JPH0616462U - Cluster type thin film processing system with buffer - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Construction] The cluster type thin film processing apparatus accommodates a buffer chamber 18 having a load lock mechanism with a buffer and a cassette lifter 5, a cassette transfer robot 19, and loading / unloading cassette stands 20, 21. Load / unload chamber 22. [Effect] It was possible to suppress the generation of particles from the transfer robot, shorten the time required to transfer the workpiece 16, and effectively use the station / cost of the device and the running cost.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a cluster type thin film processing apparatus with a buffer for thin film processing or inspecting an IC wafer or a liquid crystal panel glass.

[0002]

[Prior art]

 FIG. 4 shows a conventional cluster thin film processing apparatus with a buffer. In this apparatus, process chambers 2a to 2d, and two chambers of a loading buffer chamber 7 and an unloading buffer chamber 8 are installed on each side of a polygonal transfer chamber 4. The transfer chamber 4 is provided with a transfer robot 1 which can be moved back and forth and swiveled. The transfer robot 1 transfers a workpiece (hereinafter referred to as a workpiece) supplied from a loading buffer chamber 7 to each of the process chambers 2a to 2d and It is transferred to the unloading buffer chamber 8. The loading buffer chamber 7 and the unloading buffer chamber 8 each house a buffer-dedicated cassette 6, and a loading chamber 13 and an unloading chamber 14 are connected thereto.

Further, the loading buffer chamber 7, the loading chamber 13, the unloading buffer chamber 8, and the unloading chamber 14 are provided with cassette lifters 5 that move up and down at a predetermined pitch. Furthermore, a loading transfer robot 9 and an unloading transfer robot 10 are installed in the loading and unloading chambers 13 and 14, respectively. Each chamber is evacuated.

Next, the operation of this device will be described. First, the gate valve 3c of the loading chamber 13 is opened, and the cassette 24 containing the work 16 is placed on the cassette lifter 5 in the loading chamber 13 by the robot 24 of the self-propelled cassette transporting vehicle 23.

Next, the gate valve 3c is closed and the inside of the loading chamber 13 is evacuated to a predetermined degree of vacuum. When a predetermined degree of vacuum is reached, the gate valve 3a is opened, and the work is transferred one by one to the buffer dedicated cassette 6 in the loading buffer chamber 7 by the loading transfer robot 9. When the transfer is completed, the gate valve 3a is closed, the loading buffer chamber 7 is evacuated, the gate valve 3i is opened, the gate valves of the process chambers 2a to 2d are sequentially opened, and the workpieces are transferred by the transfer robot 1 to the process chamber 2a. Transport to ~ 2d. Then, the gate valve 3j is finally opened to store the work in the buffer dedicated cassette 6 in the unloading buffer chamber 8.

The cassette 15 in the loading chamber 13 opens the gate valve 3c, the robot 24 of the self-propelled cassette carrier 23 takes out the empty cassette 15, and the cassette 15 containing the new work 16 is loaded into the cassette lifter. Supply to 5. On the other hand, in the unloading chamber 14, the gate valve 3d is opened, and the empty cassette 15 is installed on the cassette lifter 5 by the robot 24 of the self-propelled cassette carrier 23.

Then, the gate valve 3d is closed to evacuate to a predetermined degree of vacuum. When a predetermined vacuum level is reached, the gate valve 3b is opened, and the works in the unloading buffer chamber 8 are sequentially transferred one by one to the empty cassette 5 in the unloading chamber 14 by the unloading transfer robot 10. When this transfer is completed, the gate valve 3b is closed, the gate valve 3d is opened, the cassette containing the work is taken out by the robot 24 of the self-propelled cassette carrier 23, and then an empty cassette is placed in the unloading chamber 14. Set on the lifter 5.

[0008]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 Due to the above-described configuration, in order to supply the cassette 15 containing the work to the loading chamber 13 by the robot 24 of the self-propelled cassette carrier 23, the empty cassette 15 in the loading chamber 13 is moved to the robot 24. Therefore, the cassette 15 containing the work had to be supplied after being discharged once.

On the other hand, in order to supply the empty cassette 15 to the unloading chamber 14, the cassette 24 containing the processed work in the unloading chamber 14 is temporarily discharged by the robot 24, and then the empty cassette 15 is discharged. 15 must be supplied. Therefore, in order to supply / eject one cassette, the robot 24 has to perform the feeding / discharging operation twice each, the time required for cassette feeding / discharging becomes longer, and the probability of cassette missetting increases. It was

Further, the transfer of the work from the cassette 15 in the loading chamber 13 to the buffer dedicated cassette 6 in the loading buffer chamber 7 and the buffer dedicated cassette 6 in the unloading buffer chamber 8 to the unloading chamber 14 are performed. Since the transfer of the work 16 to the cassette 15 in the inside is performed by the transfer robots 9 and 10 one by one, damage of the work due to a transfer error of the work occurs, and a loss time required for the transfer is generated. The operation rate of the equipment was greatly reduced.

In addition, since the loading buffer chamber 7 and the unloading buffer chamber 8 are installed at two places of the transfer chamber 4 and the supply station 4b and the discharge station 4c are provided at two places, the effective utilization of the process chamber 2 is blocked. It had been.

Further, it is complicated with two buffer chambers, one load / unload chamber, four exhaust systems, four cassette lifters, two transfer robots, six gate valves, and four vacuum gauges. The transportation system accounts for a high percentage of the total cost of the device, and the amount of energy consumed, such as electric power, is large, driving up running costs.

[0013]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a polygonal transfer chamber having a transfer robot capable of swiveling and moving up and down, a plurality of process chambers radially installed on each outer side of the transfer chamber, and One buffer chamber, a vertically movable cassette lifter installed in this buffer chamber, and a cassette transfer robot connected to the buffer chamber in the center and installed on both sides of this cassette transfer robot. And a load / unload chamber having a rotatable loading cassette table and an unloading cassette table, which is a cluster type thin film processing apparatus with a buffer.

[0014]

[Action]

 The cassette 15 containing the workpiece 16 is placed on the loading cassette table 20 from the robot 24 of the self-propelled cassette carrier 23. Next, the work-containing cassette 15 is rotated by a predetermined angle by the loading cassette table 20, and then the work-containing cassette 15 is transferred to the buffer chamber 18 by the cassette transfer robot 19. Next, the transfer robot 1 carries the works one by one to the process chambers 2a to 2e. The processed work is again collected in the cassette 15 in the buffer chamber 18, and when all the works are collected, the cassette 15 containing the work is placed on the unloading cassette table 21 by the cassette transfer robot.

Next, after rotating the unloading cassette table 21 by a predetermined angle, the cassette 24 containing the work is taken out by the robot 24 of the self-propelled cassette carrier 23.

[0016]

【Example】

 A transfer robot 1 is provided in a polygonal transfer chamber 4 so as to be capable of turning and moving up and down. Five process chambers 2a to 2e and one buffer chamber 18 are radially installed on each outer side of the transfer chamber 4 via gate valves 3 and 3h, respectively. The process chambers 2a to 2e are chambers for performing thin film processing and inspection on the work, and the buffer chamber 18 is a chamber for supplying the work to each of the process chambers 2a to 2e and accommodating the processed work. In the buffer chamber 18, there is installed a cassette lifter 5 on which a cassette is placed and which is vertically moved by a predetermined pitch.

One load / unload chamber 22 is connected to the buffer chamber 18 via a gate valve 3e. A cassette transfer robot 19 is arranged in the center of the load / unload chamber 22, and a rotatable loading cassette table 20 and an unloading cassette table 21 are installed on both sides of the cassette transfer robot 19. There is. The loading / unloading chamber 22 is provided with a supply port 22a and a gate valve 3f corresponding to the loading cassette table 20, and a discharge port 22b and a gate valve 3g corresponding to the unloading cassette table 21. . Reference numeral 23 is a self-propelled cassette transporting vehicle, and a robot 24 is designed to feed and discharge the cassette 15.

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the cassette lifter 5 housed in the buffer chamber 18, in which the rotation of the motor 17 is transmitted to the driven gear 26 by the drive gear 25 to rotate the vertical feed screw 27 to guide the guide pin. The female screw 28 guided by the rotation stopper 29 and moved up and down by 29 is moved up and down. The cassette stage 37 is attached to the upper end of the sleeve 30 fixed to the female screw 28 that moves up and down to form the cassette lifter 5.

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the loading cassette base 20 and the unloading cassette base 21 housed in the load / unload chamber 22, in which the rotation of the motor 31 is transmitted to the driven gear 33 by the drive gear 32. The airtightness is maintained by the magnetic seal 11 at the upper end, and the rotary shaft 34 supported by the bearings 12 at both ends is rotated. A cassette stage 37 is attached to the upper end of the rotary shaft 34, and the rotation angle of the rotary shaft 34 is controlled by an encoder 35 and a sensor 36 to orient the cassette stage 37 in a predetermined direction.

Next, the operation of this thin film processing apparatus will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the cassette 15 for loading the workpiece, which is carried by the robot 24 of the self-propelled cassette carrier 23, has the cassette opening 15a normally directed toward the apparatus, and the gate valve of the load / unload chamber 22. After opening 3f, it is placed on the loading cassette table 20 from the supply port 22a. Next, the gate valve 3f is closed and the load / unload chamber 22 is evacuated. The cassette 15 placed on the loading cassette table 20 has a cassette opening 15a shown in FIG. 1 by rotating the loading cassette table 20 by 90 ° in a clockwise direction so that the cassette transfer robot 19 can easily carry it. Turn to the right.

Next, when a predetermined vacuum degree is reached, the gate valve 3 e is opened and the cassette 15 containing the work 16 is transferred from the loading cassette table 20 to the cassette lifter 5 of the buffer chamber 18 by the cassette transfer robot 19. Then, the gate valve 3e is closed and the buffer chamber 18 is evacuated. When the buffer chamber 18 reaches a predetermined vacuum degree, the gate valve 3h is opened, and the transfer robot 1 sequentially withdraws the work from the lowermost stage of the normal cassette 15.

Then, while the gate valve 3 of each of the process chambers 2a to 2e is opened and closed, the work 16 is sequentially moved to the cleaning chamber 2a, the deposition chamber 2b, the drive-in chamber 2c, the cooling chamber 2d, and the film thickness measurement chamber 2e. To be transferred.

The processed work 16 is stored by the transfer robot 1 in a forward dimension from the bottom of the cassette in the buffer chamber 18. During this time, the gate valve 3f is opened, and the cassette 15 in which the work is stored by the robot 24 of the self-propelled cassette carrier 23 is placed on the loading cassette table 20 from the supply port 22a of the load / unload chamber 22 and the gate valve 3f is turned on. After closing, the loading / unloading chamber 22 is evacuated and the loading cassette table 20 is rotated clockwise by 90 ° to stand by.

When the processing of all the works in the buffer chamber 18 is completed, the gate valve 3h is closed, the cassette lifter 5 is returned to the origin, the gate valve 3e is opened, and the cassette transfer robot 19 operates the cassette lifter in the buffer chamber 18. The cassette 15 containing the processed work is transferred from 5 to the unloading cassette table 21 of the load / unload chamber 22. In this state, since the opening 15a of the cassette 15 is directed to the left side in FIG. 1, the unloading cassette base 21 is rotated clockwise by 90 ° so that the cassette 15 can be easily ejected when the cassette is ejected. Turn to the side and wait for discharge.

Next, the cassette 15 waiting on the loading cassette table is transferred to the cassette lifter 5 of the buffer chamber 18 by the cassette transfer robot 19, the gate valve 3e is closed, and the buffer chamber 18 is set to a predetermined vacuum degree. Evacuate to After evacuation, the gate valve 3h is opened, and the transfer robot 1 conveys the works one by one to the respective process chambers 2a to 2e to perform the respective processes.

In the meantime, the gate valve 3 g is opened and the cassette 15 in which the processed work 16 stored in the above-mentioned unloading cassette table 21 is stored is loaded / unloaded by the robot 24 of the self-propelled cassette carrier 23. It discharges from the discharge port 22b of the load chamber 22 and closes the gate valve 3g.

Then, the gate valve 3 f is opened, and the robot 24 of the self-propelled cassette transfer vehicle 23 loads the cassette 15 containing the unprocessed work from the supply port 22 a of the load / unload chamber 22 onto the loading cassette table 20. Then, the gate valve 3f is closed. Next, the load / unload chamber 22 is evacuated and the loading cassette table 20 is rotated clockwise by 90 ° to stand by with the cassette opening 15a facing right in FIG.

Hereinafter, the above-described operation is repeated.

[0029]

[Effect of device]

 As described above, one buffer chamber 18 having one cassette lifter 5 for mounting the buffer cassette 15 on the transfer chamber 4 via the gate valve 3h, and the gate valve on the buffer chamber 18 are provided. One load / unload chamber 22 for loading / unloading is connected via 3e, and it is possible to rotate with one loading / unloading cassette transfer robot 19 for loading / unloading. A loading cassette table 20 and an unloading cassette table 21 are housed, and a cassette supply gate valve 3f and a cassette are provided in front of the loading / unloading chamber 22 corresponding to the loading cassette table 20 and the unloading cassette table 21, respectively. With a structure in which a discharge gate valve 3g is installed Therefore, the work 16 can be transferred between the cassette 15 in the buffer chamber 18 and the loading / unloading cassette tables 20 and 21 in the load / unload chamber 22 while the work 16 is stored in the cassette 15. As a result, the number of times the transfer robot 19 needs to be transferred has changed from the conventional 25 times x 2 (25 on the loading side / 25 on the unloading side) to 2 times (once on the loading side and once on the unloading side). ), The generation of particles due to the operation of the cassette transfer robot 19 is drastically reduced.

Further, since the work is not directly transferred, the work is not damaged or dropped or soiled due to a transfer error that is caused by the direct transfer of the work, and the yield of the IC or the like is dramatically increased. Improved. In addition, the time required to transfer the work was reduced to about 1/25, and the downtime of the process was reduced, resulting in improved equipment availability and reduced depreciation costs. Also, the conventional work chamber supply / discharge station required one station for each of supply and discharge, but in the present invention, the supply / discharge station was shared and it became one station, so one process chamber was added. It has become possible, and it has become possible to add one more work processing or inspection process.

Further, as compared with the conventional apparatus, there are 4 to 2 chambers for supplying and discharging a work, 4 to 1 cassette lifters, 2 to 1 transfer robots, and a gate valve. Since the number of exhaust systems was reduced from 6 to 4, the exhaust system was reduced from 4 to 2, and the vacuum measurement system was reduced from 4 to 2, the structure related to workpiece supply / discharge was simplified and the manufacturing cost was reduced to about 1/2. The cost has been reduced.

Further, energy consumption such as electric power required for operating the apparatus was halved, and the running cost was reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a cluster type thin film processing apparatus and a self-propelled cassette carrier according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of a cassette lifter housed in a buffer chamber according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view of a loading / unloading cassette base housed in a loading / unloading chamber according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a conventional cluster type thin film processing apparatus and a self-propelled cassette carrier.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Transfer Robot 2 Process Chamber 2a Cleaning Chamber 2b Deposition Chamber 2c Drive-in Chamber 2d Cooling Chamber 2e Film Thickness Measuring Chamber 3, 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, 3e Gate Valve 3f, 3g, 3h, 3i, 3j Gate Valve 4 Transfer chamber 4a Workpiece feeding / discharging station 4b Supplying station 4c Discharging station 5 Cassette lifter 6 Buffer dedicated cassette 7 Loading buffer chamber 8 Unloading buffer chamber 9 Workpiece loading transfer robot 11 Magnetism Seal 12 Bearing 13 Loading chamber 14 Unloading chamber 15 Cassette 15a Cassette opening 16 Workpiece 1 7 motor 18 buffer chamber 19 cassette transfer robot 20 loading cassette table 21 unloading cassette table 22 load / unload chamber 22a supply port 22b discharge port 23 self-propelled cassette carrier 24 robot 25 drive gear 26 driven gear 27 vertical feed screw 28 Nut 29 Guide Pin 30 Sleeve 31 Motor 32 Drive Gear 33 Driven Gear 34 Rotating Shaft 35 Encoder 36 Sensor 37 Cassette Table

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A polygonal transfer chamber having a transfer robot capable of rotating and moving up and down, a plurality of process chambers and one buffer chamber radially installed on each outer edge of the transfer chamber, A vertically movable cassette lifter installed in the buffer chamber, and a cassette transfer robot connected to the buffer chamber in the center,
A cluster type thin film processing apparatus with a buffer, comprising one load / unload chamber having a rotatable loading cassette table and an unloading cassette table installed on both sides of the cassette transfer robot.