JPH1136069A - Method for exhausting film forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the intrusion of oxygen and water into a reaction chamber in a film forming device provided with a vacuum spare chamber. SOLUTION: In a coating forming device provided with a reaction chamber 10 and a vacuum spare chamber 10, the vacuum spare chamber 10 is opened to atmospheric pressure, a substrate is exchanged, thereafter, before the vacuum spare chamber 10 is exhausted, gaseous nitrogen is sealed therein to form its state into the pressurized one, and after that, exhaustion is executed. In this way, before the exhaustion of the vacuum spare chamber 10, by forming the state of the vacuum spare chamber 10 into the pressurized one, when it is next exhausted, the partial pressure of inert gaseous nitrogen is made high, by which the intrusion of oxygen and water as the components in the atmosphere can remarkably be reduced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a film forming apparatus such as a sputtering apparatus and a vapor deposition apparatus, and more particularly to an exhaust method for a film forming apparatus having a reaction chamber and a vacuum preparatory chamber.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, film forming apparatuses such as a sputtering apparatus and a vapor deposition apparatus have been widely used for forming thin films of semiconductors, optical disks, electronic parts and the like, and most of them are located adjacent to a reaction chamber in order to improve production tact. Vacuum preparatory chambers are provided so that they can communicate with each other.

[0003] Referring to FIG. 3, a description will be given of a conventional exhaust method of a sputtering apparatus having a reaction chamber and a pre-vacuum chamber.

[0004] First, the inside of the reaction chamber 21 is evacuated to a vacuum of the order of 10 ^-6 Torr. Next, as shown in FIG. 3A, the substrate is placed in a vacuum pre-chamber 22 at atmospheric pressure, and then evacuated as shown in FIG. 3B. And
The gate valve between the two chambers 21 and 22 is opened, the substrate is transferred from the pre-vacuum chamber 22 to the reaction chamber 21, and the gate valve is closed again.

Thereafter, Ar gas is introduced into the reaction chamber 21 to set a degree of vacuum of about 5 × 10 ⁻³ Torr, and a DC or high-frequency voltage is applied to the cathode to generate plasma inside the reaction chamber 21. Then, a predetermined film is deposited on the substrate. Thereafter, the plasma is stopped, and the introduction of the Ar gas is stopped. Then, the gate valve is opened, the substrate is transferred to the pre-vacuum chamber 22, and the gate valve is closed again. Next, nitrogen gas is introduced into the pre-vacuum chamber 22 to return to atmospheric pressure as shown in FIG. 3A, and the substrate is taken out.

[0006]

However, in the above-described conventional method of evacuating the vacuum preparatory chamber 22, when the vacuum preparatory chamber 22 is opened to the atmospheric pressure and the substrate is taken in and out, the air is kept in the vacuum preparatory chamber 22. Even when the vacuum preparatory chamber 22 is exhausted, oxygen and water as components in the atmosphere are not sufficiently exhausted even after the vacuum preparatory chamber 22 is exhausted, and the oxygen and water enter the reaction chamber 21 when the gate valve is opened. However, there has been a problem that the composition of the surface of the sputtering target or the deposition material changes due to oxidation or the like, and the film thickness or composition of the film deposited on the substrate is not stable. Further, when a metal material is sputtered, there is a problem that abnormal discharge or undischarge occurs.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an exhaust method for a film forming apparatus having a vacuum preparatory chamber, which can prevent oxygen and water from entering the reaction chamber. And

[0008]

An exhaust method for a film forming apparatus according to the present invention is an exhaust method for a film forming apparatus provided with a reaction chamber and a vacuum preparatory chamber. After that, before evacuation of the pre-vacuum chamber, nitrogen gas is sealed and brought into a pressurized state, and then evacuation is performed.

[0009] Thus, since the vacuum preparatory chamber is pressurized by the nitrogen gas before the vacuum preparatory chamber is evacuated, the partial pressure of the nitrogen gas which is inactive when evacuated can be increased.
The mixing of oxygen and water, which are atmospheric components, into the reaction chamber can be greatly reduced. As a result, it is possible to prevent the oxidation of the sputtering target and the deposition material, stabilize the film thickness and composition of the film deposited on the substrate, and prevent the occurrence of abnormal discharge and non-discharge when sputtering a metal material. It is.

The same operation and effect can also be obtained by opening the vacuum preparatory chamber to the atmospheric pressure while exchanging the substrate with the periphery of the outlet of the vacuum preparatory chamber in a nitrogen gas atmosphere state, and then exhausting the vacuum preparatory chamber. To play.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG.

In FIG. 2 showing the structure of a sputtering apparatus, reference numeral 1 denotes a reaction chamber, in which a cathode 2 and a substrate 3 on which a film is deposited by sputtering are arranged to face each other.
Reference numeral 4 denotes a substrate holder for holding the substrate 3, and reference numeral 5 denotes a power supply for applying a voltage to the cathode 2 to generate plasma on the surface of the cathode 2. Reference numeral 6 denotes a first evacuation pump for bringing the inside of the reaction chamber 1 into a reduced pressure atmosphere, 7 denotes a first gas supply system for supplying a sputtering gas into the reaction chamber 1, and 8 denotes a degree of vacuum in the reaction chamber 1. This is a pressure regulating valve for regulating the pressure.

Reference numeral 10 denotes a pre-vacuum chamber disposed adjacent to the reaction chamber 1 and is configured to be able to communicate with each other via a gate valve 9. Reference numeral 11 denotes a second evacuation pump for bringing the inside of the vacuum preparatory chamber 10 into a reduced pressure atmosphere, and reference numeral 12 denotes a second evacuation pump for supplying nitrogen gas into the vacuum preparatory chamber 10, returning the pressure to atmospheric pressure, and further increasing the pressure. Gas supply system.

The operation of the sputtering apparatus configured as described above will be described below. First, the inside of the reaction chamber 1 is pumped by the first vacuum pump 6 to 10 ^-6 Torr.
Evacuate to r vacuums. Next, as shown in FIG. 1A, after the substrate 3 is set in the vacuum preparatory chamber 10 at atmospheric pressure, nitrogen gas is supplied by the second gas supply system 12 as shown in FIG. Supply and pressurize above atmospheric pressure.
Thereafter, evacuation is performed by the second evacuation pump 11 as shown in FIG. Then, the gate valve 9 between the two chambers 1 and 10 is opened, the substrate 3 is transferred from the pre-vacuum chamber 10 to the reaction chamber 1 and held by the substrate holder 4, and the gate valve 9 is closed again. After that, Ar gas is introduced into the reaction chamber 1 from the first gas supply system 7, and 5 × 10 ⁻³ To
A degree of vacuum of about rr is set, a DC or high-frequency voltage is applied to the cathode 2 by the power supply 5 to generate plasma inside the reaction chamber 1, and a predetermined film is deposited on the substrate 3. Thereafter, the plasma is stopped, and the introduction of the Ar gas is stopped. Then, the gate valve 9 is opened, the substrate 3 is transferred to the pre-vacuum chamber 10, and the gate valve 9 is closed again. Next, nitrogen gas is introduced from the second gas supply system 12 into the pre-vacuum chamber 10 to
The pressure is returned to the atmospheric pressure as shown in FIG.

By evacuating the pre-vacuum chamber 10 with nitrogen gas before evacuating the pre-vacuum chamber 10, the partial pressure of the inert nitrogen gas when the pre-vacuum chamber 10 is evacuated can be reduced. As a result, the mixing of oxygen and water, which are atmospheric components, into the reaction chamber 1 can be greatly reduced. Therefore, oxidation of the sputtering target and the deposition material can be prevented, and the thickness and composition of the film deposited on the substrate 3 can be stabilized. In addition, when a metal material is sputtered, occurrence of abnormal discharge or undischarge can be prevented.

In the above embodiment, the inside of the vacuum preparatory chamber 10 is pressurized with nitrogen gas. However, the same effect can be obtained by setting the area around the outlet of the vacuum preparatory chamber 10 to a nitrogen gas atmosphere. However, when the inside of the vacuum preparatory chamber 10 is pressurized with nitrogen gas as in the above-described embodiment, the apparatus does not become large and can be easily implemented.

[0017]

According to the exhaust method for a film forming apparatus of the present invention,
As is clear from the above description, since the pre-vacuum chamber is pressurized with nitrogen gas before the evacuation of the pre-vacuum chamber, the partial pressure of the nitrogen gas which is inactive when evacuated increases, and And the mixing of oxygen and water, which are the components, into the reaction chamber can be greatly reduced, and oxidation of the sputtering target and the deposition material can be prevented. Therefore, it is possible to stabilize the thickness and composition of the film deposited on the substrate, and to prevent occurrence of abnormal discharge or non-discharge when sputtering a metal material. Furthermore, in recent years, in the sputtering of optical discs and the like, film formation has been performed in a short period of time in units of seconds. Therefore, the above effect is particularly exhibited.

The same operation and effect can also be obtained by opening the vacuum preliminary chamber to the atmospheric pressure and exchanging the substrates after the outlet of the vacuum preliminary chamber is in a nitrogen gas atmosphere state, and then exhausting the vacuum preliminary chamber. To play.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exhaust process diagram in an embodiment of an exhaust method of a film forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a sputtering apparatus in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an exhaust process diagram in a conventional film forming apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Reaction chamber 10 Vacuum preparatory chamber 11 2nd evacuation pump 12 2nd gas supply system

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Takashi Makino, Inventor 1006 Odakadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An exhaust method in a film forming apparatus having a reaction chamber and a vacuum preparatory chamber, wherein the vacuum preparatory chamber is opened to atmospheric pressure, a substrate is exchanged, and nitrogen gas is exhausted before the vacuum preparatory chamber is evacuated. A method for exhausting a film-forming apparatus, comprising sealing a container to a pressurized state, followed by exhaustion. 2. An evacuation method in a film forming apparatus having a reaction chamber and a vacuum preparatory chamber, wherein the vacuum preparatory chamber is opened to atmospheric pressure while a nitrogen gas atmosphere is formed around an outlet of the vacuum preparatory chamber. Exhausting the pre-vacuum chamber after replacing the vacuum chamber.