JPH0536813A - Vacuum film-forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To cut down the wafer transferring period, and to improve productivity. CONSTITUTION:The vacuum film-forming device is composed of a film-forming chamber 10 consisting of a plurality of chambers 1 to 9, which are arranged continuously, to be used to conduct a film-forming treatment, an intermediate chamber 30 provided in parallel with the film-forming chamber 10, and a gate valve 31 is provided between the intermediate chamber 31 and a part of the film-forming chamber 10.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vacuum film forming apparatus for forming a film on a substrate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a technique for forming a thin film on a substrate, a sputtering method, a CVD method, an etching method,
A vapor deposition method and the like are known. A film forming apparatus utilizing these film forming techniques includes, for example, an in-line type or multi-chamber type (satellite type) film forming apparatus.

In the in-line type apparatus, a plurality of chambers are continuously arranged via a sluice valve, and a film formation process is performed while a substrate to be film-formed is continuously conveyed in each chamber. Further, the multi-chamber type device is composed of a plurality of radially arranged chambers and an intermediate chamber arranged inside each chamber and connected to each chamber, and a substrate is provided between the intermediate chamber and each chamber. The film forming process is carried out while handing over.

In such a film forming apparatus, in the in-line type apparatus, the substrate is passed through the entire chamber to perform the film forming process. Further, in the multi-chamber apparatus, when the substrate is moved between the chambers, the substrate is always transferred to the other chamber after passing through the intermediate chamber.

On the other hand, in the research stage, there is a case where it is desired to perform the film forming process using a part of the plurality of chambers. In such a case, in the above-mentioned conventional in-line type apparatus, it is necessary to pass the substrate through a chamber that is not used for the film forming process, so that it takes a long time to transfer the substrate. Further, in the multi-chamber apparatus, the substrate must pass through the intermediate chamber when moving between the chambers, and similarly, there is a problem that the transfer time is long.

An object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum film forming apparatus capable of shortening the substrate transfer time and improving productivity.

[0007]

A vacuum film forming apparatus according to the present invention is an apparatus for performing a film forming process on a substrate, comprising a film forming chamber,
It has a bypass chamber and a bypass passage. The film forming chamber is composed of a plurality of chambers for performing a film forming process which are continuously arranged. The bypass chamber is arranged in parallel with the film forming chamber. The bypass passage is provided between the bypass chamber and at least an intermediate chamber of the film forming chamber, and is for transferring the substrate between these chambers.

[0008]

In the vacuum film forming apparatus according to the present invention, the film forming process is performed on the substrate in each chamber of the film forming chamber. When performing a film forming process using a part of the film forming chamber, the substrate subjected to the film forming process in the chamber of the film forming chamber is transferred from the film forming chamber to the bypass chamber through the bypass passage. .. As a result, the substrate does not have to be transferred to another chamber of the film forming chamber that is not used for the film forming process, and the substrate transfer time can be shortened. As a result, productivity can be improved.

[0009]

FIG. 1 shows an in-line type film forming apparatus as an embodiment of the present invention. Here, a film forming apparatus for forming a thin film of a solar cell will be described as an example. This in-line type film forming apparatus is mainly composed of a film forming chamber 10 composed of a plurality of linearly arranged chambers 1 to 9 and an intermediate chamber (bypass chamber) 30 arranged in parallel in the film forming chamber 10. Has been done.

The chambers 1 to 9 of the film forming chamber 10 are continuously arranged. That is, the adjacent chambers are connected to each other via the gate valve 11. Further, a sluice valve 31 similar to the sluice valve 11 is provided between each chamber 1, 5, 7, 9 and the intermediate chamber 30. Each of the chambers 1, 5, 7, and 9 is a chamber for loading and unloading a substrate with respect to the intermediate chamber 30 via a gate valve 31. Intermediate chamber 30 partition wall facing chamber 1, and each chamber 5,
Pushers 32, 12, 13, and 14 are provided on the partition walls on the side of the gate valves 7 and 9 facing each other, respectively. These pushers are mainly composed of cylinders,
The substrate cart 34, which holds the substrate 33, is put in and taken out between the intermediate chamber 30 and each chamber.

Although not shown, a substrate transfer mechanism is provided in each chamber. This substrate transfer mechanism is composed of, for example, a rack and pinion or the like.

Chambers 2, 3 and 4 are chambers for forming a p-layer, an i-type layer and an n-layer of a solar cell, respectively. The chamber 6 is a sputtering chamber for forming an ITO (transparent conductive film), and the chamber 8 is a sputtering chamber for forming an electrode film such as an aluminum film.

A pair of rails 35 are arranged in the intermediate chamber 30. The board cart 34 can travel on the rail 35 by a board transfer mechanism (not shown) composed of a rack and pinion or the like. An inlet chamber 37 into which the substrate 33 is introduced is arranged at one end of the intermediate chamber 30. A gate valve 36 is provided between the inlet chamber 37 and the intermediate chamber 30, and a gate valve 38 is provided at the other end of the inlet chamber 37. Further, at the other end of the intermediate chamber 30, an outlet chamber 40 for unloading the substrate 33 after the film forming process is arranged. A sluice valve 41 is provided between the outlet chamber 40 and the intermediate chamber 30, and a gate valve 42 is provided at the other end of the outlet chamber 40.

Next, the operation of the above-mentioned in-line type film forming apparatus will be described. The substrate to be film-formed is introduced into the inlet chamber 37 through the gate valve 38, and is carried into the intermediate chamber 30 through the sluice valve 36.

Next, the pusher 32 is driven. As a result, the substrate cart 34, which holds the substrate 33, is closed by the gate valve 3
It is carried into the chamber 1 through 1. Next, the film forming chamber 1
The substrate transport mechanism in 0 introduces the substrate cart 34 in the chamber 1 into the chamber 2 via the sluice valve 11. In the chamber 2, a p layer is formed on the substrate 33. In addition, an i-type layer and an n-layer are formed in the chambers 3 and 4, respectively. After the film forming process in the chamber 4, the substrate 33 is carried into the chamber 5.

Here, when the processing on the substrate 33 is completed, the pusher 12 is driven to carry the substrate cart 34 in the chamber 5 into the intermediate chamber 30 via the sluice valve 31. Then, the substrate 33 is transported into the outlet chamber 40 via the gate valve 41 by the substrate transport mechanism in the intermediate chamber 30. The substrate 33 in the outlet chamber 40 is discharged to the outside of the device through the gate valve 42.

In this case, the substrate 33 for which the film forming process has been completed in each of the chambers 2, 3 and 4 passes from the chamber 5 through the gate valve 31 and the intermediate chamber 30 without passing through the remaining chambers 6 to 9. Is discharged to the outside of the apparatus, the transfer time of the substrate 33 is shortened, and the productivity is improved. Moreover, the remaining chambers 6 to 9 are prevented from being contaminated by the transfer of the substrate 33.

When the transparent conductive film is formed on the substrate 33 which has been subjected to the film forming process in each of the chambers 2, 3 and 4, the substrate 33 passes from the chamber 5 to the chamber 6 through the gate valve 11.
Is brought in. In the chamber 6, a transparent conductive film is formed on the substrate 33 by sputtering. Chamber 6
After the internal processing, the substrate 33 is loaded into the chamber 7 through the sluice valve 11.

Here, when the processing on the substrate 33 is completed, the substrate 33 in the chamber 7 is conveyed into the intermediate chamber 30 through the sluice valve 31 by driving the pusher 13. Then, in the same manner as described above, the substrate 33 is transported by the substrate transport mechanism in the intermediate chamber 30 to the outlet chamber 40 through the intermediate chamber 30 and discharged from the gate valve 42 to the outside of the apparatus.

After forming the electrode film in the chamber 7, the substrate 33 in the chamber 7 is loaded into the chamber 8. In the chamber 8, an electrode film such as an aluminum film is formed on the substrate 33 by the sputtering method. After the processing in the chamber 8, the substrate 33 is transferred into the chamber 9 through the sluice valve 11. The substrate 33 transferred into the chamber 9 is transferred into the intermediate chamber 30 through the sluice valve 31 by the drive of the pusher 14. Then, it is conveyed from the intermediate chamber 30 to the outlet chamber 40 and discharged to the outside of the apparatus through the gate valve 42.

In this embodiment, when the film forming process is performed by using a part of the chambers in the film forming chamber 10, the sluice valve 31 and the intermediate chamber 30 are used so that the remaining chambers Processing is carried out without loading the substrate into. As a result, the substrate transfer time can be shortened and productivity can be improved.

[Other Embodiments] FIG. 2 shows a multi-chamber type film forming apparatus as one embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2, the film forming apparatus is mainly composed of a film forming chamber 50 composed of a plurality of annularly arranged chambers 51 to 55, and an intermediate chamber 70 arranged inside the film forming chamber 50. Has been done.

The chambers 51 to 56 are arranged continuously. That is, the adjacent chambers are connected by the gate valve 56. An inlet chamber 57 into which a substrate is introduced is arranged on the side of the chamber 51. A gate valve 56 is provided between the inlet chamber 57 and the chamber 51.
A sluice valve 58 similar to that is provided. The inlet chamber 57 is provided with a gate valve 59 for introducing the substrate. Further, an outlet chamber 60 for discharging the substrate after the film formation processing to the outside of the apparatus is provided on the side of the chamber 55 via a gate valve 58. The exit chamber 60 is provided with a gate valve 61 for discharging the substrate.

Further, the chambers 52 and 54 and the outlet chamber 60
A sluice valve 62 is provided between the intermediate chamber 70 and the intermediate chamber 70.
Although not shown, a transfer mechanism for transferring the substrate is provided in the inlet chamber 57, the film forming chamber 50, and the outlet chamber 60.

A substrate transfer mechanism 80 is provided in the intermediate chamber 70. This substrate transfer mechanism 80 is provided with the sluice valve 6
It is a mechanism for delivering the substrate to and from the chambers 52, 54 and the exit chamber 60 via the two. The substrate transfer mechanism 80 has a swivelable arm 81 and a substrate holding part 82 which is provided at the tip of the arm 81 and is capable of removably holding the substrate.

The substrate introduced into the inlet chamber 57 through the gate valve 59 is carried into the chamber 51 through the partition valve 58. After the film forming process in the chamber 51, the substrate is carried into the chamber 52 through the sluice valve 56 and undergoes a predetermined film forming process.

Here, when the substrate after processing in the chamber 52 is discharged, the substrate transfer mechanism 80 is driven to rotate the arm 81, and the substrate holding portion 82 is arranged to face the chamber 52. Then, the gate valve 62 is opened to open the substrate holding portion 8.
2 is introduced into the chamber 52, and the substrate in the chamber 52 is held by the substrate holding portion 82. Next, the substrate holder 82
And the sluice valve 62 is closed. Next, the arm 81 is swiveled to hold the substrate holding portion 82.
Are arranged to face the outlet chamber 60. Then, the sluice valve 62 is opened, and the substrate holding unit 82 is moved back and forth to carry the substrate on the substrate holding unit 82 side into the outlet chamber 60. Exit room 6
The substrate carried into the unit 0 is discharged to the outside of the apparatus through the gate valve 61.

In this way, when the film forming process is carried out using a part of the film forming chamber 50, as in the above-mentioned embodiment,
The substrate does not have to be transported in the remaining chambers of the film forming chamber 50, whereby the substrate transport time can be shortened and the productivity can be improved. The chambers 51, 5 of the film forming chamber 50
Even when the film forming process is performed using 2, 53, 54, the substrate transfer time can be similarly shortened and the productivity can be improved.

[0029]

Since the vacuum film forming apparatus according to the present invention is provided with the film forming chamber composed of a plurality of chambers continuously arranged, the bypass chamber arranged in parallel with the film forming chamber, and the bypass passage. The substrate transfer time can be shortened and productivity can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of an in-line type film forming apparatus as an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of a multi-chamber type film forming apparatus as another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10,50 Deposition chamber 30,70 Bypass chamber 31,62 Gate valve

Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification number Office reference number FI technical display location H01L 31/04

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A vacuum film forming apparatus for forming a film on a substrate, comprising: a film forming chamber composed of a plurality of chambers for performing the film forming process, which are continuously arranged; A vacuum chamber provided with a bypass chamber arranged in parallel, a bypass passage provided between the bypass chamber and at least an intermediate chamber of the film forming chamber, and a bypass passage for transporting a substrate between these chambers. Membrane device.