JP3237289B2 - Ion shower equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ion shower apparatus for irradiating an object such as a substrate with an ion beam.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an ion shower apparatus for irradiating an object to be processed such as a semiconductor substrate with an ion beam, an ion shower apparatus as shown in FIG. 2 is known. Such an ion shower device 1
Comprises a vacuum chamber 5 installed in front of an ion source 2 for ionizing and ejecting a predetermined substance.
An ion beam extracted from the inside by the extraction electrode 4 can be uniformly applied to the surface of the object 6 placed in the vacuum chamber 5. This type of ion shower device 1
In this case, since it is necessary to connect the ion chamber 3 on the high voltage side and the vacuum chamber 5 on the ground potential side while maintaining electrical insulation, the opposite flanges 7 and 8 are provided on the two chambers 3 and 5.
A ring-shaped insulating member 9 is sandwiched between the flanges 7 and 8. Conventionally, as the insulating member 9,
High-precision ceramics are used,
The chambers 3 and 5 can be connected to each other by positioning (axis alignment). Further, O-rings 10 and 10 are provided between the upper and lower surfaces of the insulating member 9 and the flanges 7 and 8, thereby providing a vacuum seal between the chambers 3 and 5.

[0003]

However, in the conventional ion shower apparatus 1, since ceramics is used as the material of the insulating member 9, it is practically difficult to manufacture the insulating member 9 having a large diameter. This has been an obstacle to increasing the diameter of the ion shower device 1. In particular, in recent manufacturing processes for liquid crystal displays, there is a demand to increase the size of the glass substrate 6 to be irradiated with the ion beam to the order of meters. Accordingly, the ion shower device 1 having a diameter of 1 meter or more is required. However, as a practical matter, the insulating member 9 having a diameter of 1 meter or more cannot be manufactured. The device 1 cannot be obtained either. Even if such a device 1 could be realized, it would be too expensive and not practical.

In this regard, it is conceivable to use a synthetic resin excellent in workability and cost as a material of the insulating member 9. However, the thermal expansion coefficient of the synthetic resin is much larger than that of the ceramics, and the extraction member 4 is supported on the insulating member 9. The beam hole of the electrode 4 is displaced, so that not only the expected beam shape is not obtained but also the performance is deteriorated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide an ion shower device capable of easily and inexpensively increasing the diameter while maintaining the conventional performance. is there.

[0006]

To achieve the above object, the present invention relates to an ion shower apparatus in which an ion chamber and a vacuum chamber for accommodating an object to be processed are connected via a flange. Between the flanges, ceramic columns are provided at intervals in the circumferential direction to connect the two flanges, and between the flanges.
In addition, an annular seal member made of synthetic resin is provided on the inner peripheral side of the flange relative to the ceramic column .

[0007]

According to the above construction, since the flanges of the ion chamber and the vacuum chamber are connected by using a small ceramic pillar, both chambers can be easily positioned and connected even in a large-diameter ion shower apparatus.
Further, by providing an annular seal member made of a synthetic resin on the inner peripheral side of the ceramic column, a vacuum seal can be easily applied to a large-diameter ion shower device.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Here, a diameter of 1 m for performing ion shower doping on a glass substrate of a liquid crystal display is used.
An ion shower device of a degree will be described.

FIG. 1 shows an ion shower apparatus according to the present embodiment. This ion shower device 11
The ion source 2 includes an ion source 2 that ionizes and discharges a predetermined material, and a substantially bottomed vacuum chamber 5 provided in an ion extraction direction of the ion source 2.

The ion source 2 causes a direct current discharge or the like between the ion chamber 3 and a hot filament (not shown) to excite the raw material gas introduced into the plasma chamber 3a in the chamber 3 to generate a plasma. Generate An extraction electrode 4 is provided at the opening of the ion chamber 3 so as to close the opening, and predetermined ions are extracted from the plasma chamber 3a through a large number of beam holes 4a formed in the extraction electrode 4.

The vacuum chamber 5 defines a processing chamber 5a into which the ion beam extracted by the extraction electrode 4 is introduced. A glass substrate 6 as an object to be processed is introduced into the processing chamber 5a through an introduction hole 13 on the side of the vacuum chamber 5, and is installed facing the plasma chamber 3a.

At the open end of the ion chamber 3 and the open end of the vacuum chamber 5, annular flanges 7,
A connecting structure 14 is provided between the flanges 7 and 8 to connect them while maintaining electrical insulation.

The connecting structure 14 is a composite of a ceramic product and a resin product, and is provided with ceramic columns 15, 15.
, And a sealing member 16 made of a synthetic resin and provided on the inner peripheral side of the ceramic columns 15. The ceramic column 15 is for positioning and connecting the two chambers 3 and 5 to each other, and is formed in a cylindrical shape, and flanges 7 and 8 are fixed to upper and lower end surfaces thereof by bolts 17, respectively. The sealing member 16 is for vacuum sealing between the chambers 3 and 5 and is formed in an annular shape. O-rings 18 and 18 are interposed between upper and lower end surfaces of the sealing member 16 and the flanges 7 and 8. Has been established. Ceramic pillars 15,
A predetermined gap 19 is formed between the seal member 16 and the seal member 16 to allow expansion and contraction of the seal member 16 due to a change in the use environment temperature.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 12 denotes an annular electrode supporting portion formed on the inner peripheral side of the vacuum chamber 5, and the leading electrode 4 is supported at the tip of the electrode supporting portion 12.

In the ion shower apparatus 11 having the above-described configuration, the ion chamber 3 and the vacuum chamber 5 are connected by ceramic columns 15, 15... Therefore, the two chambers 3 can be formed only by the small ceramic pillars 15 without using a large ceramic product which is disadvantageous in terms of production and price.
5 can be positioned and connected. For this reason, according to this structure, the diameter of the ion shower device 11 can be easily increased without using a large-diameter ceramic product as in the related art. Moreover, these ceramic pillars 1
Since the seal member 16 provided on the inner peripheral side of 5 is made of synthetic resin and has a large diameter easily and inexpensively, the diameter of the device 11 can be increased also in this regard. Here, the sealing member 16 made of resin expands and contracts in accordance with a change in the use environment temperature, but expansion in the thickness direction does not occur.
And the radial expansion is absorbed in the gap 19, so that the inside of the chamber 5 can always be kept in a vacuum without adversely affecting the relative positional relationship between the chambers 3 and 5.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the divided ceramic pillars 15, 15...
And a resin sealing member 16 as a vacuum sealing member
By using these in combination, the diameter of the ion shower device 11 can be easily and inexpensively increased, and the ion shower device 11 having a diameter as large as 1 meter can be easily realized.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the vacuum chamber 5
Since the flange 8 of the lead electrode 4 is also used as a flange for supporting the electrode 4, the extraction electrode 4
Does not occur. That is, although the sealing member 16 expands and contracts in accordance with a change in the use environment temperature, since the extraction electrode 4 is supported by the ceramic column 15 via the flange 8, the sealing member 16
It has nothing to do with the expansion and contraction of Therefore, an ion beam having a uniform distribution in the radial direction can always be extracted from the ion source 2, and the performance is not deteriorated due to the increase in the diameter.

[0018]

In summary, according to the present invention, a ceramic column for positioning and a resin sealing member for vacuum sealing are provided in a composite manner between the flanges of the ion chamber and the vacuum chamber. It is possible to easily and inexpensively increase the diameter of the device while maintaining the same.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing one embodiment of an ion shower device of the present invention, wherein (a) is a front sectional view, and (b) is a sectional view taken along line AA of (a).

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a conventional ion shower device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Ion source 3 Ion chamber 7, 8 Flange 5 Vacuum chamber 6 Glass substrate (object to be processed) 11 Ion shower device 14 Connection structure 15 Ceramic column 16 Seal member

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An ion shower device in which an ion chamber and a vacuum chamber for accommodating an object to be processed are connected via a flange, wherein a ceramic pillar is provided between the ion chamber and the flange of the vacuum chamber at a circumferential interval. while connecting the flanges is provided, between the flanges
An ion shower device, wherein an annular seal member made of synthetic resin is provided on the inner peripheral side of the flange with respect to the ceramic column .