JP3426001B2 - Atmosphere chamber device with built-in stage - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an atmosphere chamber apparatus with a built-in stage, which is used for conducting a characteristic test of materials and the like under a special environment.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a test apparatus having an atmosphere chamber has been used for material development and material characteristic test under a special environment. A normal material test is performed by allowing the material to stand in an atmosphere chamber.However, in the special material test, the sample is moved in a predetermined direction in order to test it in a special environment for processing, molding, etc. A stage is needed. Conventionally, this type of moving stage can be roughly divided into a stage having a drive system provided inside the atmosphere chamber and a stage provided outside the atmosphere chamber. When the drive system of the stage is arranged outside the atmosphere chamber, it is necessary to penetrate the member constituting the drive system into the chamber wall, and therefore it is necessary to seal this portion so that the atmosphere does not leak outside.

On the other hand, in the case where the stage drive system is provided in the atmosphere chamber, a structure is provided to protect the drive system from the corrosive atmosphere when the environmental condition to be set is a corrosive atmosphere. Generally, since this type of moving stage moves in three dimensions, the protective structure is required to support the movement in three dimensions. A bellows structure has been adopted as a conventional sealing mechanism.

[0004]

However, the bellows structure is excellent in safety such that there is almost no leakage of atmosphere and no friction is generated between the bellows structure and the drive system. By accommodating, there is a problem that the bellows structure itself becomes large or the amount of movement of the stage is limited. Further, the bellows is usually used in a place where there is no pressure difference between the inside and the outside or is small, and there is a problem that the bellows cannot be used when the pressure difference between the inside and the outside becomes large as in a test environment condition under high pressure. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the problems of the above-mentioned conventional technology, and to protect the drive system of the stage from the atmosphere even under the environmental conditions of high pressure and corrosive atmosphere. An object is to provide an atmosphere chamber apparatus with a built-in stage that can be simplified.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a built-in stage in which a container forming an atmosphere chamber and a stage on which a sample is mounted and which is movable in a plurality of axial directions are provided in the atmosphere chamber. In a mold atmosphere chamber apparatus, a first chamber in which an environment of a predetermined atmosphere is formed and at least the surface of the stage is located, the stage and the stage
The first chamber by an isolation member that follows the movement of the cage
And a second chamber in which at least a part of a stage drive system for moving the stage in a plurality of axial directions is housed, and the first chamber and the second chamber are independently supplied with gas. An atmosphere gas supply system for supplying and a pressure control device for controlling the pressures in the first chamber and the second chamber to be equal to each other are provided. Further, in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention arranges at least a part of a drive device of the stage drive system in a second room, and sets a drive shaft supporting the drive device in the second room. It is characterized in that the wall member is slidably pierced and connected to a drive device outside the atmosphere chamber, and a seal member is provided at a sliding portion between the drive shaft and the wall member.

[0006] Further, in order to achieve the above object, the isolation member has a pressing member for holding the edge portion of the stage slidably, sliding the edge of the stage In the above-mentioned configuration in which the moving portion forms a seal, the separating member may have a flexible member such as a bellows, and the drive shaft passing through the wall member may be configured to be movable in a plurality of axial directions. it can. Further, it is preferable to use a non-corrosive gas as a pressure medium in the second chamber.

[0007]

In the first chamber, the atmospheric gas is introduced to serve as a work area for material tests and the like. The material test and the like are performed while the stage on which the sample is mounted moves three-dimensionally in the first room. During this time, the isolation member follows the movement of the stage, so that the first chamber and the second chamber are kept airtight. Since gas is supplied to the second chamber independently of the first chamber, for example, the first chamber is filled with a high-pressure, corrosive gas atmosphere, while the second chamber is non-corrosive. Since the gas can be filled with the inert gas, the stage drive system in the second chamber can be easily protected, and the sealing member can be easily selected. Moreover, since the first chamber and the second chamber are kept at the same pressure, the structure of the isolation member is simplified.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 represents the entire stage-embedded atmosphere chamber apparatus according to the first embodiment. The stage-incorporated atmosphere chamber apparatus 1 is composed of a main body portion 2 in which an atmosphere chamber is formed, and a mount 3 on which the main body portion 2 is installed and supports the main body portion 2. The atmosphere chamber inside the main body 2 is, for example, a first chamber 4 and a second chamber 5 in which a high-pressure, corrosive atmosphere test environment is formed.
It is partitioned by a stage 6 which also serves as a separating member and a flexible member such as a bellows 7. The stage 6 can be moved in parallel by the stage drive system in the xy plane (the plane perpendicular to the drawing) and the z-axis direction (the vertical direction in the drawing).
It is connected to a stage drive system configured as follows. In the first embodiment, the stage driving system is composed of an xy axis driving device 8 arranged in the second chamber 5 and az axis driving device 9 arranged inside the gantry 3. .

The x-y axis stage driving device 8 integrally includes an x-axis driving device 10 for moving the stage 6 in the x-axis direction and a y-axis driving device 11 for moving the x-axis driving device 10 in the y-axis direction. X), of which x
The axis drive device 10 is configured to rotate the x-axis drive electric motor 12 and move the stage 6 in the x-axis direction by a ball screw / nut mechanism (not shown). Similarly, y
The shaft driving device 11 includes a y-axis driving electric motor 13, and a ball screw (not shown) is rotated by the y-axis driving electric motor 13 so that the ball screw is screwed into the ball nut, the x-axis driving device 10, and the stage 6 Are configured to move integrally in the y-axis direction.

Various atmosphere gases are introduced into the first chamber 4 from a gas supply port 14 provided on the side wall of the main body 2, and are similarly discharged to the outside from an outlet port 15 of the side wall. On the other hand, the non-corrosive gas is introduced into the second chamber 5 from the gas supply passage 16 configured to pass through the gantry 3 side and is led out to the outside from the gas lead-out passage 17.

The pressure of the atmospheric gas supplied to the second chamber 5 is the pressure control device 19 configured as shown in FIG.
Thus, the pressures in the first chamber 4 and the second chamber 5 are adjusted to be equal.

In the first embodiment, the pressure control device 19
Is a pressure detector 20 for detecting a differential pressure between the first chamber 4 and the second chamber 5, a gas supply passage 16, and a gas discharge passage 17.
Flow control valves 21, 2 respectively provided in the pipelines connected to
2 and. The pressures in the first chamber 4 and the second chamber 5 are controlled by opening and closing the flow control valves 21 and 22 so that the differential pressure detected by the pressure detector 20 disappears.
It is controlled so that it is kept almost constant. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 23 indicates a stop valve for sealing the second chamber 5.

Next, the z-axis drive device 9 arranged inside the frame 3 will be described. The z-axis drive device 9 is a drive device for moving in the vertical z-axis direction of the drive shaft of the stage 6, and is an xy unit via a connecting rod 24.
It is connected to the shaft driving device 8. In the case of the first embodiment, the connecting rod 24 is a pedestal 3 that is a wall member of the second chamber 5.
The sleeve 25 is slidably inserted into a sleeve 25 that is inserted into a hole penetrating the upper wall. The sliding portion between the connecting rod 24 and the sleeve 25 is hermetically sealed by the sealing member 26, so that the atmospheric gas in the second chamber 5 is prevented from leaking to the outside. There is.

The z-axis drive device 9 includes a cylindrical bracket 2
It is mounted on the lower surface of the upper wall of the pedestal 3 via the linear bearing 2 inside the bracket 27.
The elevating member 28 is movably supported in the vertical direction via linear motion bearings such as 9. An upper end side of the elevating member 28 is connected to the connecting rod 24, and a lower end side thereof is connected to a ball screw 31 screwed into a ball nut 30. The ball screw 31 is rotationally driven by a z-axis driving electric motor 32, and the ball nut 30 converts the rotation into a linear motion to move the elevating member 28 up and down.

Next, the operation of the first embodiment will be described by taking as an example a corrosion test conducted while moving three-dimensionally with respect to the sample mounted on the stage 6 under the atmosphere of corrosive high pressure gas.

First, the gas used as the atmosphere is set by a gas control panel (not shown) and is supplied to the first chamber 4 from the supply port 14. For example, chlorine gas is used as the corrosive gas introduced into the first chamber 4. On the other hand, a non-corrosive inert gas such as nitrogen gas is introduced into the second chamber 5 through the gas supply passage 16. The pressure of this nitrogen gas is controlled by the pressure control device 19 shown in FIG. 2 so as to be equal to the pressure in the first chamber 4, so that the differential pressure becomes almost zero during the corrosion test. Kept in. Therefore, even under a high-pressure environment, the bellows 7 can be used to form a simple structure for protecting the stage drive system.

When the environmental conditions in the atmosphere chamber are set in this way, in the stage 6, the x-axis driving electric motor 12 and the y-axis driving electric motor 13 of the xy-axis driving device 8 rotate and xy moves.
It moves on a plane and moves up and down by the z-axis driving electric motor 32 of the z-axis driving device 9. In this way, the stage 6 moves along the preset three-dimensional path, and the sample placed on the stage 6 is continuously exposed to chlorine gas for a long time.

As the stage 6 moves, the first room 4
And the second room 5 are separated from each other by the stage 6
Since it expands and contracts following the movement on the xy plane and the movement in the vertical direction, the airtightness between the first chamber 4 and the second chamber 5 is maintained. Since the connecting rod 24 is sealed by the seal member 26 when the stage 6 moves in the vertical direction, the nitrogen gas in the second chamber does not leak to the outside and the nitrogen gas is inactive. The seal member 26 does not deteriorate.

Next, second to fourth embodiments will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5. In the second embodiment of FIG. 3, the stage 40 on which the sample is placed and the stage 4
Separating member that divides the atmosphere chamber into a first chamber 4 and a second chamber 5 by combining pressing members 41 and 42 that slidably hold 0 so as to press it from above and below and an isolation cylinder 43. It is an example of configuring. In the case of the second embodiment, the stage 40 can be relatively moved on the XY plane so as to be sandwiched between the pressing members 41 and 42. Further, the inner peripheral surface of the upper end of the isolation cylinder 43 is in sliding contact with the side surface of the pressing member 42, so that the stage 40
The vertical displacement of is allowed.

The pressing member 4 on the edge of the stage 40
Since a seal is formed on the sliding surfaces of the first and the second chambers 42, and similarly, a seal is formed on the side surface of the pressing member 42 and the sliding surface of the isolation cylinder 43, the first chamber 4 Inflow of corrosive gas from the inside is prevented.

In the second embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the stage 4
0 and the pressing plates 41 and 42 are configured to slide on a flat portion, but they may be configured as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. That is, in FIG. 6, the end of the stage 40 is bent at a right angle to form a protrusion 44, and a similar protrusion 45 is formed on the holding member 42 so that the stage 40 does not come off from the holding member 42. In addition, there is shown a modification in which the contact area is pressed down. Figure 7
In the embodiment, the end 40 of the stage 40 and the pressing member 42 is
Since the shape of 6,47 is formed in a U-shape, stays
There is an advantage that the jig 40 does not come off, and there is no problem in practical use without using the upper pressing member 41 in FIG.

Further, as in the modification shown in FIG. 8, a set of o-rings 4 is provided between the stage 40 and the holding plates 41 and 42.
It is also possible to form a seal by interposing each 8 and flowing a fluid between the o-rings.

Next, in the separating member according to the third embodiment of FIG. 4, instead of the separating cylinder 43 in the second embodiment of FIG.
By using a flexible member 49 such as a bellows,
The stage 40 is configured to absorb the vertical displacement.

In the fourth embodiment of FIG. 5, a stage 50,
The pressing member 51 and the bellows 52 constitute a separating member, and the separating member serves as an inside of the atmosphere chamber.
And the second room 5. A protrusion 50 a is formed on the edge of the stage 50, and a protrusion 51 a corresponding to the protrusion 50 is also formed on the pressing member 51. As a result, when the stage 50 is displaced in the x-axis and y-axis directions, it does not come off from the pressing member 51. In the fourth embodiment, the drive shaft 53 directly connected to the stage 50
Is connected to a driving device (not shown) outside the atmosphere chamber, and x
It is designed to move about three axes, the y-axis and the z-axis. Therefore, the xy of the drive shaft 53 is provided on the upper wall of the gantry 3.
A large-diameter hole 54 that allows movement on a plane is formed.
The drive shaft 53 penetrates the sleeve 56 mounted on the support plate 55, and the drive shaft 53 slides on the sleeve 56 via the seal member 57, so that the drive shaft 53 moves in the vertical direction. However, the airtightness of the second room 5 is maintained. Bellows 52 against vertical displacement of the stage system
Follows, and in this fourth embodiment, the stage 5
Instead of providing a pressing member on the upper side of 0, a compression spring 58 is provided between the pressing member 51 and the gantry 3, and the pressing member 51 is pressed against the stage 50, so that the pressing member 51 is interlocked with the vertical movement of the stage 50. ing. A flange 59 is attached to the drive shaft 53, and a compression spring 60 is provided between the flange 59 and the frame 3. The elastic force of the compression spring 60 allows the support plate 55 to move on the xy plane while maintaining the state of being in close contact with the upper wall of the pedestal 3. Incidentally, the seal is formed on the sliding surface of the stage 50, the pressing member 51, the support plate 55, and the upper wall of the pedestal 3, as in the case of the embodiments of FIGS. 3 and 4 described above.

[0025]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, there is provided a first chamber in which an environment of a predetermined atmosphere is formed and at least the surface of the stage is located, and the stage.
And the isolation member that follows the movement of this stage.
Isolated from the first room,
A second chamber accommodating at least a part of a stage drive system that moves in the axial direction; an atmosphere gas supply system that independently supplies gas to the first chamber and the second chamber;
A pressure control device for controlling the pressures of the first chamber and the second chamber to be equal to each other is provided, and a gas having the same pressure is independently provided in the second chamber in which the stage mechanism is housed. Since the second chamber is filled with a non-corrosive gas, it is possible to easily protect the stage drive system and prevent deterioration of the seal member. In addition, the pressure in both compartments is adjusted so that there is no differential pressure, so there is almost no gas leakage from the first chamber, and it is easy to select the material for the isolation member when handling corrosive gas. Thus, for example, a bellows or the like can be used to exert a sufficient function as a pressure seal even under high pressure.

If at least a part of the drive unit of the stage drive system is provided outside the atmosphere chamber and is connected by the drive shaft as in the invention described in claims 2 and 3, the stage drive system is The protective structure can be downsized and the seal structure of the isolation member can be simplified.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the configuration of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of a pressure control device that controls pressures in a first chamber and a second chamber in an atmosphere chamber.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the configuration of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing the structure of a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing the structure of a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing the structures of a separation plate and a pressing plate that form the separating member.

7 is a sectional view showing the structure of another modification of the isolation member of FIG.

8 is a sectional view showing the structure of another modification of the isolation member of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 Atmosphere chamber body 3 mounts 4 first room 5 Second room 6 stages 7 Bellows 8 x-y axis drive 9 z-axis drive 12 x-axis drive motor 13 y-axis drive motor 19 Pressure control device 20 Pressure detector 24 connecting rod 26 Seal member 29 Linear bearing 32 z-axis drive motor 40 stages 41 Presser plate 42 Presser plate 49 Bellows 50 stages 52 Bellows 53 drive shaft 55 Support plate

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-63-10540 (JP, A) Actual development 60-48233 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B01J 3 / 00 H01L 21/68

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. A stage-embedded atmosphere chamber apparatus comprising a container for forming an atmosphere chamber and a stage on which a sample is mounted and which is movable in a plurality of axial directions, provided in the atmosphere chamber to form an environment of a predetermined atmosphere. A first chamber in which at least the surface is located , an isolation that follows the movement of the stage and this stage
A member separates the first room from the stay
A second chamber for accommodating at least a part of a stage drive system for moving the stage in a plurality of axial directions; an atmosphere gas supply system for independently supplying gas to the first chamber and the second chamber; An atmosphere chamber apparatus with a built-in stage, comprising: a pressure control device for controlling the pressures of the first chamber and the second chamber to be equal. 2. The stage-embedded atmosphere chamber apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least a part of the drive device of the stage drive system is arranged in a second chamber, and a drive shaft for supporting the drive device is a first A stage built-in type characterized in that a wall member of the second chamber is slidably penetrated to be connected to a drive device outside the atmosphere chamber, and a seal member is provided at a sliding portion between the drive shaft and the wall member. Atmosphere chamber equipment. 3. An atmosphere chamber apparatus with a built-in stage according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said isolation member has a holding member for slidably holding an end edge portion of said stage , Su
An atmosphere chamber apparatus with a built-in stage, characterized in that a seal is formed at a sliding portion of an edge of a tage . 4. The atmosphere chamber apparatus with built-in stage according to claim 1, wherein the isolation member has a flexible member. 5. The stage-embedded atmosphere chamber apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a drive shaft passing through the wall member is movable in a plurality of axial directions. Atmosphere chamber equipment. 6. The stage-incorporated atmosphere chamber apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a non-corrosive gas is used as a pressure medium in the second chamber. apparatus.