JPH01242779A - Device for treating thin film - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To suppress reduction of yield in a device for treating thin films by holding plural sample substrates by a sample jig fitted to a carrier, successively moving the carrier through the treating chambers of the device and driving the jig to expose the substrates. CONSTITUTION:A sample jig 43 is fitted to a carrier 40 and plural sample substrates 45 are held by the jig 43. The carrier 40 is successively moved through the treating chambers 78 of a device for treating thin films and the jig 43 is driven to expose the substrates 45 and to treat thin films. Reduction of yield in the device can be suppressed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thin film processing apparatus having a plurality of thin film processing chambers.

2. Description of the Related Art An example of a thin film processing apparatus having a plurality of processing chambers is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-502846. This conventional method is a so-called single-wafer in-line method in which substrates are processed one by one, but in order to improve mass productivity, multiple substrates are mounted on a single carrier and processed at almost the same time. A pallet inline method is used.

A case will be described in which, for example, an information carrier layer of an optical disk shown in FIG. 12 is formed using the pallet type in-line type thin film forming apparatus.

In FIG. 12, an optical disc 1 includes a transparent substrate 2.
Information carrier layer 3. Adhesive layer 4. This is a known structure composed of a protection plate 6. The information carrier layer 3 comprises dielectric layers 6 and 7. It is composed of a recording layer 89 and a reflective layer 9.

For example, when the optical disc 1 is a phase change type repeatedly recordable disc, the recording layer 8 is composed of a chalcogen-based element such as 5nTeSe as a main component. The dielectric layer 6 is composed of ZnS*S13N4eAtN or the like. The reflective layer 9 is made of At, Ni, or the like.

The dielectric layers 6 and 71 and the reflective layer 9 are formed to improve the incorporation of thermal effects during repeated recording and to increase signal output through optical interference.

FIG. 13 shows an example of a film forming apparatus 10 that sequentially forms a dielectric layer θ, a recording layer 8, a dielectric layer 72, and a reflective layer 9 on a substrate 2. Reference numeral 11 indicates a well-known entrance load lock chamber, and 12 indicates a deposition chamber for the dielectric layer 6. When the dielectric layer 6 is, for example, ZnS,
The film forming chamber 12 becomes a sputtering chamber to which a ZnS target 13 is attached, for example. 14 is a film forming chamber for the recording layer 8;
However, in the case of 5nTeSe, for example, the film forming chamber 14 becomes a sputtering chamber equipped with a 5nTeSe target 15, for example.

Reference numeral 16 denotes a film forming chamber for the dielectric layer 7, which is a deposition chamber in which a ZnS target 17 is attached in the same manner as described above. Reference numeral 18 denotes a film forming chamber for the reflective layer 9. When the reflective layer 9 is, for example, M, the film forming chamber 18 becomes a sputtering chamber equipped with, for example, an At target 19. 20 is an exit side load lock chamber. 21.22,23
, 24 are gate valves, and 26, 26, and 27 are slit pulps each having a gap through which a carrier 28 capable of mounting, for example, nine substrates 2, passes. 29°3
0 are the load lock chamber 11.20 and the film forming chamber 12.0, respectively.
This is a buffer space for buffering the intermittent transfer of the carrier 28 between the 18 and 18 and the continuous transfer operation of the film-forming reservoir within the film-forming chambers 12, 14, 16, and 18.

FIG. 14 is a schematic sectional view taken along the line A-A' in FIG. 13.

In FIG. 14, 31, 32, 33, 34 are spanner area regulating plates, respectively, and 35, 38, 37, 38 are crystal oscillators, respectively, for monitoring film thickness.

In FIGS. 13 and 14, the guide means and drive means for transporting the carrier 28 are omitted. Although it is possible to form a film on both sides by providing targets on both sides of the film forming chamber, in this example one side is shown in the middle. Furthermore, in the case of a material with a low film formation rate, it is possible to use a plurality of targets, but one target is shown in one film formation chamber.

In FIGS. 13 and 14, only one carrier 28 is shown, but 100 carriers are required. The reason for this is that after the first carrier 28 passes through the film forming chambers 12 and 14 degrees 16.18 and four layers of film are sequentially formed on the substrate 2, when it enters the output side load lock chamber 2o, .For each of the 3rd, 4th, and 6th carriers, film formation must have started in the film formation chamber 18° 16, 14, and 12, and the 6th carrier must enter the entry side load lock chamber 11. This is because the storage must be ready and about four spare carriers are required for replacing the film-formed substrate with the non-film-formed substrate.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention In the above configuration, the film thickness is monitored by a crystal oscillator, but the difference between the oscillators when the crystal oscillator is replaced, the change in linearity as the film adheres, the target A difference occurs between the film thickness detected by the crystal resonator and the film thickness actually formed on the substrate 2 due to changes in the scattering direction distribution of sputtered particles as the crystal oscillator wears out. Therefore, in order to accurately control the thickness of the film formed on the substrate 2, the thickness of the film formed on the substrate 2 must be periodically measured optically or mechanically and the measured value of the crystal resonator should be calibrated. There is a need to.

In order to measure the thickness of a film formed on a substrate, it is necessary to form only one film on the substrate.

Depending on the process, for example, in the case of reactive sputtering, it may be necessary to form only one film in order to check the degree of reaction.

For example, in FIG. 13, when forming only a film on the target 13, sputter power is applied to the target 13 only when the carrier 28 passes through the target 13, or a shutter (not shown) is opened, and the target film 15,
17.19 can be achieved by not applying sputter power to those targets or by closing the shutter. Similarly, tarp, ') 15
.

17.19 Each film can be formed independently on the substrate.

However, in the above method, if four target films are sampled, one carrier will be sampled four times, or 36
There was a problem that the production amount decreased.

Therefore, the present invention aims to provide a film forming apparatus in which the decrease in production due to sampling is significantly reduced.

Means for Solving the Problems In view of the above points, the present invention provides a sample jig including a jig main body K that holds a plurality of sample substrates, and a shutter member having an opening that can be moved relative to each other. A carrier with a processing substrate attached is provided, and while the carrier is sequentially transferred to a plurality of thin film processing chambers, it engages with at least one of the jig body or the shutter member to cause relative movement between the two to open the desired sample substrate. The configuration is such that sampling drive is performed so as to expose the image from the beginning.

Operation The present invention allows thin film processing to be selectively performed on the sample substrate in the order in which it passes through a plurality of thin film processing chambers, by the above-mentioned Pit formation.

As a result, the reduction in production amount due to sampling is only one piece, and it becomes possible to minimize the reduction in production amount.

EXAMPLE Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described based on the drawings. Note that the same components as those in the conventional example are given the same numbers.

A carrier 4o shown in FIG. 5 is provided with a plurality of holes 41 and grooves 42 for holding the substrate 2. As shown in FIG.

Now, number 413 in the lower right hole of carrier 40.

A sample jig 43 shown in FIG. 1 is detachably attached to the hole 41S as shown in FIG. 2.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, holding holes 46 are formed in the jig main body 44, into which four sample substrates 45 are fitted and held.

The holding hole 46 has an opening 47 as shown in detail in FIG.
A stepped portion 48 is formed to prevent the sample substrate 46 from being pulled out from the opening 47.

Reference numeral 49 denotes a holding plate for preventing the sample substrate 45 from falling out of the holding hole 46, and its center hole 61 is inserted into a post 6o formed in the jig main body 44 and fixed with a stopper 62. A hole 53 that is slightly larger than the sample substrate 45 is formed in the holding plate 49, and a cut and raised portion 54 is formed on one side of the hole 53, as shown in detail in FIG.

In addition, the center hole 61 of the holding plate 49 is formed in the shape of a disc spring convex to the right in FIG.
2, the outer periphery of the holding plate 49 presses the jig main body 44 to generate appropriate rotational resistance.

66 is a positioning pin fixed to the jig main body 44 by caulking etc. 66 is a fitting cylindrical part that fits into the hole 41S of the carrier 40, and the part of the circumference indicated by angle C is from the jig main body 44. It is separated and formed as a resilient portion 5γ.

58 is a shutter member, which has an opening 59 and an outer periphery.
A center hole 61 is inserted into the post 62 of the jig main body 44 and fixed with a stopper 63.

Like the presser plate 49, the shutter member 58 is also formed in the shape of a disc spring with its center hole 61 convexing to the left in FIG.
4 to generate appropriate rotational resistance.

A center cap 64 is fixed to the post 62 with a screw 6S to prevent the film from adhering to the vicinity of the retaining ring 63.

In FIG. 6, FIG. 7, and FIG. 8, 66 is the jig main body 44.
This is a cam for fixing the
, 6B, a cam portion 71 consisting of a small diameter portion 69 and a large diameter portion 70 is formed at the center. 72 is a slot for engaging a tool (not shown) to rotate the cam 66. Reference numeral 73 designates a blank plate that supports the shaft portion 68, and is fixed to the carrier 40 with screws 74.

In FIG. 1, 76 is a gear that meshes with the teeth 6o to rotate the shack member 58, and is a gear that rotates the film forming apparatus 78 shown in FIG.
1, and is moved in the direction of the arrow E shown in FIG. 1 by known means (not shown).
For example, it is driven to rotate in the direction of arrow F. Teeth 60. The tips of the teeth of the gears 76 are sharpened to ensure smooth meshing.

The notch 76 in FIG. 5 is provided so as not to hinder the displacement of the gear 75 in the D direction. Further, the hole 77 is a fitting hole for the positioning pin 55 provided in the jig main body 44.

Next, the operation will be explained.

In FIG. 1, after assembling each part as a sample jig 43, the hole 53 of the holding plate 49 is inserted into the holding hole 46 of the jig body 44.
Match. Since the hole 53 is larger, the sample substrate 46 can be fitted into the holding hole 46 through the hole 63. Thereafter, by placing a finger on the cut and raised portion 54 of the holding plate 49 and rotating the holding plate 49 by 450 rotations, the sample substrate 46 will not fall out of the holding hole 46 .

Next, the opening 69 of the shutter member 68 is aligned with, for example, the F position of the holding hole 46.

In this state, for example, the center camp 64 is held by a vacuum suction jig (not shown), and the fitting cylindrical part 66 is fitted into the hole 41S of the carrier, and the pin 66 is fitted into the hole.
Next, a tool (not shown) is inserted into the slit 72 of the cam 66 so that the large diameter portion 7o of the cam 66 pushes against the elastic portion 57, thereby fixing the sample jig 43 to the carrier 4Q.

In the above, since the large diameter portion 70 of the cam presses the elastic portion 57, even if there is a machining error or the like on both sides, the elastic portion 57 can absorb it and reliably hold the sample jig 43.

Also, the shutter member 68. As described above, both the presser plates 49 have appropriate rotational resistance with respect to the jig main body 44, so that they will not rotate due to vibrations or the like when the carrier 4o is transferred and will not shift their relative positions.

Next, the normal board 2 is set in the other hole 41.

Let this carrier 40 be M.

FIG. 9 shows a state in which the carrier M is pushed into the film forming apparatus 78 and film forming by the target 13 is completed. In this state, a film of the target 13 is formed on the substrate 2 and the sample substrate 45 located at the position of the holding hole 2 of the sample jig 43.

In this state, the gear 75 at the J position is displaced in the D direction by means not shown, and the opening 59 of the shutter member 58 is
After rotating in the F direction so that the carrier M matches the holding hole at the G position, the carrier M is displaced in the E direction so as not to obstruct the movement of the carrier M.

At this time, the carrier N with only the subsequent substrate 2 set in the hole 41S is waiting just in front of the target 13.

Next, the carriers M and N pass through the targets 16 and 13 to form a film, and the carrier P containing only the subsequent substrate 2 is taken into the entry side load lock chamber 11. With the above operations, the film of the target 16 is formed on the film of the target 13 already formed on the substrate 2 of the carrier M, and the film of the target 15 is formed on the sample substrate 45 at the position of the holding hole G of the sample jig 43. will be formed.

Then, in the same manner as described above, the shutter member 58 is rotated by the gear 75 located at the H position to align the opening 69 with the holding hole 46 at the H position.

The carrier M was deposited in the same way by Targera) 17.19 and taken out from the outlet load lock chamber 20.
Only the film of target 13 is formed on the sample substrate 45 at position F, only the film of target 16 is formed on that at position G, only the film of target 17 is formed at position H, and only the film of target 19 is formed at the processing position. At the same time, all other substrates 2 are formed with respective films of targets 13, 15, 17, and 19 stacked in that order. In the subsequent carriers N, P, and subsequent carriers (not shown), the films of each target are sequentially laminated on the substrate 2. Sampling using the sample jig 43 may be performed at intervals as required.

As described above, according to this embodiment, even if four target films are sampled, only one film will suffer from a decrease in production.
Compared to the conventional method, the reduction in production can be made much smaller. This effect becomes larger as the number of laminated films increases and as the number of substrates mounted per carrier increases.

Although the number of targets has been described above as four, it is not limited to this number, and the sample jig may be provided to which as many sampling boards as desired for sampling can be mounted. Further, if necessary, a configuration may be adopted in which the film can be formed on a plurality of sampling substrates per target, or the size and shape of the sampling substrate may be changed depending on the target.

Next, other embodiments of the present invention will be described.

In the above example, the jig main body 44 is fixed to the carrier 40 and the shutter member 58 is rotationally driven, but the shutter member may be fixed to the gear rear and the jig main body is rotationally driven.

Further, the gear 76 is used to drive the shutter member 58, but when the carrier is carried, a rack is placed in the path of the teeth 60 of the shutter member 68, and the gear 6o is engaged with the rank by the movement of the carrier. In addition, the shutter member 58 may be rotated by a required angle.

The above explanation was based on the so-called pass-through deposition method in which a film is deposited while passing the carrier facing the target.
For example, as shown in FIG. 10, in a state where a circular carrier 80 is opposed to a round target 81 indicated by a broken line, the substrate 80 is rotated while being supported by a shaft 80-1.
It is also possible to apply a method in which the substrate 83 is supported by a shaft 84 and rotated around its axis by a known rotation and revolution mechanism (not shown).

In this case, for example, a sample jig 86 schematically shown in FIG. 11, which corresponds to the sample jig 43, is attached to the shaft 84 at the Q position.

The difference from the sample jig 43 is that the shaft 84 is not described in detail.
Another reason why the jig body 86 corresponding to the jig body 44 is removable is that teeth 87 are provided on the outer periphery of the jig body 86 as well as the shutter member 68.

Next, a mechanism for imparting relative rotational movement to the jig main body 86 and the shutter member 68 will be described.

89 and 90 are gears fixed to both ends of the shaft 91, respectively;
A hollow shaft 92 rotatably supports the shaft 91 on the inside, a gear 93 is fixed to one end, and the shaft 92 is formed integrally with the swing arm 94 .

Reference numeral 95 denotes a shaft, to which the swing arm 94 is integrally fixed at one end, and an arm 97 to which a motor 96 is fixed to the other end.

A hollow shaft 98 rotatably supports the shaft 96 inside thereof, and gears 99 and 100 are integrally fixed to both ends thereof, respectively. Reference numeral 101 denotes a bearing that supports the hollow shaft 98, which is separated into an atmosphere side and a vacuum side with this bearing as a boundary, and a vacuum seal is constructed using a magnetic fluid or the like. 102 is motor 9
6 gears.

Next, the operation will be explained.

In the standby state, the arm 97 is rotated counterclockwise about the bearing 101 by means not shown, so that the gears 93, 89 are separated from the respective gears 87, 80.

Then, the rotation of the carrier 80 is positioned by known means (not shown) so that the sampling jig 86 comes to a position where it can mesh with the gears 89 and 93, and then stopped.

Next, when the arm 97 is rotated clockwise by means not shown, the swing arm 94 connects the gear 93 to the tooth 87.
The gear 89 is rotated so as to mesh with the teeth 60.

Next, when the motor 96 is rotated, the gear 102
, 100, 99, 90.89 and the shutter member 6
8 is driven to rotate. At this time, since the jig main body 86 does not rotate, the shutter member 58 rotates relative to the jig main body 86.

Therefore, as in the first example of the invention, the opening 69 of the shutter 68 can be rotated to the position of the next sample substrate.

A feature of this configuration is that the shutter members 6 and 8 and the jig main body 86 can be moved relative to each other at a desired angle with respect to the sample jig 86 in any stopped state.

Although all of the above has been described with regard to application to Suhanota etching, it is not limited thereto, and can also be applied to PVD and CVD such as vapor deposition and ion blasting, as well as etching, ion implantation, and the like.

Furthermore, the film formation process can be applied regardless of vacuum, gas phase, or liquid phase.

Effects of the Invention The present invention provides a carrier with a sample jig capable of holding a plurality of sample substrates and selectively exposing the sample substrates, and sequentially transports the carrier to a plurality of thin film processing chambers. At the same time, the sample jig can be driven to selectively expose the sample substrate, and required thin film processing can be performed on the sample substrate.

As a result, the decrease in production due to sampling is only one piece, making it possible to minimize the decrease in production.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of essential parts of a thin film processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of essential parts of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. FIG. 1 is a partially enlarged perspective view of FIG. 1, FIG. 5 is a partial front view of a main part of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
The figure is a sectional view taken along line A-A' in Figure 5, and Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B in Figure 1.
8 is an enlarged perspective view of essential parts, FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a film forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing a part of another embodiment of the present invention. , FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of an optical disk shown to explain the present invention, and FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a conventional film forming apparatus. FIG. 14 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along line A-A in FIG. 13. 43...Sample jig, 44...Jig body, 45...Sample board, 49...
・Press plate, 58...Shutter member, 59...
...Opening, 6o...Teeth, 75...Gear, 40...Carrier, 66...Cam. Name of agent: Patent attorney Toshio Nakao and 1 other person 2nd
Figure 3 Hirodai 51 Must-m
-Carrier Otsu 6---Cam Fig. 7 Fig. 8 Fig. 9I71 Fig. 7510 Fig. 11 y'/□\'yJ1 Fig. 2/ Fig. 13 n) Fig. 14

Claims (1)

[Claims] A jig main body that holds a plurality of sample substrates; and a member that engages with the jig main body so as to be able to move relative to the jig main body, the member covers the plurality of sample substrates and also covers the surfaces of the plurality of sample substrates by the relative movement. a shutter member provided with an opening for selective exposure; a carrier to which the sample jig consisting of the jig body and the shutter member can be detachably attached; and an untreated substrate to which the carrier is attached; A means for sequentially transferring the thin film to the processing chamber, and a means provided in the passage of the required thin film processing chamber or the carrier, and engaging with at least one of the jig main body or the shutter member to cause them to move relative to each other. A thin film processing apparatus comprising: a sampling driving means for exposing a sample substrate; and in the process of sequentially passing through a plurality of thin film processing chambers, thin film processing is performed on unprocessed substrates in the order of passing, and selectively processing the thin film on the sample substrate. .