JPH0555442U - Vacuum processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] When a preliminary chamber is provided in the vacuum processing chamber, the purpose is to reduce the time required for main vacuuming in the vacuum processing chamber and the time required for exhausting after the vacuum processing. [Structure] A backup chamber is provided on the back of the vacuum processing chamber. When the object to be processed is carried into the vacuum processing chamber, the vacuum processing chamber is closed by a gate integrated with the holder of the processing object. When the object to be processed is carried out from the vacuum processing chamber, the gate valve is closed to separate the vacuum processing chamber from the preliminary chamber.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial application]

 The present invention relates to a vacuum processing device.

[0002]

[Prior Art]

 Generally, in a vacuum processing apparatus, it is well known that a preliminary chamber is provided in series in the vacuum processing chamber via a gate valve, and the preliminary chamber is used when an object to be processed is transferred into the vacuum processing chamber. ing.

FIG. 4 shows a conventional example thereof. This example shows an ion implantation processing apparatus for implanting ions into a substrate such as a semiconductor. Reference numeral 1 denotes a vacuum processing chamber for irradiating ions. The irradiation chamber 2 is an ion source and 3 is a preliminary chamber, which is connected to the irradiation chamber 1 via a gate valve 4. Reference numeral 5 denotes a substrate which is an object to be processed, 6 a transport mechanism for transporting the substrate 5, and 7 a holder supported by the transport mechanism 6.

When loading the substrate 5 into the irradiation chamber 1, first, the lid 8 of the auxiliary chamber 3 is opened, the substrate 5 is attached to the holder 7 in the auxiliary chamber 3, and then the lid 8 is closed and then the auxiliary chamber 3 is closed. The inside is roughly evacuated. Then, when the degree of vacuum reaches, for example, about 0.1 Torr, the roughing is stopped and the gate valve 4 is opened. As a result, the preliminary chamber 3 and the irradiation chamber 1 are communicated with each other, so that the preliminary chamber 3 is pulled by the vacuum pump on the irradiation chamber 1 side.

After opening the gate valve 4, the holder 7 is conveyed to a predetermined position (indicated by a dotted line in the drawing) in the irradiation chamber 1 by the conveying mechanism 6 and stopped. Then, after the inside of the irradiation chamber 1 has reached a predetermined degree of vacuum, an ion source gas is caused to flow, and ions from the ion source 2 are directed toward the substrate 5 in the direction of the arrow.

After the ion irradiation, the ion source gas is stopped, the ion source gas is sufficiently exhausted, and then the holder 7 is drawn into the auxiliary chamber 3. Then, the gate valve 4 is closed, the preliminary chamber 3 is returned to the atmosphere, and the substrate 5 is taken out of the preliminary chamber 3. This completes the ion implantation process.

However, according to such a configuration, when the substrate 5 is loaded into the irradiation chamber 1, the holder 7 and the transport mechanism 6 are connected to each other, so that the gate valve 4 remains open. Therefore, it is necessary to make the interior of the preparatory chamber 3 and the gate valve 4 exposed to the atmosphere as high as the interior of the irradiation chamber 1. Therefore, the time required for the main drawing in the irradiation chamber 1 becomes extremely long. Further, since the ion source gas, which is a harmful gas, flows into the auxiliary chamber 3, it is necessary to sufficiently exhaust the inside after the ion irradiation, and the time required for the exhaust becomes long.

[0008]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 The present invention aims to reduce the time required for main vacuuming after the object to be processed is carried into the vacuum processing chamber in a vacuum processing apparatus in which a preliminary chamber is connected to the vacuum processing chamber, and to exhaust gas after vacuum processing. The purpose is to reduce the time.

[0009]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 The present invention has a backup chamber provided on the back surface of the vacuum processing chamber, a movable shaft penetrating the backup chamber and movable along the length direction, and a movable shaft at the tip of the movable shaft. A holder for supporting the processed object that can be loaded into the vacuum processing chamber through the processed object transfer port, and a holder on the tip side of the movable shaft that is processed when the holder is transferred from the processed object transfer port to the vacuum processing chamber. It is characterized in that it is constituted by a gate that closes the material transfer port and a gate valve that closes the space between the preliminary chamber and the vacuum processing chamber when the holder is returned to the preliminary chamber.

[0010]

[Action]

 First, pull back the movable shaft so that the holder is in the spare room. Then, the holder supports the object to be processed. Meanwhile, the spare chamber and the vacuum processing chamber are shut off by a gate valve. When vacuum-treating an object to be processed, the preliminary chamber is roughly vacuumed and then the gate valve is opened to drive the movable shaft toward the irradiation chamber. When the gate valve is opened, the auxiliary chamber is evacuated by the vacuum pump on the vacuum processing chamber side.

When the holder reaches the inside of the vacuum processing chamber through the workpiece transfer port by driving the movable shaft, the workpiece transfer port is closed by the gate attached to the movable shaft. After this, the vacuum processing chamber is continuously vacuumed by a vacuum pump. In this case, since vacuuming is performed only inside the vacuum processing chamber, vacuuming can be performed in a short time. After that, a gas for vacuum processing is supplied into the irradiation chamber, and the object to be processed is subjected to required vacuum processing in the vacuum processing chamber.

When the vacuum processing is completed, the gas in the vacuum processing chamber is exhausted. In this case, since the gas is not contained in the spare chamber, the gas can be exhausted only from the vacuum processing chamber, so the time required for the exhaust can be short. After that, the movable shaft is returned, so that when the holder is returned to the preparatory chamber, the gate valve is closed to shut off between the vacuum processing chamber and the preparatory chamber. After that, remove the object to be processed from the holder, attach a new object to be processed, and move to the next vacuum processing operation.

[0013]

【Example】

 An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 4 indicate the same or corresponding portions. According to the present invention, the auxiliary chamber 3 is installed on the back side (the back side along the ion irradiation direction) of the vacuum processing chamber, that is, the irradiation chamber 1. Reference numeral 11 denotes a holder carry-in port provided on the back surface of the irradiation chamber 1.

Between the preliminary chamber 3 and the irradiation chamber 1, there is provided a gate valve 4 used to shut off the two. Reference numeral 14 is a gate valve of the gate valve 4, 15 is a drive shaft thereof, and 16 is a seal material. The sealing material 16 and the sealing material in the following description are, for example, O-rings, and are vacuum-tight.

The spare chamber 3 is openable with respect to the gate valve 4 by a hinge 17 as shown in FIG. Reference numeral 18 denotes a seal material that maintains the airtightness of the closed surface when the auxiliary chamber 3 is closed with respect to the gate valve 4.

The holder 7 is supported at the tip of a movable shaft 19. Further, a gate 20 for closing the holder carry-in port 11 is provided on the tip side of the movable shaft 19. Reference numeral 21 is a seal member that maintains the airtightness of the closed surface when the gate 20 closes the holder inlet 11.

The movable shaft 19 penetrates through the auxiliary chamber 3 and is led to the outside. The outer end thereof is connected to a piston rod 23 of a cylinder (for example, an air cylinder) 22 via a connecting member 24. Therefore, the movable shaft 19 can be moved back and forth along its longitudinal direction by the expansion and contraction of the piston rod 23. The cylinder 22 is supported in the auxiliary chamber 3. The movable shaft 19 is slid while keeping the auxiliary chamber 3 airtight. Reference numeral 25 is a sealing material that maintains its airtightness.

The vacuum process, that is, the ion implantation process is performed as follows. First, the gate valve 4 is closed by the gate valve 14, the preparatory chamber 3 is opened as shown in FIG. 3, and the substrate 5, which is an object to be processed, is placed in the holder 7. Next, as shown in FIG. 2, the preliminary chamber 3 is closed, and then the preliminary chamber 3 is vacuum-evacuated by a required vacuum pump.

After this rough vacuuming is completed, the roughing is stopped, the gate valve 4 is subsequently opened, and the movable shaft 19 is sent from the preliminary chamber 3 toward the irradiation chamber 1. Then, the holder 7 is inserted into the irradiation chamber 1 through the holder carry-in port 11. At this time, the holder carry-in port 11 is closed by the gate 20, and the irradiation chamber 1 and the auxiliary chamber 3 are partitioned.

When the gate valve 4 is opened, the irradiation chamber 1 and the auxiliary chamber 3 communicate with each other. At this time, the auxiliary chamber 3 is evacuated by the vacuum pump on the irradiation chamber 1 side. Further, the blockage of the holder inlet 11 by the gate 20 is maintained by the pressure applied by the cylinder 22.

In this case, the irradiation chamber 1 and the preparatory chamber 3 communicate with each other from the time when the gate valve 4 is opened until the gate 20 closes the holder transfer port 11, and the time between them is extremely short ( For example, about a few seconds).

As a result, in the state where the gate 20 closes the holder carry-in port 11, of the portion exposed to the atmosphere until then, the portion facing the irradiation chamber 1 is the substrate 5 and the holder of the holder 7. Only the surface facing the carry-in port 11 is provided. Therefore, the subsequent main vacuuming in the irradiation chamber 1 does not need to be vacuumed in the preliminary chamber exposed to the air as in the conventional case, and thus can be completed in a short time.

After the main vacuum drawing in the irradiation chamber 1 is completed, an ion source gas is supplied into the irradiation chamber 1 and the substrate 5 is irradiated with ions from the ion source 2. In this case, the ion source gas does not enter the spare chamber 3 as in the conventional case. For this reason, after the ion implantation is completed, this ion source gas can be exhausted from the irradiation chamber 1 only by exhausting the gas inside the irradiation chamber 1, so that the time required for the exhaust can be shortened.

After the required ion irradiation is completed, the movable shaft 19 is returned to the inside of the preliminary chamber 3, and the gate valve 4 is closed to close the irradiation chamber 1. Then, the preliminary chamber 3 is opened and the substrate 5 is removed from the holder 20. Thereafter, this is repeated if necessary.

If ionization is performed in the irradiation chamber 1 and the interior of the auxiliary chamber 3 is set to a high vacuum by a vacuum pump, the gate 20 opens the holder carry-in port 11 after the irradiation is completed. In this case, the inside of the irradiation chamber 1 can be maintained in a high vacuum, which is convenient.

[0026]

[Effect of the device]

 As described above, according to the present invention, when the vacuum processing chamber is provided with the preliminary chamber used for loading and unloading of the workpiece, the time required for the main vacuuming after the workpiece is loaded into the vacuum processing chamber. In addition, the time required for evacuation after vacuum processing can be shortened.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention and is a sectional view in a vacuum processing state.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a state before and after carrying in and out an object to be processed in a vacuum processing chamber.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which an object to be processed is attached to a holder and taken out.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a conventional vacuum processing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vacuum processing chamber 3 Preliminary chamber 4 Gate valve 5 Processing object 7 Holder 11 Processing object transfer port 19 Movable shaft 20 Gate

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A preliminary chamber provided on a back surface of a vacuum processing chamber, a movable shaft penetrating the preliminary chamber and movable along a length direction, and a vacuum provided at a tip of the movable shaft. A holder for supporting an object to be processed that can be carried into the inside through the object transfer port of the processing chamber, and on the tip side of the movable shaft,
A gate that closes the workpiece transfer port when the holder is carried into the vacuum processing chamber from the workpiece transfer port, and the preliminary chamber in a state where the holder is returned to the preliminary chamber. A vacuum processing apparatus comprising a gate valve that closes the vacuum processing chamber.