KR100274308B1 - Multi Chamber Processing System - Google Patents

Abstract

In a multi-chamber processing system, a plurality of vacuum processing chambers arranged in a ring shape around a substantially polygonal transfer chamber, a transfer chamber, and connected to the transfer chamber via a switchgear, and a ring around the transfer chamber Two load lock chambers arranged in a shape and connected to the loading chamber via the switchgear, and disposed in the center of the loading chamber, can be pivoted for carrying in and out of the object into the load lock chamber and the vacuum processing chamber. As the movable arm which can be moved, the carrier arm has a minimum turning radius and a maximum elongation distance, and the two load lock chambers are arranged in parallel at appropriate open angles so that each centerline faces the pivot axis of the carrier arm, and the load lock The object to be disposed in the chamber is disposed at the maximum extension distance, and the object to be disposed in the vacuum processing chamber is half the maximum extension distance. The vacuum chamber is disposed at a position close to the center of the pivot arm of the arm, and the vacuum chamber is disposed outside the minimum pivot radius, and is disposed at a position where the chamber to be transported to a minimum shape is used, and the maximum number of vacuum chambers is used. The object to be disposed in the vacuum chamber is disposed at the maximum extension distance.

Description

Multi Chamber Processing System

1 is a horizontal sectional view of a multi-chamber processing system in which three vacuum processing chambers representing an embodiment of the present invention are arranged.

2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG.

3 (a) is a plan view of the conveyance arm used in the conveying apparatus when it is in an extended state.

3 (b) is a plan view of a shortened state of the carrier arm.

4 is a horizontal sectional view of a multi-chamber processing system in which six vacuum processing chambers representing an embodiment of the present invention are disposed.

5 is an explanatory diagram showing a design method when obtaining a conveying apparatus in a multi-chamber processing system in which three vacuum processing chambers are arranged around and a conveying apparatus in a multi-chamber processing system in which six vacuum processing chambers are arranged around .

Fig. 6 (a) is a plan view of the articulated arm in which the articulated arm capable of holding two target objects can be held.

6 (b) is a plan view of a shortened state of the articulated arm.

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram showing in plan view the schematic structure of the pressure reduction and atmospheric pressure treatment apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram for explaining an example of a workpiece to be conveyed in the pressure reduction and atmospheric pressure treatment apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram for explaining another example of a workpiece to be conveyed in the pressure reduction and atmospheric pressure treatment apparatus shown in FIG. 7. FIG.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the change of a part of the structure in the pressure reduction and atmospheric pressure treatment apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing a modification of another partial structure of the pressure reduction and atmospheric pressure treatment apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 12 is a schematic explanatory diagram for explaining a function of connecting various kinds of load lock chambers in a common manner to the decompression conveying chamber shown in FIG.

* Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings

P1, P2, P3, P11 to P16: vacuum processing chambers 2 and 16: pedestals

3: mounting stand (susceptor) 3a: lifting support pin

11, 51: Loading chamber 11a, 11b: Left and right wall parts

11c: rear end wall part 11d, 11e: left and right widening wall part

11f, 11g: front end wall 11h: girder

12, 13, 130, 140, 150: load lock chamber 14: carrier arm

15: alignment mechanism 18: cassette conveying apparatus

22, 53: port 23: cover

23a, 23b: partition 23d: hinge

24: mounting hole 25: cassette mounting

26 lifting mechanism 27 drive unit

28: pivot axis 29, 30, 31: articulated arm

31a: hand portion 33: swivel

34: rotating shaft 35: rotating drive part

36: lifting drive part 37: light emitting part

38: light receiver 40: handing arm

41: moving mechanism 42: cassette holder

45, 47: control unit 51a-51h: peripheral wall part

54: pivot shaft mounting hole 110: decompression process chamber

110A, 110B, 110C: Chamber 112, 132, 134: Gate valve

114: pressure reducing chamber 116, 122, 190A: robot arm

l18A: Cleaning room 118B: Drying room

100, 120, 190: atmospheric pressure transfer chamber 124, 124A to 124D, 152: cassette

126, 126A: Cassette stage 128: Alignment section

180A: Mounting part 200A, 200B, 200C: Atmospheric pressure process chamber

G1, G2, G3: Gate valve L1, L2: Center line

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention mainly relates to a multi-chamber processing system having a plurality of vacuum processing chambers for processing a target object such as a semiconductor wafer or an LCD substrate. will be.

In recent years, for example, with the miniaturization and high integration of semiconductor devices, various kinds of studies have been made in the semiconductor manufacturing process. For example, in a vacuum wafer processing system for semiconductor wafers, a plurality of vacuum processing chambers are provided in a state in which a plurality of vacuum processing chambers can be arranged around the wafer so as to be able to easily cope with reforming and changing various processes and to shorten the process by a consistent process. Development of a multi-chamber processing system called a cluster tool is being made.

As a conventional multi-chamber processing system of this kind, it is known that a vacuum processing chamber (process chamber) of a required number (assuming at least three to six maximum) according to various semiconductor manufacturing processes is provided. A conveying system for carrying in and out of an object to be processed into each of the vacuum processing chambers, wherein one or two load lock chambers and a plurality of connecting ports which are in airtight communication with each other through the gate valve in a state where the respective vacuum processing chambers and the load lock chambers are arranged around each other Polygonal transfer chamber (transfer chamber) provided with a circumferential wall, and a transfer arm (moving robot) capable of swinging and stretching movement provided in the transfer chamber.

In such a multi-chamber processing system, for example, a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter simply referred to as a wafer) is transferred to the load lock chamber in a cassette unit by an external transfer device as an object to be processed. Then, the inside of the load lock chamber is separated from the outside by vacuum suction or replacement with an inert gas, and then the gate valve on the side of the load chamber of the load lock chamber is opened. The transfer arm stores the wafers one by one from the cassette in the load lock chamber and carries them into the desired vacuum processing chamber sequentially. Here, for example, a predetermined process such as film formation, etching, or the like is performed, and the processed wafer is taken out into the room to be transported by the transfer arm and returned to the cassette in the load lock chamber.

In such a multi-chamber processing system, the load lock chamber which is a conveying system, the conveying chamber, and a conveyance arm can be shared by the several vacuum processing chamber arrange | positioned at the circumference. Therefore, compared with the conventional processing apparatus provided with a conveyance system individually for each vacuum processing chamber, the structure is simplified, the installation space is reduced, the conveyance efficiency is improved, and the like is extremely advantageous.

However, in the conventional multi-chamber processing system, the vacuum processing chamber of the required number is selected and prepared for each process according to the demand of the user. Based on the number and shape and size of these vacuum processing chambers, a loading chamber of a suitable shape, dimension (size) is manufactured in consideration of an interface therewith, and each vacuum processing chamber is formed around the chamber. Each is attached and fixed in a state of hermetically connecting through a gate valve. The load lock chamber is produced and attached to the end part (loading part side) of the circumferential wall of the carrying room. Furthermore, the carrying arm is completed by attaching and installing a carrying arm having a maximum extension distance (maximum length of the arm) of the arm that can carry the wafer into and out of the vacuum chamber and the load lock chamber from the carrying chamber. Doing.

Therefore, of course, in order to build a multi-chamber processing system having a different number of settings arranged around the vacuum processing chamber in accordance with the process change, it is of course possible to recreate the chambers of the shape and size (size) suitable for the process. However, at the same time, the load lock chamber should be made to be accessible to the carrying chamber, and the carrying arm having the minimum turning radius and the maximum arm length suitable for the carrying chamber should be manufactured and assembled. As a result, according to the demand of the user, the transfer chamber, the transfer arm, and the load lock chamber, which are the transfer systems, have to be reassembled and assembled for each process, and there is a problem in that the design and manufacture of the transfer system is cumbersome and the cost increases.

In addition, in the use of the multi-chamber processing system constructed for each process in this way, the shape of the vacuum processing chamber is different. Therefore, the conveying arm is moved in the chamber to be transported, and the conveying route and distance of the object to be processed are stored in the program control unit. Since it is necessary to make it work, the work is cumbersome, and when used, there is a problem that a lot of time is required to start operation.

Moreover, in order to manufacture a semiconductor, many processes are required as it is known, and the other processing process is performed also before and after a pressure reduction process process.

As a pre- or post-treatment before or after the treatment in the pressure reduction treatment apparatus, so-called atmospheric pressure treatment which is performed under atmospheric pressure is often required. For example, a washing step and a drying step may be performed to remove impurities and the like adhering to the surface in the previous treatment step before the treatment is performed under a reduced pressure atmosphere.

Usually, in this type of cleaning and drying step, a plurality of wafers are batch processed at the same time in a cassette unit in a cleaning and drying apparatus. Then, the cleaned and dried wafers are handled in a cassette unit and set in the above-mentioned pressure reduction processing apparatus by the cleaning and drying apparatus.

As described above, the cleaning / drying apparatus for carrying out the pre-process and the pressure reduction processing apparatus for performing the post-process are separated in time and space. Therefore, the time between the processes for conveyance, waiting, etc. is required between each process of a previous process and a post process, and although it wash | cleans and dries hardly, the impurity which exists in an atmospheric atmosphere adheres to the to-be-processed object surface. In other words, in the prior art, it was not possible to shift to the next depressurization treatment while maintaining the state immediately after the atmospheric pressure treatment.

In addition, depending on the type of atmospheric pressure treatment, some semiconductor wafers may be processed one by one. As the microprocessing progresses, there is a possibility that this kind of atmospheric pressure sheeting may increase. In this case, the handing frequency of the wafer for taking out from the cassette increases. Therefore, if the number of wafer handings increases during the entire time of a series of semiconductor manufacturing processes, not only will there be a decrease in throughput, a waste of driving energy, but also a decrease in yield due to dust generation due to mechanical contact with the wafer. do.

The first object of the present invention is only to change the shape and size of the loading chamber only when the kind or order of a plurality of processes is changed, and all other load lock chambers and the transfer arm can use a common product. The present invention provides a multi-chamber processing system that is extremely simple to manufacture and assemble and that can reduce costs.

In addition, a second object of the present invention is to provide a multi-chamber processing system in which information of the number of changed vacuum vessels and information of changed transfer chambers are input to the control device when the type or order of a plurality of processes is changed. Is in.

Furthermore, the third object of the present invention is to reduce the time between processes between the depressurization process and the atmospheric pressure process when the atmospheric pressure treatment is performed as a pre-process or a post-process of the depressurization process, and the atmospheric pressure treatment immediately before or immediately after the depressurization process. By providing a multi-chamber processing system that can improve the processing quality and throughput.

The present invention of the first aspect for achieving the first object is, in a multi-chamber processing system, arranged in an annular shape around a substantially polygonal transfer chamber and a transfer chamber, and in a chamber for carrying it through an opening and closing device. A plurality of vacuum processing chambers connected in series, two rod lock chambers arranged in a ring shape around the carrying chamber, and connected to the carrying chamber via a switchgear, and disposed in the center of the carrying chamber, Carrying arm capable of turning in and out of the lock chamber and vacuum processing chamber and capable of telescopic movement, the conveying arms have a minimum turning radius and a maximum elongation distance, and the two load lock chambers have their respective center lines each pivoting axis of the carrying arm. The objects to be disposed in parallel with each other at an appropriate open angle to face the center, and the workpieces disposed in the load lock chamber are arranged at the maximum extension distance, The object to be disposed in the chamber is disposed at a position closer to the center of the pivot axis of the carrier arm than the maximum extension distance, and the vacuum chamber is disposed outside the minimum swing radius, and is disposed at a position where the chamber to be transferred has a minimum shape. In the case where the maximum number of vacuum processing chambers is used, the workpieces arranged in the vacuum processing chamber are arranged at the maximum extension distance.

As a result, even if the number of vacuum chambers increases or decreases according to the process change, it is only necessary to change the shape and size of the chamber to be loaded and the length of the hand part. It can be used, manufacturing and assembling are very simple and cost reduction is achieved.

Further, the alignment mechanism is further provided with an alignment mechanism which is disposed at a fixed position that does not interfere with the swinging and stretching operation of the transfer arm of the transfer chamber, and receives and aligns the object to be processed from the transfer arm, wherein the alignment mechanism has two load locks. It is arrange | positioned in the intermediate position of the center line of a thread. Therefore, as compared with the case where the alignment mechanism is provided in the load lock chamber, the alignment mechanism can use one alignment mechanism in any load lock chamber without interfering with the carrier arm, and the device can be miniaturized.

Further, the present invention of the second aspect for achieving the second object further includes control means for the transfer arm in which the conveying route distance of the object to be processed is already stored, wherein the kind or order of the plurality of processes can be changed. At that time, information of the number of changed vacuum containers and information of the changed transfer chamber are input to the control means. Therefore, the information of the changed number of vacuum vessels, the information of the changed transfer chamber, and the information of the length of the hand portion need only be input to the control device, so that the accurate transport arm can be immediately controlled. The carrying chamber has a cover for sealing the carrying chamber on its upper surface, the cover is divided into at least two, and the carrying chamber is opened and closed by these divisions.

Moreover, this invention of the 3rd viewpoint for achieving a 3rd objective is a multi-chamber processing system, Comprising: Through the several pressure reduction process processing chamber which carries out the pressure reduction process of the to-be-processed object, the said several pressure reduction process processing chamber, and a 1st opening / closing apparatus. A decompression carrying chamber connected to the object to be processed under reduced pressure, a load lock chamber connected through the decompression carrying chamber and a second opening and closing device and having a third opening and closing device between the atmosphere, and the decompression carrying chamber A first conveying means arranged to carry in and out of the object to be processed into each of the decompression process chambers and the load lock chamber, a container for accommodating a plurality of the workpieces under a pressure of at least normal pressure, and the load lock at a pressure of at least normal pressure An atmospheric pressure process section in which the object to be processed before or after the sack is processed, the container, the load lock chamber, And a second transport means for carrying in and carrying out the object to be processed under a pressure equal to or higher than the normal pressure process processing unit.

The object to be processed is carried in and out of the atmospheric pressure processing unit directly connected to the pressure reduction process unit through the load lock chamber. Thereby, the time between processes between a depressurization process and the normal pressure process of the previous process or a later process is significantly shortened. Moreover, since the atmospheric pressure process can be performed at the time of carrying out from a container such as a cassette or carrying in the carrying in, it is possible to reduce the number of times of handing.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 is a horizontal cross-sectional view of a multi-chamber processing system in which three vacuum processing chambers are arranged, FIG. 2 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a plan view of the conveying arm used in the conveying apparatus in a stretched state, 4 is a horizontal sectional view of a multi-chamber processing system in which six vacuum processing chambers are arranged.

First, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, three vacuum processing chambers P1, P2, and P3 which perform processing on a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter, simply referred to as a wafer) W as an object to be processed are provided. A multi-chamber processing system will be described. These vacuum processing chambers P1, P2, and P3 are, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, a rectangular parallelepiped process called a process chamber or the like mounted on a pedestal 2 having a predetermined height, respectively. As a container, a mounting stand (susceptor) 3 having a plurality of lifting support pins 3a placed therein for processing the wafer W, which is an object to be processed, is provided therein.

Of these three, the two vacuum processing chambers P1 and P2 provide a desired processing function for the wafer W, such as sputtering, CVD, etching, ashing, oxidation, diffusion, etc. Equipped. The other vacuum processing chamber P3 is a preliminary vacuum processing chamber which performs the front-rear processing of the wafer W, for example, heating and cooling. Although not shown in the figure for the purpose of processing, a vacuum suction mechanism, a process injection mechanism, a heating / cooling mechanism, and the like are provided.

Usually, in this kind of multi-chamber processing system, as the number of arrangements of the vacuum processing chambers, a pattern including the three vacuum processing chambers P1, P2, and P3 is considered to be the minimum unit.

The conveying apparatus for the multi-chamber processing system of this minimum pattern is a polygonal chamber 11 surrounded by three vacuum processing chambers P1, P2, and P3 in three directions, and this chamber ( 11, the wafer W is received from the load lock chambers 12 and 13, and brought into the vacuum processing chambers P1, P2, and P3, and at the same time, the processing in the vacuum processing chamber is completed. The carrier arm 14 capable of turning and stretching movement to take out the wafer W and return it to the load lock chambers 12 and 13, and the wafer W from the carrier arm 14 are accommodated once, as will be described later. It is provided with the alignment mechanism 15 which performs alignment.

These carrying chambers 11 and the load lock chambers 12 and 13 are mounted and supported on the fixed base 16 as shown in FIG. In addition, an external cassette conveying device 18 is provided via a pedestal 17 on the front side of the load lock chambers 12 and 13.

The carrying chamber 11 has a polygonal shape, also called a vacuum transfer chamber (transfer chamber) or the like, and as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the right and left wall portions 11a, 11b parallel to each other and perpendicular to each other. It has the back end wall part 11c which is phosphorus. Furthermore, the conveying chamber 11 is inclined in a V-shape to each other in contact with the left and right widening wall portions 11d, 11e and 11e, which extend outwardly from the left and right wall portions 11a, 11b to extend slightly forward. It has the front end wall part 11f, 11g arrange | positioned by the diagram. In addition, the transfer chamber 11 is provided with the girders 11h which support the cover mentioned later. The chamber 11 is made smaller in size than the other pattern processing systems described below so that the number of arrangements of the vacuum processing chambers is at least (three) pattern processing systems so that there is no waste in the installation space.

Connection ports 21 are formed in the left and right wall portions 11a, 11b and the rear end wall portion 11c of the chamber 11, respectively, and the vacuum processing chambers P1, P2, Each P3 is provided in the state which communicates internally through the gate valve G1 individually. Moreover, as for the front end wall part 11f, 11g, the connection port 22 is formed in each of the connection parts (interfaces) with respect to the said two load lock chambers 12, 13, and each said front side is said Two (one pair of left and right) load lock chambers 12 and 13 are connected in parallel with each other by connecting the rear end side holes individually and communicating with each other through the gate valve G2.

Moreover, as shown in FIG. 2, the upper surface of this carrying chamber 11 is covered with the cover 23, and becomes an airtight container, and this cover 23 is divided into two partitions 23a and 23b. It consists of). One partition 23a is opened and closed by a hinge 23d, and the other partition 23b is opened and closed by a screw or the like. As a result, the opening and closing operation of the cover becomes very simple, and at the same time, the size can be reduced. In addition, in this embodiment, even when the chamber 11 is changed, the partition body 23b can be used as a common product. The chamber 11 is equipped with a vacuum suction mechanism for vacuuming the inside of the chamber 11 at a desired reduced pressure or a gas supply mechanism (all not shown) for substituting an inert gas such as N ₂ gas.

The pivot plate of the transfer arm 14 is located at the virtual center at the same distance from the left and right wall portions 11a and 11b and the rear end wall portion 11c, respectively, on the bottom plate portion of the chamber 11. The mounting hole 24 is formed. The pivot shaft 28 mentioned later of the said transfer arm 14 is attached here.

The two load lock chambers 12 and 13 are in the form of a conveying duct in the front-rear direction in which the conveying path (center line) is bent in the middle, and are made in mutually symmetrical form. The rear end portions of the load lock chambers 12 and 13 are joined to the front end wall portions 11f and 11g, which are the connection portions (load lock chamber interface) of the chamber 11 to be carried. Both the load lock chambers 12 and 13 are suitable for each other in a state of facing the pivot axis O of the carrier arm 14 in the chamber 11 in which the respective center lines L1 and L2 are carried. They are arranged side by side in symmetry with an open angle θ (eg 45 degrees).

Around the transfer chamber 11, the three vacuum processing chambers P1, P2, P3 and the load lock chambers 12, 13 are pivot centers O of the transfer arm 14. It is arrange | positioned and connected in the shape of the radiation which extended straight from ()), and it is possible to insert, remove, and move the wafer W to each of them by the conveyance arm 14.

The two load lock chambers 12 and 13 each have a cassette holder 25 in the center. In this cassette mounting base 25, the cassette C which carried several wafer W, for example, 25 sheets horizontally is carried in and out. This carry-in / out mechanism 18 accommodates the handing arm 40 which supports the cassette C, the moving mechanism 41 which moves this handing arm 40 horizontally, and the some cassette C. And a cassette holder 42. As a result, the cassette C is supported by the handling arm 40, the handling arm 40 is moved to a predetermined position by the moving mechanism 41, and the handling arm 40 is driven again to drive the cassette C. Is placed on the cassette rack (25). The cassette C containing the processed wafer is returned from the load lock chamber to the cassette holder 42 in the reverse order. In addition, the cassette mounting base 25 is supported by the lifting mechanism (elevator) 26 provided in the lower part of the load lock chambers 12 and 13 so that raising / lowering is possible.

In addition, these load lock chambers 12 and 13 each have a gate valve G3 so as to be opened and closed between the outside and the front end hole, which is a cassette carrying inlet. Thereby, the load lock chambers 12 and 13 can be kept airtight. In addition, the rod chamber may be vacuumed by a vacuum suction mechanism (not shown), or an inert gas such as N ₂ gas may be filled in the load chamber by a gas supply mechanism (not shown) to isolate the external atmosphere.

The conveying arm 14 is a kind of conveying robot, in which a pivoting shaft 28 is erected from the lower portion of the conveying chamber 11 or the driving unit 27 supported by the pedestal 16 shown in FIG. . The pivot shaft 28 penetrates upwardly and is inserted into the pivot shaft mounting hole 24 of the virtual center of the chamber 11 in the airtight state. At the upper end of the pivot shaft 28, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, a series of articulated arms 29, 30, 31 are connected. At the same time, an almost U-shaped hand portion 31a holding the wafer V by the electrostatic adsorption means or the like is provided at the front end of the arm 31.

The conveying arm 14 has a minimum turning radius R in a shortened state in which the articulated arms 29, 30, and 31 are folded together, and has a minimum size according to the minimum number of arrangements (3) of the vacuum processing chamber. It is set slightly smaller than the inner circumference of the carrying chamber 11. The inner circumference radius of the smallest transfer chamber 11 is one of the distance from the pivot axis O to the inner surface of the circumferential wall or the distance within the connection port 21, as shown by the imaginary line in FIG. We choose by height. The articulated arms 29, 30 and 31 are transferred to the front end hand portion 31a while the wafer W is held by the drive shaft 27 through the pivot shaft 28. As shown in FIG. In addition to being able to pivot horizontally in the chamber 11, the wafer W can be moved in and out in the vacuum processing chambers P1, P2, P3 and the load lock chambers 12, 13. It is supposed to be.

The alignment mechanism 15 includes a swivel table 33 that once receives the wafers W one by one from the carrier arm 14 in the carrying chamber 11 and holds them by an electrostatic adsorption means or the like, and the swivel table 33. A laser beam directly below the rotary drive unit 35 for rotating the rotary shaft 34 through the rotary shaft 34 and the elevating drive unit 36 for elevating, and the rotational movement position of the circumference of the wafer W placed on the rotary table 33. The light-emitting portion 37 for irradiating the light as a band-like parallel light, the light-receiving portion 38 using a PIN photodiode or the like, which receives the light from above and outputs an electric signal according to the light-receiving area, and the light-receiving portion 38 When the wafer W is rotated by the swivel 33 by one turn based on the electrical signal emitted from), the center position of the wafer W and the direction of the orientation flat (hereinafter simply referred to as an orificer) are adjusted. By detecting the rotary drive unit 35 The fisherman is provided with the control part (not shown). By this rotational control, the wafer W is aligned in a predetermined direction, is transferred to the transfer arm 14, and the wafer W can be properly loaded into the vacuum processing chambers P1, P2, and P3. .

The alignment mechanism 15 is placed in the smallest loading chamber 11 according to the minimum number of arrangements of the vacuum processing chambers (3), and at the correct position that does not interfere with the swinging and stretching operation of the transfer arm 14. It is installed. That is, the two load lock chambers 12 arranged in parallel to the outside of the minimum turning radius R of the transfer arm 14 in the carrying chamber 11 at a suitable opening angle θ as described above. The rotary table 33 is provided in the intermediate position of each centerline L1, L2 of 13 through the said rotating shaft 34. As shown in FIG.

Reference numeral 45 in the first diagram denotes a control unit as a control means, which includes a control device such as a CPU having a memory that stores programs in various operation modes, a program selection, condition setting, and the like. The operation panel is installed.

Next, the operation of the multi-chamber processing system configured as described above will be described.

When the cassette C, which contains a predetermined number of wafers W, as the object to be processed, is mounted in the external cassette transport apparatus 18, each of the external cassette transporters is first carried out by automatically controlling each part by the control device of the control unit 45. The device 18 is operated to bring in the open side of the load lock chambers 12, 13 on the left and right. Here, the cassette mounting table 25 in the load lock chamber is lifted by the elevating mechanism 26 to accommodate the cassette C, and the external cassette transport apparatus 18 returns to the front.

In this way, for example, as shown in FIG. 1, the load lock chamber 13 on the left side in which the cassette C is accommodated is closed by the gate valve G3 to be sealed, and vacuum suction is performed in this state. The device is evacuated by vacuum, and filled with an inert gas, such as H ₂ gas, by the gas supply mechanism and isolated from the external atmosphere (roadlock). Thereafter, the gate valve G2 at the rear end of the load lock chamber 13 is opened, and the load lock chamber 13 communicates with the inside of the transfer chamber 11 filled with vacuum suction and inert gas.

In this state, the cassette C in the load lock chamber 13 is moved up and down by the elevating mechanism 26 together with the cassette mounting base 25, while the carrier arm 16 in the carrying chamber 11 is moved. It rotates and expands and is stored inside the chamber 11 where the wafers W in the cassette C in the load lock chamber 13 are carried one by one, and the vacuum chambers P1 and P2 are desired in accordance with the program mode. Each gate valve G1 is opened and loaded in turn in order to perform predetermined processing.

As a result, for example, the transfer arm 14 first loads the wafer W into the prevacuum processing chamber P3, preheats it, and returns the wafer W to the chamber 11 where the transfer mechanism 14 is rotated. 33), the center of gravity of the wafer W and the orificer direction are detected and rotated in a predetermined direction by rotation control, and are transferred to the transfer arm 14 as the rotary table 33 is lowered as it is. Into the first vacuum processing chambers P1 and P2, they are carried in and set in order, and predetermined processing such as film formation or etching is performed. The processed wafer W is returned to the cassette C of the load lock chamber 13 by the transfer arm 14.

In this way, the wafers W in the cassette C are put one by one, processed, and returned. When the processing of all the wafers W in the cassette C is finished, the G2 on the rear end side of the load lock chamber 13 is closed. After closing, it returns to atmospheric pressure and the gate valve G3 of the fore end hole opens, and the external cassette conveying apparatus 18 moves there, and takes out the cassette C which accommodated the processed wafer to the outside. .

In addition, as described above, the wafer W is stored in the chamber 11, which is sequentially transferred from the cassette C in the load lock chamber 13 on the left side, and is stored in the vacuum processing chambers P1, P2, and P3. During the predetermined process, the cassette C following the unprocessed wafer W is stored in the load lock chamber 12 on the left side is carried in by the external cassette transfer device 18, and the load lock chamber on the left side thereof. (12) is placed in the load lock state and waited. The gate valve G2 of the load lock chamber 12 on the left side is opened, and the next cassette C therein is opened at the same time as the wafer W exiting the wafer W from the load lock chamber 13 on the left side. The wafer W is stored inside the chamber 11 in which the transfer arm 14 is carried to perform continuous processing.

Next, a multi-chamber processing system in which six vacuum processing chambers P11, P12, P13, P14, P15, and P16 are arranged, which is the second embodiment shown in FIG.

It should be noted that the same structures and functions as those of the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 described above are denoted by the same reference numerals to simplify the description, and the structures shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 are substantially changed. 2 and 3 will not be shown again without reference to the drawings.

First, the six vacuum processing chambers P11 to P16 are rectangular parallelepiped processing vessels mounted on the pedestal 2 as in the above embodiment, and among these six, four vacuum processing chambers P11, P12, P13 and P14 have desired processing functions for the wafer W, such as sputtering, CVD, etching, ashing, oxidation, diffusion, etc., and the remaining two vacuum processing chambers P15. ) And P16 are pre-vacuum processing chambers which perform pre- and post-processing of the wafer W, for example, heating and cooling.

Usually, in this kind of multi-chamber processing system, it is thought that the pattern provided with the said six vacuum processing chambers P11-P16 is the largest unit as the number of arrangement | positioning of a vacuum processing chamber. The conveying apparatus for the multi-chamber processing system of this largest pattern is provided with the polygonal conveyance chamber 51 connected, respectively, in the state in which the six vacuum processing chambers P11-P16 were radially arrange | positioned, and the above is the above-mentioned. A pair of left and right load lock chambers 12 and 13, a transfer arm 14, and an alignment mechanism 15 are provided as in the embodiment. In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, the fixed support 16 for mounting and supporting the 11A load chambers and the load lock chambers 12, 13, and the load lock chambers 12, 13 An external cassette transport apparatus 18 is provided on the front side.

In this case, the six vacuum processing chambers P11 to P16 and the two load lock chambers 12 and 13 do not interfere with each other as much as possible, so that the entire system 51 can be miniaturized. In order to be connected in a balanced manner radially in a state of access without waste, the peripheral wall portions 51a, 51b, 51c, 51d, 51e, 51f, and 51g It consists of a nearly octagonal container with a suitable outer circumference radius. As a matter of course, the transfer chamber 51 is the transfer chamber 11 in the case of the pattern processing system of the arrangement number (three) of the vacuum processing chamber of the above-mentioned embodiment, and although not shown in figure, the arrangement | positioning number of the vacuum processing chamber is 4 It is larger than the transfer chamber in the case of medium or large size pattern processing systems.

Connection holes 52 are formed in the respective peripheral wall portions 51a to 51h of the transfer chamber 51, respectively, and each of the rear half of the peripheral wall portions 51a, 51b, 51c, and 51d. The vacuum processing chambers P11, P12, P13, and P14 are respectively provided on the outside in a state of communicating with each other through the gate valve G1, respectively, and at the front left and right circumferential wall portions ( The preliminary vacuum processing chambers P15 and P16 are respectively provided at 51c and 51h in a state where they communicate with each other through the gate valve G1 '.

The left and right peripheral wall portions 51f and 51g at the front end side thereof are arranged in a V-shape at the same angle as in the above-described embodiment, and connection holes 53 are formed in each of them. In other words, also in this large octagonal loading chamber 51, a load lock thread connecting portion (interface) having substantially the same dimensions as the above embodiment is formed at the front end side, and in front of each of them as in the above embodiment. Two (one pair of left and right) load lock chambers 12 and 13 are connected in parallel with each other through the gate valve G2 to connect the rear end holes. In other words, the center lines L1 and L2 are transferred to the chambers 51 to which the two load lock chambers 12 and 13, which have almost the same structure as the above embodiment, are carried. In the state toward the pivot axis center O mentioned later of the conveyance arm 14 in the chamber 51, they are arrange | positioned in parallel at right and left symmetry with the suitable opening angle (theta) (for example, 45 degree | times) in A shape with each other.

The pivot shaft mounting hole 54 is formed at the center position of the octagonal shape of the bottom plate portion of the carrying chamber 51, and the transport arm 14 penetrates the pivot shaft 31 in an airtight state as in the above-described embodiment. It is installed.

Here, the six vacuum processing chambers P11 to P16 and the two load lock chambers 12 and 13 are disposed around the pivot axis O of the transfer arm 14 around the carrying chamber 51. It is arrange | positioned and connected on the radiation extended straightly, and it is possible to insert, remove, and carry the wafer W by each of them by the conveyance arm 14. As shown in FIG.

In addition, the cover 23 of this carrying chamber 51 is also comprised by two division bodies, as shown in FIG.

The carrier arm 14 is a common product having almost the same structure as that of the above embodiment, and has a minimum turning radius R in the shortened state in which the articulated arms 29, 30, and 31 are folded together. Since it is set slightly smaller than the inner circumference radius of the smallest conveying chamber 11 according to the minimum number of arrangement | positioning (3) of the above-mentioned vacuum processing chamber, the turning space in the octagonal largest conveying chamber 51 is set. As shown in the figure, the circumferential wall portions 51a, 51b, 51c, and 51d of the chamber 51 are thickened so that the vacuum strength of the large chamber 51 can be increased. We plan to strengthen.

In addition, the transfer arm 14 sets the minimum turning radius R in the shortened state of the articulated arms 29, 30, and 31 as small as described above, but the articulated arm 29 The maximum arm extension distance (maximum arm length) Q of, 30, and 31 is each of the vacuum processing chambers P11 to P16 and two load lock chambers 12 from the largest transfer chamber 51. ) And 13 are set to the dimensions (distance from the pivot axis O to the wafer placing table 2 of the vacuum processing chamber P11) necessary for carrying in and carrying out the wafer W into and out of the wafer W.

Therefore, this conveyance arm 14 uses a common product having the same structure, so that the smallest carrying chamber 11 in the case of the pattern processing system of the arrangement number (three) of the vacuum processing chamber of the above embodiment, although not shown, In the case of the medium size pattern processing system with 4 or 5 batches of vacuum chambers, the maximum arm extension distance Q is considered to be a little wasteful. Therefore, it is very advantageous to consider the effort of designing and manufacturing the carrying arm with different arm length each time. In addition, by using the carrier arm 14 having a slightly larger arm length, the distance from the pivot axis O to the load lock thread connecting portion (interface) is also large within the small carrying chamber 11 of the above embodiment. The installation space of the alignment mechanism 15 can be sufficiently secured.

On the other hand, the alignment mechanism 15 is also substantially the same as the above embodiment, slightly outside the minimum turning radius R of the carrier arm 14 in the chamber 51 in which the swivel table 33 is moved, and the above-mentioned. As described above, it is provided via the rotating shaft 34 at the mutually intermediate positions of the center lines L1 and L2 of the two load lock chambers 12 and 13 arranged in parallel at an appropriate opening angle θ. have.

In the conveying apparatus in the multi-chamber processing system of the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, although not described above, basically the same operation as in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 can be obtained, and the vacuum processing chamber P11 is arranged. Since the number of ˜P16) is large, the processing for the wafer W can be divided and performed.

In the multi-chamber processing system of the present invention as in each of the embodiments described above, the shape and size of the chamber to be transferred are changed in accordance with the change in the number of arrangements of the vacuum processing chamber according to the change of the semiconductor manufacturing process. The load lock chambers 12, 13, the carrier arm 14, the alignment mechanism 15, and the like are all characterized by being configured to be compatible with a common product.

Therefore, as described above, in the case of any of the chambers 11 and 51, the constant connection portion (interface; the peripheral wall portions 11f, 11g and 51f, 51g) to the load lock chamber is also provided at the end of the peripheral wall. In any case, the load lock chambers 12 and 13 of the same structure can be arranged almost identically. Further, the transfer arm 14 has a minimum turning radius D that can be turned in the smallest carrying chamber 11 according to the minimum number of arrangements (3) of the vacuum chamber, and the maximum number of arrangements of the vacuum chamber (6). It is a structure which has the largest arm extension distance Q which can carry in and out a to-be-processed object from each inside of the largest type | mold loading chamber 51 according to the opening).

A design method for realizing such a structure will be described below. First, as a prerequisite, as shown in FIG. 5, the size of the wafer W (for example, 8 inches) as the object to be processed and the 8-inch wafer storage cassette are shown. The size (opening dimension) a = 300 mm of the load lock chambers 12 and 13 in consideration of the size of (C), and the size (opening dimension) of the various vacuum processing chambers P1 for processing the wafer W. b = 400mm, c = 300mm and the required installation space of the alignment mechanism 15 are selected in advance, and the minimum (3) and the maximum (6) of the number of arrangements of the vacuum chamber according to the process, and the load lock chamber Select the number of two (2).

In the first step, the maximum number of the vacuum processing chambers (6) and the load lock chambers (2) are radially spaced at as narrow intervals as possible (with a margin of about 10 mm on each side) as long as they do not interfere with each other. Draw an octagon (Y) that can be arranged on the same circumference in the drawing, and calculate the distance (radius of the inscribed circle of the octagon) Q1 from the arm pivot center O at this time to each carry-out port (interface). do.

After all, according to the following formula,

2α + 2β = 180 °

Next, each opening dimension between each vacuum processing chamber and the load lock chamber (in a state of adding 10 mm to both sides) a '= 320 mm, b' = 420 mm, and c '= 320 mm,

^{420 2 = r 2 + r 2} - 2r 2 cosα

^{320 2 = r 2 + r 2} - 2r 2 cosβ

Is established, and accordingly,

α = 51 °, β = 39 °, r = 484

Can be obtained. The distance (radius of the octagonal inscribed circle) Q ₁ from this arm pivot axis center O to each carry-in / out port (interface surface),

Q ₁ = r cos (α / 2) = 436 mm.

Considering the mounting space of a gate valve on the basis of the Q ₁ to and at the same time designing the chamber 51 is put moved in the up-type octagon, the most up to the wafer transfer distance Q ₂ = 305mm of a large vacuum process chamber on the Q ₁ In addition, the maximum arm extension distance (maximum arm length; maximum carrier distance) of the carrier arm 14 is calculated Q = Q ₁ + Q ₂ = 741 mm.

As a second step, the carrying arm 14 of the articulated arm structure is designed on the condition that the maximum arm extension distance Q = 741 mm, and the minimum turning radius R is obtained. This minimum turning radius R can be reduced to about 255 mm.

As a third step, only the portion of the interface to the left and right two load lock chambers 12, 13 of the largest loading chamber 51 remains unchanged, and the minimum number The squares Z can be arranged on the same circumference at the narrowest possible intervals so that the vacuum processing chambers (3) do not interfere with the turning range of the carrier arm. Design and manufacture the transfer chamber 11.

Further, as a fourth step, 2 which are arranged slightly outside the minimum turning radius R of the transfer arm 14 in the chamber 51 in which the alignment mechanism 15 is carried out, and arranged in parallel at the same angle θ at the same time The center line L1 and L2 of the two load lock chambers 12 and 13 are set at intermediate positions.

At this time, when the transfer arm 14 takes the wafer W into the left and right load lock chambers 12 and 13 in the loading chamber, the transfer arm 14 rotates on the rotary shaft 34 or the rotary table 33. ), In order to eliminate it, the left and right angles of the center lines L1 and L2 of the left and right load lock chambers 12 and 13 and the pivot axis O from left and right. The distance to the interface surface portions of the load lock chambers 12 and 13 is changed to be enlarged. When it is necessary to change the arrangement position of each said vacuum processing chamber by this expansion change, it designs again from said 1st step.

In the conveying apparatus for the multi-chamber processing system designed and manufactured as described above, even if the arrangement number of the vacuum processing chamber is changed or changed according to the process change, only the chambers 11 and 51 of the conveying system change the shape and size. Only the other load lock chambers 12, 13, the transfer arm 14, and the alignment mechanism 15 can cope with a common product, and the manufacturing and assembling are very simple, and the cost can be reduced. Will be.

In addition, the wafer W is stored in the load lock chambers 12 and 13 by the transfer arm 14 and is carried into the vacuum processing chamber into the chambers 11 and 51. ) Is once accommodated in the alignment mechanism 15 to enable alignment of the direction light.

Further, as described above, by providing the two load lock chambers 12 and 13, the load W of the wafer W is carried by the transfer arm 14 by using both of the load lock chambers 12 and 13 together. Exports are flexible in turn, enabling high throughput. Moreover, the pivot axis O of the conveyance arm 14 in the chambers 11 and 51 in which the two load lock chambers 12 and 13 carry each centerline L1 and L2 is carried out. Are arranged in parallel with each other at an appropriate open angle θ in a state of facing each other, and the alignment mechanism 15 is disposed in the empty space between the advance and retreat routes of the transfer arm 14 with respect to both the load lock chambers 12 and 13. Therefore, the alignment mechanism 15 does not interfere with the operation of the transfer arm 14, and at the same time, the chambers 11 and 51 to be carried in each pattern according to the number of arrangements of the vacuum processing chamber can be made as small as possible. Miniaturization of the entire system can be achieved.

On the other hand, in the above-mentioned conveying apparatus for a multi-chamber processing system, a control device such as a CPU having a memory in which programs in various operation modes are stored in a control unit 47 as a control means, and a program selection and condition setting, etc. Since the operation panel is installed, the workpiece conveyance route and distance for each of the various transfer chambers 11 and 51 which have been changed in large and small sizes in response to the change in the number of arrangements of the vacuum processing chamber according to the process change as described above. By storing it in a memory, the conveyance arm 14 can be rotated and stretched in accordance with the conveyance route and the distance of the workpiece to be actually installed therein. Therefore, even if the shape and the size of the chamber to be changed in accordance with the change in the arrangement number of the vacuum processing chamber according to the process change are various, there is no need to data-process the workpiece conveyance route and the distance of the transfer arm 14 each time. Immediate control of the return arm is attained.

In the above embodiment, one pair of left and right load lock chambers 12 and 13 is provided, but in some cases, one may be provided or three may be provided if necessary. In addition, although the articulated arm holding one to-be-processed object as the carrying arm 14 was illustrated in the said Example, besides, it is holding a plug leg arm and two to-be-processed object W as shown in FIG. The articulated arm 14A or the like may be used as the carrier arm.

In the above embodiment, the carrier arm 14 is a common product even if the shape and size of the transporting chamber are varied, but the hand portion 31a is easy to change, so the small handing chamber is shorter and larger. You may make it use a long hand part for a loading chamber.

The alignment mechanism 15 may not be provided in the case of a vacuum processing system in which the alignment of the wafer W is unnecessary. Further, in the above embodiment, the semiconductor wafer W is exemplified as the object to be processed. You may make it etc. a to-be-processed object. In addition, various changes are possible as long as the scope of the present invention is not deviated.

7 schematically shows a schematic configuration of a pressure reduction and atmospheric pressure treatment apparatus according to the present invention. The pressure reduction / atmospheric pressure treatment apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention is a type in which a continuous processing is performed, which is called a class turtle system in which a plurality of processing units are arranged in a radial direction around a room where a conveying means such as a robot arm is located. It is a device.

The pressure reduction and atmospheric pressure treatment apparatus shown in this embodiment includes a pressure reduction processing unit X, an atmospheric pressure processing unit Y, and a load lock chamber 130 which connects each of these processing units, and at the same time, the respective process processing in each processing unit. Characterized in that is made.

The decompression processing unit X carries out decompression, which is connected via a first opening and closing device 112 to each of the plurality of decompression process chambers 110 in which the object to be processed is depressurized, and the plurality of decompression process chambers 110. The loading chamber 114 and the 1st conveyance means 116 which carry in and carry out the said to-be-processed object to each process chamber are provided.

In each of the depressurization process chambers 110, a plurality of chambers 110A, 110B, 110C are arranged so that a plurality of processes can be performed as shown in FIG. The processing contents in each of these chambers will be described later.

The first opening and closing device 112 uses a gate valve (hereinafter referred to as a first gate valve 112) that can be opened and closed, and when opened, allows the pressure reducing chamber 114 and the pressure reducing process chamber 110 to be connected in series. .

The pressure reducing chamber 114 is formed in a polygonal shape as shown in FIG. 7 and is configured as a pressure reducing space capable of communicating with each of the pressure reducing process chambers 110 via the first gate valve 112. . In this embodiment, each pressure reduction process processing chamber 110 is arranged at a position where line symmetry is performed at the boundary of the vertical axis center line in FIG. 7.

The robot arm (hereinafter referred to as the first robot arm 116), which is the first transport means 116 that can be pivoted around the center of the decompression chamber 114, is pivotally provided. The first robot arm 116 is composed of a articulated arm having a mounting surface of the object to be treated, and the maximum conveying range R1 set by the arm end at the time of maximum extension is indicated by a dashed-dotted line in FIG. It is set in the range.

In addition, as a pressure of the pressure reducing chamber 114, the vacuum degree of 10 <^{-3> -10 < -6>} Torr is set as an example.

By the way, as said three pressure reduction process processing chamber 110, it can use as a CVD processing chamber for performing heterogeneous or the same film formation continuously or in parallel, for example. Alternatively, the etching treatment may be performed in three chambers, or the etching treatment in two chambers and the ashing treatment for resist removal in the remaining chambers. It is also possible to use two chambers as CVD processing chambers in which heterogeneous or homogeneous film formation is performed, and one chamber to be treated prior to this CVD treatment as an etching processing chamber for removing the natural oxide film generated on the surface of the workpiece.

On the other hand, the atmospheric pressure processing unit Y includes a plurality of atmospheric pressure process chambers 118 for atmospheric pressure treatment of the workpiece, a chamber 20 for carrying the atmospheric pressure in communication with the plurality of atmospheric pressure process chambers 118, and the target object. The second conveyance means 122 which carries in and carries out to each atmospheric pressure process chamber 118 is provided.

The atmospheric pressure process chamber 118 is a place for performing the process at atmospheric pressure or positive pressure. In this embodiment, four atmospheric pressure process chambers 118 are arranged at positions symmetrical with respect to the vertical center line of FIG. have.

As four atmospheric pressure process chambers 118, in the example shown in FIG. 7, for example, two sets of the washing chamber 118A and the drying chamber 118B are arranged. Thereby, before carrying a to-be-processed object into the atmospheric pressure process chamber 110, a to-be-processed object can be wash | cleaned by hydrofluoric acid, pure water, etc. in the cleaning chamber 11A, and it can dry in a drying chamber 118B. In addition, after the process of the pressure reduction process chamber 110 is complete | finished, it is possible to wash | clean a to-be-processed object with hydrofluoric acid or pure water, etc. in the washing | cleaning chamber 118A, to dry it in the drying chamber 118B, and to return to a cassette. The object to be processed can be spin-rotated at the time of washing or drying.

The atmospheric pressure process chamber 118 is not limited to the above-described cleaning and drying process, and can be configured to perform various atmospheric pressure processes necessary before or after the pressure reduction process. For example, when etching is performed in the reduced pressure process chamber 110, the baking process of removing chlorine in the resist remaining after the etching process by baking may be performed in the atmospheric pressure process chamber 118. As a process at this time, baking for about 2 minutes is performed, for example at 200 degreeC. After performing this baking process, it can cool in another atmospheric pressure process chamber 118, and can return to a cassette and convey it.

In the atmospheric pressure processing unit Y, although the treatment atmosphere may be opened to the atmosphere and performed under atmospheric pressure, it may be preferably a positive pressure atmosphere slightly higher than atmospheric pressure. As the gas used for setting the positive pressure, an inert gas such as N ₂ gas or CO ₂ gas is used, and impurity entry and discharge are prevented.

On the other hand, the atmospheric pressure conveying chamber 120 is formed in a polygonal shape as shown in FIG. 7 and communicates with the inlet of each atmospheric pressure process chamber 118. In the atmospheric pressure carrying chamber 120, a robot arm (hereinafter referred to as a second robot arm) 122, which is a second conveying means having a center of rotation, is disposed at the central portion thereof. In the case of this embodiment, the said atmospheric pressure process chamber 118 is arrange | positioned in the line symmetry position, respectively, with the longitudinal center line of the atmospheric pressure conveyance chamber 120 in between.

In addition, the second robot arm 122 is a flexible articulated arm having a front end portion capable of vacuum adsorption under an atmospheric pressure atmosphere, and the maximum conveying range R2 at maximum extension is indicated by a dashed-dotted line in FIG.

In the conveyance ranges R1 and R2 of the first and second robot arms 116 and 122, overlapping positions overlapping each other are set, and the load lock chamber 130 is disposed at the overlapping positions. .

That is, in the case of the present embodiment, the load lock chamber 130 is disposed at a line symmetrical position with an extension line connecting the rotation centers of the first and second robot arms 116 and 122 interposed therebetween. In the load lock chamber 130, a space to which an object to be processed is exchanged is arranged at a place where the conveyance range overlaps. In addition, the gate valve as the second and third opening / closing devices (hereinafter referred to as the second gate valve 132) is provided at a position in communication with the pressure reducing chamber 114 and the atmospheric pressure chamber 120 in the load lock chamber 130. ) And third gate valve 134 are attached to each other.

The load lock chamber 130 is subjected to repeated substitution of atmospheric-vacuum. Therefore, when transferring the object from the atmospheric pressure conveying chamber 120 to the decompression conveying chamber 114, it is set as a vacuum atmosphere in an atmospheric pressure atmosphere, and from the decompression conveying chamber 14 to the atmospheric pressure conveying chamber 120. In the case of transferring the object to be processed, the atmospheric pressure atmosphere is set in the vacuum atmosphere. The load lock chamber 130 may be equipped with a heating / cooling mechanism (not shown). In this way, preheating of the to-be-processed object carried in to the pressure reduction process part X in the atmospheric pressure carrying chamber 120, or cooling of the to-be-processed object carried in from the pressure reduction process part X to the atmospheric pressure process part Y is performed. By preliminary heating, when the object to be processed is subjected to high temperature treatment in the depressurization process chamber 110, the heating time until the treatment temperature is reached can be shortened. In addition, by preliminary cooling, generation of useless oxide film due to contact with the atmosphere when the object to be processed is carried out at a high temperature in the depressurization processing unit X is prevented.

When such a preheating atmosphere or a cooling atmosphere is performed in the load lock chamber 130, the surroundings of the workpiece can be made into a vacuum insulation atmosphere, so that efficient heating and cooling can be realized.

Moreover, the cassette 124 which is a container which accommodates several to-be-processed object in the circumference | part except one of the atmospheric pressure process chamber 118 and the load lock chamber 130 in one of the polygonal sides in the atmospheric pressure carrying chamber 120, in other words. Is arranged.

The cassette 124 is provided on the cassette stage 126 in a line symmetrical position with an extension line connecting the centers of the decompression chamber 114 and the atmospheric pressure chamber 120 interposed therebetween.

With respect to the cassette 124, it is preferable that the opening of the cassette 124 faces the center of rotation of the robot arm 122 in order to ensure the carrying in and out of the object to be processed by the second robot arm 122. Do. To this end, the cassette 124 is swingable as indicated by an arrow in FIG. 7 and is settable at a position facing the rotation center.

In the decompression and atmospheric pressure processing apparatus having such a configuration, the object to be taken out from the cassette 124 is collected in the same cassette as the cassette 124 at the time of carrying out. The reason why the cassettes or carriers differ from the time of carrying out to the time of carrying out is that the probability of occurrence of cross-construction increases. Another reason is that the same cassettes or carriers are used in the carry-on and export places in recent years, because the lot management is carried out by the ID code attached to the cassette or the carrier.

It is noted that reference numeral 128 in Fig. 7 shows a table that forms the alignment portion of the object. This table 128 constitutes a vaccum chuck which can suck and hold a workpiece to rotate and move up and down. Moreover, the transmissive sensor which is not shown in figure is arrange | positioned above the vacuum chuck, for example. In this way, the object to be sucked and held is aligned by the signal from the transmission sensor and the above-mentioned table by the drive mechanism at the predetermined position, so that the alignment of the so-called orientation flat is achieved.

As described above, the operation of the present embodiment in which the access distance for carrying in and carrying out the atmospheric pressure process-processed object to and from the decompression process unit is shortened. In the initial state, all of the first to third gate valves 16, 132, and 134 are kept closed.

First, the operator places the cassette 124 on the cassette stage 126 by the robot handler or the attraction force. Thereafter, the opening of the cassette 124 adjusts the second robot arm 122 toward the center of rotation.

When the mounting of the cassette 124 and the adjustment of the direction are completed, the front end of the second robot arm 122 is fed into one lower surface of the object to be processed, such as a semiconductor wafer, in the cassette 124 to be processed, Subsequently, the cassette 124 is lowered slightly through the stage 126 to vacuum the target object to the front end of the robot arm 122.

Next, as indicated by the arrow 1 in FIG. 8, the object to be taken out from the cassette 124 is brought into the processing chamber 118A for the cleaning process, which is one of the atmospheric process chambers 118 by the robot arm 122. Next, as shown in FIG. do. When the washing step is completed, the object to be processed is taken out from the processing chamber 18A by the robot arm 22, and then, as indicated by the arrow 2, the processing chamber 118B for the drying process, which is the other of the atmospheric pressure process chamber 118. Imported into). In addition, although the arrow is abbreviate | omitted, the to-be-processed object is aligned by the alignment part 128 at the timing before washing or after drying.

The to-be-processed object which finished the drying process is taken out from the other process chamber 118B by the robot arm 22, and is carried in to one load lock chamber 130 as shown by arrow (3). In this case, the third gate valve 134, which has been closed until now, is opened to enable the carrying of the object to be processed.

On the other hand, when the third gate valve 134 is closed after the object to be loaded is loaded, the load lock chamber 130 is set to a pressure equivalent to that of the decompression atmosphere in the chamber 114 in which the inside of the chamber 114 is carried under reduced pressure. Thereafter, the gate valve 132 is opened. At the time of this conversion to an atmosphere-vacuum atmosphere, the above-described preheating may be performed in parallel.

Subsequently, the first robot arm 116 located in the decompression chamber 114 removes the object to be positioned in the load lock chamber 130 and moves the object to be decompressed as shown by arrow ④. Bring it in) and put it on.

When the first gate valve 112 is closed, the pressure reducing process processing chamber 110A into which the object is loaded is set to a process pressure with a higher degree of vacuum than that in the chamber 114 in which the pressure is carried under reduced pressure. As it reaches the load lock chamber 130, the decompression chamber 114, and the decompression process chamber 110A under normal pressure, the degree of vacuum in the atmosphere to be processed increases. Then, the first depressurization process set in advance is performed in the depressurization process chamber 110A.

When the first decompression process is completed, the target object is processed by the robot arm 110 into the decompression process chambers 110B and 110C through the decompression moving chamber 113 as indicated by arrows ⑤ and ⑥. It is conveyed as it is, and a 2nd, 3rd pressure reduction process process is performed.

After the above-mentioned decompression process is performed, the object to be placed in the decompression process chamber 110C is carried into the load lock chamber 130 by the second robot arm 116, as indicated by arrow?. The load lock chamber 130 is replaced with a vacuum-atmosphere atmosphere. At this time, the workpiece can be cooled. As a result, useless oxide films are prevented from being produced in the object to be transported to the atmosphere afterwards.

After the end of the atmosphere replacement in the load lock chamber 130, the third gate valve 134 is opened, and the second robot arm 122 cleans, for example, as indicated by the arrow ⑧. The object to be processed is carried into the atmospheric pressure process chamber 11A for executing the process.

When the process in the atmospheric pressure process chamber 118A is finished, the object to be processed is taken out from the atmospheric pressure process chamber 118A by the second robot arm 122, and as shown by arrow 9, the atmospheric process chamber is subjected to a drying process. Imported into 118B.

When the drying process in the atmospheric pressure process chamber 118B ends, the object to be processed is loaded into the cassette 124 toward the cassette 124 of the carry-out as indicated by the arrow 110. At this time, the target object is preferably placed on the table 128, the orientation flat is aligned, and then brought into the cassette 124.

Moreover, the to-be-processed object carried out from a cassette and performing various processes is carried out by the same cassette as when carried out. This makes it possible to manage the object to be stored in the cassette by the ID attached to the cassette. In addition, since carrying out and carrying in to the same cassette, there is no fear of cross-contamination occurring, thereby reducing the trouble of implementing measures to remove deposits such as cleaning the cassette.

In addition, as a procedure of carrying in / out of a to-be-processed object in an Example mentioned above, it is not limited to the above. That is, it is also possible to change the conveyance procedure of a to-be-processed object according to the some extent of a process process.

9 shows another conveying procedure. In this case, the atmospheric pressure process is performed only after the reduced pressure process. Therefore, as the procedure, as shown by arrow ① in FIG. 9, the load lock on one side of which the third gate valve 134 is opened by the second robot arm 122 on one side of the cassette 124. FIG. Bringed into the yarn 130. Of course, the alignment unit 128 can align the object to be processed previously.

Thereafter, as indicated by arrows (2) to (4), the object to be processed is sequentially loaded into three pressure reducing process chambers 110A to 110C, for example, and the same or different pressure reduction processes are performed.

When the processing in the depressurization process chamber 110C ends, the first gate valve 112 is opened, and as shown by ⑤ in FIG. 9, the first robot arm 116 enters the load lock chamber 130. The object to be processed is carried in. In addition, in the conveyance procedure shown in FIG. 9, the load lock chamber 130 on the left side is used for carrying in / out of the to-be-processed object in the left side cassette 124 of FIG. Therefore, when carrying out the object to be processed in the right cassette 124 of FIG. 9, the right load lock chamber 130 of FIG. 9 can be used to process the objects in the two left and right cassettes 124 in parallel. do.

After the atmospheric substitution is performed in the load lock chamber 130 as described above, as shown by arrows ⑥ and ⑦ of FIG. 9, the target object is directed to the atmospheric process chambers 118A and 118B, and the second robot arm ( In turn). As the atmospheric pressure treatment content, for example, if the treatment content in the depressurization process chamber 110 is an etching, the above-described baking process for removing chlorine in the resist is performed in the treatment chamber 118A. Thereafter, the processing target object is cooled in the processing chamber 118B. After the two atmospheric pressure processes, as shown by arrow 8 in FIG. 9, the object to be processed is returned to the original cassette 124 by the second robot arm 122. As shown in FIG.

In each of the above embodiments, however, the cassette 124 provided for accommodating the object to be processed has two cassettes 124 on the cassette stage 124 so that the opening of the cassette is directed toward the center of rotation of the robot arm. It is configured to swing. The present invention is not limited to this, and the number of cassettes or the installation of the cassettes can also be other methods.

FIG. 10 shows an example of this case, and in this example, a plurality of cassettes are provided, for example, and linear movement in the arrow direction shown by the stage 26A is possible so that one of them is located within the conveyance range of the robot arm. have.

That is, the cassettes 124A, 124B, and 124C are placed on the cassette stage 126A moving in the horizontal direction in FIG. One of the cassettes 124A to 124D placed on the cassette stage 126A is stopped at a position facing the second robot arm 22. In the state shown in FIG. 10, the to-be-processed object accommodated in the cassette 124B located in the center part can be carried in and out.

As another example of the conveying system of the object to be processed, one of the atmospheric pressure processing chambers provided in the atmospheric pressure processing unit Y is used as a place for sending and receiving the object, and a processing unit having another robot arm as a boundary is provided. It is also possible.

11 shows an example of this case. That is, one of the atmospheric pressure processing chambers (represented by reference numeral 180) in the atmospheric pressure processing section Y has a mounting portion 180A of the object to be processed therein and is adjacent to each other in the mounting portion 180A. The two atmospheric pressure carrying chamber 190 is arrange | positioned. In the 2nd atmospheric pressure carrying chamber 190, the robot arm whose front end at the time of maximum extension is located in the position which overlaps with the conveyance range R2 of the 2nd robotic arm 22 of the normal pressure carrying chamber Y side. 190A is disposed. At a position corresponding to the same distance from the center of rotation of the robot arm 190A, a plurality of atmospheric pressure process chambers 200A, 200B, 200C for performing the atmospheric pressure process treatment are arranged.

According to this, it becomes advantageous structure when the number of atmospheric pressure process chambers which cannot be accommodated in the rotation conveyance range of one robot arm 22 are extended. In addition, for example, the atmospheric pressure process chambers 200A, 200B, and 200C that perform special processing can be provided in an isolated position that does not adversely affect the pressure reduction processing unit X and the atmospheric pressure processing unit Y.

Next, a configuration for generalizing the pressure reduction processing unit X will be described.

In FIG. 12, the pressure reducing chamber 114 of the pressure reduction processing unit X has, for example, an interface 1 14A for connecting and fixing two load lock chambers to which various load lock chambers can be selectively connected and fixed. It has a common shape.

FIG. 12 shows that the load lock chamber 130 shown in FIGS. 7 to 11 can be connected to the pressure reducing chamber 114 in addition to the other two types of load lock chambers.

One of the load lock chambers 140 shown in FIG. 12 is capable of accommodating therein the cassette 142 made of synthetic resin of the SEMI standard method. The cassette 142 is made of tetrafluoroethylene, polypropylene, or the like. The other load lock chamber 150 shown in FIG. 12 is high vacuum-compatible and can accommodate the metal cassette 152 therein. Since the cassette 152 is made of metal, no outgas is generated in the cassette even under high vacuum. In accordance with the contents of the decompression treatment, in the general-purpose decompression loading chamber 14 to which various load lock chambers are connected, a shape in which the cassette attaching surface 14A is common to both cassettes is set. In addition, in any case, the above-described cassette allows a state in contact with the atmosphere. For example, the SMIF box in which the plurality of cassettes are sealed inward may be connected to the chamber 114 for carrying out the pressure reduction in a common manner.

In addition, this invention is not limited to the said Example, A various change is possible within the range of the summary of this invention. In particular, with respect to the contents of the depressurization process and the contents of the atmospheric pressure process performed in connection with the pre or post process of the depressurization process, the above embodiment is an example and is applicable to various process processes required for semiconductor manufacturing. Can be. In each of the above embodiments, the pressure-reduced processing unit and the atmospheric pressure process unit process the object to be processed as a single sheet, and the load lock chamber has a capacity for accommodating one object to be processed. Instead of this, a capacity for accommodating a plurality of objects to be processed in the load lock chamber may be set. In this way, since the next to-be-processed object to supply to a pressure reduction process chamber can be made to stand by, the operation rate of a pressure reduction process chamber increases and throughput improves. In addition, the frequency of opening the load lock chamber to the atmosphere is reduced, and the frequency of the mixing of impurities in the atmosphere to the reduced pressure side is reduced, and the yield of the treatment is improved.

As described above, according to the decompression and atmospheric pressure treatment apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, the time between processes between the depressurization process process and the atmospheric pressure process process is shortened, and the handing number of the object to be processed is also reduced. Throughput can be improved.

Moreover, it becomes possible to make the length of the conveyance process between a pressure reduction process process part and an atmospheric pressure process process part the minimum required. Thereby, the time between the processes described above can be further shortened.

Furthermore, since the object to be carried in and out between the depressurization process unit and the atmospheric pressure process unit performs the necessary processing immediately before or after the transfer to one process unit, it is possible to prevent the state obtained by the process from changing. It becomes possible.

Moreover, since the capacity | capacitance which accommodates several to-be-processed object is set in the load lock chamber, the next to-be-processed object to supply to a decompression process chamber can be made to stand by, and the operation rate of a decompression process chamber can be raised, and throughput can be improved.

On the other hand, it is possible to prevent the entry of impurities into the reduced pressure and atmospheric pressure processing unit, thereby maintaining the clean processing space and improving the treatment quality, thereby improving the yield.

Claims (3)

In a multi-chamber processing system, a plurality of vacuum processing chambers arranged in a ring shape around a substantially polygonal transfer chamber, a transfer chamber, and connected to the transfer chamber via a switchgear, and a ring around the transfer chamber Two load lock chambers arranged in the shape and connected to the loading chamber via the switchgear, and disposed in the center of the loading chamber, can be pivoted for carrying in and out of the object into the load lock chamber and the vacuum processing chamber. A retractable conveying arm, the conveying arm having a minimum turning radius and a maximum extending distance, wherein the two load lock chambers are arranged in parallel at an appropriate open angle so that each centerline faces the pivotal axis of the conveying arm. The object to be disposed in the load lock chamber is disposed at the maximum extension distance, and the object to be disposed in the vacuum processing chamber is smaller than the maximum extension distance. The vacuum processing chamber is disposed at a position close to the pivot axis center of the transfer arm, and the vacuum processing chamber is disposed outside the minimum turning radius, and is arranged at a position where the carrying chamber is in a minimum shape, and the maximum number of vacuum processing chambers is used. A multi-chamber processing system in which a workpiece to be disposed in the vacuum processing chamber is disposed at a maximum extension distance. 2. The alignment mechanism according to claim 1, further comprising an alignment mechanism which is disposed at a normal position which does not interfere with the swinging / expanding motion of the transfer arm of the carrying chamber, and receives and positions the object to be processed from the transfer arm. A multi-chamber processing system disposed at an intermediate position of the center line of the two load lock chambers. The multichamber processing system according to claim 1, wherein the transfer chamber has a cover for sealing the transfer chamber on an upper surface thereof, the cover is divided into at least two, and the transfer chamber is opened and closed by these divisions.