JP3225170B2 - Vacuum processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vacuum processing apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Among vacuum processing apparatuses for manufacturing semiconductors, there are various apparatuses such as etching, film formation processing, ashing and sputtering, and single-wafer type and batch type apparatuses are also available. is there. This type of semiconductor manufacturing apparatus has been devised and improved in order to cope with higher integration and higher throughput of semiconductors. For example, for a single wafer type vacuum processing apparatus, a plurality of vacuum processing chambers are shared by a common transfer chamber. Are also known which are connected to a common input / output port and conveyed to each vacuum processing chamber.

FIG. 12 shows such an apparatus.
A plurality of vacuum processing chambers 13 and cassette chambers 14 are radially connected to a center of rotation of the transfer arm 11 in a transfer chamber 12 having a transfer arm 11 that can move forward and backward, and a vacuum processing apparatus is configured. A wafer cassette 10 containing, for example, 25 wafers (hereinafter referred to as “wafers”) is loaded into a cassette chamber 14, the pressure in the wafer cassette 10 is reduced, and then the wafers in the wafer cassette 10 are sequentially transported into a vacuum processing chamber 13 by a transport arm 11. For example, wafer processing is performed in parallel in each vacuum processing chamber 13.

When installing such an apparatus in a clean room, a support frame large enough to mount the entire apparatus is placed on the floor of the clean room, and the transfer chamber 12 and the vacuum processing chamber 13 are placed on the support frame. And a control box, a matching box, a vacuum pump, and the like are arranged in the internal space of the support frame to assemble the apparatus.

[0005]

However, in the above-described apparatus, a common support frame is used for the transfer chamber 12 and the vacuum processing chamber 13, so that the apparatus is disassembled during maintenance.
In the case of assembling, for example, there is a problem that the assembling work of the vacuum processing chamber cannot be performed while the transfer chamber 12 is being assembled, and when working in the support frame, electric wiring and gas piping are required. Since they are routed around the floor, they must work while paying attention so as not to catch them, and there is a problem that workability is poor.

In order to prevent the gas from leaking into the clean room, the gas pipe for supplying the processing gas to the vacuum processing chamber is inserted into, for example, a bellows-like thin resin tube. The inside of the resin tube is exhausted. By the way, in order to fix such a double pipe to the pipe fixing part of the support frame, the inside of the resin tube is evacuated, so the resin tube is connected to the front and rear ends of the airtight sheet metal box and the inside of this box is treated. Although it is configured to penetrate the gas supply pipe, the use of a sheet metal box considerably increases the size.

On the other hand, since the inside of the support frame is crowded with a controller, an exhaust pipe, electric wiring, and the like, such a large-sized structure has a limited installation place, a narrow space is further narrowed, and maintenance workability is deteriorated. There is a problem.

An object of the present invention is to provide a processing gas supply pipe with an outer pipe.
When using a covered double piping structure, the workability of maintenance
Well, and because the double piping is fixed in a narrow space
It is to provide a vacuum processing apparatus which can be used.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a processing gas is supplied into a vacuum processing chamber through a processing gas supply pipe.
An apparatus for vacuum processing a workpiece, the double pipe through the processing gas supply pipe into the outer pipe, the vacuum processing apparatus configured to evacuate the interior space of the outer tube, the front-rear direction
The enlarged diameter part with a through hole formed in it and before and after this enlarged diameter part
Ring shape formed in a ring shape so as to surround the through hole
And a part that can be divided in the radial direction of the ring-shaped part.
Using the fixing member thus formed, this fixing member is provided so as to be sandwiched between the outer peripheral surfaces of the processing gas supply pipes, the outer pipe is divided in the length direction, and one and the other of the divided ends are enlarged in diameter. Externally fitted to the outer peripheral surface of the ring-shaped part before and after the part and connected,
The ring-shaped portion is formed such that an air passage that allows air to flow from one of the divided outer tubes through the other through the fixing member is formed, and the enlarged diameter portion is fixed to the pipe fixing portion. It is characterized by the following. In this case, the outer tube is made of, for example, a flexible material.

According to the present invention, the fixing member of the double pipe for supplying the processing gas can be reduced in size, and the fixing member can be disassembled in the radial direction, so that the mounting is simple and the maintenance work is facilitated.

[0011]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the general construction of an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 2 denotes a transfer chamber having a rectangular parallelepiped shape having an airtight structure. Around this transfer chamber 2, a wafer cassette (hereinafter simply referred to as a cassette) as a container for storing 25 wafers W is placed. Two cassette chambers 3A, 3B and three vacuum processing chambers 4A to 4C having an airtight structure are airtightly connected to the transfer chamber 2 via a gate valve G as shown in FIGS. It is provided.

The cassette chambers 3A and 3B have, for example, one (3A) used for carrying in and the other (3B) used for carrying out. A lid 31 is formed at the top, and the cassette C is moved up and down inside. The lifting mechanism 32 is provided. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, exhaust pipes 33a and 33b are connected to the bottoms of the cassette chambers 3A and 3B (however, they are drawn horizontally for convenience in FIG. 3).
33b is connected to a common vacuum pump, for example, a dry pump 33c, via valves V1a and V1b.

The vacuum processing chamber 4A (4B, 4C) is configured to perform, for example, plasma etching using a magnet, and is provided with a lower electrode 41 and an upper electrode 42 which also serve as a susceptor, and a processing gas supply pipe. 43
And an exhaust pipe 44 are connected. Above the upper electrode 42, a magnet unit 45 is provided separately from the vacuum processing chamber. The magnet unit 45 is a magnet that forms a magnetic field in the processing chamber 4A (4B, 4C) in the housing 45a. A magnet 46 for preventing magnetic field leakage formed so that a magnetic pole 46 and a magnetic pole opposite to the magnetic pole of the magnet 46 are vertically overlapped with each other, and a motor 48 for rotating these are housed.

A coolant reservoir 5 for cooling the wafer W is formed in the lower electrode 41, and a coolant supply pipe 51 and a coolant discharge pipe 52 are connected to the coolant reservoir 5. The vacuum processing chambers 4A to 4C have the same configuration, and the refrigerant supply pipe 51 and the refrigerant discharge pipe 52 of each of the vacuum processing chambers 4A to 4C are connected to a common refrigerant circulation device 53 as shown in FIG. By using the common refrigerant circulation device 53 as described above, cost reduction and device space reduction can be achieved.

Each exhaust pipe 44 of the vacuum processing chambers 4A to 4C
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a main pump for evacuation, for example, turbo molecular pumps 6A to 6C is connected to the pump, and on the exhaust side of these turbo molecular pumps 6A to 6C,
A common auxiliary pump for adjusting the pressure on the exhaust side of each of the turbo molecular pumps 6A to 6C to a predetermined pressure, for example, a common dry pump 61 is connected. Turbo molecular pump 6
Valves V4a, V4a on the intake side and exhaust side of A to 6C, respectively.
5a, V6a and V4b, V5b, V6b are connected, and a bypass 60 provided with valves V4c, V5c, V6c for the turbo molecular pumps 6A to 6C, respectively.
A, 60B and 60C are connected in parallel. As described above, if the common dry pump 61 is used for each of the vacuum processing chambers 4A to 4C, it is possible to reduce the cost and the space for the utility room and the like.

In such a vacuum exhaust system, the vacuum processing chambers 6A to 6A
When evacuating 6B, first, valves V4a to V6
a and V4b-V6b closed and valves V4c-V6c
And the dry pump 61 is used to open the vacuum processing chambers 6A to 6A
The inside of B is evacuated to a degree of vacuum of 1 Torr, then the valves V4a to V6a and V4b to V6b are opened and the valves V4c to V6c are closed, and the turbo molecular pump 60A
The interior of the vacuum processing chambers 6A to 6B is evacuated to a predetermined degree of vacuum at ６０60C.

In the transfer chamber 2, cassette rooms 3A, 3A
For example, a transfer means 21 for transferring a wafer between B and the vacuum processing chambers 4A to 4C is provided. The transfer means 21 includes, for example, an articulated arm having three independently transferable horizontally transfer arms. The drive section 22 of the transfer means 21 is provided in an airtight case section 23 below the bottom wall of the transfer chamber 2,
The inside of the case portion 23 is evacuated through, for example, a dry pump 34a and a turbo molecular pump 34b through an exhaust pipe 35 to prevent particles from scattering from the bearing portion. An exhaust pipe 36 is connected to the transfer chamber 2, and the exhaust pipe 36 is connected to a vacuum exhaust system including the dry pump 34a and the turbo molecular pump 34b. In FIG. 3, V2, V3, V3a, V3b, and V3c are valves. Further, a rotation stage 24 and a buffer stage 25 for aligning the wafer are arranged in the transfer chamber 2. A lid 26 is mounted on the upper surface of the transfer chamber 2 so as to open or airtightly seal the inside of the transfer chamber 2, and an inert gas such as an N 2 gas is supplied on the inner surface of the lid 26. A supply unit 27 is provided. The inert gas supply unit 27 is formed of a tubular body made of a porous material such as a sintered metal, and is connected to a gas supply path 28. The gas supply passage 27 penetrates from the inside of the lid 26 to the outer surface, extends along the outer surface to an edge portion, penetrates from the edge portion to the inner surface of the lid 26, and further passes through the side wall portion of the transfer chamber 2 to the outside. And is connected to an inert gas supply source (not shown). However, in the gas supply path 27, a portion penetrating the lid 26 and the side wall of the transfer chamber 2 is formed by a hole formed therein. Here, the assembling structure of the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 4. The transfer chamber 2 and the cassette chambers 3A and 3B will be described.
Are supported on a common first support frame 20 formed by assembling a frame material and a plate material, and each of the vacuum processing chambers 4A to 4A
C is supported on the second support frames 40A to 40C, which are independent of the first support frame 20 and independent of each other. These first and second support frames 2
0, 40A to 40C are box-shaped bases 7 forming the bottom of the apparatus.
Is placed on top.

The support frames 40A (40B, 40B)
On top of C), the magnet unit 45 and the vacuum processing chamber 4
An elevating mechanism 8, which will be described later, is provided for elevating between the upper surface portion of A and its upper position. A matching box 71 for applying high frequency power in the vacuum processing chamber is provided below the support frame 40A (40B, 40C).
And a control box 72 for controlling the driving units and valves.

In the base 7, a processing gas supply pipe 43 and an exhaust pipe for evacuating each chamber (in FIG.
Is representatively shown. ), Electrical wiring 70
And an air pipe for operating a solenoid valve. Examples of the electric wiring include a power supply line such as a high-frequency power supply, a control signal line such as a motor and a valve, and a detection signal line such as a temperature and a pressure. In addition, on the upper surface of the base 7,
As shown by the reference numerals S1 and S2 in FIG. 4, a cover plate is provided according to the layout of the gas pipes and the wiring of the electric wiring, so that the internal electric wiring and the like can be maintained. A hole (not shown) for drawing out piping and electric wiring upward is formed.

Next, the lifting mechanism 8 of the magnet unit 45 will be described. As shown in FIG. 5, the lifting mechanism 8 includes a pair of supporting plates 81, 81 facing each other.
Two rods that extend forward and rotate along the vertical plane
A pair of arms 82a and 82b are provided.

The upper arm 82a of the pair of arms 82a and 82b has a base end pivotally supported by the support plate 81 and a tip end pivotally supported by a side surface of the housing 45a. The lower arm 82b is fixed to an end of a rotating shaft 83 supported between the support plates 81, 81, and a tip end is supported by a side surface of the tube 45a. 82b
When the is rotated, the housing 45a is configured to move up and down while maintaining the horizontal posture.

At the center of the rotating shaft 83, there is formed an operating part 84 projecting obliquely upward and forward, and at the upper end of the operating part 84, a lower end of a telescopic rod 85 extending from the upper rear. Is supported. The upper end of the telescopic rod 85 is provided with a transmitting means 8 for causing the telescopic rod 85 to expand and contract by driving a driving unit 86 fixed to the support plate 81.
7 is combined. Therefore, when the telescopic rod 85 is retracted, the distal end of the operating portion 84 is pulled up.
The rotation shaft 83 rotates counterclockwise in FIG. 5, whereby the arms 82a and 82b rotate upward, and the housing 45a rises as shown in FIG. 6A. When the telescopic rod 85 is extended, the housing 45a is lowered by the reverse operation as shown in FIG.

If the housing 45a is moved up and down in this way, the case 45a can be lifted up linearly in the vertical direction and then pulled out linearly in the horizontal direction.
This is advantageous in terms of space in that a guide mechanism is not required above.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described. First, the transfer chamber 2 and the vacuum processing chambers 4A to 4C are each evacuated to a predetermined degree of vacuum, and a cassette C containing a wafer before processing is placed in one cassette chamber 3A and the other cassette chamber 3B. The empty cassette C is placed on the
Is closed to evacuate the cassette chambers 3A and 3B. Subsequently, the gate valve G between the cassette chambers 3A and 3B and the transfer chamber 2 is opened. In order to prevent particles from entering the transfer chamber 2 from the cassette chambers 3A and 3B opened to the atmosphere. Then, for example, N2 gas is supplied into the transfer chamber 2 from the inert gas supply unit 27 to
The pressure in the transfer chamber 2 is set to be more positive than A and 3B, for example, the pressure in the transfer chamber 2 is set to several hundred mmTorr, and then the gate valve G is opened. The transfer means 21 receives the wafers W one by one from the cassette C in the cassette chamber 3A and transfers them, for example, into the vacuum processing chamber 4A. In the vacuum processing chamber 4A, the high-frequency power between the susceptor 41 and the upper electrode 42 and the magnet The processing gas is turned into plasma by the energy of the magnetic field 46, and the wafer is etched by this plasma. The wafers W in the cassette C are distributed to, for example, the vacuum processing chambers 4A to 4C by the above-described transfer process, and vacuum processing, for example, plasma etching is performed in parallel. The processed wafer W is transferred to the cassette in the other cassette chamber 3B by the transfer means 21.

When assembling the apparatus after manufacturing or after performing maintenance, the apparatus is assembled in advance for each unit including the transfer chamber 2 and the cassette chambers 3A and 3B and for each of the vacuum processing chambers 4A to 4C. Then, the assembled units are combined on the base 7. For example, in the case of the unit of the vacuum processing chamber 4A, the vacuum processing chamber 4A is placed on the support frame 40A, the related equipments are mounted, the unit is assembled, and such operation is performed for other units. 40A
Units assembled every ~ 40C and 20
And put them together.

Therefore, since the units can be assembled in parallel, the work can be performed in a short time. When a part of the apparatus is replaced, for example, the vacuum processing chamber 4
When replacing A, the support frame 40A can be separated from other units to perform the replacement operation, so that workability is good.

Since the gas pipes and the electric wires are routed inside the base 7, after assembling the units such as the vacuum processing chamber, the support frames (20, 40A to 40C) are placed on the base 7. It can be easily carried and installed on the base, and it is easy to carry each support frame out of the base. In addition, when working on the base 7, electric wiring etc. It is easy to work because it does not get tangled. When a plurality of the above-described vacuum processing apparatuses are installed in a clean room, as shown in FIG.
It is preferable to use a common dry pump 61 for the exhaust system of all the vacuum processing chambers 4. In this case, it is necessary to increase the capacity of the dry pump as compared with the case where the dry pump 61 is provided for each vacuum processing apparatus. However, there is an advantage that the price is reduced and the floor area can be reduced.

In the above description, when a vacuum pump, for example, a turbo molecular pump is mounted vertically below the bottom surface of the transfer chamber 2 or the like, the vacuum pump 62 (for example, the vacuum pump of the above embodiment) is used as shown in FIG. 34)
It is preferable that a jack mechanism 63 is provided at the lower part of the frame, and the jack mechanism 63 is mounted in combination with a movable frame 65 having casters 64. With this configuration, the heavy-weight vacuum pump 62 can be lowered by the jack mechanism 63 and pulled out sideways, so that the vacuum pump 62 can be easily attached and detached, which is convenient during maintenance of the apparatus.

As shown in FIG. 9, when a butterfly valve VA, a gate valve VB, and a vacuum pump 6, for example, a turbo molecular pump are mounted on the side walls of the vacuum processing chambers 4A to 4C and the like, as shown in FIG. For example, a horizontal guide rail 66 is provided on the support frame 40A, and the wheels 67 are guided by the guide rail 66 and move horizontally.
It is preferable that the vacuum pump 6 be placed on a moving table 68 provided with a butterfly valve VA and a gate valve VB because the vacuum pump 6 can be easily pulled out sideways.
This is convenient for any maintenance of the vacuum pump 6 and the vacuum pump 6.

On the other hand, the processing gas supply pipe 43 is actually made of a flexible material such as a resin tube to form a double pipe in order to prevent the leakage of the processing gas. Is constantly exhausted to a negative pressure. FIG.
Shows a preferable configuration when such a double pipe is fixed, and includes a gas box 90 having a unit for controlling a gas flow rate and a gas pressure, and a vacuum processing chamber 4A.
(4B, 4C), a double pipe through the processing gas supply pipe 43 in the resin tube 91 is provided. Rings 91a are arranged in the resin tube 91 so as not to be deflated by negative pressure. A fixing member 9 is provided in the middle of the double pipe, and the fixing member 9
Enlarged portion, for example, before and after a square thick plate-like portion 92 (front and back)
The ring-shaped portions 93 are formed respectively and can be divided in the radial direction, for example, by half.

As shown in FIG. 11, a through-hole 94 is formed in the center of the plate-like body 92 so as to fit the processing gas supply pipe 43, and the divided fixing members 9 (9A, 9B) can be processed gas. The fixing member 9 is externally fitted to the outer peripheral surface of the processing gas supply pipe 43 so as to be sandwiched from both sides of the supply pipe 43, and the fixing member 9 is fixed by bolts 94a (not shown in FIG. 10).
A and 9B are fixed to each other and fixed to a pipe fixing portion, for example, a bottom plate in the base 7 in the embodiment of FIG. The resin tube 91 is divided into two parts in the longitudinal direction, and one and the other of the divided ends are fitted on the outer peripheral surface of the ring-shaped portion 93, respectively, and the resin tube 91 is ventilated from one of the divided ends to the other. In order to make it possible, a ventilation path 95 extending from one ring-shaped portion 93 to the other ring-shaped portion 93 via the plate-shaped portion 92 is formed concentrically.

By exhausting the gas box 90 through an exhaust pipe 96 connected to the gas box 90, the interior of the resin tube 91 is exhausted as shown by the arrow. By fixing the double pipe in this way, the fixing member can be reduced in size as compared with the conventional case using a sheet metal box, so that space efficiency is good, and for example, fixing on a support frame or where a person passes. When a member is provided, it is unlikely to hinder the operation during maintenance.

In the above, the vacuum processing chamber is not limited to a processing chamber for performing etching using a magnet, but may be a vacuum processing chamber for performing plasma CVD, thermal CVD, ashing, sputtering, or the like. , Different vacuum processes may be performed. The object to be processed is not limited to the wafer, but may be an LCD substrate or the like.

[0034]

According to the present invention, the pipe fixing portion of the double pipe for supplying the processing gas can be reduced in size, so that space efficiency is good and workability during maintenance is excellent.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing the overall configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a cassette chamber, a transfer chamber, and a vacuum processing chamber according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a cassette chamber, a transfer chamber, and a vacuum processing chamber according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing an arrangement of a support frame such as a vacuum processing chamber according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an elevating mechanism of a housing containing a magnet.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of an operation of an elevating mechanism of a housing containing a magnet.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of an exhaust system when a plurality of vacuum processing apparatuses are installed.

FIG. 8 is a side view showing an example of a guide mechanism of the vacuum pump.

FIG. 9 is a side view showing another example of the guide mechanism of the vacuum pump.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a fixing structure of a double pipe.

FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view showing a fixing portion of the double pipe.

FIG. 12 is a plan view showing a conventional vacuum processing chamber.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 2 transfer chamber 21 transfer means 20 first support frame 3A, 3B cassette chamber 4A-4C vacuum processing chamber 40A-40C second support frame 43 processing gas supply pipe 45 magnet unit 53 refrigerant circulation device 6 turbo molecular pump 61 dry pump Reference Signs List 7 base 8 lifting mechanism 9 fixing member 91 resin tube 92 plate-shaped portion W semiconductor wafer

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Koji Suzuki 2381 Kita Shimojo, Fujii-machi, Nirasaki-shi, Yamanashi Prefecture Inside Tokyo Electron Yamanashi Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-1-322020 Hei 3-500711 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B01J 3/00-3/02 H01L 21/68

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. An apparatus for supplying a processing gas into a vacuum processing chamber through a processing gas supply pipe and performing vacuum processing on an object to be processed, wherein the outer pipe has a double pipe through a processing gas supply pipe.
In a vacuum processing apparatus configured to exhaust the internal space of an outer tube, a diameter-enlarged portion having a through hole formed in the front-rear direction and
Later formed into a ring shape to surround the through hole respectively
With a ring-shaped part and divided in the radial direction of the ring-shaped part
Using a fixing member configured to be possible, this fixing member is fitted and provided so as to be sandwiched on the outer peripheral surface of the processing gas supply pipe, the outer pipe is divided in the length direction, and one and the other of the divided ends are divided. Ventilation that is fitted to and connected to the outer peripheral surfaces of the ring-shaped portions before and after the enlarged-diameter portion, respectively, and allows the divided ring-shaped portion to ventilate from one of the divided outer tubes via the fixing member to the other. A vacuum processing apparatus, wherein a path is formed and the enlarged diameter portion is fixed to a pipe fixing portion. 2. The vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the outer tube is made of a flexible material.