JPS6223983A - Vacuum chemical reactor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a small-sized device capable of treating many substrates simultaneously by specifying the structure and function of the holding mechanisms of the substrates in the titled device which is provided with the holding mechanisms of the substrates introduced and taken out with a conveyance mechanism in the inside of a vacuum chamber. CONSTITUTION:The holding mechanism 50 of the substrates has both plural carries 51-53 projected around the holding machine 56 of the carriers and the holding members 55 of the substrates fitted to the front and rear sides or the almost whole parts of the surfaces thereof. The substrates 41, 42 among the substrate groups 40 are moved on a prescribed face 57 and introduced into and taken out from a vacuum chamber 10 while being held with the members 55 by transferring the holding machine 56 in the direction shown in an arrow 58. For example, the substrates are introduced and taken out while opening the covers 15 and transferring the robot mechanism 70 of the outside of the chamber 10 in the arrangement directions of the carrier 51-53. To perform work excellent in reproducibility having high reliability, it is favorable that the inside of the chamber 10 is always held in vacuum and the holding machine 56 is transferred in the direction shown in the arrow 58 and plural substrates are transferred on the face 57 convenient for the takeout of the substrates.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a vacuum device that introduces a reactive gas into a vacuum and causes a chemical reaction to occur inside the vacuum device, such as a reactive ion etching device. .

It is highly effective when applied to various etching equipment, CVD equipment, surface treatment equipment, etc.

(Prior Art and its Problems) As mentioned above, there are many vacuum devices available today that allow chemical reactions to occur in vacuum. Efforts are being made to arrange as many objects to be processed (hereinafter referred to as substrates) as possible inside these devices, and efforts are being made to improve productivity.

There are many methods that have been proposed and implemented to date, but they can be summarized as follows.

One is a method of arranging a substrate on a single plane or three-dimensional surface. ) A method of arranging a large number of substrates on the -L plane of a thin disk as shown in P120. There is also a method of arranging a large number of substrates on the side surface (inner surface or outer surface) of a cylinder or a prism, as shown in Table 9.4c (P19='1.). In the end, these methods reduce the number of substrates that can be accommodated to a relatively small number based on the surface area of the placement surface.
has been established.

Another song is [Gas plasma processing equipment] (Japanese Patent Publication No. 5
As shown in Japanese Patent Publication No. 9-159532, this is a method in which positive and negative electrodes or two electrodes (for high-frequency power) are alternately stacked in the vertical direction, but in this method, the front and back surfaces of each electrode are generally made of an insulating material. Since the board can only be placed on one side of the board, the number of boards that can be accommodated is still limited to a relatively small number.

(Object of the Invention) An object of the present invention is to improve these drawbacks and provide a highly reliable vacuum chemical reaction apparatus that can accommodate and process a large number of substrates at once.

Another object of the present invention is to achieve the following based on the same number of accommodations:
The purpose of the present invention is to provide a smaller vacuum chemical reaction device.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum chemical reaction apparatus that can perform uniform processing even when supplying high frequency power to a substrate holding mechanism or heating the substrate holding mechanism.

(Structure of the Invention) The present invention includes: a vacuum chamber and an exhaust system that evacuates the inside thereof to a predetermined pressure; a waste introduction system that introduces a predetermined reactive gas after the exhaust; and a substrate that is held inside the vacuum chamber. a substrate holding mechanism for transporting the substrate into and out of the vacuum chamber from outside the vacuum chamber; In a vacuum chemical reaction device for performing a chemical reaction, the substrate holding mechanism includes:
A carrier holder is provided, a plurality of carriers are protruded around the carrier holder, and each of the carriers is provided with a substrate holding member capable of holding the substrate on the front and back or almost the entire surface thereof,
Furthermore, the carrier holding machine is movable, and by the movement, at least a plurality of the substrates held by the substrate holding member of the carrier are moved onto substantially the same predetermined surface, and the substrates held by the substrate holding member of the carrier are moved onto the same predetermined surface. The above objective has been achieved by a vacuum chemical reaction apparatus equipped with a mechanism that is transferred to the progressive mechanism on the same side of the .

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings and examples.

(Example) In the examples shown in FIG. 1 (front sectional view), FIG. 2 (partial sectional plan view), and FIG. 3 (partial sectional view), lO is a vacuum chamber, 11 is a chamber, and 12 is a vacuum chamber. An insulator for introducing an electrode, 13 an exhaust pipe for connecting an exhaust system 20 (indicated by an arrow), 14 a flange, and 15 a hole 1 for connecting the substrates 41 to 46.
The lid 16 and 19 are O-rings for putting in and out through 7. 30 is a waste introduction system (indicated by an arrow, to which a barrier pull leak, a flow rate control device, etc. are connected if necessary) that introduces a predetermined reactive gas, 31 is a connection pipe with the vacuum system, and 32 is a gas introduction system that introduces the gas to the substrate. The gas distribution mechanism 33 is a large number of pores to ensure uniform distribution over the surface. /10 is a group of substrates representative of objects to be processed, and 41 to 46 are substrates, respectively. 50 is a substrate holding mechanism which is a feature of this invention;
Numerous carriers 51, 52, and 53 are arranged protrudingly around the carrier holder 56, and 54 is a space for a heat medium to cool or heat the substrate. or by raising the temperature appropriately. The introduction and discharging of the particles is carried out in the direction of arrow 59. 60 is an introduction device for electric power and others. (When heating the X-plate roughly to a high temperature, a heating plate 61 is provided and a heater 63 (for example, an infrared heating lamp or a coil Heat with a heater, etc.).

64 is a heater power source; 62 is a heating plate 61 whose heat is transferred to the carrier 51;
It is a connecting body made of a thin plate to prevent it from escaping towards the ground. ) 55 is a substrate holding member that holds the substrate, and this is the carrier 51.
It is attached to almost the entire surface of the front and back or the front surface (referring to the entire surface when the name "front and back" is not appropriate).

Reference numeral 57 denotes a surface having a predetermined function, which is another feature of the present invention, and while the substrates 41 and 412 of the substrate group 40 are held by the substrate holding member 55, the carrier holder 56 is moved by the arrow 58.
By moving it in the direction (the moving mechanism is not shown), it is moved onto this predetermined surface 57 and taken in and out of the vacuum chamber 10.

In this embodiment, a robot mechanism 70 (schematically indicated by two arrows) for opening the lid 15 and loading/unloading the substrate is placed outside the vacuum apparatus 10, and the robot 70 is moved from the carrier 51 to
In order to perform work with high reliability and good reproducibility, the inside of the vacuum chamber 10 must be kept in a vacuum at all times as described above. As in the embodiment, it is advantageous to move the substrate holding mechanism 50 and thus the carrier holder 56 in the direction of the arrow 58 so as to move a plurality of substrates onto a surface 57 that facilitates substrate removal.

Reference numeral 80 denotes a magnetic field setting means for causing magnetron discharge inside the vacuum chamber 10, which sets a magnetic field in the same direction as the arrow 58. 81 is a coil, and 82 is its power source.

90 is a high frequency power supply, 91 is a high frequency generator, and 92 is a matching box.

The apparatus of this embodiment can be used with conventional reactive ion etching apparatus, various types of etching apparatus, C
It is operated in the same way as VD equipment and surface treatment equipment.

To explain the operation using a reactive ion etching device as an example, after the vacuum chamber 10 is evacuated to a predetermined pressure (in many cases, to a high vacuum such as so-called UOV) by the exhaust system 20, a predetermined gas is evacuated. The gas is introduced from the gas introduction system 30, the inside of the vacuum chamber is set at a predetermined pressure, and high frequency power is supplied.

Then, discharge plasma shown by diagonal lines 93 is generated and the substrate 41
Active ion etching is applied.

After the predetermined etching has been performed, the supply of high-frequency power is stopped, an inert gas such as nitrogen or argon is introduced into the vacuum chamber 10 to atmospheric pressure, the lid 15 is opened, and the carrier holder 56 and transport mechanism are activated. In cooperation with the robot mechanism 70, the processed substrate is removed and a new substrate is inserted. The substrate is taken in and taken out while moving the robot mechanism 70 (its hand) along the surface 57. Then, the air is evacuated and the next cycle begins.

If it is desired to carry out etching while keeping the interior of the vacuum chamber 10 in a vacuum, a valve is provided in place of the lid 15 and connected to the next vacuum chamber. For example, the above-mentioned "Basics of Thin Film Creation" in Figures 5.23(b) and (d) or Figure 5.23(b) and (d).
24 (b) or (a) (In this case, the valves are not shown, but vacuum chambers are provided in stages so that each chamber can be set to the desired pressure, and the necessary valves are installed between them. -1〇- Re-design as shown below. In that case, move the substrate holding mechanism 50 in the direction of the arrow 58 and move it from three locations (substrate 4
If 1 and 42 form an angle, there will be a total of six predetermined surfaces 57, and the substrate is taken out from these surfaces. In an apparatus without the waste distribution mechanism 32, the substrate holding mechanism 50 can be further moved in a direction perpendicular to the arrow δ8, thereby making it possible to further reduce the number of positions where substrates are taken in and taken out.

For other treatments other than reactive ion etching,
Although the operation is almost the same as in the case of low-pressure CVD, it is slightly different in that the carrier 51. as shown in FIG. A heating plate 61 is provided, and the heating plate 61 is used as a substrate holder to which a substrate is taken in and taken out.

In this case, there is no need to supply high frequency power. However, if it is desired to clean the area near the surface 57 after performing the i degree pressure CVD process many times, the □ operation will be performed in the same manner as the etching described above.

In the device of this embodiment, since the magnetic field can be set perpendicular to the electric field, a low-voltage, high-power magnetron discharge can be generated along the surface of the carrier holder 56, making it possible to perform a high-speed reaction. . Furthermore, by lowering the discharge voltage, a chemical reaction can be carried out with less damage to the semiconductor. Even if the direction of the magnetic field is constant,
It may be an alternating field or a rotating magnetic field within the plane 57 mentioned above. The discharge intensity may be adjusted by making the strength of the magnetic field variable.

Other design considerations are the same as in the normal case. For example, if you do not want a reaction to occur in a location other than the substrate, (1) if the process uses electrical discharge, cover that location with an appropriate insulator or shield;
(2) If it is a low-pressure CVD process that does not use electric discharge, care must be taken to cool the area to a low temperature.

The present invention uses the substrate holding mechanism 50 as described above and three-dimensionally arranges the substrates on almost the entire surface of the plurality of carriers 51 to 53 protruding from the carrier holder 56. Therefore, an extremely large number of substrates can be accommodated in a small volume. It is possible to provide a device with high productivity. If the processing capacity is the same, the device can be made smaller. Furthermore, since the carrier holder 56 is made of a solid mechanism, its high-frequency impedance becomes negligibly small, and uniform plasma can be generated on the surfaces of many substrates on the carrier 51, allowing processing of each substrate. Differences in etching rate and film formation rate are extremely small, and a uniform finish can be obtained.

By using a magnetic field, higher speeds and lower voltages can be achieved.

FIG. 4 (plan view) and FIG. 5 (front view) only show the substrate 41 and the like and the substrate holder 1!50 of another embodiment. In this embodiment, the substrate is put in and taken out by retracting the substrate, but in order to move the substrate holding mechanism 50 in the direction of the arrow 58, the introducing device 60 shown in the figure is moved to the dotted circle in FIG.
It is best to attach it at position 00 in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the paper and move it in that direction.

FIGS. 6 and 7 (both plan views) show different embodiments. In these cases, the substrate 41 is a rectangular cylinder and a cylinder, respectively, and the shape of the carrier 51 is matched to the substrate so that the substrate 41 exactly covers the surface of the carrier 51. As shown in the figure, the arrangement of the carriers 51 on the carrier holder 56 is selected in each case at a high density suitable for the shape of the carrier or substrate. By changing the configuration of the substrate holding mechanism 50 according to the shape of the substrate to be processed in this way, it is possible to process substrates of all shapes, such as polygonal cylinders, polygonal pyramids, 2 cylinders, 9 cones, and other complex shapes. become.

FIG. 8, FIG. 9, and FIG. 10 each show different embodiments using perspective views. In this embodiment, a carrier 51 is protruded around a pipe-shaped carrier holder 56, so that a large number of substrates 41 can be held on both the front and back sides of the carrier 51. In particular, the embodiment shown in FIG. 10 is characterized in that it can hold a large number of large-area substrates. The moving direction of the carrier holder 56 is 58 or 59 or both.

In each of the embodiments shown in FIGS. 4 to 10, only the substrate holding mechanism is shown, and devices such as a gas introduction system are omitted.

In addition, when severe distribution of processing is required or when gas pressure is low, protruding parts etc. ( For example, the waste distribution mechanism 32 and its tip in Fig. 1)
This is also omitted.

Figures 11, 12 and 13 show partial diagrams of different embodiments. In these examples:
The carriers 51 are provided radially around the carrier holder 56, Part 4
Second, a substrate 41 is installed.

In this embodiment, the substrate holding mechanism 50 is connected to the introduction pipe 60.
The substrate can be easily moved by rotating it around the axis as shown by arrow 58. Therefore, the board 7
The conveyance mechanism (such as the robot l-mechanism 70 indicated by the arrow in FIG. 12) for loading and unloading the robot 11 and the like can also be a simple mechanism. Further, as shown by an arrow 581, the substrate holding mechanism 5
When a mechanism for lowering 0 to -1 is provided, the substrates can be installed in multiple stages, and a larger number of substrates can be treated simultaneously and conveniently.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 13, 100 is a shield, which is provided for the purpose of preventing discharge on the surface of the substrate holding mechanism 50.

FIG. 14 and FIG. 15 show yet another substrate holding mechanism 50.
FIG. 3 shows a plan view of an embodiment of the invention. These embodiments use the same carrier 51 as shown in each embodiment of FIGS. 11 to 13.
This is an example in which the carrier holder 56 is made to protrude radially from the central carrier holder 56. 1/1 shows a case in which the adjacent surfaces of a large number of radial carriers 51 are parallel to each other, and FIG. 15 shows a case in which the adjacent surfaces are adjusted so as to form a desired angle α. There is no.

Although many examples have been given below, these are not meant to be limiting in any way, and many modifications are possible. Furthermore, it goes without saying that it can be used in combination with various conventionally known technologies and new technologies that will be created in the future.

(Effects of the Invention) The present invention is capable of accommodating and processing a large number of substrates at once, and has the effect of providing a smaller and more reliable vacuum chemical reaction apparatus based on the same number of substrates. be.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1, 2, and 3 are views showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 1 and 1 are views taken along the line 1-1' in FIG. 2. FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 are diagrams showing another embodiment of the present invention. - Iti - Figures 6 to 15 are diagrams each showing an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 10 is a vacuum chamber, 20 is an exhaust system, 30 is a waste introduction system, 40 is a group of substrates, 50 is a substrate holding mechanism, 70 is a mechanism for loading and unloading substrates, 56 is a holding device for 11 bodies, and 51 is a carrier. , 58 is the moving direction when moving a plurality of substrates to approximately a predetermined same crystal 571.

Claims (6)

[Claims] (1) an exhaust system that evacuates the vacuum chamber and its interior to a predetermined pressure; a gas introduction system that introduces a predetermined reactive gas after evacuation; a substrate holding mechanism that is located inside the vacuum chamber and holds the substrate; a transfer mechanism for loading and unloading the substrate from outside the vacuum chamber to the substrate holding mechanism; the vacuum chamber is evacuated to a predetermined pressure and then a predetermined reactive gas is introduced to cause a chemical reaction to occur on the surface of the substrate; In the chemical reaction apparatus, the substrate holding mechanism includes:
A carrier holder is provided, a plurality of carriers are protruded around the carrier holder, and each of the carriers is provided with a substrate holding member capable of holding the substrate on the front and back or almost the entire surface thereof,
Furthermore, the carrier holding machine is movable, and by the movement, at least a plurality of the substrates held by the substrate holding member of the carrier are moved onto substantially the same predetermined surface, and the substrates held by the substrate holding member of the carrier are moved onto the same predetermined surface. 1. A vacuum chemical reaction apparatus comprising a mechanism delegated to the transport mechanism on the same surface of the apparatus. (2) The vacuum chemical reaction device according to claim 1, wherein the carrier also serves as an electrode, and the vacuum chemical reaction device utilizes a discharge reaction. (3) The vacuum chemical reaction device according to claim 1, wherein the carrier also serves as a heater, and the vacuum chemical reaction device is a CVD device. (4) The vacuum chemical reaction apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the carrier is a plate-shaped body, and the plate-shaped body projects in parallel or radially from the carrier holding machine. (5) The vacuum chemical reaction apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the carrier holder moves in a straight line. (6) The vacuum chemical reaction apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the carrier holder is moved by rotation.