that shown in FIG. 2 (a).

[Description of Signs] 10 Air outlet 12 Air inlet 14 Shutter 16 Sliding support 18 Shutter elevating drive mechanism 20 Guide support member 24 Cover duct 28 Air passage 32 Air introduction duct

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. A substrate loading / unloading operation at a substrate loading / unloading port of a substrate surface processing chamber in which a surface processing fluid is supplied to a surface of a substrate to perform a surface processing of the substrate. In the substrate entrance / exit shutoff device of the substrate surface treatment chamber, which is provided with a shutter that is driven up and down according to
An air outlet and an air inlet are provided above and below at least one of the substrate inlet and the substrate outlet, respectively, and the shutter is disposed so as to be able to advance and retreat in a direction from the air outlet to the air inlet. And an air passage penetrating in a vertical direction inside the shutter.