JPH069054A - Vacuum transport machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To remarkably reduce the installation space of a device, while maintaining operability of a customary simple magnetic combined type vacuum transport mechanism. CONSTITUTION:A fixed flange 36 and a movable flange 38 are connected together through a welded bellows 40, the fixed flange 36 is fixed to a base plate changing chamber 42, and the movable flange 38 is fixed to a slender cylindrical vacuum case 44. The vacuum case 44 is provided with a magnetic combined type motion transmitting mechanism 46. A guide bar 52 fixed to the movable flange 38 can be moved along the guide hole 50 of a guide plate 48. When the base plate is not transported, the vacuum case 44 is vertically set up, the movable flange 38 is rotated upward, and the movable flange 38 is fixed by a fixing plate 58.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vacuum processing apparatus for forming a film on a processing object such as a substrate, etching, or performing other vacuum processing inside a vacuum chamber. Related to the mechanism.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a vacuum processing apparatus for forming a thin film or surface treatment, there are various methods for transporting a substrate to be processed to a predetermined position inside the vacuum processing apparatus. At present, a vacuum processing apparatus for manufacturing semiconductors requires a high processing speed, so that the transfer of a substrate by a robot or the transfer of a substrate by a belt is mainly adopted. On the other hand, in the experimental device for research and development, since this type of transfer device is large-scale and costly, the above is not adopted, and a manual and simple structure of the magnetically coupled transfer device is used. It is often used. This magnetic coupling type transfer device uses a magnetic force between a magnet arranged outside the vacuum chamber and a magnet arranged inside the vacuum chamber to transmit the movement from the outside to the inside of the vacuum chamber.

FIG. 7 is a front sectional view of a vacuum processing apparatus using this magnetically coupled transfer apparatus. The vacuum chamber is composed of a vacuum processing chamber 10 and a substrate exchange chamber 12. The vacuum processing chamber 10 and the substrate exchange chamber 12 are connected via a gate valve 14. An elongated cylindrical vacuum case 16 is connected to the substrate exchange chamber 12, a magnet 18 is arranged outside the vacuum case 16, and a magnet 20 is arranged inside the vacuum case 16. The magnetic poles of the two magnets 18 and 20 are arranged so as to attract each other. A support rod 22 is coupled to the magnet 20 inside, and a carrier 24 is coupled to the tip of the support rod 22. A substrate 26 can be placed on the carrier table 24. When the external magnet 18 is moved in the longitudinal direction of the vacuum case (left-right direction in the drawing), the internal magnet 20 also moves, and as a result, the carrier table 24 on which the substrate 26 is placed is moved.
Also moves left and right.

In the apparatus shown in FIG. 7, the procedure for transferring the substrate 26 to the substrate holder 28 in the vacuum processing chamber 10 is as follows. First, a door (not shown) is opened while the substrate exchange chamber 12 is in the atmosphere, and the substrate 26 is placed on the carrier table 24. The substrate exchange chamber 12 is evacuated by the vacuum pump 30, and when it reaches a predetermined pressure, the substrate exchange chamber 12 and the vacuum processing chamber 10
Open the gate valve 14 between and. The vacuum processing chamber 10 is constantly evacuated by a vacuum pump 31. The external magnet 18 is moved to the left to transfer the substrate 26 from the substrate exchange chamber 12 to the vacuum processing chamber 10. The substrate 26 is picked up by the substrate receiver 32 and fixed to the substrate holder 28.
The substrate receiver 32 is an up-and-down mechanism 3 installed in the vacuum processing chamber 10.
It is possible to move up and down by 4. The transfer table 24 is returned to the substrate exchange chamber 12 again, and the transfer of the substrate 26 is completed by closing the gate valve 14.

After the predetermined processing in the vacuum processing chamber 10 is completed (the structure for processing the substrate is omitted in FIG. 7), the gate valve 14 is opened again, and the transfer table 24 is placed in the vacuum processing chamber 10. To insert. The substrate receiver 32 is lowered by the vertical movement mechanism 34, and the substrate 26 is transferred from the substrate receiver 32 to the carrier table
Passed to 4. The processed substrate 26 can be taken out by returning this to the substrate exchange chamber 12, closing the gate valve 14 and returning the substrate exchange chamber 12 to atmospheric pressure.

In this way, the vacuum processing chamber 10 is always kept in vacuum, and the structure is such that contamination from the atmosphere does not affect the vacuum processing even when the substrate is replaced. Such a substrate transfer mechanism has a simple structure, high operability, high reliability, and is available at a low cost, and is therefore widely used in a small-scale experimental device for research and development.

[0007]

However, when the vacuum transfer mechanism shown in FIG. 7 is used, the following problems occur. As can be seen from FIG. 7, in this mechanism, the substrate 26
Needs to move a distance L. For that purpose, it is necessary to have a structure in which the external magnet 18 can be separated from the outer wall of the substrate exchange chamber 12 by at least a distance L or more. as a result,
Since the vacuum case 16 is extended out of the substrate exchange chamber 12 for a long time, the floor area for installing the entire vacuum processing apparatus requires a space twice or more than that of the vacuum processing chamber 10. On the other hand, in terms of the operating time of the apparatus, most of the time is spent for processing the substrate in the vacuum processing chamber 10, and the time for using this transfer mechanism for transferring the substrate 26 is extremely short. Since the underside of the vacuum case 16 that pops out is often an empty space, a person operating the device may accidentally hit and injure during a long vacuum process. There is also a high risk that the vacuum case will break.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum transfer mechanism capable of greatly reducing the installation space of the apparatus while maintaining the operability of the conventional simple magnetically coupled vacuum transfer mechanism. is there.

[0009]

[Means and Actions for Solving the Problems] The first invention is
A vacuum transfer mechanism for moving an object to be processed to a processing location inside a vacuum chamber by using a magnetically coupled motion transmission mechanism provided between the outside and the inside of an elongated cylindrical vacuum case. The vacuum chamber is connected to the vacuum chamber by a flexible vacuum connecting portion, and the vacuum case can be fixed to the vacuum chamber in a state where the moving direction of the object to be processed is not aligned with the axis of the vacuum case. It is a thing.

In the magnetic coupling type motion transmitting mechanism, normally,
A magnet is arranged outside the vacuum case, and a magnet is also arranged inside the vacuum case so that the magnetic poles of these two magnets attract each other. However, instead of one of the magnets, a mere ferromagnetic material having almost no remanent magnetization may be used, which also causes a magnetic attraction force. Further, an electromagnet may be used instead of the permanent magnet.

As a vacuum processing apparatus to which the present invention is applied,
A film forming apparatus and an etching apparatus used in a semiconductor manufacturing process are typical. Therefore, a substrate such as a Si wafer is typical as the object to be processed in the present invention. However, the present invention can be applied to any vacuum processing apparatus for processing in a vacuum, and as an object to be processed,
The substrate is not limited to the thin plate-shaped substrate, and may be a block-shaped substrate, for example.

In the magnetic coupling type motion transmitting mechanism, the vacuum case has an elongated cylindrical shape in order to secure a conveying distance. The cross section of the vacuum case is usually circular,
An oval cross section or a quadrangular cross section may be used.

By coupling the vacuum case and the vacuum chamber with a flexible vacuum connection, it is possible to rotate the elongated vacuum case about the vacuum connection. As a result, for example, the vacuum case, which has been extended horizontally when the object to be processed is conveyed, can be rotated upward. In this way, the space occupied by the vacuum case is greatly reduced. The rotated vacuum case can be fixed to the vacuum chamber by an arbitrary fixing means, whereby the rotated vacuum case can be stably fixed when not in use.

A second aspect of the invention is a bellows for the vacuum connecting portion of the first aspect of the invention. As the flexible vacuum connecting portion, for example, a vacuum rubber hose can be used,
Bellows are suitable for maintaining high quality vacuum.
Among them, the welded bellows is most suitable because it has excellent flexibility.

In a third aspect based on the first aspect, the vacuum case is provided in the vacuum chamber with the axis of the vacuum case being substantially perpendicular to the moving direction of the object to be processed during transportation. It can be fixed. In this way, the space occupied by the vacuum case is minimized by rotating the vacuum case by approximately 90 degrees from the state at the time of transportation.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, a support rod is arranged inside the vacuum case, the support rod is connected to the motion transmitting mechanism, and a carrier and a support rod on which an object to be processed is placed. And a flexible connecting portion in which a plurality of connecting pieces are pin-connected to each other. When the vacuum case rotates around the vacuum connection part and the transfer table on which the object to be processed is placed is closer to the vacuum chamber than the vacuum connection part, it is flexible even between the support rod inside the vacuum case and the transfer table. Sex is needed. Therefore, a flexible connecting portion in which a plurality of connecting pieces are pin-connected is provided.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the flexible connecting portion according to the fourth aspect of the present invention can be bent so as to be convex in one direction as a whole, and is bent so as to be convex in the opposite direction. It was constructed so that it was impossible. For example, by making it possible to fold the flexible connection portion in the horizontal state upward from the straight state (bending so as to be convex downward), when the vacuum case is rotated upward around the vacuum connection portion, The support rod inside the vacuum case can also rotate upwards about the flexible connection. On the other hand, the flexible connection part is bent downward from a straight state (bent so that it is convex upward)
By disabling, the flexible connection portion is kept in a horizontal state when the object to be processed is transported.

[0018]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention. The vacuum transfer mechanism is a mechanism for transferring the Si wafer from the substrate exchange chamber into the vacuum processing chamber. This figure shows the vacuum transfer mechanism attached to the substrate exchange chamber. In the vacuum processing apparatus provided with this vacuum transfer mechanism, the vacuum chamber is composed of a substrate exchange chamber and a vacuum processing chamber, and the basic configuration of these is the same as that of the conventional apparatus shown in FIG. .

In FIG. 1, the fixed flange 36 and the movable flange 38 are connected by a welded bellows 40 made of metal, and the fixed flange 36 is fixed to the substrate exchange chamber 42. A slender cylindrical vacuum case 44 is fixed to the movable flange 38. A magnetic coupling type motion transmitting mechanism 46 is provided in the vacuum case. The motion transmitting mechanism 46 can move along the longitudinal direction of the vacuum case 44. A pair of guide plates 48 are fixed to the outer wall surface of the substrate exchange chamber 42,
A guide hole 50 having a substantially arc shape is formed in the guide plate 48. A pair of guide rods 52 are fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the movable flange 38, and the guide rods 52 can move along the guide holes 50. A male screw is cut at the tip of the guide rod 52, and the guide rod 52 can be fixed to the guide plate 48 by tightening the nut 51 on the male screw portion protruding from the guide hole 50. A pair of fixed columns 54 are rotatably attached to the fixed flange 36 via hinges 53. On the other hand, the movable flange 38 is formed with a pair of U-shaped notches 56, and the tips of the pair of fixed columns 54 can be inserted into the corresponding notches 56, respectively. A male screw is cut at the tip of the fixed column 54, and the tip of the fixed column 54 inserted into the notch 56 is
It can be fixed to the movable flange 38 using a nut. A fixed plate 58 is rotatably attached to the outer wall surface of the substrate exchange chamber 12 via a hinge 57. By moving the fixed plate 58 to the horizontal position while moving the movable flange 38 to the horizontal position, the fixed plate 58 can be fixed to the movable flange 38 with bolts and nuts.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the vacuum case 44 in a horizontal state. The front guide plate 48 is removed for illustration. The movable flange 38 is fixed by two fixed columns 54 and a nut 60. Further, the movable flange 38 is fixed to the guide plates 48 on both sides by tightening the nuts 51 (see FIG. 1) on the two guide rods 52. The vacuum case 44 is illustrated with a part of its longitudinal direction omitted.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing a state in which the vacuum case 44 is rotated upward with the bellows 40 as a center and is erected vertically. As in FIG. 2, the front guide plate 48 is removed for illustration. The two fixed columns 54 are fixed flanges 36
The movable flange 38 is in the horizontal state. The fixed plate 58 is in a horizontally tilted state, and the fixed plate 58 and the movable flange 38 are fixed by bolts 62 and nuts 64.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing the internal structure in the state of FIG. A support rod 66 is provided inside the vacuum case 44, and one end of the support rod 66 has a magnet 6 inside the vacuum case 44.
It is fixed at 8. The other end of the support rod 66 is fixed to the flexible connecting portion 70. The support rod 66 is a support rod support plate 67.
Supported by. The flexible connecting portion 70 is formed by pin-joining a plurality of connecting pieces. The other end of the flexible connecting portion 70 is fixed to the support rod 72, and the other end of the support rod 72 is fixed to the carrier table 74. A substrate 76 can be placed on the carrier table 74. A transport table receiver 78 is arranged below the transport table 74. This carrier table 78 is a post 7
It is fixed to the substrate exchange chamber 42 via 9. The carrier table 78 serves to support the carrier 74 when the vacuum case 44 is fixed in the vertical position. Vacuum case 4
There is a magnet 69 on the outside of 4, and the magnet 69 on the outside and the magnet 68 on the inside constitute a magnetically coupled motion transmission mechanism. The external magnet 69 is provided with a stopper 80. When the tip of the stopper 80 is pressed against the outer peripheral surface of the vacuum case 44, the external magnet 69 can be fixed to the vacuum case 44.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing the internal structure in the state of FIG. In this state, the flexible connecting portion 70 is in a state of being convex downward as a whole by the rotation of the adjacent connecting pieces. The carrier 74 is in a state of being supported by a carrier receiver 78.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of a connecting piece constituting the flexible connecting portion 70. Each connecting piece 82 has an insertion portion 84 at one end and a recess 86 at the other end. The insertion portion 84 and the recess 86 each have a hole 85 for receiving a pin 88,
87 is formed. The insertion portion 84 of each connecting piece 82,
The flexible connecting portion can be formed by inserting the connecting portions into the recesses 86 of the adjacent connecting pieces and connecting the connecting portions with the pins 88 one after another. Since the upper end of the tip of the insertion portion 84 is the arcuate surface 90, it is possible for the adjacent connecting pieces 82 to rotate with respect to the pin 88 so as to be convex downward.
On the other hand, since the lower part of the tip of the insertion portion 84 is the vertical flat surface 92, the adjacent connecting pieces 82 cannot rotate so as to be convex upward. That is,
When the flexible connection portion is in the horizontal state, the flat surface 92 of the insertion portion 84 is in contact with the flat surface 94 of the concave portion 86 of the adjacent connecting piece, and from this state, the flat surface 92 is rotated so as to be convex upward. Is disabled.

Next, a procedure for carrying the substrate using the above-mentioned vacuum carrying mechanism will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 4, the substrate 76 is set on the transfer table 74 in the substrate exchange chamber 42. The substrate exchange chamber 42 is evacuated to a predetermined pressure by a vacuum pump. The gate valve that separates the vacuum processing chamber and the substrate exchange chamber 42 is opened, and the external magnet 69 is moved to transfer the substrate 76 to the substrate holder in the vacuum processing chamber. After returning the carriage 74 to its original position, the gate valve is closed.
Next, the nut 60 is loosened to remove the two fixing columns 54, and further the nut 51 (see FIG. 1) is loosened to lift the entire vacuum case 44 to the vertical position as shown in FIG.
Next, the nut 51 (see FIG. 1) is tightened, the fixing plate 58 is fixed to the movable flange 38 with the bolt 62 and the nut 64, and the vacuum case 44 is fixed to the vertical position. As a result, the vacuum case 44 was stably fixed to the substrate exchange chamber 42. In this state, predetermined substrate processing is performed inside the vacuum processing chamber. When the processing is completed, the vacuum case 44 is fixed in the horizontal position by the reverse operation described above, and is returned to the initial state as shown in FIG. In order to take out the processed substrate 76, the gate valve is opened, the carrier table 74 is inserted into the vacuum processing chamber, the substrate 76 is carried to the substrate exchange chamber 42, and then taken out to the atmosphere.

Although the vacuum case 44 is fixed in the vertical position in this embodiment, even if the vacuum case is moved in a horizontal plane, the vacuum from the substrate exchanging chamber 42 is processed during the substrate processing. The protrusion amount of the case 44 can be reduced. Also, even if the vacuum case 44 is not rotated 90 degrees,
For example, the amount of protrusion of the vacuum case 44 can be reduced by rotating it by about 60 degrees.

[0027]

According to the present invention, a slender vacuum case used when operating a magnetic coupling type motion transmitting mechanism can rotate about a flexible vacuum connecting portion, so that an object to be processed can be transferred. When not in operation, the vacuum case can be bent so as to come close to the substrate exchange chamber, and the space occupied by the entire apparatus during processing of the object to be processed can be greatly reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the mechanism shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing another state of the mechanism shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a front sectional view showing the internal mechanism in the state of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a front sectional view showing the internal mechanism in the state of FIG.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of a connecting piece of a flexible connecting portion.

FIG. 7 is a front sectional view of a vacuum processing apparatus including a conventional vacuum transfer mechanism.

[Explanation of symbols]

 40 ... Bellows 42 ... Substrate exchange chamber 44 ... Vacuum case 46 ... Magnetic coupling type motion transmission mechanism 48 ... Guide plate 50 ... Guide hole 54 ... Solid column 58 ... Fixing plate 66 ... Support rods 68, 69 ... Magnet 70 ... Flexible Connection part 74 ... conveyance stand 76 ... substrate 82 ... connecting piece

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A vacuum transfer mechanism for moving an object to be processed to a processing location inside a vacuum chamber by using a magnetically coupled motion transmission mechanism provided between the outside and the inside of an elongated cylindrical vacuum case, The vacuum case and the vacuum chamber are connected by a flexible vacuum connecting portion, and the vacuum case is placed in the vacuum chamber in a state in which the moving direction of the object to be processed is not aligned with the axis of the vacuum case. A vacuum transfer mechanism that can be fixed. 2. The vacuum transfer mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the vacuum connecting portion is a bellows. 3. The vacuum case can be fixed to the vacuum chamber in a state where an axis of the vacuum case is substantially perpendicular to a moving direction of the object to be processed during transportation. The vacuum transfer mechanism according to claim 1. 4. A support rod is disposed inside the vacuum case, the support rod is connected to the motion transmitting mechanism, and a plurality of connecting pieces are provided between a carrier table on which the object to be processed is placed and the support rod. 2. The vacuum transfer mechanism according to claim 1, further comprising a pin-connected flexible connection portion. 5. The flexible connecting portion is configured such that it can be bent so as to be convex in one direction as a whole, and is not bendable so as to be convex in the opposite direction. The vacuum transfer mechanism according to claim 4, wherein: