JPH0726363Y2 - In-line type film deposition system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of use] The present invention relates to a transfer substrate cart for transferring a substrate to each processing position of an in-line type film forming apparatus.

[Conventional technology]

A sputtering apparatus has been conventionally used as a film forming apparatus for forming a thin film on a substrate. Generally, in a sputtering apparatus, first, the surface of a substrate is cleaned by etching, that is, reverse sputtering.
Next, the substrate is heated to a predetermined temperature, and target atoms by sputtering are attached to the heated substrate to form a film. Further, in the case of forming a film on a mass production basis using a sputtering method, an in-line method is adopted. In this in-line type film forming apparatus, the substrate to be film-formed is conveyed to each chamber so that the film forming process is continuously performed.

An example of the reverse sputtering chamber in this in-line type sputtering apparatus is shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view of the reverse sputtering chamber 50. Here, as an example, a side-sputtering type, that is, one in which film formation is performed in a state in which the substrate is held in a vertical position is used. In the figure, a substrate cart 51 for transporting the substrate to each chamber is provided so as to be movable in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface. On the board cart 51, 2 on both sides
Two substrates (substrate holders) 52 are held facing each other. On the other hand, on the upper wall side of the reverse sputtering chamber 50, two earth shield plates 53 are vertically provided so as to form a predetermined gap with the back side of the substrate 52 facing each other. The earth shield plate 53 is for preventing glow discharge on the back surface side of the substrate during reverse sputtering, and is connected to the earth via the chamber wall. Further, parallel plate electrodes 54 are arranged on the sidewalls of the reverse sputtering chamber 50 so as to face the substrates 52. This parallel plate electrode 54
Are each connected to ground via a side wall. At the time of reverse sputtering, a high frequency voltage is applied to the substrate 52 to cause glow discharge between the substrate 52 and the plate electrode 54, and the substrate surface is etched.

[Problems to be solved by the device]

In the conventional apparatus, in order to perform stable etching of the substrate, the gap between each substrate 52 and the ground shield plate 53 facing each other must be constant (about 5 mm or less). However, the earth shield plate 53 is fixed to the wall surface of the reverse sputtering chamber 50, and the substrate is movable in the shield surface direction. Therefore, it is difficult to keep the distance between the earth shield plate and the substrate constant. Further, by heating, the ground shield plate 53 and the substrate cart 51
Is deformed, it is more difficult to keep the gap constant. In extreme cases, the board 52 may be the earth shield plate 53.
However, there is a problem in that reverse sputtering cannot be performed.

An object of the present invention is to provide an in-line type film forming apparatus capable of preventing contact between a substrate and an earth shield plate and stably performing uniform substrate cleaning.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

A transfer substrate cart of an in-line type film forming apparatus according to the present invention is a transfer substrate cart for transferring a substrate to each processing position of the in-line type film forming apparatus, and includes a substrate holder part on which a substrate is mounted, And a shield plate for preventing abnormal discharge. The shield plate is provided on the back surface side of the substrate holder portion with a predetermined gap.

[Action]

In the substrate cart for transport of the in-line type film forming apparatus according to the present invention, the substrate is mounted on the substrate holder part of the substrate cart,
This substrate cart is transported to each chamber or each processing position of the film forming apparatus. Then, the film forming process on the substrate is performed in each chamber.

During the reverse sputtering, the substrate surface is etched to clean the substrate. At this time, since the shield plate is provided on the rear side of the substrate holder of the substrate cart, the distance between the substrate and the shield plate is always kept constant.

〔Example〕

FIG. 4 shows a schematic configuration of an in-line type sputtering apparatus to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied. Hereinafter, the side sputter type will be taken as an example. In the figure, the present sputtering apparatus includes a load chamber 1 for loading and unloading a substrate, a heating chamber 2 for heating the substrate, a cleaning chamber (reverse sputtering chamber) 3 for cleaning the substrate, and a substrate. It is composed of a film forming chamber (sputtering chamber) 4 for performing a film forming process thereon. A gate valve 5 is provided on the partition wall of each chamber. In addition, an inlet / outlet valve 6 is provided on the partition wall on the atmosphere side of the load chamber 1. A heating mechanism portion 7 having a heater and the like is provided in the heating chamber 2. Reverse sputtering chamber 3
An etching mechanism portion 8 for etching the substrate film formation surface is provided therein. A sputtering mechanism section 9 having a target is provided in the sputtering chamber 4. In addition, each room has a board cart 12 with a board 11 mounted thereon.
Conveying rollers 10 for conveying the are respectively provided.

Next, details of the substrate cart 12 are shown in FIGS.
FIG. 1 shows a state where the substrate cart 12 is transported into the reverse sputtering chamber 3, and FIG. 2 shows a state where the substrate cart 12 is transported into the sputtering chamber 4. Note that each shows a vertical section.

First, the transfer substrate cart 12 will be described with reference to FIG. The same applies to those shown in FIG. In addition,
In the figure, only one side of the substrate cart 12 is shown, and the other side has the same configuration. The board cart 12 has
A flat plate-shaped base 14 is provided. Rotatable rollers 15 are provided on both sides of the lower surface of the base 14.
This roller 15 causes the substrate cart 12 to move to the reverse sputtering chamber 3
It is movable on a rail 16 arranged on the bottom wall of the. A rack 17 extending in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the drawing is fixed to one end of the base 14. The rack 17 meshes with a pinion (not shown), and the pinion is connected to a drive motor.

Angles 18 are fixed on both sides of the base 14.
The lower part of the earth shield plate 20 extending in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface is fixed to the angle 18. A hole is formed in the lower portion of the earth shield plate 20, and an insulating collar 26 having an H-shaped cross section is attached to this hole. The earth shield plate 20 is connected to the earth via the base 14.

A sub holder 22 is provided on the base 14 so as to face the shield surface of the earth shield plate 20. The sub-holder 22 is fixed to one end of the insulating collar 26 by a bolt 25 inserted through the insulating cover 26. With this insulating collar 26, the gap between the sub-holder 22 and the earth shield plate 20 is kept at about 3 to 5 mm. A substrate holder 21 on which a substrate 11 to be cleaned is mounted is fixed to the sub holder 22. Although not shown, on the wall surface of the reverse sputtering chamber 3 facing the substrate 11,
A flat plate electrode connected to the ground is provided. Further, on a wall surface facing the substrate 11, a high frequency introducing rod (not shown) for applying a high frequency voltage to the substrate 11 is provided so as to be movable back and forth in the lateral direction of the drawing. A cap 27 is attached around the head of the bolt 25.

Next, the ground connection mechanism 30 shown in FIG. 2 will be described. The ground explanation mechanism 30 is a mechanism for connecting the substrate 11 to the ground during film formation. The earth connection mechanism 30 includes a support rod 31 fixed to the bottom wall of the sputtering chamber 4 so as to project upward, an arm 32 having one end rotatably connected to the support rod 31, and the other end of the arm 32. And a roller 33 that is rotatably mounted on. Further, as shown in the plan view of FIG. 3, springs 35 are provided on both sides of the arm 32. The arm 35 is always urged from both sides by the spring 35. A target 29 connected to a high frequency power source is provided on the inner wall of the sputtering chamber 4 facing the substrate 11.

Next, the operation will be described.

First, the substrate cart 12 on which the substrate 11 is mounted is carried into the load chamber 1. The inside of the load chamber 1 is evacuated and when the predetermined vacuum pressure is reached, the gate valve 5 is opened and the substrate cart 12
Is carried into the reverse sputtering chamber 3, and the substrate surface is etched (cleaned).

When performing this etching process, in FIG.
A high-frequency introducing rod (not shown) is projected, and its tip is brought into contact with the sub-holder 22. Next, a high-frequency voltage is applied to the substrate 11 from the high-frequency introducing rod via the sub-holder 22 or the like to cause glow discharge between the substrate 11 and a flat plate electrode facing the substrate 11, thereby etching the surface of the substrate 11. I do. At this time, on the back side of the board 11 on the board cart 14,
An earth shield plate 20 is provided, and the gap between the substrate 11 and the earth shield plate 20 is always kept constant by an insulating collar 26. Therefore, it is possible to prevent abnormal discharge from occurring on the rear surface side of the substrate 11. Also the substrate
It is possible to prevent contact between 11 and the ground shield plate 20 and prevent a short circuit between them. Thereby, the discharge state on the substrate surface side can be stabilized, and the substrate cleaning can be stably performed.

After the cleaning is completed, the high frequency introduction rod is retracted to the retracted position. Then, the gate valve 5 is opened and the substrate cart 12 is carried into the heating chamber 2. When the substrate 11 reaches a predetermined temperature, the substrate cart 12 is carried into the sputtering chamber 4 and a predetermined film forming process is performed.

In the case of performing the film forming process on the substrate 11, for example, the substrate cart 12 is conveyed from the front side of the paper to the back side in FIG. When the substrate cart 12 is carried into the sputtering chamber 4,
As shown in FIG. 3, the sub-holder 22 contacts the roller 33 and rotates the arm 32 in the arrow direction. At this time, the arm
Since the spring 35 exerts a force in the direction opposite to the rotation direction on the roller 32, the roller 33 is always in contact with the sub holder 22. As a result, the substrate 11 is connected to the ground. In this state, high frequency power is supplied to the target 29 to cause glow discharge between the target 29 and the substrate 11,
A film forming process is performed on 11.

In this embodiment, the board 11 and the earth shield plate 20 are
Since they are placed on the same substrate cart 12 and moved, the intervals are always kept constant. Therefore, it is possible to prevent abnormal discharge on the back surface side of the substrate, prevent short circuits due to contact between the substrate and the ground shield plate, and perform uniform substrate cleaning in a stable manner.

[Other Examples]

(A) In the above embodiments, the present invention is applied to the side sputter type, but the present invention shows a devo-up type (where the substrate is arranged above) in which the substrate is held in a horizontal position for film formation. The same can be applied to the devo-down type (the substrate is arranged below).

(B) In the above embodiment, the in-line type in which the etching mechanism section, the heating mechanism section, and the sputtering mechanism section are arranged in independent chambers is shown, but the in-line type in which each mechanism is arranged in one process chamber is shown. Also, the present invention can be similarly applied.

(C) The application of the present invention is not limited to a sputtering apparatus, but can be similarly applied to a film forming apparatus such as a plasma CVD apparatus.

[Effect of device]

In the transfer substrate cart of the in-line type film forming apparatus according to the present invention, since the shield plate is provided on the back side of the substrate holder side with a predetermined gap, abnormal discharge on the back side of the substrate is prevented and the substrate surface is prevented. The discharge state on the side can be stabilized, and thus uniform substrate cleaning can be stably performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 and 2 are vertical cross-sectional views of a carrier substrate cart according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a partial plan view of FIG. 2, and FIG.
FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram of an in-line type film forming apparatus to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied, and FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram of a reverse sputtering chamber of a conventional apparatus. 3 ... Cleaning chamber, 10 ... Transport roller, 11 ... Substrate, 12 ...
Substrate cart, 14 ... Base, 20 ... Earth shield plate, 21 ...
Substrate holder, 22 ... Sub holder.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A transporting substrate cart having a substrate holder part on which a substrate is mounted, and a shield plate provided on the rear side of the substrate holder part with a predetermined space therebetween to prevent abnormal discharge. An in-line type film forming apparatus.