JPH1129869A - Load lock-chamber mechanism of substrate treating apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perfectly eliminate particles stuck to the surface of a substrate by connecting the upper end of a gas diffusion filter with a gas introducing means through the top plate of a load lock-chamber and also, forming a corner inner wall of the chamber to smooth curving surface. SOLUTION: The gas diffusion filter 5 is inserted into a filter hole 4 arranged at the center part of the top plate 1a in a cap body 1 of the load lock-chamber 3 through an annular gap 6 and the lower end thereof is fixed to a cover 7 for straightening the flow. The cover 7 for straightening the flow is fixed to the inner wall of the cap body 1 through a vent gas fluid gap having a prescribed size in the inside of the cap body 1. Then, the corner part A, B of the cap body 1 is curved as comparatively large curvature so as to smoothly flow the vent gas, such as the arrow marks 16, 17. By such a constitution, it is no fear to raise the dust in the load lock-chamber 3 and stick it to water when introducing gas.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention has an object to eliminate the possibility of particles adhering to a substrate surface by making the flow state of a vent gas in a load lock chamber orderly and smooth, and to provide a load lock chamber. The load lock chamber of the substrate processing apparatus for facilitating maintenance and cleaning in the load lock chamber by setting the connection height between the lower end of the upper side wall and the upper end of the vacuum chamber to an appropriate height. Regarding the mechanism.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a gas diffusion filter of a load / lock chamber is fixed to the top surface of a rectifying cover by a mounting tube, so that vent gas diffuses through several holes provided in the mounting tube. Was. In the load lock chamber, a flat top plate is fixed to the upper end of a cylindrical vacuum chamber.

[0003]

Since the gas diffusion filter of the conventional load lock chamber is fixed by a mounting tube, gas necessarily passes through a hole in the mounting tube wall into the load lock chamber. Will be spread,
It has been difficult to achieve uniform gas diffusion into the load lock chamber.

Further, since the top plate of the load lock chamber is flat, a flat top plate is fixed to the upper end opening of the load lock chamber, whereby the upper end opening of the load lock chamber is connected to the top plate. The angle formed is a right angle or almost a right angle, and it is difficult to make the gas flow smooth. Furthermore, at each corner of the right-to-right or almost right-angled load lock chamber, a particle dust source is liable to accumulate, which is wound up by the non-uniform gas flow and causes a deposit on the substrate surface. There was also.

[0005] In addition, when the position of the upper end opening of the vacuum chamber is high, there is a problem that the inside cannot be reached and cleaning cannot be performed sufficiently during maintenance after removing the top plate.

[0006]

According to the present invention, the gas is diffused from the entire lower periphery of the gas diffusion filter and the inner wall of the corner of the load lock chamber is formed into a smooth curved surface. This solves the conventional problem.

Further, when forming the side wall of the load / lock chamber, the connection at the upper end of the vacuum chamber is made relatively low, thereby improving the workability in maintenance.

That is, according to the present invention, the lower end of a gas diffusion filter is fixed to the upper surface of a gas rectification cover fixed to the inside of a top plate of a load lock chamber with a gas flow gap interposed therebetween, and the upper end of the gas diffusion filter is fixed. The load lock chamber mechanism of the substrate processing apparatus is characterized in that the side is connected to gas introduction means via a top plate of the load lock chamber and the inner wall of the corner of the load lock chamber is formed into a smooth curved surface. is there. According to another invention, a lower end of a gas diffusion filter is fixed to an upper surface of a gas rectifying cover fixed with a gas flow gap inside a top plate of a load / lock chamber, and an upper end side of the gas diffusion filter. Is connected to the gas introducing means via the top plate of the load lock chamber, the inner wall of the corner of the load lock chamber is formed into a smooth curved surface, and the lower end of the upper side wall of the load lock chamber is connected to the vacuum chamber. A load / lock chamber mechanism of the substrate processing apparatus, wherein the load / lock chamber mechanism is fixed to the upper end of the substrate processing apparatus.

By adopting the above-described configuration, the load / lock chamber mechanism of the present invention provides:
No mounting cylinder is interposed between the lower end of the gas diffusion filter and the upper surface of the gas rectification cover. As a result, diffusion of gas from the lower end of the gas diffusion filter is performed uniformly over the entire periphery of the load lock chamber. In addition, since the inner wall of the corner of the load / lock chamber is formed into a smooth curved surface, the smooth flow of gas is not disturbed at each corner, and a particle dust source accumulates at each corner. Can also be prevented.

With these configurations, the flow of the vent gas at the time of venting can be made uniform and smooth, and no turbulent flow of gas occurs when the pressure in the load lock chamber changes from vacuum to atmospheric pressure or vice versa. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the particle dust source existing in the chamber from being rolled up and to prevent particles from adhering to the substrate surface.

Further, by fixing the lower end of the upper side wall of the load / lock chamber to the upper end of the vacuum chamber, the workability during maintenance or cleaning can be improved.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS According to the present invention, the lower end of a gas diffusion filter is fixed to the upper surface of a gas rectification cover fixed to the inside of a top plate of a load lock chamber with a gas flow gap interposed therebetween. The upper end of the filter is connected to the gas introducing means via the top plate of the load lock chamber, and the inner wall of the corner of the load lock chamber is formed into a smooth curved surface to promote the smooth flow of the vent gas. is there.

In addition, by appropriately setting the connection height of the upper end of the vacuum chamber on the side wall of the load / lock chamber, workability is improved in maintenance performed with the opening.

[0014]

Embodiment 1 An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 shows a conventional load lock chamber. In describing a preferred embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 1, the same operation as that of the conventional example of FIG. Will be described using the same names.

A load / lock chamber 3 is formed by abuttingly fixing the lower end of the side wall of the cap-shaped body 1 integrally formed with the top plate 1a and the upper side wall 1b and the upper end of the cylindrical vacuum chamber 2; A filter hole 4 is formed at the center of the top plate 1a of the cap-like body 1.
The gas diffusion filter 5 is inserted into the filter hole 4 through the annular gap 6, and the lower end thereof is covered with a rectifying cover 7.
It is fixed to. The rectifying cover 7 is fixed to the inner wall of the cap 1 via a vent gas flow gap of a predetermined size inside the cap 1. The corners A and B of the cap-shaped body 1 of the load / lock chamber 3 are relatively curved so that the vent gas flows smoothly as indicated by arrows 16 and 17. In the figure, 8 is a vent gas introduction pipe, 9, 10
Is a large and small gas introduction valve, 11 is an exhaust pump, 12 is an exhaust valve, 13 is a wafer, 14 is a wafer cassette,
Reference numeral 15 denotes a cover of the gas diffusion filter.

FIG. 2 shows the load lock chamber 23 currently used. This load lock chamber 23
Is to fix a flat top plate 24 on a cylindrical vacuum chamber 25, insert a gas diffusion filter 26 into the center of the top plate 24, and fix the lower end to a rectifying cover 28 via a mounting tube 27. It was done. According to the load / lock chamber 23, the vent gas flows as indicated by arrows 29 and 30, and generates turbulent flows as indicated by arrows 31 and 32, so that debris or the wafer 33 accumulated at the corners a and b is formed. The dust attached to the back surface of the wafer 33 is sowed and attached to the front surface of the wafer 33, so that particles are generated. Therefore, in order to completely eliminate particles, it is necessary that turbulence does not occur when the vent gas flows. In the figure, reference numeral 8 denotes a vent gas introduction pipe, and reference numeral 22 denotes an exhaust pump.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the load / lock chamber 3 transfers a wafer in a cassette in an autoloader in an atmospheric state by an autoloader transfer robot. Thereafter, the load / lock chamber is evacuated by an exhaust pump, and is taken out one by one by a transfer robot in the SEP chamber and transferred to the processing chamber. When the processing in the processing chamber is completed, all the substrates are collected in the load lock chamber. Thereafter, the load / lock chamber is set to the atmospheric pressure, and when the atmospheric pressure is reached, the substrate in the load / lock chamber is transferred to the cassette by the transfer robot in the autoloader, and the process is completed.

In the above, in order to set the load / lock chamber to atmospheric pressure, the cassette 14 is first raised to the upper limit 21 as indicated by an arrow 19, and then the valve 12 of the exhaust pump 11 is closed. Next, the smaller gas introduction valve 9 is opened to introduce a small amount of gas as indicated by arrow 18, and after an appropriate time (about 30 seconds to 60 seconds), the larger gas introduction valve 10 is opened to introduce gas. I do.

In the above description, if the vent gas is rapidly introduced, a turbulent flow is generated in the vent gas, and there is a possibility that dust adhering in the load lock chamber may rise, so that the gas is introduced slowly.

In the present invention, if there is no rapid introduction of gas, the vent gas flows straight and flows as indicated by arrows 16 and 17, so that there is no possibility that the wafer 13 will be contaminated. According to the results of the experiment, the size is 0.1 mm
It can be sufficiently achieved even under the severe condition that the number of particles is 1 or less at 0.3 mm or more. When the load / lock chamber 3 reaches atmospheric pressure, the cassette 1
4 is lowered as indicated by arrow 20.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the dimensions, materials, shapes, relative arrangements, and the like of the components described herein are not limited to the scope of the present invention unless otherwise specified. It is not intended to be limiting, but merely as an example. That is, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be variously modified within the technical scope of the invention disclosed in this specification.

[0022]

According to the present invention, the gas is diffused from the four circumferences of the gas diffusion filter, and a relatively large curved surface is formed at the corner in the load / lock chamber to prevent the turbulent flow of the vent gas. So when loading gas,
There are various effects such as a possibility that dust in the lock chamber does not soar or adhere to the wafer.

Further, by making the contact portion between the lower end of the upper side wall of the load / lock chamber and the upper end of the vacuum chamber relatively low, maintenance work such as cleaning of the vacuum chamber can be rationalized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view in which a part of an embodiment of the present invention is omitted.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view in which a part of a conventional load / lock chamber is omitted.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cap 2 Vacuum chamber 3 Load lock chamber 4 Filter hole 5 Gas diffusion filter 6 Annular gap 7 Rectifying cover 8 Vent gas introduction pipe 9, 10 Gas introduction valve 11 Exhaust pump 12 Exhaust valve 13 Wafer 14 Wafer cassette 15 Gas diffusion Filter hippo

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A lower end of a gas diffusion filter is fixed to an upper surface of a gas rectification cover fixed with a gas flow gap inside a top plate of a load / lock chamber, and an upper end of the gas diffusion filter is loaded. A load lock chamber mechanism of the substrate processing apparatus, wherein the load lock chamber is connected to the gas introducing means through a top plate of the lock chamber and the inner wall of the corner of the load lock chamber is formed into a smooth curved surface. 2. A lower end of a gas diffusion filter is fixed to an upper surface of a gas rectification cover fixed to a top plate of a load lock chamber with a gas flow gap interposed therebetween, and an upper end of the gas diffusion filter is loaded. Connecting to the gas introduction means through the top plate of the lock chamber, and forming the inner wall of the corner of the load lock chamber into a smooth curved surface;
A load / lock chamber mechanism for a substrate processing apparatus, wherein a lower end of an upper side wall of the load / lock chamber is fixedly abutted on an upper end of a vacuum chamber.