JPH0748667Y2 - Substrate rotation mechanism of film forming equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a substrate rotating mechanism for rotating a substrate to be formed in a film forming chamber while performing film formation.

[Conventional technology]

Hereinafter, a sputtering apparatus will be described as an example of the film forming apparatus. Generally, in a sputtering apparatus, a substrate and a target are arranged to face each other in a vacuum container. And
A predetermined gas is sealed in the vacuum container, and a high frequency voltage is applied between the substrate and the vacuum container and the target to cause glow discharge. Gas ions generated by this glow discharge are made to collide with a target, and the sputtered particles generated thereby are attached to the substrate surface to form a film.

When performing film formation processing on a plurality of substrates using such a sputtering apparatus, by mounting a large number of substrates on the substrate holder and rotating the substrate holder with respect to the target, the target on each substrate is The sputtered particles are attached to form a film.

[Problems to be solved by the device]

In the conventional apparatus described above, particularly when the target and the substrate are displaced from each other, simply rotating the substrate holder causes a large amount of the formed thin film to be deposited on the surface facing the target. Therefore, the conventional apparatus has a problem that a sufficiently uniform thin film cannot be formed on the substrate.

The object of the present invention is to perform good rotation conduction to the substrate holder in order to make the film thickness distribution on the substrate uniform, and to make the engagement and disengagement of the substrate good so that the transfer operation of the substrate is smoothly performed. Another object of the present invention is to provide a substrate rotating mechanism of a film forming apparatus that enables the above.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

A substrate rotating mechanism of a film forming apparatus according to the present invention is for performing film formation while rotating a substrate to be formed in a film forming apparatus, and includes a substrate holder, a substrate revolution mechanism, and a substrate rotation mechanism. And an Oldham coupling mechanism. The substrate holder has a plurality of substrate sub-holders that are rotatable about a central axis, hold the substrate, and are rotatable at positions eccentric to the central axis. The substrate revolution mechanism is engaged with the central axis of the substrate holder to drive the substrate holder to rotate. The substrate rotation mechanism has a rotation shaft that rotates in synchronization with the substrate revolution mechanism at a position corresponding to the rotation center of each substrate sub-holder. The Oldham coupling mechanism connects the rotation axis of the substrate rotation mechanism and the rotation center of the substrate sub-holder when the substrate revolution mechanism is engaged with the center axis of the substrate holder.

[Action]

In the substrate rotating mechanism of the film forming apparatus according to the present invention, the substrate revolving mechanism engages with the central axis of the substrate holder to rotate the substrate holder around the central axis. At this time, the substrate held by the substrate sub-holder also revolves around the central axis of the substrate holder. The rotation axis of the substrate rotation mechanism and the rotation center of the substrate sub-holder are connected by the Oldham coupling mechanism when the substrate revolution mechanism is engaged with the center axis of the substrate holder. Therefore, the rotation axis of the substrate rotation mechanism rotates in synchronization with the substrate revolution mechanism. As a result, the substrate held by the substrate sub-holder revolves around the central axis of the substrate holder and also rotates by the substrate rotation mechanism. As a result, the film material is uniformly deposited on the substrate in the film forming apparatus.

Further, the rotation center of the substrate sub-holder and the rotation axis of the substrate rotation mechanism can be engaged and disengaged by the Oldham coupling mechanism. Therefore, when the substrate revolving mechanism engages with the central axis of the substrate holder, even if there is a slight deviation between the rotation axis of the substrate rotating mechanism and the rotational center of the substrate sub-holder, this is absorbed to ensure engagement. Therefore, the rotation can be reliably transmitted. In addition, the Oldham coupling mechanism facilitates smooth engagement and disengagement of the rotation center of the substrate sub-holder and the rotation axis of the substrate rotation mechanism, so that the transfer operation of the substrate can be smoothly performed.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1A shows a sputtering apparatus as a film forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Here, the case where the two film forming chambers 1 and 2 are continuously arranged is taken as an example.

In the figure, an inlet valve 3 is provided at an inlet portion (left side in the drawing) of the film forming chamber 1, and an outlet valve (right side in the drawing) of the film forming chamber 2 is provided.
An outlet valve 4 is provided. A sluice valve 5 is provided between the chambers. The film forming chambers 1 and 2 are connected to vacuum exhaust systems 6 and 7 for making each chamber a predetermined vacuum pressure,
Further, gas introduction systems 8 and 9 for introducing a predetermined gas such as argon gas are connected. Targets 10 and 11 are arranged below the interiors of the film forming chambers 1 and 2. Target 10,
High frequency power supplies 12 and 13 are connected to 11, respectively.

Further, in the film forming chambers 1 and 2, there is provided a transfer mechanism including rollers (not shown). Above the inside of the film forming chambers 1 and 2, a rotatable substrate holding mechanism 30 for holding the loaded substrate is provided. Where this substrate holding mechanism
Reference numeral 30 functions as a substrate revolving mechanism that revolves the substrate around the central axis of the substrate holder. A boss 45 for centering the substrate holder 21 with respect to the substrate holding mechanism 30 is provided at the center of the substrate holding mechanism 30. Further, the substrate holding mechanism 30 is provided with shafts 44 for positioning the rotation angle position of the substrate holder 21 at positions facing each other with the boss 45 interposed therebetween. The tip of the shaft 44 is formed in a conical shape for easy positioning. Below each of the film forming chambers 1 and 2, a substrate attaching / detaching mechanism 60 is provided facing the substrate holding mechanism 30 to attach / detach the substrate between the substrate transfer mechanism and the substrate holding mechanism 30. The board attaching / detaching mechanism 60 can be moved up and down.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B which is a partial plan view of FIG. 1A, a plurality of (four in this embodiment) substrate sub-holders 26 are rotatably mounted on the substrate holder 21. There is.
The substrate holder 21 is provided with a boss 23 for positioning the substrate holding mechanism 30 and the substrate holder 21. This boss 23
Are provided at two opposite positions. In addition, in the central portion of the substrate holder 21, a shaft 24 having a conical tip is formed.
Is provided. The substrate holder 21 is loaded into the film forming chamber 1 while being attached to the substrate cart 22.

Details of the substrate rotation mechanism will be described with reference to FIG. 2A. The figure shows a state in which the substrate holder 21 is held by the substrate holding mechanism 30.

The substrate holding mechanism 30 has a rotary flange 31 which is rotationally driven from the outside at the center thereof, and a circular plate 32 is fixed to the lower end of the rotary flange 31. A coupling 33 is mounted on the lower surface of the central portion of the circular plate 32, and the coupling 33 engages with the shaft 24 of the substrate holder 21. Four holes are formed in the central portion of the circular plate 32 in the radial direction corresponding to the positions and the number of the substrate sub-holders 26 mounted on the substrate holder 21.
A tubular flange 34 is fixed in each of the holes. Inside the flange 34, a tubular body 35 is rotatably mounted via a bearing. The tubular body 35 is formed in a cap shape, and a gear 36 is fixed to the upper end surface thereof. This gear 36 is a fixed gear 71 fixed to the lower end surface of the upper cover plate 70.
Meshes with. A hole 71a is formed in the fixed gear 71,
The rotary flange 31 is inserted through the hole 71a. Cylinder 3
5 Inside, a shaft 37 is fixed downward. Axis 37
A rotary body 39 is mounted on the shaft via a slide key 38 so as to be movable in the axial direction. The rotating body 39 is constantly urged downward by a spring 40 mounted inside the tubular body 35. Pins 41 and 42 protruding in the horizontal direction are fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body 39 at intervals of approximately 180 °.

Substrate grips 50 are provided at three peripheral portions of the circular plate 32. The substrate grip 50 includes a base block 51 fixed to the circular plate 32, a cylinder 52 fixed to the base block 51, a piston rod 53 slidably provided in the cylinder 52, and a base block 51. A fixed plate 54 fixed to the lower surface of the and a claw 55 whose one end is rotatably attached to the fixed plate 54.
And have. A spring 58 is mounted inside the cylindrical body 52, and the piston rod 53 is always urged upward by the spring 58. As shown in FIG. 2B, the claw 55 has an elongated hole 55.
a is formed, and the tip of the piston rod 53 is inserted through the elongated hole 55a. The tip of the piston rod 53 has a claw
Pins 56 and 57 are provided on both sides of 55. This pin 56,57
Is for rotating the claw 55 by engaging with the long hole 55a of the claw 55.

On the other hand, holes 21a are formed in four places on the substrate holder 21. A substrate sub-holder 26 is rotatably mounted in the hole 21a via a ball 27. The substrate 20 is fixed to the back surface of the substrate sub-holder 26 with screws 25. Pins 28, 29 are provided at the center of the substrate sub-holder 26 at intervals of approximately 180 °.
Is projected and fixed upward. These pins 28 and 29 are
Pins 41, 4 provided on the rotating body 39 on the substrate holding mechanism 30 side
It can be locked to 2.

In this way, the gear 71, the gear 36, the rotating body 39, the pins 41, 42,
The pins 28, 29, etc. constitute a substrate rotation mechanism for rotating each substrate 20 about each central axis.

Next, the operation will be described.

The inlet valve 3 is opened, and the substrate cart 22 having the substrate holder 21 mounted therein is carried into the film forming chamber 1 by the transfer mechanism and positioned at a predetermined position. Then, the substrate attaching / detaching mechanism 60 is raised, and the substrate holder 21 is placed on the substrate attaching / detaching mechanism 60. In the substrate grip 50, the piston rod 53 projects, and the pin 56 causes the pawl 55 to rotate downward and open. In this state, the substrate attaching / detaching mechanism 60 is further raised, and the shaft 24 on the substrate holder 21 is attached to the boss 45 of the substrate holding mechanism 30.
And the positioning boss 23 on the substrate holder 21 is engaged with the shaft 44 of the substrate holding mechanism 30. In this way, the centering of the substrate holder 21 with respect to the substrate holding mechanism 30 and the setting of the rotation angle position are performed. At this time, the substrate holding mechanism 30 is set at a predetermined rotation angle position in advance.

Simultaneously with this positioning, the rotating body 39 on the substrate holding mechanism 30 side and the substrate sub-holder 26 on the substrate holder 21 side are connected. That is, as the board attachment / detachment mechanism 60 rises, the pins 28 and 29 fixed to the board sub-holder 26 become the pins 4 of the rotating body 39.
It will be located between 1,42. At this time, since the spring 40 is mounted between the rotating body 39 and the cylindrical body 35, the pin 2
Even when the pins 8 and 29 collide with the pins 41 and 42, the impact can be absorbed and the pins can be engaged with each other.

Next, the piston rod 53 is operated upward. Then,
The claw 55 is rotated upward by the pin 57, whereby the tip portion of the claw 55 grips the outer peripheral lower surface of the substrate holder 21 and
21 is attached to the substrate holding mechanism 30.

After that, the substrate attaching / detaching mechanism 60 is lowered, and the substrate cart 22 is moved to a position where it does not interfere with film formation.

Next, the external motor is driven to rotate the rotary flange 31. At this time, the film forming chamber 1 is evacuated by the vacuum evacuation system 6 and the argon gas is introduced by the gas introduction system 8 to a predetermined gas pressure. As the rotary flange 31 rotates, the circular plate 32 fixed to the tip of the rotary flange 31 rotates. By rotating the circular plate 32,
The flange 34 fixed to the circular plate 32 and the substrate grip 50 also rotate. In addition, the substrate holding mechanism 30 and the substrate holder
Since 21 is connected to the shaft 44 and the boss 23, the substrate holder 21 is also rotated by rotating the substrate holding mechanism 30, that is, the circular plate 32. This allows each board 20
Will revolve around the central axis of the substrate holder 21.

On the other hand, since the cylindrical body 35, the gear 36, the rotating body 39 and the shaft 37 are integrally mounted in the flange 34 of the circular plate 32, these also rotate together with the flange 34. At this time,
Since the gear 36 meshes with the fixed gear 71, when the gear 36 rotates around the fixed gear 71, the gear 36 itself rotates. As the gear 36 rotates, the cylindrical body 35, the shaft 37, and the rotating body 39.
Also rotates. Since the pins 41 and 42 of the rotating body 39 are engaged with the pins 28 and 29 of the substrate holder 21, the rotational force of the rotating body 39 is
Pins 28 and 29 are transmitted to the fixed board sub-holder 26,
The substrate sub-holder 26 also rotates. This allows each board 20
Will rotate about their respective central axes. In this state, a high frequency voltage is applied between the substrate 20 and the target 10 to perform the film forming process.

After the film formation is completed, the substrate holder 21 is detached from the substrate holding mechanism 30 and carried into the film formation chamber 2 by the transfer mechanism in a completely reverse operation. The operation inside the film forming chamber 2 is exactly the same as the operation inside the film forming chamber 1.

In this embodiment, since the substrate 20 revolves around the central axis of the substrate holder 21 and the substrate 20 itself rotates, the film pressure distribution formed on the substrate 20 can be made uniform.

Further, the structure for rotating the substrate 20 is the substrate holding mechanism 30.
Since the side and the substrate sub-holder 26 side are connected by the so-called Oldham joint mechanism composed of the pins 41, 42 and the pins 28, 29, even if there is a slight (0.5 to 1.0 mm) misalignment between them. , It is possible to absorb this and transmit the rotation smoothly.

[Other Examples]

(A) In the above embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to the sputtering apparatus has been described, but the present invention can also be applied to other film forming apparatuses.

(B) In the above embodiment, the substrate rotating mechanism is shown to be interlocked with the substrate revolving mechanism, but these may be driven by independent drive systems.

(C) In the above embodiment, the case where a plurality of substrates are mounted on the substrate holder 21 is shown. However, even when there is only one substrate, when the substrates are eccentrically attached to the substrate holder,
The present invention can be similarly applied.

[Effect of device]

The substrate rotating mechanism of the film forming apparatus according to the present invention is provided with the Oldham coupling mechanism that detachably connects the rotating shaft of the substrate rotating mechanism and the rotating center of the substrate sub-holder. The substrate held by the substrate sub-holder rotates in synchronization with the substrate revolution mechanism, revolves around the central axis of the substrate holder, and rotates by the substrate rotation mechanism. From this, in the film forming apparatus,
The film material will be evenly deposited on the substrate.

In addition, even if there is some deviation between the rotation axis of the substrate rotation mechanism and the rotation center of the substrate sub-holder, the Oldham joint mechanism can be used to absorb it and engage it securely to ensure rotation transmission. can do. In addition, the Oldham coupling mechanism facilitates smooth engagement and disengagement of the rotation center of the substrate sub-holder and the rotation axis of the substrate rotation mechanism, so that the transfer operation of the substrate can be smoothly performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1A is a schematic configuration diagram of a sputtering apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1B is a partial plan view thereof, FIG. 2A is a partially enlarged sectional view of FIG. 1A, and FIG. It is a figure. 1,2 …… Deposition chamber, 20 …… Substrate, 21 …… Substrate holder, 23…
… Positioning boss, 26 …… Substrate sub-holder, 27 …… Ball, 28,29,41,42 …… Pin, 30 …… Substrate holding mechanism, 36…
… Gear, 37 …… axis, 39 …… rotating body, 44 …… axis, 71 …… gear.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A substrate rotating mechanism for performing film formation while rotating a substrate to be formed in a film forming apparatus, which is rotatable about a central axis and holds the substrate, A substrate holder having a plurality of substrate sub-holders that can rotate at positions eccentric to the central axis, a substrate revolving mechanism that engages with the central axis of the substrate holder and drives the substrate holder to rotate, and a rotation center of each substrate sub-holder A substrate rotation mechanism having a rotation shaft that rotates in synchronism with the substrate rotation mechanism at a position corresponding to, and a rotation shaft of the substrate rotation mechanism when the substrate rotation mechanism is engaged with the central axis of the substrate holder. An Oldham coupling mechanism that connects the rotation center of the substrate sub-holder to the substrate rotation mechanism of the film forming apparatus.