JP3194766U - Vacuum processing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided is a vacuum processing apparatus which has good workability for substrate replacement in a vacuum preparatory chamber of a vacuum processing apparatus and can be easily maintained and cleaned in a substrate holder and a vacuum preparatory chamber. A vacuum processing apparatus includes at least a vacuum chamber main body, a vacuum preliminary chamber, a substrate transfer device, and a preliminary chamber moving mechanism, and performs processing on the substrate in a vacuum atmosphere of the vacuum chamber main body. The vacuum preparatory chamber is composed of a fixed portion 21 provided in the vacuum chamber body via the gate valve 15 and a movable moving portion 24, and the substrate transport device mounts and holds the substrate. A substrate holding table 32 and a holding table moving mechanism 34 that enables the substrate holding table to move between the vacuum chamber main body and the vacuum preparatory chamber are provided. The moving unit and the substrate transfer device are mounted on the preparatory chamber moving mechanism. The moving part can be moved to a position where the moving part is in contact with the fixed part and a position where the moving part is separated from the fixed part. [Selection] Figure 3

Description

Detailed description of the invention

The present invention relates to a structure of a vacuum processing apparatus for processing a substrate in a vacuum atmosphere.

Various apparatuses such as an ion etching apparatus and a plasma CVD apparatus in a semiconductor manufacturing process are known as a vacuum processing apparatus including a vacuum chamber for performing a specific processing process on a substrate surface in a vacuum atmosphere. In these apparatuses, in order to efficiently replace the substrate to be processed in the vacuum chamber, a vacuum preliminary chamber is provided so that the processing can be continuously performed without breaking the vacuum of the vacuum chamber body.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of a conventional apparatus. The apparatus 40 includes a vacuum chamber body 41, a vacuum preliminary chamber 45 attached to the side of the apparatus via a gate valve 42, a substrate holder 48 on which a substrate 47 is mounted, The holding stand moving mechanism 49 is provided outside the vacuum preliminary chamber 45. An opening 45a and a door 45b for exchanging the substrate are provided in the upper portion of the vacuum preliminary chamber 45. The holding table moving mechanism 49 and the substrate holding table 48 are connected via a sliding shaft 49 a penetrating the side wall of the vacuum preliminary chamber 45, and the substrate holding table 48 is driven by the holding table moving mechanism 49. It becomes possible to reciprocate between the vacuum chamber main body 41 and the vacuum preliminary chamber 45. The substrate 47 is mounted on the substrate holding table 48 through the opening 45a. Thereafter, the door 45b is closed, and after the vacuum preliminary chamber 45 is evacuated by a vacuum pump mechanism (not shown), the gate valve 42 is opened and the holding table moving mechanism 49 is driven, whereby the substrate holding table 48 is moved to the vacuum chamber body. Move to 41. The substrate 47 processed by the vacuum chamber main body 41 is removed from the substrate holding table 48 by the reverse procedure of the above procedure, and the next new substrate 47 is mounted.

JP-A-5-263238

In the vacuum processing apparatus as shown in FIG. 4, since the operator replaces the substrate through the upper opening of the vacuum preparatory chamber, the workability of the replacement operation including the positioning of the substrate with respect to the substrate holding table is poor, and the substrate is held. When maintenance and cleaning of the stand and the vacuum preparatory chamber are necessary, it was impossible to remove the entire vacuum preparatory chamber from the gate valve.

An object of the present invention is to provide a structure of a vacuum preparatory chamber in which a substrate replacement workability is good in a vacuum preparatory chamber of a vacuum processing apparatus, and maintenance and cleaning of the substrate holder and the vacuum preparatory chamber can be easily performed.

A vacuum processing apparatus according to the present invention includes at least a vacuum chamber main body, a vacuum preliminary chamber, a substrate transfer device, and a preliminary chamber moving mechanism, and performs processing on a substrate in a vacuum atmosphere of the vacuum chamber main body. And
The vacuum preliminary chamber is composed of a fixed portion provided in the vacuum chamber body via a gate valve, and a movable portion that can be moved.
The substrate transfer apparatus includes a substrate holding table for holding a substrate, and a holding table moving mechanism that enables the substrate holding table to move between the vacuum chamber main body and the vacuum preliminary chamber,
The moving unit and the substrate transfer device are mounted on the preliminary chamber moving mechanism, and the moving unit can be moved to a position where the moving unit is in contact with the fixed unit and a position where the moving unit is separated from the fixed unit.

Since the vacuum processing apparatus of the present invention has the above-described configuration, the substrate holder is moved by the preliminary chamber moving mechanism together with the moving portion of the vacuum preliminary chamber when the substrate is replaced, and the fixed portion and the moving portion of the vacuum preliminary chamber are separated from each other. It is exposed to the opening formed in step (1), and the workability of replacing the substrate is improved, and the maintenance and cleaning of the substrate holder and the vacuum preparatory chamber can be easily performed.

It is front sectional drawing of a vacuum processing apparatus, and explanatory drawing which has a board | substrate holding stand in the processing position of a vacuum chamber main body. It is front sectional drawing of a vacuum processing apparatus, and explanatory drawing which has a substrate holding stand in the standby position of a vacuum preliminary chamber. It is front sectional drawing of a vacuum processing apparatus, explanatory drawing in which a moving part leaves | separates from a fixed part and a board | substrate holding stand exists in a board | substrate exchange position. It is front sectional drawing explaining the conventional vacuum processing apparatus, and the figure where the substrate holding stand is located in a vacuum preliminary chamber

Hereinafter, referring to FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, the vacuum processing apparatus 10 of the present invention includes at least a vacuum chamber main body 12, a vacuum preliminary chamber 20, a substrate transfer device 30, and a preliminary chamber moving device 50. . The vacuum chamber body 12 is a vacuum tank that is connected to a vacuum pump by a piping mechanism (not shown) and has a processing mechanism for processing the substrate 5 that is a target object. By subjecting the vacuum chamber body 12 to a vacuum, the substrate 5 as the object to be processed is processed in a vacuum atmosphere. The processing mechanism is not particularly limited as long as the processing target is processed in a vacuum atmosphere such as an ion milling mechanism or a plasma CVD mechanism.

The preliminary vacuum chamber 20 is attached via a gate valve 15 provided on the side surface of the vacuum chamber main body 12 and constitutes a vacuum region integrally with the vacuum chamber main body 12 by opening the gate valve 15. The vacuum preliminary chamber 20 includes a fixed portion 21 fixed to the gate valve 15 and a moving portion 24 that moves linearly with respect to the fixed portion 21 and can be separated from the fixed portion 21. The moving portion 24 is fixed to the fixed portion 21. The fixed portion 21 and the moving portion 24 integrally constitute the vacuum preparatory chamber 20 when in a position in contact with. When the moving part 24 is at a position away from the fixed part 21, an opening 25 (see FIG. 3) is formed between the moving part 24 and the fixed part 21, and a substrate holder 32 described later is exposed. A seal material 26 is provided at a contact portion between the fixed portion 21 and the moving portion 24 to prevent vacuum leakage. The fixing portion 21 is connected to a vacuum pump by a piping mechanism (not shown) similarly to the vacuum chamber main body 12, and is independently independent of the vacuum chamber main body 12 even when the gate valve 15 is closed. Can be in a vacuum state.

The distance between the fixed portion 21 and the moving portion 24 of the vacuum prechamber 20 is good enough to expose the document holding base 32, thereby facilitating substrate replacement and maintenance. The dimension from the end of the fixed part 21 in contact with the moving part 24 to the gate valve can be a little larger than the dimension of the material holding table 32, but is not limited and the entire vacuum preliminary chamber 20 is moved to the moving part. It may be 24. In that case, the end face of the gate valve 15 serves as the fixing portion 21. Further, the moving unit 24 may be only the side wall 28 of the moving unit 24.

The substrate transfer device 30 includes a substrate holding table 32 for mounting and holding the substrate 5, and a holding table moving mechanism 34 for moving the substrate holding table 32 between the vacuum chamber body 12 and the vacuum preliminary chamber 20. The substrate holding table 32 is provided in the vacuum region, and the holding table moving mechanism 34 is provided outside the vacuum region. The holding table 32 provided in the vacuum region is fixed to the tip of a sliding shaft 37 extending from the holding table moving mechanism 34 provided outside the vacuum region through the side wall 28 of the preliminary chamber 20. As a result, the substrate holding table 32 has a processing position (see FIG. 1) of the vacuum chamber body 12 that processes the substrate 5 by the holding table moving mechanism 34 and a standby position (see FIG. 1) of the vacuum preliminary chamber 20 that replaces the substrate 5. (See FIG. 2).

A sealing material 38 is provided on the sliding surface between the side wall 28 and the sliding shaft 37 to prevent vacuum leakage from the sliding surface. The sliding shaft 37 has a hollow pipe structure, and an electric wire, a tube, a tube, and the like are disposed through the inside to supply necessary power to the substrate holding base 32.

The holding table moving mechanism 34 is a known moving mechanism having a driving mechanism and a sliding guide. In the figure, the holding table moving mechanism 34 is arranged outside the vacuum preliminary chamber 20 so that the moving direction is the same as the moving direction of the substrate holding table 32. It is mounted on a spare room moving device 50 to be described later. The drive mechanism of the holding table moving mechanism 34 may be manual, or may be a drive mechanism using an electric motor, an air cylinder, or the like, and is not limited. The moving direction of the holding table moving mechanism 34 does not have to be the same as the moving direction of the substrate holding table 32, and can be moved in any direction as long as the substrate holding table 32 can move back and forth between the vacuum chamber body 12 and the vacuum preliminary chamber 20. good.

The preliminary chamber moving device 50 is mounted and moved integrally with the moving unit 24 of the vacuum preliminary chamber 20 and the substrate transfer device 30. In the figure, the moving unit 24 is fixed to a preliminary chamber moving device 50 equipped with a holding table moving mechanism 34 via a fixed plate 29. The moving part 24 can move linearly to a position away from a position in contact with the fixed part 21 by driving the auxiliary chamber moving mechanism 50. The preliminary chamber moving device 50 moves the moving unit 24 and the holding table transport device 30 in the direction in which the substrate holding table 32 moves between the processing position of the vacuum chamber main body 12 and the standby position of the vacuum preliminary chamber 20. When the moving unit 24 is at a position away from the fixed unit 21, the substrate holding table 32 is positioned at the substrate replacement position of the opening 25.

The procedure for replacing the substrate 5 in the vacuum processing apparatus 10 having the structure described above will be described below with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, the gate valve 15 is opened, and the vacuum chamber main body 12 and the vacuum preparatory chamber 20 are an integral vacuum region, and a necessary degree of vacuum is maintained by a vacuum pump (not shown). The substrate holding base 32 is at a processing position in the vacuum chamber main body 12, and the substrate 5 mounted on the substrate holding base 32 is processed in a vacuum atmosphere by a processing mechanism provided in the vacuum chamber main body 12. .

After the processing, the material holding table 32 loaded with the material 5 is moved from the processing position of the vacuum chamber body 12 to the standby position of the vacuum preliminary chamber 20 (see FIG. 2) by driving the holding table moving mechanism 34. Thereafter, the gate valve 15 is closed, and an inert gas such as nitrogen is injected into the vacuum preliminary chamber 20 in a vacuum state to return to the atmospheric pressure. At that time, the degree of vacuum of the vacuum chamber main body 12 is maintained by closing the gate valve.

After that, as shown in FIG. 3, the substrate transfer device 30 including the substrate holding table 32 on which the substrate 5 is mounted and the moving part 24 of the vacuum preliminary chamber 20 are fixed together by the preliminary chamber moving device 50. The substrate holding base 32 on which the substrate 5 is mounted is moved to a position away from the portion 21 and exposed to the substrate replacement position of the opening 25 formed by the separation of the fixed portion 21 and the moving portion 24 of the vacuum preliminary chamber 20. To do. The processed substrate 5 is removed from the substrate holding table 32 and a new substrate 5 is mounted.

The substrate holder 32 on which the new substrate 5 is mounted is transported to the processing position of the vacuum chamber body 12 in the reverse order of the above procedure, and the new substrate 5 is processed.

The vacuum processing apparatus of the present invention can be used for an apparatus for processing a substrate in a vacuum atmosphere, such as an ion milling apparatus and a plasma CVD apparatus in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

5 47 Substrate 10 40 Vacuum processing device 12 41 Vacuum chamber body 15 42 Gate valve 20 45 Vacuum prechamber 21 Fixing portion 24 Moving portion 25 Opening portion 26 Sealing material 28 Side wall 29 Fixing plate 30 Substrate transport device 32 48 Substrate holder 34 49 Holding stand moving mechanism 37 Sliding shaft 38 Sealing material 50 Spare chamber moving device

Claims (1)

At least a vacuum chamber main body, a vacuum preliminary chamber, a substrate transfer device, and a preliminary chamber moving mechanism, a vacuum processing device for processing a substrate in a vacuum atmosphere of the vacuum chamber main body, the vacuum preliminary chamber, The vacuum chamber body is composed of a fixed part provided via a gate valve, and a movable part that can be moved.
The substrate transfer device includes a substrate holding table for mounting and holding a substrate, and a holding table moving mechanism that enables the substrate holding table to move between the vacuum chamber main body and the vacuum preliminary chamber,
The moving unit and the substrate transfer device are mounted on the preliminary chamber moving mechanism, and the moving unit can be moved to a position where the moving unit is in contact with the fixed unit and a position where the moving unit is separated from the fixed unit. Processing equipment.

Images