JPH11244686A - Vacuum process apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the infiltration or adhesion of foreign matter to a gas supply port and to enable the rapid restart of treatment by providing the subject apparatus with the gas supply port for supplying gas to the rear surface of a work and allowing the harmless gas to flow out of the gas supply port at the time of opening the interior of a vacuum process chamber to the atmosphere. SOLUTION: While the treatment of a sample is executed, the interior 4 of the process chamber is held at a vacuum or a reduced pressure atmosphere and the transfer of heat between the installation surface 1a of the sample and the sample installed thereon degrades. When the heat is applied on the sample, the temp. control of the sample is not possible. The susceptor 1 is, thereupon, provided with a piping 5 penetrating to the installation surface 1a of the sample to enable the control of the temp. of the sample by heat transfer gas of a prescribed pressure supplied between the installation surface 1a of the sample and the sample through this piping 5. When the interior 4 of the process chamber is opened to the atmosphere, the gaseous nitrogen heated by a heater 12 is supplied into the piping 5 to prevent the infiltration of the foreign matters into the piping 5 and to allow the efficient discharge of the resultantly adhered foreign matters.

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, and more particularly to a vacuum processing apparatus suitable for an apparatus whose inside is open to the atmosphere.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a vacuum processing apparatus for processing a sample by supplying a gas to the back surface of the sample, a method for reducing the adhesion of foreign matter in a gas pipe provided on a sample stage is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H5- As described in Japanese Patent No. 245360, a method has been known in which an inert gas is supplied into a gas pipe to remove a residual gas and reduce a reaction product.

[0003]

The vacuum processing apparatus according to the prior art described above is used for cleaning a vacuum processing chamber contaminated by a vacuum processing, for example, a plasma processing, or for maintenance or the like, when the processing chamber is opened to the atmosphere. The liquid used for cleaning the sample table enters the gas supply port provided on the sample table for the purpose of cooling the sample, and it takes a lot of time to remove this liquid or return the processing chamber to a vacuum state. There was a problem. An object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum processing apparatus capable of preventing foreign matter from entering or adhering to a gas supply port provided on a sample stage when the sample is opened to the atmosphere and capable of promptly restarting processing.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum processing chamber, and a sample table provided in the vacuum processing chamber and on which a processing object can be placed. This is achieved by providing a gas supply port for supplying a gas to the back surface of the sample stage, causing a harmless gas to flow out of the gas supply port when the vacuum processing chamber is open to the atmosphere, and providing a gas heating means for heating the harmless gas. You.

[0005]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a processing chamber of a vacuum processing apparatus showing one embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a sample table on which a sample (not shown) to be processed is set, 1a denotes a sample setting surface, and 2 denotes a base for supporting the sample table. Also,
Reference numeral 3 denotes a vacuum processing chamber, and reference numeral 4 denotes an inside of the vacuum processing chamber. 5 is a pipe that penetrates the base 2 and the sample table 1 to the sample setting surface 1a, 6 is a valve that shuts off the pipe 5 and the pipe 7, 8 is a gas on the back of the sample during processing, in this case, a heat transfer gas or a cooling gas. A gas supply source for supplying, 9 is a valve for shutting off the pipe 5 and the pipe 10, 11 is a harmless gas supply source such as a harmless gas, for example, nitrogen gas, and 12 is a nitrogen gas supplied from the 11 for heating. It is a heater.

In a vacuum processing apparatus such as the present apparatus, the inside of the processing chamber 4 is maintained in a vacuum or reduced-pressure atmosphere while the sample is being processed. Therefore, a vacuum insulation state is provided between the sample installation surface 1a and the sample (not shown) installed on the installation surface 1a, and heat transfer is deteriorated. Therefore, if heat is applied to the sample during sample processing, the temperature of the sample cannot be controlled. Therefore, a pipe 5 penetrating the sample table 1 to the sample setting surface 1a is provided, a valve 6 is opened, and a heat transfer gas of a predetermined pressure is supplied between the sample setting surface 1a and the physical sample through the pipe 5, and The heat can be transmitted by the hot gas, and the temperature of the sample can be controlled. Here, although not shown, the sample stage 1 is controlled to a predetermined temperature.

When the inside of the processing chamber 4 is opened to the atmosphere for cleaning or maintenance of the inside of the vacuum processing chamber 3, there is a possibility that foreign matter such as moisture or solids in the air may enter and adhere to the inside of the pipe 5. When washing, the sample setting surface 1a
Since the operator performs cleaning using pure water or the like, there is a possibility that pure water may accidentally enter the inside of the pipe 5. It is difficult to discharge the foreign matter that has entered the inside of the pipe 5, and after the maintenance, when the inside of the processing chamber 4 is evacuated, the foreign matter is discharged into the processing chamber as outgas to lower the degree of vacuum. For this reason, a lot of time is required until the processing is restarted.

In the present apparatus, the valve 6 is closed and the valve 9 is opened during the opening to the atmosphere to allow the heated nitrogen gas to flow through the pipe 5 to prevent foreign substances from entering the inside of the pipe 5 and to prevent foreign substances from adhering. To be discharged efficiently. Thus, outgassing is less likely to occur during evacuation after maintenance, and processing can be quickly resumed.

[0009]

According to the present invention, the occurrence of outgas can be suppressed after opening to the atmosphere due to maintenance or the like, so that there is an effect that the time until the processing is restarted can be shortened.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a vacuum processing apparatus according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Sample stand, 1a ... Sample installation surface, 2 ... Base, 3 ... Vacuum processing chamber, 4 ... Inside vacuum processing chamber, 5 ... Piping, 6 ... Valve, 7 ... Piping, 8 ... Gas supply source, 9 ... Valve Reference numeral 10: piping, 11: harmless gas supply source, 12: heater.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Motohiko Yoshikai 794, Higashi-Toyoi, Katsumatsu-shi, Yamaguchi Prefecture Hitachi Techno Engineering, Inc. Hitachi Kasado Engineering Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Takushi Kudo Kashimatsu City, Yamaguchi Prefecture

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A gas supply, comprising: a vacuum processing chamber; and a sample table provided in the vacuum processing chamber and on which a processing object can be arranged, and supplying a gas to a back surface of the processing object disposed on the sample table. A vacuum processing apparatus, further comprising a gas heating means for providing an opening to the sample stage, causing the harmless gas to flow out of the gas supply port when the vacuum processing chamber is opened to the atmosphere, and heating the harmless gas.