JP2565022B2 - Continuous film forming equipment - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a continuous film forming apparatus, particularly
The present invention relates to a continuous film forming apparatus for carrying out film forming processing on each substrate while transporting a plurality of substrate carts each holding the substrate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in a film forming apparatus such as a sputtering apparatus, a continuous transfer film forming method is used to perform a film forming process on a plurality of substrates. In this film forming method, while a plurality of substrates are opposed to the target and continuously moved, electric discharge is caused between the target and each substrate to form a film on the substrate.

In such a film forming system, a transfer mechanism for moving the substrate is generally a roller provided in the chamber, and a drive system including a motor and a gear mechanism for driving the roller. , A substrate cart that holds the substrate and moves on the roller.

When performing the above-mentioned moving film formation, it is necessary to keep the moving speed of the substrate, that is, the substrate cart conveying speed constant, in order to make the film thickness distribution formed on the substrate uniform. However, in the transport mechanism using the rollers, the transport speed changes due to the friction and sliding of the rollers, and it is difficult to make the film thickness distribution uniform.

Therefore, in some cases, the roller on the chamber side is composed of a pinion, and a rack that meshes with the substrate cart side is provided so that the rack and the pinion mesh with each other to prevent slippage during transportation and to keep the transportation speed constant. Proposed.

When the substrate is transported by using the transport mechanism including the pinion and the rack, each pinion is often driven by a plurality of independent drive systems. Therefore, when the board cart moves between the pinions that are driven by different drive systems, the phases of the teeth of the pinion and the rack do not match, and as a result, the rack of the board cart rides on the pinion, There is a problem that the board cart cannot be moved smoothly.

On the other hand, it is conceivable to provide a constant gap between adjacent substrate carts according to the pinion module, but this gap adjustment is not easy.

An object of the present invention is to provide a continuous film forming apparatus having a substrate cart transporting mechanism capable of smoothly engaging a rack and a pinion and transporting a substrate cart at a constant speed.

[0009]

A continuous film forming apparatus according to the present invention carries out a film forming process on each substrate while transporting a plurality of substrate carts each holding the substrate. This film forming apparatus has a substrate cart transport mechanism including a first rack row, a second rack row, first and second pinions, and positioning means.

The first rack row is on the back surface of each substrate cart and extends parallel to the transport direction, and extends from the front end portion of the substrate cart to over the intermediate portion in the transport direction to the front of the rear end portion. . The second row of racks is the back of each board cart,
It extends parallel to the first rack row and extends from the rear end of the substrate cart to the front of the front end beyond the intermediate portion in the transport direction. The first and second pinions are provided on the film forming apparatus side, and are engaged with the first and second rack rows to be rotatable. The positioning means is means for positioning the respective rotational positions of the first and second pinions.

[0011]

In the present invention, when the substrate cart holding the substrate is carried into the film forming apparatus, the first pinion on the film forming apparatus side meshes with the first rack row of the substrate cart. Then, the substrate cart is transported by rotating the first pinion. The second rack row extends from the rear end of the board cart to the center in the carrying direction, and the second pinion meshes with the second rack row of the board cart while the board cart is being carried by the first pinion. Then, the substrate cart is conveyed by the rotation of the second pinion.

On the other hand, since the first rack row is provided in the central portion in the transport direction from the front end of the substrate cart, the first pinion separates from the first rack row during the transport by the second pinion and the second rack row. From this state, the positioning means positions the rotational position of the first pinion at a predetermined position.

When the substrate carts are successively loaded, the first rack row of the next loaded substrate cart meshes with the first rack row.
As described above, the pinion is positioned at the predetermined rotation position by the positioning means. Therefore, the meshing with the first rack row is smoothly performed. Further, the second pinion is similarly positioned at a predetermined rotational position by the positioning means until it meshes with the second rack row of the board cart. Therefore, the meshing between the second pinion and the second rack row is also performed smoothly.

As described above, since the substrate cart is transported while positioning the rotation position of each pinion, the rack and the pinion can be smoothly engaged with each other, and the substrate cart can be transported at a constant speed.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a sputtering apparatus to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied. Here, the side sputtering type (substrate vertical type) is taken as an example. In FIG. 1, a film forming chamber 1
A pair of rollers 2 are arranged to face each other in the lower part of the inside.
The rollers 2 are arranged at predetermined intervals and are rotatably supported. Although not shown, a plurality of pairs of rollers 2 are provided in the substrate cart transport direction (the direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. 1). Above the roller 2,
A pair of rollers 3 and 4 are provided. Each roller 3, 4
Are arranged at predetermined intervals, respectively, and are rotatable about a vertical axis. Also, the film forming chamber 1
Inside, a target 5 is provided which extends in the vertical direction and the substrate cart transport direction. The target 5 is connected to a sputtering power source (not shown).

Substrates 6 and 7 on which films are to be formed are held in substrate carts 8 and 9 which are arranged one above the other. The substrate carts 8 and 9 are supported by the substrate cart base 10 at their lower portions. Legs 11 extending in the substrate cart transport direction are provided on the left and right below the substrate cart base 10. Each leg 11 is placed on each roller 2. As a result, the substrate carts 8 and 9 are movable on the respective rollers 2 in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. Also,
The lower portions of the substrate carts 8 and 9 are inserted between the rollers 3 and 3 and the rollers 4 and 4, respectively, and are supported by the rollers 3 and 4 in the left-right direction.

Further, under the substrate cart base 10, racks 15 and 16 respectively extending in the substrate cart transport direction are provided. As shown in FIG. 2, the rack 15 is arranged from the front end 10 a of the substrate cart base 10 to the center thereof. In addition, the rack 16 is the substrate cart base 1
It is arranged from the rear end portion 10b of 0 to the central portion.
A space S in which the rack does not extend is formed at the rear of the rack 15 (on the left in FIG. 2) and the front of the rack 16 (on the right in FIG. 2). The rear end of the rack 15 and the front end of the rack 16 overlap each other.

On the other hand, below the substrate cart base 10, the pinions 17 and 1 that engage with the racks 15 and 16, respectively.
8 are arranged facing each other. Each of the pinions 17 and 18 is rotatably supported in the lower portion of the film forming chamber 1, and is driven by a drive motor described later. Further, a plurality of pinions 17 and 18 are provided corresponding to each of the plurality of substrate carts carried into the film forming chamber 1.

Next, the drive system and the positioning mechanism of the pinion 17 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. A similar drive system and positioning mechanism are provided on the pinion 18 side, and only the pinion 17 side will be described here.

A rotary shaft 20 is provided so as to penetrate the lower portion of the film forming chamber 1. The pinion 17 is fixed to the tip of the rotary shaft 20. Further, the rotary shaft 20 penetrates through a fluid joint 21 provided outside the film forming chamber 1 and is rotatably supported by the fluid joint 21. A cam 22 is fixed to the other end of the rotary shaft 20.

As shown in FIG. 4, the cam 22 is a substantially disk-shaped member, and has arcuate notches 22a, 2 on its outer circumference.
2b, 22c and 22d are formed at four places. These notches 22a, 22b, 22c and 22d are 90
° Spaced. Further, the number of blades of the pinion 17 is 12, and the ratio of the number of teeth of the pinion 17 to the number of cutouts of the cam 22 is an integer ratio (3: 1).

A positioning lever 23 is provided on the side of the cam 22.
Is provided. At the upper end of the positioning lever 23,
A pin 25 attached to the housing 24 (FIG. 3) is mounted. The positioning lever 23 is rotatable around the pin 25. In addition, the positioning lever 2
A cam follower 26 is rotatably attached to the central portion of 3. The cam follower 26 can be locked in the notches 22 a to 22 d of the cam 22. The lower end of the positioning lever 23 is constantly urged toward the cam 22 by a spring 27.

An air cylinder 28 is provided above the cam follower 26. The tip of the piston rod of the air cylinder 28 is connected to the positioning lever 23.
A photoelectric switch 30 is provided at the lower end of the positioning lever 23. The photoelectric switch 30 is for detecting that the positioning lever 23 is rotated around the pin 25 and the cam follower 26 is separated from the notches 22 a to 22 d of the cam 22.

A drive shaft 31 is provided below the rotary shaft 20.
(FIG. 3) is provided. The drive shaft 31 is rotatably supported by a support portion 32 provided at the bottom of the housing 24. The bevel gear 3 is attached to one end of the drive shaft 31.
3 is fixed. A drive motor (not shown) is arranged on the side of the drive shaft 31. A bevel gear that meshes with the bevel gear 33 is attached to the shaft end of the drive motor. A drive gear 34 is fixed to the drive shaft 31. On the other hand, a transmission gear 35 that meshes with the drive gear 34 is rotatably provided on the rotary shaft 20. The electromagnetic clutch 36 is provided on the rotary shaft 20 on the side of the transmission gear 35.
Is provided. The turning force of the transmission gear 35 is transmitted to or blocked from the rotary shaft 20 by turning on and off the electromagnetic clutch 36.

Next, the operation will be described. When the substrate carts 8 and 9 are not carried into the film forming chamber 1,
As shown in FIG. 7, the positioning lever 23 is biased toward the cam 22 by the spring 27, and the cam follower 26 is locked in any notch of the cam 22, for example, the notch 22d. At this time, as shown in FIG. 3, the pinion 17 is in a state in which the tip of any one of the teeth is directly above.

Substrate carts 8 and 9 carried into the film forming chamber 1.
When comes to the position of the pinion 17, the rack 15 meshes with the pinion 17 and the rotary shaft 20 rotates. This rotating shaft 2
The rotation of 0 causes the cam 22 to rotate. As a result, the cam follower 26 comes out of the notch 22d of the cam 22. Then, the positioning lever 23 rotates clockwise against the spring force of the spring 27. This positioning lever 23
The rotation of is detected by the photoelectric switch 30. The air cylinder 28 is actuated by the detection signal from the photoelectric switch 30 and the piston rod thereof is projected. As a result, the positioning lever 23 further rotates clockwise, and the cam follower 26 separates from the notch 22d of the cam 22. Thus, when the pinion 17 is driven in the subsequent operation, the spring 27 biases the pinion 17.
Avoiding extra load on the rotation of the.

Next, when it is detected by a detection switch (not shown) that the racks 15 are arranged above the pinion 17 due to the movement of the substrate carts 8 and 9, the electromagnetic clutch 36 is energized by this detection signal and the electromagnetic clutch 36 is electromagnetically activated. The clutch 36 is turned on. As a result, the transmission gear 35 and the rotary shaft 20 are connected via the electromagnetic clutch 36. On the other hand, the drive motor is being driven, and the rotational force of the drive motor is
3, the transmission gear 35 through the drive shaft 31 and the drive gear 34
Is further transmitted to the pinion 17 via the electromagnetic clutch 36 and the rotating shaft 20. And pinion 1
The rotation of 7 causes the substrate carts 8 and 9 via the rack 15.
Is transported.

On the other hand, during the transportation by the pinion 17, the pinion 18 is positioned by the same positioning mechanism, and the tips of any one of the teeth are in a state of being directly upward. When the board carts 8 and 9 transported by the pinion 17 come to the position of the pinion 18, the rack 1
6 meshes with the pinion 18, and the rotation shaft on the side of the pinion 18 rotates. Then, similar to the case of the pinion 17 described above, the cam on the pinion 18 side rotates, and the cam follower on the pinion 18 side is separated from the notch of the cam.
Then, the drive system on the side of the pinion 18 is driven and the pinion 18 starts rotating, whereby the substrate carts 8 and 9 are transported via the rack 16.

Further, when the rear end of the rack 15 is separated from the pinion 17 and the space S is located above the pinion 17 by the transportation of the substrate carts 8 and 9, the positions of the substrate carts 8 and 9 are detected by a detection switch (not shown). The drive motor on the side of the pinion 17 is turned off by this detection signal. Further, the air cylinder 28 is turned off by the detection signal. As a result, the positioning lever 23 is biased toward the cam 22 by the spring 27, and the cam follower 26 contacts the outer peripheral surface of the cam 22. Then, when the cam follower 26 is fitted into any of the notches 22a to 22d of the cam 22, the photoelectric switch 30 detects this. By this detection, the electromagnetic clutch 36 is turned off, and as a result, the connection between the transmission gear 35 and the rotary shaft 20 is released, and the rotation of the cam 22 and the pinion 17 is stopped. Also, pinion 17
At the time of stop, the tooth tips of any of the teeth of the pinion 17 are in a state of facing right above.

During the transportation by the pinions 17 and 18, a voltage from a sputtering power source is applied to the target 5 to perform film formation processing on the substrates 6 and 7 held by the substrate carts 8 and 9, respectively.

When the film forming process is continuously performed, the substrate carts 8 and 9 holding the substrate to be processed next are successively loaded into the film forming chamber 1. Board carts 8 and 9 that have been loaded
As described above, the pinion 17 is positioned with respect to the rack 15 of the rack 1.
5 meshes smoothly. Similarly, since the pinion 18 is positioned with respect to the rack 16,
The pinion 18 and the rack 16 are also meshed smoothly. As a result, the transport speed of the substrate carts 8 and 9 loaded into the film forming chamber 1 is uniform, and
Transport is performed at a constant speed.

As described above, when the film forming process is continuously performed, the cam 22 is provided with the cam follower 26 and the notches 22a-2.
The cam 22 and each pinion 1 are always positioned at a constant rotational position by 2d, and the tooth ratio between the cam 22 and each pinion 17, 18 is an integer ratio.
7 and 18 have the same phase. Therefore, each pinion 1
When 7 and 18 respectively stop in the space S portion of the substrate cart 10, each tooth tip of each pinion 17 and 18 is in a posture in which they are directed right above. This allows each pinion 1
The meshing between the racks 7 and 18 and the racks 15 and 16 is smoothly performed, and the substrate carts 8 and 9 are transported at a constant speed.

Further, each pinion 1 of the substrate carts 8 and 9
Since it is prevented from climbing onto the surfaces 7 and 18, damage to the substrate is prevented when the substrate to be film-formed is a glass substrate or the like. Further, by preventing the substrate cart from running up, dust does not rise in the film forming chamber 1 and the product yield is improved.

In the above embodiment, the number of notches in the cam 22 constituting the positioning mechanism is four, but if the ratio is an integer ratio with respect to the number of teeth of the pinions 17 and 18, for example, the number of notches is May be six.

[0035]

According to the present invention, each substrate cart is provided with the first and second rack rows, and the film forming apparatus is provided with the first and second pinions that mesh with them and the positioning means for each pinion. Therefore, the racks and pinions can be smoothly engaged with each other, and the substrate cart can be transported at a constant speed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional side view of a film forming chamber in which an embodiment of the present invention is adopted.

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a partial vertical cross-sectional view of a drive system portion of the above embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of a positioning mechanism of the drive system portion.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Film forming chamber 6,7 Substrate 8,9 Substrate cart 15,16 Rack 17,18 Pinion 22 Cam 23 Positioning lever

Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Office reference number FI Technical display location C23C 14/56 C23C 14/56 H01L 21/203 H01L 21/203 S 21/285 21/285 S 21/31 21 / 31 F

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A continuous film forming apparatus for carrying out a film forming process on each substrate while carrying a plurality of substrate carts each holding a substrate, wherein the back surface of each substrate cart is parallel to the carrying direction.
And, a first rack row extending from the front end of the board cart to the front of the rear end beyond the middle portion in the transport direction, and on the back surface of each board cart in parallel with the first rack row, Also, a second rack row extending from the rear end of the substrate cart to the front of the front end beyond the intermediate portion in the transport direction, and the second rack row provided on the film deposition apparatus side and meshed with the first and second rack rows, respectively. A continuous film forming apparatus having a substrate transfer mechanism including rotatable first and second pinions, and positioning means for positioning respective rotational positions of the first and second pinions.