JP4754791B2 - Vacuum processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a so-called in-line type vacuum processing apparatus, and more particularly to a vertical type vacuum processing apparatus for a large substrate of 1 m class or higher, which has improved productivity and saved space.

  For example, to process large glass substrates used in plasma displays and liquid crystal displays, multiple layers are formed by a heating process that raises the temperature to a desired temperature under vacuum, or by processing means such as sputtering, CVD, or etching. Various film forming steps are required.

  Here, in addition to the multiple layer film forming step under vacuum, the processing step under vacuum such as a heating step accompanying the film forming step is generally referred to as vacuum processing. In addition to the CVD apparatus and the etching apparatus, a vacuum chamber having a vacuum processing mechanism such as a heating device and having a function for one step of vacuum processing the substrate is collectively referred to as a vacuum processing chamber.

As shown in Patent Document 1, various vacuum processing apparatuses have been put to practical use conventionally.
The inline-type sputtering apparatus of Patent Document 1 is a one-through type in which a substrate is mounted on a transfer means in a loading chamber, formed in a film forming chamber, and collected in an unloading chamber (see FIG. 10 of Patent Document).

On the other hand, as an example of a conventional vacuum processing apparatus, a vacuum return type vertical vacuum processing apparatus different from Patent Document 1 will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 8 is a plan view showing a main configuration of a conventional vacuum processing apparatus.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the conventional vacuum processing apparatus 100 includes a substrate attaching / detaching chamber 110, a plurality (three in the illustrated example) of vacuum processing chambers 130, 132, 134, and a substrate between the atmosphere side and the vacuum side. And a spare chamber 120 for carrying in and out.

In the figure, reference numeral 150 denotes a vacuum exhaust device.
For convenience of explanation, illustration of the substrate carrier is omitted.
In addition, the spare chambers 120A and 120B for loading and unloading the substrate to and from the atmosphere side and the vacuum side are hereinafter simply referred to as “spare chamber”, “load / unload chamber”, and simply “L / UL chamber”. There is.

Further, in each of the vacuum processing chambers 130, 132, and 134, a first transport path 160 that is a forward path through which the substrate carrier is transported downstream, and a second transport path 162 that is a return path through which the substrate carrier is transported upstream. These two conveyance paths are provided.
Further, in the conventional vacuum processing apparatus 100, the third vacuum processing chamber 164 at the rearmost part (right end in the drawing) is arranged so that the substrate carrier is moved in the lateral direction from the forward path 160 to the backward path 162 with respect to the two transport paths 160 and 162. And a transfer mechanism (not shown) for transferring to and moving to.

The basic operation of the conventional vacuum processing apparatus 100 will be described with reference to FIG.
When a substrate is placed on the substrate carrier in the substrate attaching / detaching chamber 110, the substrate carrier is carried into a load / unload chamber (L / UL chamber) 120, and the L / UL chamber 120 is evacuated to a high level. After being evacuated, it is carried out to the first transfer path 160 which is prepared in the first vacuum processing chamber 130 and becomes the forward path.
The substrate carrier is subjected to vacuum processing such as heating and film formation in the first to third vacuum processing chambers 130, 132, and 134 while being transported along the forward path 160.

After the substrate is vacuum-processed in the third vacuum processing chamber 134, the substrate carrier is transferred to the second transport path 162 serving as a return path by a transfer mechanism (not shown), and the third to first vacuum processing chambers. In each of 134, 132, and 130, vacuum processing such as film formation is performed, and the substrate carrier is removed from the substrate carrier in the substrate attaching / detaching chamber 110 through the L / UL chamber 120 with the vacuum processed substrate placed thereon. .
That is, this conventional example is characterized in that it is a vacuum return system in which the substrate is returned to the L / UL chamber in a vacuum.

JP 2000-129436 A

Incidentally, in general, in the L / UL chamber, in addition to loading and unloading of the substrate carrier, vacuum exhaust and atmospheric pressure release are performed.
In the conventional vacuum processing apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 8, since the number of entrances to the vacuum processing chamber is singular and the number of the L / UL chamber 120 is singular, the atmospheric pressure when the substrate is transferred to the vacuum side of the vacuum processing chamber 130. If the time required for evacuation from a long time is long, it takes time to put in and out of the substrate, and blank times occur in which vacuum processing such as film formation is delayed in each vacuum processing chamber, resulting in a problem of lowering production efficiency.

  Further, as a problem different from this, in recent years, an increase in the size of the substrate has been accelerated. For example, in the case of an extra large substrate of 2, 3 m class or more, the installation space of the vacuum processing apparatus 100 becomes excessive. is there.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum processing apparatus that solves the above-described conventional problems, improves productivity, and saves space.

According to a vacuum processing apparatus of the present invention, a vacuum processing chamber for vacuum processing a substrate, a substrate carrier for mounting and transporting the substrate, and the substrate on the atmosphere side and the vacuum side are provided. In a vacuum processing apparatus having a spare chamber for carrying in and out, the plurality of spare chambers are provided, and the substrate carrier is carried into and out of the spare chamber or the vacuum processing chamber between the spare chamber and the vacuum processing chamber. A substrate carrier slide chamber is provided, and the substrate carrier slide chamber has a plurality of staying tracks for staying the substrate carrier, and the substrate carriers are carried into and out of the preliminary chambers or the vacuum processing chambers. comprising a position control mechanism for controlling the position, the substrate carrier sliding direction of the substrate carrier slide chamber, one or more stay track among the plurality of stay trajectories can be retracted Has a structure in which a lower cost.

The vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 2 has a configuration in which the number of staying tracks in the substrate carrier slide chamber is two and the number of spare chambers is two.

The vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 3 is configured such that the position of two or more staying trajectories in the substrate carrier slide chamber can be independently controlled.

The vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the position control mechanism includes a ball screw, a rotation drive motor for the ball screw, and a linear motion guide, and the staying track extends along the linear motion guide along the linear motion guide. The position is controlled by rotation.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the staying trajectory of the substrate carrier in the substrate carrier slide chamber is constituted by a pair of rails.

The vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 6 is configured such that the vacuum processing apparatus is of a vertical type that performs vacuum processing in a state where the substrate is substantially upright.

Since the vacuum processing apparatus of the present invention is configured as described above, it has the following excellent effects.
(1) With the configuration described in claim 1, even if the evacuation has a long time, a situation in which a blank time occurs in the vacuum processing chamber can be avoided, and the production efficiency can be improved.

(2) With the configuration as described in claim 2, with two substrate carrier to the substrate carrier slide chamber can be stayed by limiting the stay orbit 2, relief stay track provided on the substrate carrier slide chamber Since the cost can be limited to one track, the size of the substrate carrier slide chamber can be reduced.

(3) If it comprises as described in Claim 3 , a tact time can be shortened and the production efficiency of the vacuum processing of a board | substrate can be improved.

(4) When configured as described in claim 4 , a position control device for the staying trajectory of the substrate carrier having a simple configuration can be provided.

(5) If comprised as described in Claim 5 , a board | substrate carrier can be made to stay stably.

(6) If it comprises as described in Claim 6 , it will become possible to respond | correspond easily to a large sized substrate and the installation space of a vacuum processing apparatus can be reduced.

Hereinafter, first and second embodiments of the vacuum processing apparatus of the present invention will be sequentially described with reference to FIGS.
First embodiment:
First, a first embodiment of the vacuum processing apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the configuration of the vacuum processing apparatus of the present embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the configuration of the substrate carrier slide chamber used in the vacuum processing apparatus of the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the vacuum processing apparatus 10 of the present embodiment includes a substrate attaching / detaching chamber 110, a plurality (three in the illustrated example) of vacuum processing chambers 130, 132, 134, a substrate carrier slide chamber 20, and A plurality of (2 in the drawing) spare chambers 120A and 120B for carrying in and out the substrate between the atmosphere side and the vacuum side are provided.

In the figure, reference numeral 150 denotes a vacuum exhaust device.
For convenience of explanation, illustration of the substrate carrier is omitted.
The spare chambers 120A and 120B for loading and unloading the substrate to and from the atmosphere side and the vacuum side are hereinafter simply referred to as “spare chamber”, “load / unload chamber”, as described in the prior art. It may be simply called “L / UL room”.

Further, in each of the vacuum processing chambers 130, 132, and 134, a first transport path 160 that is a forward path through which the substrate carrier 12 is transported downstream, and a second transport path that is a return path through which the substrate carrier 12 is transported upstream. Two transport paths 162 are provided.
Further, in the conventional vacuum processing apparatus 100, the third vacuum processing chamber 164 at the rearmost part (right end in the drawing) is arranged so that the substrate carrier 12 moves laterally from the forward path 160 to the backward path 162 with respect to the two transport paths 160 and 162. A transfer mechanism (not shown) that moves in the direction and transfers is provided.

Therefore, the basic configuration of the vacuum processing apparatus 10 of the present invention is almost the same as that of the conventional vacuum processing apparatus 100 described above, and load / unload chambers (L / UL chambers) 120A, 120B and vacuum processing chambers 130, 132, A substrate carrier slide chamber 20 is provided between 134, and a structural feature is provided in that the L / UL chamber is a plurality (2 in the drawing) 120A and 120B.
Accordingly, the following description will focus on the substrate carrier slide chamber 20.

  As described above, in general, in the L / UL chamber, in addition to loading and unloading of the substrate carrier, evacuation and atmospheric pressure release are performed, and this working time in the L / UL chamber is required for vacuum processing in each vacuum processing chamber. If it is much longer than the processing time, if there is a single L / UL chamber, it takes time to prepare the substrate carrier in the vacuum processing chamber, resulting in a blank time during which vacuum processing cannot be performed in each vacuum processing chamber. The problem of deteriorating arises.

Therefore, in the vacuum processing apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of L / UL chambers 120A and 120B (2 in the drawing) are used and are carried out to the vacuum processing chambers 130, 132, and 134. The substrate carrier 12 and the substrate carrier slide chamber 20 in which the substrate carrier 12 carried in and out of the L / UL chambers 120 </ b> A and 120 </ b> B stays temporarily are divided into the L / UL chambers 120 </ b> A and 120 </ b> B and the vacuum processing chamber 130. , 132 and 134, and the L / UL chambers 120A and 120B for carrying the substrate carrier 12 in and out can be appropriately selected according to the use situation, thereby eliminating the blank time and improving the production efficiency. Plan.
The substrate carrier slide chamber 20 is always kept in a high vacuum while the vacuum processing apparatus 10 is in operation.

Next, the configuration of the substrate carrier slide chamber 20 will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the configuration of the substrate carrier slide chamber 20.
A large number of pairs of staying trajectories for temporarily staying the substrate carriers 12 carried in / out from the L / UL chambers 120A, 120B or carried in / out from the vacuum processing chambers 130, 132, 134 in the substrate carrier slide chamber 20 ( In the illustrated example, 4) rails 22A to 22D and a position control mechanism for controlling the rails 22A to 22D to the carry-out positions of the first vacuum processing chamber 130 and the L / UL chambers 120A and 120B are provided.

  The position control mechanism includes a ball screw 24 that slides a plurality of pairs of rails 22A to 22D, a rotation drive motor (not shown) of the ball screw 24, and a linear guide 26 that holds the parallel movement of the rails 22A to 22D. It is the structure provided with.

With this configuration, in the substrate carrier slide chamber 20, a large number of rails 22 </ b> A to 22 </ b> D are carried out of the L / UL chambers 120 </ b> A and 120 </ b> B and the first vacuum processing chamber 130 along the linear motion guide 26 by the thrust of the ball screw 24. The substrate carrier 12 is carried in and out by sliding to the entry position.
In addition, the rails 22 </ b> A to 22 </ b> D are slid in parallel while maintaining a certain gap by a single ball screw 24.
Many pairs of rails 22A to 22D can accommodate a large number (up to 4 in the figure) of substrate carriers 12, and even when there are a plurality of L / UL chambers 120A and 120B, it is possible to cope with the productivity. Efficiency can be improved.

Next, the basic operation of the vacuum processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment will be briefly described with reference to FIGS.
When a substrate (not shown) is placed on the substrate carrier 12 in the substrate attaching / detaching chamber 110, the substrate carrier 12 is carried into one of the L / UL chambers 120A and 120B, and any one of the L / UL chambers 120A and 120B is loaded. After being evacuated and evacuated to high vacuum, it is carried out to the substrate carrier slide chamber 20.

Next, the substrate carrier 12 is transferred from the loading position of the substrate carrier 12 to the entry position of the first vacuum processing chamber 130 by the position control mechanism in the substrate carrier slide chamber 20, and enters the first vacuum processing chamber 130. It is carried out to the prepared first transport path 160 as the forward path.
The substrate carrier 12 is subjected to vacuum processing such as heating and film formation in the first to third vacuum processing chambers 130, 132, and 134 while being transported through the forward path 160.

After the substrate is vacuum-processed in the third vacuum processing chamber 134, the substrate carrier 12 is transferred to the second transport path 162 serving as the return path by a transfer mechanism (not shown), and the third to first vacuum processing is performed. The chambers 134, 132, and 130 are each subjected to vacuum processing such as film formation and returned to the substrate carrier slide chamber 20.
The substrate carrier 12 selects the L / UL chambers 120A and 120B, is controlled to the positions of the L / UL chambers 120A and 120B selected by the position control mechanism, and is released to the atmosphere, and then released to the atmosphere. The substrate is removed.

  Therefore, in the vacuum processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment, the substrate carrier slide chamber 20 is provided, and the substrate carrier slide chamber 20 includes a large number of staying tracks 22A to 22D and position control mechanisms 24 and 26. As a result, a plurality of L / UL chambers can be made 120A and 120B, and a large number of substrate carriers 12 can stay. Therefore, the occurrence of blank time in the vacuum processing chambers 130, 132, and 134 can be suppressed, and production efficiency can be improved. Can be improved.

Problems of First Embodiment Prior to the description of the second embodiment of the vacuum processing apparatus of the present invention, the problems of the first embodiment described above will be described.
By the way, the problem in the case where the substrate to be vacuum-processed becomes larger as the liquid crystal display and the plasma display become larger will be described with reference to FIGS.
3 and 4 are plan views for explaining problems when the substrate is enlarged.

Since the substrate carrier slide chamber 20 used in the vacuum processing apparatus of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 2 has many pairs of rails 22A to 22D, for example, as shown in FIG. When the lower end rail 22D carries the substrate carrier 12 into and out of the upper L / UL chamber 120A, it is necessary to secure a clearance for multiple pairs (three pairs in the illustrated example) of the rails 22A to 22C. .
Similarly, as shown in FIG. 4, when the uppermost rail 22A in the drawing carries the substrate carrier 12 into and out of the lower L / UL chamber 120B, many pairs (three pairs in the illustrated example) of rails 22B are provided. It is necessary to secure a clearance for ~ D.
This makes it possible to allow a large number of substrate carriers 12 to stay in the substrate carrier slide chamber 20, which is very advantageous for reducing the blank time and improving the production efficiency.

However, in recent years, the increase in size of the substrate has been accelerated. For example, in the case of an extra large substrate of 2, 3 m class or more, the substrate carrier slide chamber 20 itself becomes huge, and the installation space for the vacuum processing apparatus becomes excessive. The problem arises.
In addition, if the substrate carrier slide chamber 20 becomes too large, the substrate carrier slide chamber 20 cannot be manufactured or transported, and there is a risk that the manufacturing and installation of the vacuum processing apparatus 10 itself may be obstructed.

  In the substrate carrier slide chamber 20 according to the first embodiment, since the positions of the rails 22A to 22D are simultaneously controlled by the single ball screw 24, the rails 22A to 22D are allowed to stay on the rails 22A to 22D. Since the positions of the plurality of substrate carriers 12 are controlled one by one, a plurality of simultaneous position controls cannot be performed, and thus the tact time is increased.

Second Embodiment Based on the above circumstances, a second embodiment of the vacuum processing apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the basic configuration of the substrate carrier slide chamber of the vacuum processing apparatus of the present invention.
6 and 7 are plan views for explaining the basic operation of the substrate carrier slide chamber of the vacuum processing apparatus of the present invention.

  The basic configuration of the vacuum processing apparatus of this embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 except for the substrate carrier slide chamber. explain.

First, the basic configuration of the substrate carrier slide chamber 30 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
The main configuration 30 of the substrate carrier slide chamber includes two pairs of rails 32A and 32B and two pairs of rails 32A and 32B, which are independent stays in the L / UL chamber 120A. A position control mechanism for controlling the position to carry in / out the substrate carrier 12 is provided in the vacuum processing chamber 130 or 120B.

  The position control mechanism includes two ball screws 34A and 34B, a rotation drive motor (not shown) for the ball screws 34A and 34B, and a linear motion guide 40. The two pairs of rails 32A and 32B are directly connected to each other. By independently controlling the rotation of the ball screws 34A and 34B along the moving guide 40, the positions are controlled independently.

With this configuration, as shown in FIG. 6, even when the upper rail 32A is controlled to the loading / unloading position of the substrate carrier 12 in the lower L / UL chamber 120B, as shown in FIG. The rail 32B has only one rail to escape.
Similarly, as shown in FIG. 7, even when the lower rail 32B is controlled to the loading / unloading position of the substrate carrier 12 in the upper L / UL chamber 120A, the rail 32A of the substrate carrier slide chamber 30 is shown. The escape allowance is only for one rail.

  Therefore, even when the substrate to be vacuum processed is oversized, the enlargement of the substrate carrier slide chamber 30 itself can be suppressed as much as possible, the installation space can be saved, and the substrate carrier slide chamber 30 can be manufactured and transported very much. It is possible to avoid the above-mentioned problem of becoming difficult.

  In the substrate carrier slide chamber 30 of the present embodiment, since the two pairs of rails 32A and 32B can be independently controlled by the respective ball screws 34A and 34B, for example, as shown in FIG. It is possible to control the position of the rail 32B to the carry-in position of the vacuum processing chamber 130 and to control the position of the other rail 32A to the carry-out position of the upper L / UL chamber 120A independently.

  Thus, in the first embodiment, the entire number of rails 22A to 22D are slid each time one substrate carrier 12 is carried in and out (see FIG. 2), but according to the present embodiment, Since the loss time of the vacuum processing of the substrate can be reduced, the tact time can be shortened and the production efficiency is improved.

  That is, the invention according to the present embodiment is characterized in that two substrate carriers 12 can stay in the substrate carrier slide chamber 30 by limiting the rails 32A and 32B of the substrate carrier slide chamber 30 to the minimum two pairs. Thus, it is possible to suppress the reduction of the substrate film forming process efficiency and to save the space of the substrate carrier slide chamber 30 itself.

The vacuum processing apparatus of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications are possible.
For example, in the vacuum processing apparatus of the above embodiment, the substrate is described as a type in which the substrate is transferred from the forward path to the return path and returned in the third vacuum processing chamber shown in FIG. Needless to say, this is a carrier slide chamber and can be applied to all vacuum processing apparatuses that can use this substrate carrier slide chamber.

The rail independent position control mechanism has been described with reference to an example in which the rail position is controlled by two ball screws and a linear guide, but this may be replaced with another position control mechanism.
Furthermore, although the stay track of the substrate carrier slide chamber has been described with the example of two rails, the present invention is not limited to this, and there is no problem even if a track with another configuration, for example, a single rail is used. There is no.

It is a top view which shows the basic composition of 1st Embodiment of the vacuum processing apparatus of this invention. It is a top view which shows the basic composition of the substrate carrier slide chamber used for the vacuum processing apparatus of this invention. It is a top view for demonstrating the problem of the substrate carrier slide chamber of the vacuum processing apparatus of 1st Embodiment. It is a top view for demonstrating the problem of the substrate carrier slide chamber of the vacuum processing apparatus of 1st Embodiment. It is a top view explaining the basic composition of the substrate carrier slide room of the vacuum processing apparatus of a 2nd embodiment of the present invention. It is a top view explaining the basic operation | movement of the substrate carrier slide chamber of the vacuum processing apparatus of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a top view explaining the basic operation | movement of the substrate carrier slide chamber of the vacuum processing apparatus of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a top view which shows the main structures of the conventional vacuum processing apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

10: Vacuum processing equipment
12: Substrate carrier
20, 30: Substrate carrier slide chambers 22A to 22D: Rail (stay track)
32A-32D: Rail (stay track)
24, 34A, 34B: Ball screw
26, 40: Linear motion guide 120A, 120B: L / UL room (preliminary room)
130, 132, 134: Vacuum processing chamber

Claims (6)

In a vacuum processing apparatus comprising a vacuum processing chamber for vacuum processing a substrate, a substrate carrier for placing and transporting the substrate, and a preliminary chamber for transporting the substrate to and from the atmosphere side and the vacuum side,
A plurality of the reserve chambers are provided, and a substrate carrier slide chamber for carrying the substrate carrier in and out of the reserve chamber or the vacuum processing chamber is provided between the reserve chamber and the vacuum processing chamber. A plurality of staying tracks for staying the substrate carrier, and a position control mechanism for controlling each staying track to a position where the substrate carrier is carried into and out of each of the preliminary chambers or the vacuum processing chamber, and the substrate carrier slide A vacuum processing apparatus characterized in that an escape allowance is provided in the chamber carrier slide direction of the chamber so that one or more of the plurality of stay tracks can be saved. 2. The vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the number of staying trajectories in the substrate carrier slide chamber is two and the number of spare chambers is two. The two or more stays trajectory of the substrate carrier slide chamber, the vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it is possible to position control independently. The position control mechanism includes a ball screw, a rotation drive motor for the ball screw, and a linear guide, and the stay track is controlled by the rotation of the ball screw along the linear guide. the vacuum processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The stay trajectory of the substrate carrier slide chamber of the substrate carrier, the vacuum processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it is constituted by a pair of rails. The vacuum processing apparatus, the vacuum processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that a vertical system in which the vacuum treatment while being substantially upright substrate.

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