JP5526988B2 - Substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus in which a plurality of processing chambers are connected to a plurality of vacuum transfer chambers, and a substrate processing system having a plurality of such substrate processing apparatuses.

  A glass substrate used for a flat panel display (FPD) or a semiconductor substrate (semiconductor wafer) on which semiconductor devices are formed is used as an object to be processed, such as etching, CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition), etc. As a substrate processing apparatus that performs processing such as ashing processing, a so-called multi-chamber type substrate processing apparatus in which a plurality of processing chambers are connected to a common vacuum transfer chamber is known for the purpose of improving throughput.

  In FIG. 9, for example, a multi-chamber type substrate processing apparatus 100 in which three processing chambers 5 a to 5 c and a load lock chamber 3, which is a preliminary vacuum chamber, are connected to a side surface of a vacuum transfer chamber 4 having a square planar shape. An example is described. An atmospheric loader 2 that loads and unloads the substrate S between the load lock chamber 3 and the outside is disposed on the front side of the load lock chamber 3. As described above, the substrate processing apparatus 100 including the plurality of processing chambers 5a to 5c has the substrate S in the remaining processing chambers 5b and 5c even when, for example, maintenance needs to be performed on one processing chamber 5a. Processing can continue.

  For example, consider the case where maintenance is performed on the processing chambers 5a to 5c provided with a lid that closes an opening formed on the upper surface side of the processing chamber main body on the housing-shaped processing chamber main body. The lid may be provided with a gas shower head or the like for supplying a processing gas such as an etching gas or a film forming gas into the processing chambers 5a to 5c. When such a lid is removed from the processing chamber body, Inverting the top and bottom and directing the gas shower head to the upper surface improves workability during maintenance.

  For example, in Patent Document 1, a maintenance area 6 for transferring a lid is provided on the side of each of the processing chambers 5a to 5c, and the lid removed from the processing chamber main body is conveyed toward the maintenance area 6. A substrate processing apparatus provided with a guide rail mechanism for reversing the lid when performing the process is described.

  In addition, in the substrate processing apparatus 100 of the type shown in FIG. 9, the vacuum transfer chamber 4 is provided in the vacuum transfer chamber 4 because the periphery thereof is surrounded by the load lock chamber 3 and the processing chambers 5 a to 5 c. When performing maintenance of the substrate transfer mechanism 41, it is necessary to remove the ceiling surface of the vacuum transfer chamber 4 and lift the substrate transfer mechanism 41 with a crane or the like, for example, and carry it out. For this reason, it is necessary to provide a crane in the factory, and a large-scale facility is required. In addition, the substrate processing apparatus 100 must be disposed in an area where the crane can reach, and there are great restrictions on the apparatus layout.

  By the way, in the multi-chamber type substrate processing apparatus, it is required to realize higher throughput, and it is conceivable to increase the number of processing chambers connected to the vacuum transfer chamber as one method to meet such demand. However, while the substrate processing apparatus is required to save space, for example, when a processing chamber is added to the substrate processing apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 9, a new processing chamber is arranged without impairing maintainability. It will be a big issue.

JP 2007-67218 A: Paragraph 0024, FIG. 1 and FIG.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing apparatus having high maintainability and a small arrangement space (footprint), and a substrate processing system including the substrate processing apparatus. There is.

A substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a substrate transfer mechanism for transferring a substrate that is an object to be processed, and a vacuum transfer chamber surrounded by a plurality of side surfaces so that a planar shape is a polygon of a pentagon or more,
Among the plurality of side surfaces of the vacuum transfer chamber, connected to the side surface except for the side surface provided with a maintenance area on the outside, a plurality of processing chambers having a lid on the top,
A lid transport mechanism that transports the lid between the processing chamber and the maintenance area ;
Preliminary vacuum that switches the atmosphere in which the substrate is placed between the atmospheric pressure atmosphere and the vacuum atmosphere on the side surface of the vacuum transfer chamber excluding the side surface provided with the maintenance area outside and the side surface to which the processing chamber is connected The side face to which the chamber is connected, the side face to which the preliminary vacuum chamber is connected, and the side face having the maintenance area outside are opposed to each other .

The substrate processing apparatus may have the following features.
(A) on the side surface provided with a maintenance area before Kisotogawa, that an opening for loading and unloading the substrate transfer mechanism, and the opening and closing member for opening and closing the opening, is provided.
( B ) The vacuum transfer chamber can be divided into three or more parts.

The substrate processing system according to another aspect of the present invention, the pre Kimoto plate processing apparatus comprising a substrate processing system having a plurality,
A first row in which a plurality of the substrate processing apparatuses are arranged in the left-right direction with the preliminary vacuum chamber facing in the same direction;
The preliminary vacuum chamber has a direction opposite to the direction of the preliminary vacuum chamber of the first row, and a side surface of the vacuum transfer chamber provided with a maintenance region on the outside has the maintenance region of the first row. A second row in which a plurality of the substrate processing apparatuses are arranged in parallel with the first row so as to face the side surface of the vacuum transfer chamber;
A conveyance path connecting the maintenance areas is formed between the first row and the second row.

The substrate processing system may have the following features.
The interval between adjacent substrate processing apparatuses in the first row and the interval between adjacent substrate processing apparatuses in the second row are narrower than the transport path.

  According to the present invention, a plurality of processing chambers are connected to the side surface of a polygonal vacuum transfer chamber having a pentagonal shape or more in a planar shape, and a maintenance area serving as a transfer destination of a lid of each processing chamber is provided between the plurality of processing chambers. Therefore, the space for the substrate processing apparatus can be saved. And since the cover body conveyance mechanism which conveys the cover body of a process chamber from each process chamber to a maintenance area | region is provided, even if a maintenance area | region is shared, a process chamber can be open | released simply.

It is a perspective view which shows the external appearance structure of the substrate processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment. It is a top view of the substrate processing apparatus. It is a 1st explanatory view showing the operation which removes the lid of the processing chamber provided in the substrate processing device. It is the 2nd explanatory view showing operation which removes the above-mentioned lid. It is a 1st explanatory view showing operation which removes a substrate conveyance mechanism provided in a vacuum conveyance chamber of the substrate processing device. It is the 2nd explanatory view showing the operation which removes the substrate conveyance mechanism. It is a top view which shows the example of the substrate processing system which has multiple board | substrate processing apparatuses of embodiment and a prior art example. It is a top view which shows the example of the substrate processing apparatus whose planar shape of a vacuum conveyance chamber is a flat hexagon. It is a top view which shows an example of the conventional substrate processing apparatus.

  As an example of a multi-chamber type substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, an overall configuration of an apparatus that performs an etching process, which is a vacuum process, on an FPD glass substrate (hereinafter simply referred to as a substrate). This will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the external configuration of the substrate processing apparatus 1, and FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the internal configuration thereof.

  The substrate processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes an atmospheric loader 2 that loads and unloads a substrate S between carriers C1 and C2 that accommodate a large number of substrates S that have been transported from outside and the load lock chamber 3. And a vacuum atmosphere between the load lock chamber 3 and the processing chambers 5a to 5d, which are preliminary vacuum chambers for switching the atmosphere in which the substrate S carried by the atmospheric loader 2 is placed between the normal pressure atmosphere and the vacuum atmosphere. A vacuum transfer chamber 4 for transferring the substrate S is provided below. Connected to the vacuum transfer chamber 4 are four processing chambers 5 a to 5 d for performing an etching process on the substrate S.

  The atmospheric loader 2 is configured to perform transportation of the substrate S between the two carrier mounting portions 201 and 202 on which the carriers C1 and C2 are mounted and the carriers C1 and C2 and the load lock chamber 3. And a substrate transfer mechanism 23. Each of the carrier mounting portions 201 and 202 includes a lifting mechanism 21 for lifting and lowering the carriers C1 and C2. In this example, the carrier mounting portion 201 on one side has a carrier C1 containing a substrate S before processing. The carrier C2 that accommodates the processed substrate S is placed on the carrier placement portion 201 on the other side.

  The carrier mounting portions 201 and 202 are provided with an air-side substrate transport mechanism 23 that transports the substrate S in an air atmosphere. The atmosphere-side substrate transport mechanism 23 includes, for example, a transport arm 231 provided in two upper and lower stages, and a base portion 232 that supports the transport arm 231 so as to be movable forward and backward. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 22 denotes a support base that supports the atmosphere side substrate transport mechanism 23.

  The load lock chamber 3 is a vacuum container that temporarily stores the substrate S that is transported between the atmospheric loader 2 and the vacuum transport chamber 4, and in this example, the two load lock chambers 3 are stacked one above the other. The configuration of these two load lock chambers 3 is substantially the same. For example, as shown in the plan view of FIG. 2, each load lock chamber 3 guides the buffer rack 32 that supports the substrate S and the placement position of the substrate S. And a positioner 31. Each load lock chamber 3 is connected to an exhaust line connected to an exhaust means (not shown), and each internal atmosphere can be switched between a normal pressure atmosphere and a vacuum atmosphere.

  The vacuum transfer chamber 4 is a space in which the substrate S is transferred between each load lock chamber 3 and the four processing chambers 5a to 5d. For example, the internal atmosphere is provided via an exhaust pipe connected to an exhaust means (not shown). Has been evacuated and is always maintained in a vacuum atmosphere. In the vacuum transfer chamber 4, there is provided a substrate transfer mechanism 41 configured to be movable up and down, rotatable around a rotation axis, and capable of advancing and retracting a pick 412 that holds the substrate S.

  As shown in FIG. 6A, a drive mechanism 411 for driving the substrate transport mechanism 41 is provided below the substrate transport mechanism 41. The space in which the main body of the substrate transport mechanism 41 is disposed and the space in which the drive mechanism 411 is disposed are vertically divided into a transport space 401 and a machine room 402 by a floor plate 44, respectively. In this example, the conveyance space 401 above the floor plate 44 is maintained in a vacuum atmosphere as described above, while the machine room 402 below the floor plate 44 is in an atmospheric atmosphere. The substrate transport mechanism 41 and the drive mechanism 411 can be separated from the transport space 401 and the machine room 402 separately during the maintenance. In FIG. 6A, reference numeral 413 denotes a bellows for sealing the opening for projecting and retracting the substrate transport mechanism 41 from the floor plate 44 to maintain the vacuum state of the transport space 401.

  As shown in the plan view of FIG. 2, the vacuum transfer chamber 4 according to the present example has a substantially regular hexagonal plan shape, and the load lock chamber 3 described above is connected to one side surface of the vacuum transfer chamber 4. Yes. Processing chambers 5a to 5b are connected to the remaining four side surfaces except for the side surface to which the load lock chamber 3 is connected and the side surface facing the one side surface. As a result, as shown in FIG. 2, the load lock chamber 3 and the four processing chambers 5 a to 5 b are arranged radially around the hexagonal vacuum transfer chamber 4.

  The processing chambers 5a to 5d are rectangular parallelepiped processing containers for etching the substrate S therein, and correspond to the vacuum processing chamber of the present embodiment. In this example, the processing chambers 5a to 5d have, for example, a side of a transverse plane of 2.5 m and a side of 2.5 so that a square substrate S having a size of about 1500 mm on one side and about 1800 mm on the other side can be processed. The size is about 2 m.

  In each of the processing chambers 5a to 5d, a substrate S is mounted, and is provided so as to face the mounting table forming the lower electrode and the mounting table in the vertical direction. For example, chlorine is contained in the processing chambers 5a to 5d. A gas supply unit that supplies an etching gas such as a gas is provided, and a gas shower head that forms an upper electrode is provided. For example, by applying high-frequency power to the mounting table side, the etching gas supplied into the processing chambers 5a to 5d is turned into plasma, and etching of the substrate S is performed by the generated active species. In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the mounting table and the gas supply unit are not shown for convenience of illustration.

  Further, an opening through which the substrate S is carried into and out of the load lock chamber 3 from the atmospheric loader 2, between the load lock chamber 3 and the vacuum transfer chamber 4, and between the vacuum transfer chamber 4 and each of the processing chambers 5a to 5d. These are provided with gate valves G1 to G3 that are hermetically sealed and can be opened and closed.

  As shown in FIG. 1, each of the processing chambers 5 a to 5 d according to the present embodiment forms a space in which an etching process is performed, and a processing chamber main body 51 whose upper surface side is open, and the processing chamber main body 51. The upper portion of the processing chamber main body 51 is provided on the top and covers the opening of the processing chamber main body 51, and can be divided into a cover body 52 on which the gas shower head described above is formed, for example. As a result, as described in the background art, the lid 52 can be removed from the processing chamber main body 51 during maintenance of the gas shower head or the like.

  The substrate processing apparatus 1 described above can be used, for example, when maintaining the substrate transport mechanism 41 and the drive mechanism 411 transported from the vacuum transport chamber 4 and the lid 52 removed from the processing chambers 5a to 5d. A maintenance area 6 is provided. Further, the substrate processing apparatus 1 includes a lid transport mechanism 7 for transporting the lid 52 removed from the processing chambers 5 a to 5 d toward the maintenance area 6. Hereinafter, the arrangement position of the maintenance area 6 and the configuration of the lid transport mechanism 7 will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 2, in the substrate processing apparatus 1 according to the present example, among the six side surfaces of the vacuum transfer chamber 4 having a hexagonal plan shape, the side surface to which the load lock chamber 3 is connected is opposed. The load lock chamber 3 and the processing chambers 5a to 5d are not connected to the side surface, and the maintenance area 6 can be secured on the outer side of the side surface. When this side surface is called a maintenance surface, the maintenance area 6 is formed on the outer side of the maintenance surface at a position facing the maintenance surface. In other words, it can be said that the maintenance surface is a side surface having the maintenance region 6 on the outside. The maintenance area 6 is also arranged radially with the vacuum transfer chamber 4 as the center, like the other load lock chambers 3 and the processing chambers 5a to 5d.

  The maintenance area 6 has an area that allows the lid body 52 that has been transported to the maintenance area 6 to be delivered. The lid body 52 is attached to a lid body transporting jig 61 that is a dedicated transport base. Delivered. The configuration of the lid transport jig 61 will be briefly described with reference to FIGS. The lid transport jig 61 is a frame body portion 611 that holds the outer peripheral side bottom surface portion of the lid body 52, and a rotation support portion that rotatably supports the center portions of two opposite sides of the frame body portion 611 around a horizontal axis. 613, a column member 612 that holds the frame body portion 611 at a predetermined height position via the rotation support unit 613, and a carriage unit 614 provided at the lower end of the column member 612.

  A bracket (not shown) placed on the frame body portion 611 is provided on the side peripheral surface of the lid body 52, and a bolt hole is provided in the bracket. Bolt holes are also provided at positions corresponding to the brackets on the frame body 611 side, and the lid 52 is fixed on the frame body 611 by fastening the brackets and the frame body 611 with bolts. Held. In addition, the rotation supporter 613 is provided with a rotation positioner (not shown), and the frame body 611 holding the lid 52 is rotated by 180 degrees to reverse the top and bottom of the lid 52 so that the gas shower The head can be directed to the upper surface side, thereby improving workability during maintenance.

  Next, the configuration of the lid transport mechanism 7 will be described. The lid transport mechanism 7 plays a role of transporting the lid 52 between the lid transport jig 61 disposed in the maintenance area 6 and the processing chambers 5a to 5d. As shown in FIGS. 1, 3, and 4, the lid transport mechanism 7 is provided on the ceiling plate of the vacuum transfer chamber 4, and rotates on the ceiling plate about a vertical axis. A support arm 71 fixed on the table 721 and extending so as to extend in the radial direction of the rotary table 721, that is, in the direction in which the processing chambers 5a to 5d are provided from the vacuum transfer chamber 4 at the center position. And a drive mechanism 73 for rotating the support arm 71 by rotating the rotary table 721 and a distal end side of the support arm 71. And a chuck portion 741 for holding 52.

  The support arm 71 is composed of, for example, two long beam plates connected by a connecting member 711, and the tip side of the support arm 71 extends toward the processing chambers 5 a to 5 d connected around the vacuum transfer chamber 4. The end side is fixed on the turntable 721 so as to cross the turntable 721 in the diameter direction. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the chuck portion 741 is two hook-shaped members whose lower end portions are bent in an L shape, and the support arm 71 extends radially inward so that these bent portions face each other. It is arrange | positioned in a position and an outer side position.

  On the other hand, a handle portion 53 made of two hook-shaped members bent in an inverted L shape is provided on the upper surface of the lid 52 of each processing chamber 5a to 5d, and the handle portion 53 has these bent portions opposite to each other. It is arranged toward the direction. The chuck portion 741 is configured to be movable up and down by an elevating mechanism 742, and raises the chuck portion 741 in a state where the bent portion on the chuck portion 741 side and the bent portion on the handle portion 53 side of the lid body 52 are engaged with each other. Thus, the lid body 52 can be lifted to a height position that does not interfere with the other processing chambers 5a to 5d. Further, the support arm 71 is formed so that the proximal end side is thick and the distal end side is thin so that rigidity can be maintained when the lid body 52 is held at the distal end portion.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an annular gear 722 is fixed on the top plate of the vacuum transfer chamber 4 around the rotary table 721. On the other hand, a driving mechanism 73 having a small gear 731 is fixed to a beam plate on one side of the support arm 71. The gear 731 of the drive mechanism 73 moves around the ring-shaped gear 722 by rotating the gear 731 of the drive mechanism 73 by meshing the ring-shaped gear 722 and the gear 731 on the drive mechanism 73 side. Further, the rotary table 721 and the support arm 71 fixed thereon can be rotated. As a result, as shown in FIG. 3A, the position where the handle 53 of each of the processing chambers 5a to 5d is provided and the upper position of the lid transport jig 61 arranged in the maintenance area 6 It is possible to rotate the support arm 71 so that 741 passes.

  In addition, as described above, the maintenance area 6 is provided at a position facing the maintenance surface, which is one of the side surfaces of the vacuum transfer chamber 4, so that a vacuum is provided like the conventional substrate processing apparatus 100 described in the background art. Without removing the ceiling surface of the transfer chamber 4 and lifting the substrate transfer mechanism 41 by a crane or the like and carrying it out, the substrate transfer mechanism 41 and its drive mechanism 411 can be pulled out in the horizontal direction simply by removing the members constituting the access surface. Is possible. Therefore, in the vacuum transfer chamber 4 of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, an opening 431 for taking out the substrate transfer mechanism 41 from the transfer space 401 and an opening for taking out the drive mechanism 411 from the machine chamber 402. A portion 432 is provided on the access surface. These openings 431 and 432 are closed by opening and closing members 421 and 422, respectively, during the operation period of the substrate processing apparatus 1.

  The substrate processing apparatus 1 having the above configuration is connected to a control unit 8 as shown in FIG. The control unit 8 includes a computer including a CPU and a storage unit (not shown). The storage unit performs operations when the substrate processing apparatus 1 performs etching processing on the substrate S and performs maintenance of the processing chambers 5a to 5d. In addition, a program in which a group of steps (commands) for control related to the operation of transporting the lid 52 to the maintenance area 6 by the lid transport mechanism 7 is recorded. This program is stored in a storage medium such as a hard disk, a compact disk, a magnetic optical disk, or a memory card, and installed in the computer therefrom.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the substrate processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. It is assumed that the processing chamber 5a needs to be maintained. In this case, the gate valve G3 is closed so that the vacuum in the vacuum transfer chamber 4 is secured, the vacuum state in the processing chamber 5a is released, and preparations for removing the lid 52 from the processing chamber main body 51 are made. At this time, the etching process of the substrate S can be continued in the other processing chambers 5b to 5d.

  After that, as shown in FIG. 1, after lowering the chuck portion 741 at the tip of the support arm 71, the support arm 71 is rotated, and the bent portion of the handle portion 53 provided in the lid 52 of the processing chamber 5a is rotated. The bent portion of the chuck portion 741 is made to enter the lower position. Then, by raising the chuck portion 741, the bent portions of the chuck portion 741 and the grip portion 53 are engaged with each other to lift the lid 52 upward. Here, the grip portion 53 and the chuck portion 741 may be fastened with a bolt so that the grip portion 53 of the lid 52 does not slide off from the chuck portion 741 during conveyance.

  When the lid 52 of the processing chamber 5a is lifted to a position where it does not interfere with the adjacent processing chamber 5b, the drive mechanism 73 is operated to start the maintenance region 6 from the upper position of the processing chamber 5a shown in FIG. The lid body 52 is transported to the upper position of the lid body transporting jig 61 that is standing by. 4A, the chuck portion 741 is lowered, the lid body 52 is placed on the frame body portion 611 of the lid body transporting jig 61, and the lid body 52 and the frame body portion 611 are fastened. Then, the chuck portion 741 is further lowered to release the engaged state between the handle portion 53 and the chuck portion 741. 4A to 4C, the processing chambers 5c and 5d connected to the vacuum transfer chamber 4 are not shown for convenience of illustration.

  Next, after the support arm 71 is rotated and retracted from the position above the handle portion 53, the frame portion 611 is rotated 180 degrees to reverse the top and bottom of the lid 52 as shown in FIG. Maintenance is performed with the gas shower head facing up. If necessary, the lid transport jig 61 can be moved to transport the lid 52 to a predetermined maintenance chamber. (FIG. 4 (c)).

In addition, when the other processing chambers 5b to 5d are opened, the lid 52 is removed from the processing chamber main body 51 by performing the same operations as those described with reference to FIGS. Maintenance can be performed on the processing chamber body 51 side and the lid body 52 side, respectively.
When the maintenance is completed, the lid transport jig 61 and the lid transport mechanism 7 are operated in the order opposite to that at the time of removal, and the opening of the processing chamber body 51 is hermetically closed by the lid 52. After that, the connection of the etching gas and the exhaust line is restored, the inside of the processing chamber 5a is evacuated and preparations for starting the operation are made. Then, the gate valve G3 is opened and the substrate S is received from the vacuum transfer chamber 4 for etching. Resume.

  Next, an operation when removing the substrate transport mechanism 41 and the drive mechanism 411 will be described. In this case, after the operation of the entire substrate processing apparatus 1 is stopped and the vacuum state in the vacuum transfer chamber 4 is released, the opening / closing member 421 provided on the access surface, for example, on the transfer space 401 side is removed (FIG. 5 ( a) and FIG. 6 (a)). The main body of the substrate transport mechanism 41 and its drive mechanism 411 are separated, and the substrate transport mechanism 41 is pulled out to the access surface side, whereby the substrate transport mechanism 41 can be transported to the maintenance area 6 without using a crane or the like. . At this time, for example, a caster or the like may be provided on the bottom surface of the substrate transfer mechanism 41 or a rail may be laid on the floor plate 44 of the transfer space 401 so that the drawing operation of the substrate transfer mechanism 41 is facilitated. Similarly, when the drive mechanism 411 is taken out, the opening / closing member 422 of the machine chamber 402 is removed (FIGS. 5A and 6B), and the drive mechanism 411 after being separated from the main body of the substrate transport mechanism 41 is removed. By pulling out toward the access surface side, the drive mechanism 411 can be easily carried out from the machine room 402 to the maintenance area 6 (FIG. 6C).

  Next, an example of the substrate processing system having a plurality of the substrate processing apparatuses 1 described above will be described in comparison with the case of the substrate processing system of the conventional substrate processing apparatus 100. FIGS. 7A and 7B schematically show examples of the substrate processing system 1 according to the substrate processing apparatus 1 according to the embodiment and the substrate processing apparatus 100 according to the conventional example shown in FIG. 9, respectively. FIG. In these drawings, the description of the atmospheric loader 2 of each of the substrate processing apparatuses 1 and 100 is omitted, and an area where the atmospheric loader 2 is arranged is collectively expressed as an atmospheric loader arrangement area 20.

  In the substrate processing system shown in FIG. 7A, the load lock chamber 3 of the substrate processing apparatus 1 according to the embodiment is directed in the same direction, and a plurality of substrate processing apparatuses 1 are arranged in the left-right direction. 1 row 11 is formed. Further, the load lock chamber 3 of the substrate processing apparatus 1 is directed in the direction opposite to the direction of the load lock chamber 3 in the first row 11 so that the maintenance area 6 faces the maintenance area 6 in the first row 11. A plurality of substrate processing apparatuses 1 are arranged in parallel with the first row 11 to form a second row 12. That is, the first row 11 and the second row 12 are arranged in parallel so that the access surfaces in the substrate processing apparatus 1 in each row 11 and 12 face each other. Between the first row 11 and the second row 12, a conveyance path 60 that connects the maintenance areas is formed to convey equipment and the like removed from the substrate processing apparatus 1.

  In the example shown in FIG. 7A, the width of the transport path 60 is set in accordance with the width of the lid transport jig 61 to such an extent that the above-described lid transport jig 61 can be passed. ing. At this time, in this example, as shown in FIG. 7A, the first row 11 and the second row are made to face each other in the maintenance area 6 where the structure such as the load lock chamber 3 and the vacuum transfer chamber 4 is not provided. 12 are arranged in parallel, so that the first row 11 and the first row 11 are arranged so that the lid transport jig 61 does not come into contact with the processing chamber 5 of each substrate processing apparatus 1 extending to the maintenance region 6 side. The second column 12 can be brought closer.

Each substrate processing apparatus 1 includes a lid transport mechanism 7 (not shown in FIG. 7A) that moves the lids 52 of the four processing chambers 5 to the maintenance area. There is no need to provide a transport path 60 for allowing the lid transport jig 61 to pass between the substrate processing apparatuses 1 adjacent in the left-right direction.
Here, in the example shown in FIG. 7A, the substrate processing apparatus 1 on the first row 11 side and the substrate processing apparatus 1 on the second row 12 side are aligned in a straight line in the front-rear direction (vertical direction). However, the substrate processing apparatus 1 may be shifted in the left-right direction (lateral direction) between the first row 11 and the second row 12.

  On the other hand, in FIG. 7B, the load lock chambers 3 of the plurality of substrate processing apparatuses 100 are arranged in the same direction based on the same concept as that of the substrate processing apparatus 1 according to the embodiment. A first row 101 is formed, and the load lock chamber 3 is directed in a direction opposite to the direction of the load lock chamber 3 in the first row 101, so that a plurality of substrate processing apparatuses 100 are placed in the first row 101. The example of the substrate processing system which formed the 2nd row | line | column 102 by arrange | positioning in parallel with is shown. Also in this example, the conveyance path 60 having the same width as the conveyance path 60 in FIG. Here, in the substrate processing apparatus 100 according to the conventional example shown in FIG. 9, a maintenance area 6 is provided at a position adjacent to each processing chamber 5. However, in some cases, it is necessary to move the lid transport jig 61 to all the maintenance areas 6. Therefore, in each row 101, 102, a transport path is also provided between the substrate processing apparatuses 100 adjacent in the left-right direction. 60 is provided.

  Comparing the substrate processing systems according to the substrate processing apparatuses 1 and 100 described above, the substrate processing apparatus 1 according to the embodiment has a common maintenance area 6 for a plurality of processing chambers 5. Unlike the case of the processing apparatus 100, it is not necessary to provide the transfer path 60 between the substrate processing apparatuses 1 adjacent to the left and right. For this reason, as can be seen by comparing FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B, the total of the both rows 11 and 12 is five in each row 11 and 12 within the range of the horizontal width “B” of the arrangement region. Ten substrate processing apparatuses 1 (the total number of processing chambers 5 is 40) can be arranged. On the other hand, in the case of the substrate processing apparatus 100, since the transfer path 60 is also provided between the adjacent substrate processing apparatuses 100, the number of the substrate processing apparatuses 100 arranged is four in each row 101, 102, both rows. In total, there are 8 units (the total number of processing chambers 5 is 24).

  Even when the widths of the substrate processing apparatuses 1 and 100 are viewed as individual units, in the conventional substrate processing apparatus 100, the vacuum transfer chamber 4 and the two processing chambers 5 provided on the left and right sides thereof are aligned. Are lined up. On the other hand, in the substrate processing apparatus 1 of this example, each processing chamber 5 is arranged with an inclination with respect to a straight line extending in the left-right direction, so that the horizontal width in the left-right direction is reduced according to this inclination. Therefore, for example, if the distance from the center of the vacuum transfer chamber 4 to the connection position of the processing chamber 5 is the same in each substrate processing apparatus 1, 100, the lateral width “b1” of the apparatus of the substrate processing apparatus 1 is the same as that of the substrate processing apparatus 100. It becomes smaller than the width “b2” of the apparatus.

  Next, comparing the substrate processing system shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B with respect to the width in the vertical direction, in the case of the substrate processing apparatus 1, each processing chamber 5 is inclined with respect to a straight line extending in the vertical direction. In the case of the substrate processing apparatus 100, the load lock chamber 3, the vacuum transfer chamber 4, and the processing chamber 5 are arranged in a straight line in the vertical direction. Therefore, assuming that the width of the transport path 60 between the rows 11 and 12 and between the rows 101 and 102 is the same, the vertical width “A1” in the substrate processing system of the substrate processing apparatus 1 shown in FIG. And the vertical width “A2” in the substrate processing system of the substrate processing apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 7B, if the vertical width of the vacuum transfer chamber 4 is the same, “A1” Is smaller.

  Further, when the substrate processing apparatuses 1 and 100 are viewed as a single unit, in the conventional substrate processing apparatus 100, the load lock chamber 3, the vacuum transfer chamber 4, and the processing chamber 5 are arranged in a straight line in the vertical direction. In the substrate processing apparatus 1, the load lock chamber 3, the vacuum transfer chamber 4, and the maintenance region 6 are arranged in a straight line in the vertical direction. Since the maintenance area 6 can share a part of the transfer path 60, the vertical width “a 1” of the substrate processing apparatus 1 is the vertical width of the substrate processing apparatus 100 as long as the vertical width of the vacuum transfer chamber 4 is the same. The width in the direction can be smaller than “a2”.

  The substrate processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment has the following effects. A plurality of processing chambers 5 are connected to the side surface of the hexagonal vacuum transfer chamber 4 having a planar shape, and a maintenance area 6 serving as a transfer destination of the lid body 52 and the substrate transfer mechanism 41 of each processing chamber 5 is provided with a plurality of processing chambers. Since it is shared among the five, space saving of the substrate processing apparatus 1 can be achieved. Since the lid transport mechanism 7 for transporting the lid 52 of the processing chamber 5 from each processing chamber 5 to the maintenance area 6 is provided, the processing chamber 5 can be easily opened even if the maintenance area 6 is shared. it can.

Here, the vacuum transfer chamber 4 is not limited to a case where the planar shape is a regular hexagon. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, the vacuum transfer chamber 4 has a flat hexagonal shape, and two load lock chambers 3a and 3b for loading and unloading, for example, are provided on one wide side to increase the loading / unloading speed of the substrate S. May be.
Further, it may be an octagonal vacuum transfer chamber provided with different processing chambers between the processing chambers 5a and 5b and between the processing chambers 5c and 5d. Alternatively, the configuration may be such that two side surfaces provided with the processing chambers 5c and 5d are one side surface and only one processing chamber is provided.
The shape of the vacuum transfer chamber is not limited to a hexagon, and may be a polygon that is a pentagon or more. In particular, if the polygon has a side surface in which the angle formed by the normals of two side surfaces to which adjacent processing chambers are connected is less than 90 °, the processing is efficiently performed in a region closer to a circle than in the case of a quadrangle. A room can be arranged.
Furthermore, since the vacuum transfer chamber is large, it may be constituted by a plurality of members, a fastening member, and a seal member, and may be divided into, for example, three or more portions.

  The configuration of the lid transport mechanism 7 is not limited to the example of the cantilever lid transport mechanism 7 shown in FIG. For example, by making the support arm 71 of the lid transport mechanism 7 shown in FIG. 1 extendable in the radial direction, or by providing a small crane on the upper surface of the vacuum transfer chamber 4, the working radius can be made variable. As shown in FIG. 8, even when the vacuum transfer chamber 4 is a flat hexagon, the lid 52 can be freely transferred between the processing chambers 5a to 5d and the maintenance area 6. Further, for example, rails are laid so as to be parallel to each other at positions outside the processing chambers 5a to 5d when viewed from the vacuum transfer chamber 4 and the upper surface of the vacuum transfer chamber 4, and a portal crane (bridge) that runs on the rails. The lid transport mechanism 7 may be configured so that the shape crane) moves above the processing chambers 5a to 5d and the maintenance area 6.

  The position where the maintenance region 6 is formed is the outer side of the side surface opposite to the side surface to which the load lock chamber 3 is connected on the six side surfaces of the vacuum transfer chamber 4 as in the substrate processing apparatus 1 shown in FIG. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, in FIG. 2, the processing chamber 5 is provided at a position where the maintenance area 6 is provided, and in place of this, maintenance is performed at a position on the outer side of one of the side surfaces to which the processing chambers 5a to 5d are connected in FIG. Region 6 may be formed. Even in this case, the effect of saving the pace of the substrate processing apparatus 1 can be obtained.

Moreover, although the example which performs the etching process of the board | substrate S in the processing chambers 5a-5d was shown in this example, the kind of vacuum processing performed in these processing chambers 5a-5d is not limited to this. For example, a film forming process such as CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) or an ashing process may be performed. The types of vacuum processing performed in each of the processing chambers 5a to 5d are not limited to the same type. For example, different types of vacuum processing can be performed so that ashing can be performed after performing etching processing in the same substrate processing apparatus 1. You may perform vacuum processing of. Furthermore, the processing chambers 5 do not have to be connected to all of the remaining four side surfaces of the vacuum transfer chamber 4 except for the side surface connected to the load lock chamber 3 and the side surface facing the maintenance area 6. Two to three may be sufficient.
The type of the substrate S to be processed by the substrate processing apparatus 1 is not limited to the square glass substrate shown in the embodiment, and may be applied to a circular substrate such as a semiconductor wafer. is there.

S substrate 1, 100 substrate processing apparatus 2 atmospheric loader 3, 3a, 3b
Load lock chamber 4, 4a Vacuum transfer chamber 41 Substrate transfer mechanism 421, 422
Opening and closing members 431 and 432
Opening 5, 5a-5d
Processing chamber 51 Processing chamber body 52 Cover body 6 Maintenance area 61 Cover body transport jig 7 Cover body transport mechanism 8 Control unit

Claims (5)

A vacuum transfer chamber that includes a substrate transfer mechanism for transferring a substrate to be processed, and is surrounded by a plurality of side surfaces so that the planar shape is a polygon that is a pentagon or more;
Among the plurality of side surfaces of the vacuum transfer chamber, connected to the side surface except for the side surface provided with a maintenance area on the outside, a plurality of processing chambers having a lid on the top,
A lid transport mechanism that transports the lid between the processing chamber and the maintenance area ;
Preliminary vacuum that switches the atmosphere in which the substrate is placed between the atmospheric pressure atmosphere and the vacuum atmosphere on the side surface of the vacuum transfer chamber excluding the side surface provided with the maintenance area outside and the side surface to which the processing chamber is connected A substrate processing apparatus , wherein a chamber is connected, and a side surface to which the preliminary vacuum chamber is connected and a side surface provided with the maintenance region on the outside face each other . The side surface provided with a maintenance area on the outside is provided with an opening for carrying in and out the substrate transport mechanism and an opening / closing member for opening and closing the opening. 2. The substrate processing apparatus according to 1. Said vacuum transfer chamber, the substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it is divided into three or more parts. A substrate processing system having a plurality of substrate processing apparatuses according to claim 1 ,
A first row in which a plurality of the substrate processing apparatuses are arranged in the left-right direction with the preliminary vacuum chamber facing in the same direction;
The preliminary vacuum chamber has a direction opposite to the direction of the preliminary vacuum chamber of the first row, and a side surface of the vacuum transfer chamber provided with a maintenance region on the outside has the maintenance region of the first row. A second row in which a plurality of the substrate processing apparatuses are arranged in parallel with the first row so as to face the side surface of the vacuum transfer chamber;
A substrate processing system comprising a conveyance path connecting the maintenance areas between the first row and the second row. 5. The substrate processing system according to claim 4 , wherein an interval between adjacent substrate processing apparatuses in the first row and an interval between adjacent substrate processing devices in the second row are narrower than the transport path. .

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