JPH0638111Y2 - Sample stage holding mechanism for film forming equipment - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial field of application] This invention applies to a vacuum deposition apparatus, a sputtering apparatus, a CVD apparatus.
Regarding the sample stage holding mechanism used in the film forming apparatus such as the apparatus,
In particular, it relates to a mechanism for holding and rotating the sample table.

[Conventional technology]

For example, in a vacuum vapor deposition apparatus, a vapor deposition source and a substrate are arranged to face each other in a vacuum chamber. The substrate is held on a sample table, and the sample table is rotatably supported by a support mechanism inside the vacuum chamber and rotated by a drive motor or the like provided outside the vacuum chamber through a gear mechanism or the like. It has become.

Further, when the sample table is set in the vacuum chamber, in the conventional apparatus, a support mechanism such as a rail provided on the side wall or bottom of the vacuum chamber from the preliminary chamber provided adjacent to the vacuum chamber is used. Once placed. Then, the sample table placed on the rail or the like is carried by a carrying mechanism or the like in the vacuum chamber and chucked by a chucking table provided on the upper wall of the vacuum chamber.

[Problems to be solved by the device]

In the conventional apparatus as described above, the sample table is held on the chucking table in the vacuum chamber, but it is difficult to accurately position the sample table on the chucking table. In particular, when the sample stage is rotated to make the film thickness distribution uniform, it is necessary to position the center of the sample stage around the center of rotation, but with the conventional device, it is difficult to perform highly accurate positioning. This has the drawback of requiring time.

Further, the conventional sample stage holding mechanism including the conventional transport mechanism is structurally complicated, and many structural members are provided in the vacuum chamber. When the sample table is rotated as described above, a mechanism for rotation is also required near the sample table. When the mechanism for holding the sample stage and the driving mechanism are arranged between the vapor deposition source and the substrate in this way, the vaporized substances from the vapor deposition source adhere to these structural parts, and this non-adhered substance results in high quality formation. There is a problem that a film cannot be formed.

An object of the present invention is to provide a sample stage holding mechanism of a film forming apparatus, which can easily mount the sample stage in the vacuum chamber, can be positioned with high accuracy, and has a simple structure.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

The sample stage holding mechanism of the film forming apparatus according to the present invention is for holding the sample table in the vacuum chamber of the film forming apparatus. Further, it has an engaging portion provided on the upper surface of the sample table, a rotary shaft rotatably mounted on the upper part of the vacuum chamber, and a pedestal fixed to the lower end of the rotary shaft.

A positioning hole is formed on the rotation center axis of the sample table of the engaging portion. In addition, the cradle has a sample table holding part that engages with an engaging part of the sample table, and a support pin that is inserted into a positioning hole of the engaging part at a rotation center part thereof. There is.

[Action]

In this invention, when holding the sample table in the vacuum chamber,
The engaging portion on the upper surface of the sample table is engaged with the sample table holding portion of the receiving table. At this time, the support pin provided on the sample holding portion of the receiving table and the hole of the sample table engaging portion are aligned with each other.

The sample table can be held by the pedestal in the vacuum chamber with only this operation, and the support pin of the sample table holding portion is fitted into the hole of the engaging portion, so that the sample table is automatically centered. Also,
Due to the engagement of the support pin and the hole, the sample stage does not shift in the lateral direction, and accurate positioning becomes possible.

When this mechanism is used in a vacuum vapor deposition apparatus, for example,
Structures such as a transport mechanism and a drive mechanism, which are required in the conventional apparatus, are not required between the sample table held on the receiving table and the vapor deposition source.
Therefore, there is no substance to which the vaporized material from the vapor deposition source adheres, and problems such as inclusion of impurities in the film formation are eliminated.

[Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional configuration diagram of a vacuum vapor deposition apparatus having a sample stage holding mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a vacuum chamber, and on the left side of the vacuum chamber 1 in the drawing, a preliminary chamber (not shown) is provided. A sluice valve 2 is openably and closably provided between the vacuum chamber 1 and the auxiliary chamber. In the vacuum chamber 1,
An exhaust system 3 having an exhaust valve and the like is connected, and the exhaust system 3 is connected to a vacuum pump 4. Vacuum chamber 1
The vapor deposition source 5 is arranged at the bottom of the
Has an evaporation dish 6 and the like in which the vapor deposition material is stored. A sample table 8 can be arranged above the vapor deposition source 5 so as to face the vaporization source 5. A plurality of substrates 7 are mounted on the sample table 8. The sample table 8 is rotatably held by a sample table holding mechanism 10 provided on the vacuum chamber 1.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the sample stage 8 and the holding mechanism 10 in detail. An engagement portion 11 is provided on the upper surface of the sample table 8.
The engaging portion 11 is composed of two leg portions arranged at a predetermined interval.
It is composed of 12a, 12b and a horizontal portion 13 installed above the leg portions 12a, 12b. A hole 14 is formed at the center of the horizontal portion 13, that is, on the rotation center axis of the sample table 8.
The space surrounded by the leg portions 12a and 12b and the horizontal portion 13 is an engagement space 15.

In the sample stage holding mechanism 10, 16 is a bearing holder,
The bearing holder 16 is attached to the upper wall of the vacuum chamber 1 via a vacuum seal. A bearing is mounted in the bearing holder 16, and the rotating shaft 17 is rotatably supported by the bearing. The rotary shaft 17
The inside of the chamber 1 is inserted from the outside of the vacuum chamber 1, and a receiving stand 18 for holding the sample stand 8 is fixed to the lower end of the inside 17 of the chamber 1. The cradle 18 is formed in a U shape when viewed from the side. And the cradle 18
Has an upper horizontal portion 18a and a lower horizontal portion 18b.
18a is fixed to the rotary shaft 17. In the lower horizontal part 18b,
A support pin 19 is fixed on the central axis of the rotary shaft 17, and the upper end of the support pin 19 is formed in a conical shape.
The lower horizontal portion 18b of the pedestal 18 can be inserted into the engagement space 15 of the engagement portion 11 of the sample table 8, and the support pin 19 is the engagement portion.
It is adapted to be inserted into the hole 14 of 11.

A large pulley 20 is fixed to the upper end of the rotary shaft 17 outside the vacuum chamber 1. On the other hand, a drive motor 21 is provided outside the vacuum chamber 1 and above the chamber 1, and a small pulley 22 is fixed to the tip of the motor shaft. A belt 23 is stretched between the large pulley 20 and the small pulley 22. A switch cam 24 is fixed between the bearing holder 16 of the rotary shaft 17 and the large pulley 20. A protrusion is formed on a part of the outer peripheral portion of the switch cam 24.
Limit switch 25 once per rotation of the rotary shaft 17
It comes into contact with the contact point of. Switch cam 24
The protrusions are provided so as to have a fixed phase relationship with the pedestal 18, and the rotation direction of the pedestal 18 can be known by the switch cam 24 and the limit switch 25.

Next, the operation will be described.

The substrate 7 is attached to the sample table 8 in the atmosphere. Then, the sample table 8 on which the substrate 7 is mounted is carried into a preliminary chamber provided adjacent to the vacuum chamber 1. Then, this preliminary chamber is evacuated and the sluice valve 2 is opened when a predetermined vacuum pressure is reached. After that, the sample table 8 is placed on the transport mechanism and carried into the vacuum chamber 1.

At this time, the pedestal 18 is stopped in the direction shown in FIG. The stop position of the pedestal 18 is controlled by abutting the projection of the switch cam 24 and the limit switch 25. In this state, by the transfer mechanism on the side of the preliminary chamber,
The sample table 8 is moved from left to right in FIG. Then, the engaging space 15 of the engaging portion 11 formed on the upper surface of the sample table 8 is inserted into the lower horizontal portion 18b of the receiving table 18. And
The sample table 8 is stopped at a position where the hole 14 of the engaging portion 11 and the support pin 19 provided on the lower horizontal portion 18b of the receiving table 18 coincide with each other. At this position, the transport mechanism descends. Then the support pin
19 is inserted into the hole 14 of the engaging portion 11. Since the tip of the support pin 19 has a conical shape, the engaging portion 11, that is,
The sample holder 8 is guided by the tip of the support pin 19 and centered. Then, the horizontal portion 13 of the engaging portion 11 is held by the lower horizontal portion 18b of the pedestal 18. After that, the transport mechanism retracts to the side of the preliminary chamber.

With such a simple operation, the sample table 8 is accurately centered and held on the receiving table 18.

After that, the inside of the vacuum chamber 1 is evacuated to a predetermined vacuum pressure by the exhaust system 3 and the vacuum pump 4, and the same vapor deposition as the conventional one is performed. At this time, the sample stage 8 is rotated in order to make the film thickness distribution of the film formed on the substrate 7 uniform. Explaining this rotation operation, first, the drive motor 21 is rotated. Then, this rotation is caused by the small pulley 22 and the belt 23.
And transmitted to the rotary shaft 17 via the large pulley 20. The rotation of the rotary shaft 17 causes the pedestal 18 to rotate, which causes the sample stage 8 to rotate. In this way, after performing vapor deposition while rotating the sample table 8, the sample table 8 is carried out to the preliminary chamber side by the operation reverse to the above.

In the present embodiment as described above, the centering of the sample table 8 can be performed with high precision by a simple operation. After the centering of the sample table 8 once and holding it by the receiving table 18, the sample is displaced laterally by the support pin 19 and the hole 14. There is no.

Further, in the present embodiment, since the sample table 8 is held only above the central portion thereof, even if the sample table 8 is large in size, it is possible to cope with the same configuration. There are no restrictions.

Further, a drive mechanism, a transport mechanism, etc., which are different from those of the conventional apparatus, are not provided between the vapor deposition source 5 and the sample stage 8, and the contaminants during the film formation due to the vaporized substances adhering to the respective structural members are extremely reduced. Can be reduced. Therefore, a good quality film can be formed.

[Other Examples]

(A) In the above embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to the vacuum vapor deposition apparatus has been described. However, the present invention can be applied to other film forming apparatuses such as a sputtering apparatus and a CVD apparatus in the same manner. Has the same effect.

(B) The configurations of the engaging portion provided on the sample table 8 and the receiving table 18 provided at the tip of the rotary shaft 17 in the above-described embodiment are limited to the configurations shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. However, various modifications are possible.

[Effect of device]

According to this invention, it is possible to accurately position and hold the sample table and to rotate the sample table only by the work of placing the sample table on the receiving table of the holding mechanism, and the configuration is very simple. Become. Further, by fitting and inserting the support pin and the hole, it is possible to automatically and accurately perform centering, and further it is possible to prevent the positional displacement after the mounting. further,
Since the structure inside the vacuum chamber is simplified, the amount of stains on the structure inside the chamber due to the evaporated substances, the reactants and the like during film formation is reduced, and high quality film formation can be performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional configuration diagram of a vacuum deposition apparatus having a sample table holding mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing details of the sample table and the sample table holding mechanism. 1 ... Vacuum chamber, 5 ... Evaporation source, 7 ... Substrate, 8 ...
… Sample stand, 10 …… Sample stand holding mechanism, 11 …… Engagement part, 14…
… Hole, 15 …… engagement space, 17 …… rotating shaft, 18 …… stand,
19 …… Support pin, 21 …… Drive motor.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A sample stage holding mechanism for holding a sample stage in a vacuum chamber of a film forming apparatus, the engagement having a positioning hole on a central axis of rotation of the sample stage provided on the upper surface of the sample stage. Part, a rotary shaft rotatably mounted on the upper part of the vacuum chamber, a sample table holding part fixed to the lower part of the rotary shaft and engaging with an engaging part of the sample table, and the sample table holding part. And a pedestal having a support pin that is inserted into the positioning hole of the engaging portion at the center of rotation of the sample stage holding mechanism of the film forming apparatus.