JP3111043B2 - Linear motion mechanism - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a linear motion mechanism,
In particular, the present invention relates to a linear motion mechanism that translates a processing object disposed in a processing container.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional linear motion mechanism will be described by taking a linear motion mechanism used in a laser annealing apparatus as an example.
When performing laser annealing, the object to be processed is placed in a vacuum vessel, and the surface of the object to be processed is irradiated with laser light through a quartz window. By moving the object to be processed in the vacuum chamber, a laser beam can be sequentially applied to a wide area of the surface.

An object to be processed is held on a holding table supported by a linear guide mechanism arranged in a vacuum vessel so as to be able to translate. A drive shaft extending to the outside of the vacuum vessel is attached to the holding table. The holding table can be translated by reciprocating the drive shaft in the axial direction. Note that a bellows is attached between the drive shaft and the wall of the vacuum vessel to maintain airtightness.

[0004]

In order to stably obtain the effect of laser annealing, an object to be processed may be heated. For this reason, a heater is embedded in the holding table.
When the holding table is heated, an extra force is applied to the sliding portion of the linear guide due to thermal strain. The extra force makes it difficult for the holding table to translate, and in extreme cases, becomes immovable.

[0005] Further, since the sliding portion of the linear guide is arranged in the vacuum vessel, the sliding portion causes dust.

An object of the present invention is to provide a linear motion mechanism which is hardly affected by thermal distortion due to heating of an object to be processed and can suppress generation of dust in a processing container.

[0007]

According to one aspect of the present invention, a processing vessel having an internal cavity, and disposed in the internal cavity of the processing vessel, both ends of which are led out to the outside through a wall of the processing vessel. A driving spindle, and at a point where the driving spindle penetrates the wall of the processing container, the driving spindle can be translated in the axial direction thereof, and the internal cavity of the processing container is airtight. An airtight mechanism that separates the internal cavity from the outside so as to maintain the airtightness, and is attached to one end of the driving spindle, and the driving spindle is axially translated with respect to the processing container. A linear guide mechanism that supports the driving spindle so as to be movable, and a drive that is attached to the other end of the driving spindle and that translates the driving spindle in the axial direction with respect to the processing container. A mechanism and within the internal cavity of the processing vessel, Attached to-movement shaft, linear motion mechanism and a holding means for holding a processing object is provided.

By driving the driving mechanism, the driving support shaft can be translated in the axial direction. The holding means fixed to the driving support shaft also translates. Since there is no sliding portion in the processing container, it is possible to prevent contamination in the processing container caused by the sliding portion.

The holding means may be provided with a heating means for heating the object to be processed. Even if the holding means is heated and generates thermal strain, the sliding portion is not affected by the thermal strain because there is no sliding portion in the processing container. For this reason, even if the holding means is heated, the holding means can be smoothly translated.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a processing container having an internal cavity, holding means disposed in the internal cavity of the processing container for holding an object to be processed, and supporting the holding means, A driving support shaft that penetrates through the wall of the container and is led out on both sides of the processing container, and at a point where the driving support shaft passes through the processing container wall, the driving support shaft is translated in the axial direction thereof. An air-tight mechanism for separating the internal cavity from the outside so as to be movable and maintaining the air-tightness of the internal cavity of the processing container; A drive mechanism for axially translating the shaft with respect to the processing container;

By attaching a drive mechanism to both of the driving support shafts led out on both sides of the processing container, stable driving becomes possible.

[0012]

1A is a schematic plan sectional view of a linear motion mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a sectional view taken along a dashed line B1-B1 of FIG. 1A. FIG. Note that FIG. 1A is a dashed-dotted line A1-
It corresponds to the cross section in A1.

[0013] Driving support shafts 2A and 2B are arranged in parallel with each other in an internal cavity of a processing vessel 1 capable of evacuating the inside. Both ends of the driving support shafts 2 </ b> A and 2 </ b> B extend to the outside through the side wall of the processing container 1.

The corresponding one ends of the driving support shafts 2A and 2B are connected to each other by a connecting member 3. The coupling member 3 is supported by a linear guide mechanism 4 so as to be movable in the axial direction of the driving support shafts 2A and 2B.

The other ends of the driving support shafts 2A and 2B are
They are mutually connected by a connecting member 5. Coupling member 5
Is driven by the linear motor 6 in the axial direction of the driving support shafts 2A and 2B. By driving the linear motor 6, the driving support shafts 2A and 2B can be translated in the axial direction.

A portion of each of the driving support shafts 2A and 2B led out of the processing vessel 1 is covered with a vacuum bellows 7. One end of the vacuum bellows 7 is attached to the side wall of the processing container 1, and the other end is attached to the coupling member 3 or 5. The vacuum bellows 7 keeps the processing container 1 airtight.

A holding table 10 is arranged in the processing vessel 1. The holding table 10 is fixed to the driving support shafts 2A and 2B. A plurality of pins 12 protrude from the upper surface of the holding table 10, and a substrate 13 to be annealed is placed on the pins 12.

A heater 11 is embedded in the holding table 10 so that the holding table 10 can be heated. The substrate 13 is heated by heat radiation from the holder 10 or the like. A quartz window 14 is provided on the upper surface of the processing container 1.
The laser light is introduced into the processing chamber 1 through 4.

The linear motor 6 is driven to drive the drive shaft 2A.
And 2B in the axial direction, the substrate 13 can be translated in the processing chamber 1.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of the entire laser annealing apparatus using the linear motion mechanism shown in FIG. The laser annealing apparatus includes a processing chamber 1, a transfer chamber 52, a carry-in chamber 53, a carry-out chamber 54, a homogenizer 4
2. It includes a CCD camera 58 and a video monitor 59. 1, the bellows 7, the coupling members 3, 5, the linear guide mechanism 4, and the linear motor 6 are attached to the processing chamber 1.

The processing chamber 1 and the transfer chamber 52 are connected via a gate valve 55, and the transfer chamber 52 and the transfer chamber 53, and the transfer chamber 52 and the transfer chamber 54 are connected via gate valves 56 and 57, respectively. I have. The processing chamber 1, the loading chamber 53, and the unloading chamber 54 have vacuum pumps 61, 62, respectively.
And 63 are attached, and the inside of each chamber can be evacuated.

A transfer robot 64 is housed in the transfer chamber 52. The transfer robot 64 transfers the processing substrate between the processing chamber 1, the loading chamber 53, and the unloading chamber 54.

A quartz window 14 for transmitting laser light is provided on the upper surface of the processing chamber 1. The laser beam output from the excimer laser device 41 having pulsed oscillation enters the homogenizer 42 through the attenuator 46. The homogenizer 42 makes the cross section of the laser beam into an elongated shape. The laser beam that has passed through the homogenizer 42 is
The substrate in the processing chamber 1 is irradiated through the elongated quartz window 14 corresponding to the sectional shape of the laser beam. The relative position between the homogenizer 42 and the substrate is adjusted so that the surface of the substrate coincides with the homogenized surface.

The substrate is translated in the direction orthogonal to the long axis direction of the quartz window 14 by the linear motion mechanism described with reference to FIG. 1
By moving the substrate at such a speed that part of the irradiation area for the shot overlaps part of the irradiation area in the previous shot, a large area on the substrate surface can be irradiated. The substrate surface is photographed by the CCD camera 58, and the substrate surface being processed can be observed on the video monitor 59.

Excimer laser device 41, homogenizer 4
2. The operations of the transfer robot 64, the gate valves 55 to 57, and the linear motor 6 are controlled by the control device 65.

Returning to FIG. 1, while irradiating a laser beam having a long sectional shape in a direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the substrate 13, the substrate 13 is translated, so that a large area of the surface of the substrate 13 is covered. Can be annealed. By heating the substrate 13, the effect of laser annealing can be stabilized.

In the linear motion mechanism according to the above embodiment, there is no sliding portion in the processing container 1. For this reason, it is possible to prevent contamination in the processing container 1 caused by the sliding portion. Further, even if the holding table 10 is heated and thermal distortion occurs, the linear guide 4 and the linear motor 6 are not affected by the thermal distortion. Therefore, the holding table 10 can be stably translated even in a heated state.

Further, since the driving support shafts 2A and 2B are supported at both ends, the substrate 13 can be held more stably as compared with the case of the cantilever state, and the positioning accuracy of the substrate 13 can be improved. Can be improved. Further, a long stroke can be easily realized.

Next, another configuration example of the linear motion mechanism used in the laser annealing apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway perspective view of a linear motion mechanism according to another configuration example. A processing container 71 that can be evacuated is mounted on a base 70. A substrate holding table 72 is housed in the processing container 71. The substrate holding table 72 is supported by two driving support shafts 73 arranged in parallel with each other.

Both ends of each driving support shaft 73 are connected to the processing container 71.
Through the through-hole provided in the side wall of the housing. This through-hole portion is kept airtight by a vacuum bellows 74 arranged outside the processing container 71. The corresponding ends of the two drive shafts 73 are connected to each other by a coupling member 75.
Are connected by

A linear motor 80 having a driving direction parallel to the axial direction is disposed one by one corresponding to a portion of each driving support shaft 73 led out of the processing container 71. Each coupling member 75 is connected to the mover of the corresponding two linear motors 80. A linear encoder 90 for detecting the position of the coupling member 75 in the driving direction is attached to one of the four linear motors 80.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view orthogonal to the driving direction of the linear motor 80 to which the linear encoder 90 is attached. A lengthwise slit 81a is provided on the upper surface of a support frame 81 having an internal cavity that is long in the driving direction. A linear guide 84 is fixed on a bottom surface corresponding to the slit 81 a of the support frame 81, and a movable element 89 of a linear motor 80 is attached to a movable portion of the linear guide 84.

A permanent magnet 82 is fixed on the upper and lower inner walls of the support frame 81. The coil 83 attached to the mover 89 links with the magnetic flux generated by the permanent magnet 82. Driving force is generated by passing a current through the coil 83, and the mover 89 can be moved in the driving direction.

The fixing portion 91 of the linear encoder 90 is mounted on the outer side surface of the support frame 81. The movable part 92 of the linear encoder 90 is attached to the mover 89, and is arranged at a position facing the fixed part 91. When the mover 89 moves, the movable portion 9 of the linear encoder 90 moves.
2 moves along the fixed part 91 together with the mover 89, and the position of the mover 89 can be detected.

A photo sensor 88 is mounted on the upper surface of the support frame 81. The photo sensor 88 detects a stroke limit.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a control system of the linear motion mechanism shown in FIG. The linear encoder 90 is connected to the coupling member 75
Detecting the position, and outputs a position detection signal sig _3. Position detection signal sig from the position command signal sig ₁ in the driving direction
_The result of subtracting ₃ is input to the position controller 93. The position controller 93 has a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) calculation function.

The position controller 93 supplies the generated signal to the disturbance compensator 94. The disturbance compensator 94 sends a current command signal sig ₂ to the four linear motor amplifiers 95. In the disturbance compensator 94, the disturbance detector 94a, based on the current command signal sig ₂ position detection signal sig _3, performs negative feedback control.

Each linear motor amplifier 95 sends out a drive signal sig ₄ to the corresponding linear motor 80 based on the given current command signal sig ₂ . Linear motor 80 drives the coupling member 75 on the basis of a drive signal sig ₄ given. When the coupling member 75 is driven, the position of the substrate holder 72 shown in FIG. 3 is controlled.

In the linear motion mechanism shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, by driving four linear motors 80 in parallel,
2 is translated. Therefore, the substrate holding table 72 can be moved more stably. Further, since the linear encoder 90 detects the current position and performs feedback control, highly accurate position control is possible.

In the above embodiment, the case where both ends of the driving support shaft are extended to the outside of the processing container in FIGS. 1 and 3 has been described. It is good also as composition of. For example, two driving spindles, one end of which is inserted into the inside of the processing container and the other end of which is led out of the processing container, are arranged along one virtual straight line on mutually opposed edges of the substrate holding table. It may be attached as follows.

In the above embodiment, a linear motor is used as the drive source, but another linear drive source may be used. For example, a combination of a rotary motor and a ball screw may be used.

In the above embodiment, the laser annealing apparatus has been described as an example. However, the linear motion mechanism of the embodiment can be applied to other apparatuses. For example, it is also effective when a linear motion mechanism is required in an environment that needs to be isolated from the outside, such as when a special chemical is used.

The present invention has been described in connection with the preferred embodiments.
The present invention is not limited to these. For example, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications, improvements, combinations, and the like can be made.

[0045]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Because a linear motion mechanism without sliding parts is obtained in the processing container,
Contamination in the processing vessel can be suppressed. In addition, even if thermal strain is generated by heating the holding means for holding the object to be processed, the sliding portion is hardly affected by the thermal strain,
It is possible to perform stable translation.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a linear motion mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of a laser annealing apparatus using the linear motion mechanism shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing another example of the configuration of the linear motion mechanism for a laser annealing apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the linear motor shown in FIG. 4;

5 is a block diagram of a control system of the linear motion mechanism shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Processing container 2A, 2B Driving spindle 3, 5 Coupling member 4 Linear guide mechanism 6 Linear motor 7 Vacuum bellows 10 Holder 11 Heater 12 Pin 13 Substrate 14 Quartz window 41 Excimer laser device 42 Homogenizer 46 Attenuator 52 Transport chamber 53, 54 Carry-in / out chamber 55-57 Gate valve 58 CCD camera 59 Video monitor 61, 62, 63 Vacuum pump 64 Transfer robot 65 Control unit 70 Base 71 Processing container 72 Substrate holder 73 Driving support shaft 74 Vacuum bellows 75 Coupling member 80 Linear motor 81 Support frame 82 Permanent magnet 83 Coil 84 Linear guide 88 Photo sensor 89 Mover 90 Linear encoder 91 Fixed part 92 Movable part 93 Position controller 94 Disturbance compensator 95 Linear motor amplifier

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-1-312072 (JP, A) JP-A-6-177033 (JP, A) JP-A-8-213341 (JP, A) JP-A-61-177033 267245 (JP, A) JP-A-10-199826 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01L 21/68 H01L 21/268

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. A processing container having an internal cavity, a driving spindle disposed in the internal cavity of the processing container, both ends of which are led out to the outside through a wall of the processing container, and the driving spindle. At a point penetrating the wall of the processing vessel, the driving support shaft can be translated in the axial direction thereof, and the internal cavity and the external cavity are maintained such that the airtightness of the internal cavity of the processing vessel is maintained. An airtight mechanism for isolating the driving spindle, and one end of the driving spindle, and supporting the driving spindle so that the driving spindle can be translated in the axial direction with respect to the processing container. A linear guide mechanism, a drive mechanism attached to the other end of the drive support shaft, and a drive mechanism that translates the drive support shaft in the axial direction with respect to the processing container; and within the internal cavity of the processing container, The object to be processed is attached to the driving spindle. Translation mechanism and a holding means for holding. 2. The linear motion mechanism according to claim 1, wherein said holding means has a heating means for heating the object to be processed. 3. A position detecting means for detecting a position of the driving support shaft in a driving direction, based on position information detected by the position detecting means.
3. The linear motion mechanism according to claim 1, further comprising control means for performing feedback control on the drive mechanism. 4. A processing container having an internal cavity, holding means disposed in the internal cavity of the processing container for holding an object to be processed, supporting the holding means, and penetrating a wall of the processing container. Driving support shafts led out on both sides of the processing container, At a point where the driving support shaft penetrates a wall of the processing container, such that the driving support shaft can be translated in the axial direction, and An airtight mechanism that separates the internal cavity from the outside so as to maintain the airtightness of the internal cavity of the processing container, and is attached to both ends of the driving spindle, and the driving spindle is attached to the processing container. A linear motion mechanism having a drive mechanism for translating in the axial direction. 5. A center portion of the driving support shaft is disposed in the processing container, and both ends thereof extend to the outside through a wall of the processing container. The linear motion mechanism according to claim 4, wherein the linear motion mechanism is fixed to a central portion. 6. A position detecting means for detecting a position of the driving support shaft in a driving direction, based on position information detected by the position detecting means.
The linear motion mechanism according to claim 4, further comprising control means for performing feedback control on the drive mechanism.