KR100619448B1 - Vacuum processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

[PROBLEMS] To simplify the substrate transfer process of the vacuum processing apparatus.

Solution The vacuum processing apparatus 10 includes a load / unload chamber 11, a vacuum preheating chamber 12, and a processing chamber 13. The vacuum preheating chamber 12 is provided with a heater H for heating the forward feeder 22, the reverse feeder 32, and the substrate W. One heater H is provided in the forward feeder 22 side. The forward transfer apparatuses 21 and 22 transfer the substrate W in the forward direction, and the reverse transfer apparatuses 31 and 32 transfer the processed substrate W in the reverse direction. The load / unload chamber 11 is a chamber capable of switching between atmospheric opening and vacuum sealing, and injects the substrate W from the load / unload chamber 11 and passes the substrate W via the transfer operations x2 to x5. ).

Vacuum Processing Equipment, Transfer Equipment, Substrate, Load / Unload Chamber, Vacuum Preheating Chamber

Description

Vacuum Processing Equipment {VACUUM PROCESSING APPARATUS}

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is an overall block diagram which shows typically the structure of the vacuum processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

2 is a perspective view schematically showing a transfer device of a vacuum processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a timing chart of substrate transfer using a vacuum processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

(Short description of drawing code)

10: vacuum processing unit, 11: load / unload chamber,

12: vacuum preheating chamber, 13: treatment chamber,

14: holding unit, 21, 22: the net feeder,

22a, 32a: lifting mechanism, 31, 32: reverse feeder,

100: external station, G1-G3: gate,

H: heater, W, W1 to W6: substrate (object to be processed),

x1 to x6: feed motion (movement), y, y1, y2: lift motion

The present invention relates to a vacuum processing apparatus for performing thin film formation, etching, heat treatment and the like in a vacuum atmosphere.

In the case where a plurality of different vacuum treatments are sequentially performed by one apparatus, an apparatus for conveying a workpiece from a processing chamber to a next processing chamber in a vacuum, comprising a vacuum preheating chamber and a processing chamber, and a plurality of vacuum preheating chambers. BACKGROUND ART A load lock type vacuum apparatus provided with a substrate transfer means is known. This apparatus is comprised so that each of the two conveyance lines provided in the vacuum preheating chamber may receive a board | substrate between a process chamber (for example, refer patent document 1).

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-239144 (claim 2, Figs. 1 and 2)

In the load lock type vacuum apparatus of patent document 1, since both conveyance lines carry a board | substrate to a process chamber and carry in a board | substrate from a process chamber, there exists a problem of conveyance operation of a conveyance line.

The vacuum processing apparatus of claim 1 is connected to each other and is provided in each of two or more first to n-th processing chambers for continuously vacuuming a target object, and first to n-th processing chambers, respectively. An n-th transfer means for transferring the to-be-processed object to the treatment chamber, respectively, and a first to n-th treatment chamber separately from the net transfer means, and finally the n-th treatment for performing vacuum treatment. Reverse transfer means for reversely transferring the processed object through the (n-1) to the first processing chambers sequentially from the processing chamber, and when the object is to be forwarded to the nth processing chamber And driving means for respectively moving the forward conveying means and the reverse conveying means of the (n-1) th processing chamber to the transferable position when the processed object is back conveyed from the nth processing chamber. .

In the vacuum processing apparatus of claim 1, in the vacuum processing apparatus of claim 1, the processed blood is transferred from the nth processing chamber which transfers the object to be processed by the forward conveying means and finally performs the vacuum treatment by the reverse conveying means. It is characterized by recovering a processed material.

The vacuum processing apparatus of claim 3, wherein the vacuum processing apparatus of claim 1 or 2 transfers an object to be processed into a first processing chamber in which vacuum processing is performed first among the first to nth processing chambers, and the first to nth processing. And a water chamber capable of recovering the processed object from the n-th processing chamber which is subjected to the last vacuum treatment in the chamber and converting the air opening and the vacuum sealing.

Since the vacuum processing apparatus of this invention is equipped with the forward conveying means and the reverse conveying means exclusively, it is possible to simplify the board | substrate conveyance process.

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter, the vacuum processing apparatus by embodiment of this invention is demonstrated with reference to FIGS.

1 is an overall configuration diagram schematically showing the configuration of a vacuum processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The vacuum processing apparatus 10 includes a load / unload chamber 11, a vacuum preheating chamber 12, a processing chamber 13, forward transfer apparatuses 21 and 22, and reverse transfer apparatuses 31 and 32. . The load / unload chamber 11 is configured to switch between open air and vacuum seal, so as to transfer the substrate W to the vacuum preheating chamber 12 and recover the processed substrate W before processing. The vacuum preheating chamber 12 and the processing chamber 13 are always kept in a vacuum when the vacuum processing apparatus 10 is in operation. The load / unload chamber 11 is connected to the exhaust system 11a and the leak system 11b, and the vacuum preheating chamber 12 and the processing chamber 13 are connected to the exhaust systems 12a and 13a, respectively. have. The outer station 100 is configured with a different body from the vacuum processing apparatus 10 to store the substrate W before processing and to supply it to the vacuum processing apparatus 10, as well as a chamber for recovering the processed substrate W. The inside is always at atmospheric pressure.

The load / unload chamber 11 is provided with a gate G1 facing the outer station 100 side, and the gate G2 is provided at the boundary between the load / unload chamber 11 and the vacuum preheating chamber 12. The gate G3 is provided at the boundary between the vacuum preheating chamber 12 and the processing chamber 13. The gate G1 opens and closes the load / unload chamber 11 only when the substrate W is brought in and out of the apparatus, and is normally sealed. The gates G2 and G3 respectively seal the inside of the chamber when the substrate W is processed, and open the inside of the chamber when the substrate W is taken in and out. Arrows x1 and x6 indicate an operation in which the substrate W passes through the gate G1, arrows x2 and x5 indicate an operation in which the substrate W passes through the gate G2 and arrows x3 and x4 indicate a gate. The operation | movement which the board | substrate W passes through G3 is shown. Further, the arrow y indicates the lifting operation of the substrate W in the vacuum preheating chamber 12. The substrate W is a to-be-processed object which is heated in the vacuum preheating chamber 12 and subjected to a predetermined process such as film formation, etching, and sputtering by the RF plasma in the processing chamber 13.

In the load / unload chamber 11, a forward feeder 21 and a reverse feeder 31 are provided. The forward feeder 21 transfers the substrate W transferred to the load / unload chamber 11 by the operation (x1) to the vacuum preheating chamber 12 (operation x2), and the reverse feeder 31 The processed substrate W is loaded from the vacuum preheating chamber 12 (operation x5).

In the vacuum preheating chamber 12, the forward transfer apparatus 22, the reverse transfer apparatus 32, and the heater H for preheating the board | substrate W are provided. One heater H is provided in the forward feeder 22 side. The forward feeder 22 is movable in the direction of arrow y by the lifting mechanism 22a, and the reverse feeder 32 is movable in the direction of arrow y by the lifting mechanism 32a. As shown in the drawing, the forward feeder 22 has the same height position as the forward feeder 21 (which is also the position during the preliminary heating), and when the preheating ends, the lifting mechanism 22a It lowers and transfers the board | substrate W to the process chamber 13 (operation x3). The reverse feeder 32 has the same height position as the reverse feeder 31, and when the plasma processing is completed, the reverse feeder 32 is lifted by the elevating mechanism 32a to raise the vacuum preheating chamber 12 from the processing chamber 13. ), The processed substrate W is loaded (operation x4).

That is, by the forward transfer apparatuses 21 and 22, the substrate W before the process is sequentially transferred to the vacuum preheating chamber 12 and the processing chamber 13, and processed by the reverse transfer apparatuses 31 and 32. It is possible to back transfer the substrate W from the processing chamber 13 to the load / unload chamber 11 via the vacuum preheating chamber 12.

In the processing chamber 13, an RF electrode P for performing plasma processing on the substrate W and a holding unit 14 for holding the substrate W are provided. In the present embodiment, the holding unit 14 is fixed without raising and lowering when the forward feeder 22, the reverse feeder 32, and the substrate W are moved, but the forward feeder 22 is fixed. The reverse transfer device 32 may be fixed, and the holding unit 14 may be lifted to raise and lower the substrate W. FIG.

In addition, the vacuum processing apparatus 10 includes a loading apparatus for carrying in (operation x1) the substrate W from the external station 100 to the load / unload chamber 11, and an external station (from the load / unload chamber 11). Although the carrying out apparatus which carries out (operation x6) the board | substrate W to 100 is also provided, illustration is abbreviate | omitted. By this apparatus, it is possible to insert the substrate W into the vacuum processing apparatus 10 and to recover the substrate W from the vacuum processing apparatus 10. In addition, when transferring not only one substrate W but also the substrate W while being placed integrally with the tray, the substrate W is recovered from the external station 100 and the collected tray is transferred to the external station. It is good to turn to the input side (up side in a figure) of (100).

Next, the forward feeder 22 and the reverse feeder 32 will be described. 2 is a perspective view schematically showing the configuration of the forward feeder 22 and the reverse feeder 32 of the vacuum processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. The forward feeder 22 and the reverse feeder 32 are respectively installed in the liftable boxes 23 and 33, and the boxes 23 and 33 are respectively provided by the vacuum preheating chamber 12 by the lifting mechanisms 22a and 32a. ) Get on and off.

The forward conveyance apparatus 22 has a some conveyance member (conveyance roller, 22b). The conveying member 22b leaves the substrate W during the preheating, and rotates the shaft axially during the substrate transfer, thereby rotating the substrate W to the processing chamber 13 according to the operation (x3) (rotary roller). )to be. In addition, the box 23 is provided with a carry-in port 23a and a carry-out port 23b which are openings for allowing the board | substrate W to pass.

The reverse feeder 32 also has a plurality of conveying members (conveying rollers 32b). The conveying member 32b is a rotating member (rotary roller) which rotates in the axial rotation and transfers the substrate W, which has finished plasma processing in the processing chamber 13, into the vacuum preheating chamber 12 in accordance with the operation (x4). . The rotation direction of the conveyance member 32b at this time is opposite to the rotation direction of the conveyance member 22b. In addition, the box 33 is provided with a carry-in port 33a and a carry-out port 33b which are openings for allowing the substrate W to pass therethrough.

The holding part 14 has a conveying member (conveying roller 14a) which can rotate by axial rotation, and the conveying member 14a is a process chamber 13 from the vacuum preheating chamber 12 by the forward conveying apparatus 22. A rotating member (rotary roller) which assists substrate transfer to the vacuum transfer chamber and assists substrate transfer from the processing chamber 13 by the reverse transfer apparatus 32 to the vacuum preheating chamber 12. Naturally, in the forward and reverse feed, the rotation direction of the conveying member 14a is reversed.

In the state shown in FIG. 2, the conveyance member 22b of the forward conveyance apparatus 22 is the height position corresponding to the conveyance member 14a of the holding part 14, Preferably both are on the same plane, and preheating It is a state which can transfer the board | substrate W which finished this to the process chamber 13. Thus, since the board | substrate W is conveyed on the same plane, the fall etc. at the time of moving the board | substrate W to the holding | maintenance part 14 can be prevented. On the contrary, when the substrate W is transferred from the processing chamber 13 into the vacuum preheating chamber 12 by the reverse transfer device 32, the net transfer device 22 is raised by the lifting mechanism 22a. In addition, the back conveying device 32 is also raised by the elevating mechanism 32a, so that the conveying member 32b of the reverse conveying device 32 corresponds to the conveying member 14a of the holding unit 14, Preferably they are positioned so that they are coplanar. Thereby, the processed board | substrate W can be conveyed on a horizontal plane. In addition, even when the forward feeder 22 and the reverse feeder 32 are provided in one lifting box, and the lifting mechanism is also one, the forward and backward transfer of the substrate W as described above is possible. .

In this way, the conveyance operation x3 is the forward direction, the operation x4 is the reverse direction, and since the conveying apparatus is provided exclusively for each, the rotational directions of the conveying members 22b and 32b are each only one predetermined direction. Therefore, the transfer control of the substrate W can be simplified. In addition, since the forward feeder 22 is disposed at the upper end, the reverse feeder 32 is disposed at the lower end, and the heater H is disposed at the uppermost end, as shown in FIG. It does not reach the backfeed 32. That is, the substrate W in the reverse transfer process of the operation x4 is recovered without being affected by the heating. In addition, the arrangement | positioning of the forward conveyance apparatus 22 and the reverse conveyance apparatus 32 is not limited to upper and lower stages, but may be two rows in a horizontal direction. When arranging two rows in a horizontal direction, the heater H is arrange | positioned at the forward feeder 22 side.

Next, the transfer operation of the substrate W will be described with reference to FIG. 3. 3 is a timing chart of substrate transfer using the vacuum processing apparatus 10, and FIGS. 3A to 3D show the state inside the apparatus when a predetermined time has elapsed. In addition, in order to avoid the complicated figure, the board | substrate W and its movement are mainly shown in FIG. 3, and the code | symbol of a component is attached only to FIG. 3 (a). In addition, the board | substrate W is attached | subjected with code | symbol like W1, W2, W3 ... in the order which it processed.

Referring to FIG. 3 (a), the operations (x1 to x3) are the transfer operations (forward transfer) proceeding to the right in the figure, and the operations (x4 to x6) are the transfer operations (reverse feed) proceeding to the left in the figure. . In operation (x1), after regulating the load / unload chamber 11 to atmospheric pressure, the gate G1 is opened to bring in the substrate W, and the gate G1 is closed to evacuate the load / unload chamber 11. . In the same manner as in operation (x6), after the load / unload chamber 11 is pressure-controlled to atmospheric pressure, the gate G1 is opened to take out the substrate W, and the gate G1 is closed to close the load / unload chamber 11. Vacuum exhaust. In operations (x2, x3, x4, x5), each chamber of the load / unload chamber 11, vacuum preheating chamber 12, and processing chamber 13 is under substantially equal vacuum pressure, so that the gate is not controlled without pressure regulation. Opening and closing is performed.

In the present embodiment, for the sake of simplicity, the vacuum preliminary heating chamber 12 corresponds to the processing chamber for performing the first vacuum treatment, and the processing chamber 13 corresponds to the processing chamber for performing the vacuum treatment last. It is assumed that the preheating time in (12) and the processing time in the processing chamber 13 are the same. The time of one such cycle is set to T.

Figure 3 (a) shows the state after the transfer in the following time series. That is, the first substrate W1 is transferred from the load / unload chamber 11 to the vacuum preheating chamber 12 by operation x2. After the transfer, the load / unload chamber 11 is opened to the atmosphere to transfer the second substrate W2 from the external station 100 to the load / unload chamber 11 by operation x1. The third substrate W3 is queued to the external station 100. The state of FIG. 3A is made into the initial state t = 0.

3B shows the state of the vacuum processing apparatus 10 when the time T of one cycle has elapsed and t = T. During this one cycle of time, vacuum evacuation of the load / unload chamber 11 which has been opened to the atmosphere is completed. After the forward feeder 22 is lowered from the home position in the y2 direction to the same height as the holding part 14 of the processing chamber 13, the preheated substrate W1 is finished by operation (x3). Transfer to process chamber 13. The forward feeder 22 is returned to the home position, the substrate W2 is transferred from the load / unload chamber 11 to the vacuum preheating chamber 12 by operation (x2), and the substrate W3 is operated (x1). ) Is transferred from the external station 100 to the load / unload chamber 11, and the fourth substrate W4 is waited at the external station 100.

FIG. 3 (c) also shows the state of the vacuum processing apparatus 10 when one cycle of time has passed and t = 2T. After the reverse feeder 32 is raised from the home position in the y1 direction and the same height as that of the holding part 14 of the processing chamber 13, the plasma-processed substrate W1 is vacuumed by operation (x4). Transfer to the preheating chamber (12). In the same manner as in the procedure described with reference to FIG. 3B, the substrates W2 and W3 are transferred to the right by one chamber, and the substrate W4 is moved from the external station 100 by the operation x1 to the load / unload chamber 11. ), And the fifth substrate W5 is queued to the outer station 100.

Fig. 3 (d) also shows the state of the vacuum processing apparatus 10 when one cycle has elapsed and t = 3T. The reverse feeder 32 is returned to the home position, and the substrate W1 is transferred from the vacuum preheating chamber 12 to the load / unload chamber 11 by the operation x5. After the reverse transfer device 32 is raised in the y1 direction and the same height as the stage of the processing chamber 13, the plasma-treated substrate W2 is moved to the vacuum preheating chamber 12 by operation x4. Transfer. In the same manner as in the procedure described with reference to FIG. 3B, the substrates W3 and W4 are transferred to the right by one chamber, and the substrate W5 is loaded / unloaded from the external station 100 by the operation x1. 11), the sixth substrate W6 is placed in the external station 100.

Hereinafter, by repeating the said process, it is possible to process and collect | recover a some board | substrate W continuously. Since the vacuum processing apparatus of the present embodiment has dedicated forward transfer apparatuses 21 and 22 for forward transfer and reverse transfer apparatuses 31 and 32 for reverse transfer, respectively, the substrate is processed by a simple transfer operation (algorithm). It is possible to transfer and retrieve (W), and furthermore, it is possible to carry out transfer and recovery of the substrate W at the same timing. Therefore, as shown in the timing chart of FIG. 3, the substrate W is always present in the load / unload chamber 11, the vacuum preheating chamber 12, and the processing chamber 13, and no empty time occurs. In addition, since the heater H does not need to be provided in the reverse conveyance apparatus 32 which carries out the reverse direction, but is provided only in the forward conveyance apparatus 22 which carries out the forward direction, it is possible to reduce installation cost.

In addition, the load / unload chamber 11 performs atmospheric opening and vacuum evacuation once at each cycle time for carrying in and out of the substrate W. However, this operation is performed during the processing of the substrate W. Does not occur at all. Therefore, when performing a plurality of types of vacuum processing in one vacuum processing apparatus, it is possible to shorten the tact time.

The vacuum processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment has a three-chamber configuration of a load / unload chamber 11, a vacuum preheating chamber 12, and a processing chamber 13, and the load / unload chamber 11 is a substrate before processing ( It serves as a load chamber for transferring W) to the vacuum preheating chamber 12 and an unload chamber for recovering the processed substrate W from the processing chamber 13, so that the entire vacuum processing apparatus 10 can be miniaturized. Can be.

This invention is not limited to embodiment described above, unless the feature is impaired. For example, the load / unload chamber 11 is omitted, and the present invention can be applied even in the two-chamber configuration of the vacuum preheating chamber 12 and the processing chamber 13, so that further miniaturization can be achieved. In this case, the vacuum preheating chamber 12 can be opened to the atmosphere and evacuated, and the substrate W can be carried in and out of the vacuum preheating chamber 12 directly from the outside (for example, an external station). Further, the present invention can also be applied to a vacuum processing apparatus in which two or more processing chambers are connected to the front end of the processing chamber 13 which performs the vacuum processing last, and three or more types of processing are continuously performed. In addition, in this embodiment, although the combination of the vacuum preheating chamber 12 and the processing chamber 13 which performs a plasma process was demonstrated as an example, this invention can also be applied to the other combination of vacuum processes.

Since the vacuum processing apparatus of this invention is equipped with the forward conveying means and the reverse conveying means exclusively, it is possible to simplify the board | substrate conveyance process.

Claims (3)

Two or more first to n-th processing chambers connected to each other to continuously vacuum the workpiece; A net feed means provided in each of the first to (n-1) th processing chambers and configured to transfer the to-be-processed object to a subsequent processing chamber; Each of the first to (n-1) th processing chambers is provided separately from the net transfer means, and sequentially passes through the (n-1) to first to the first processing chambers from the nth processing chamber which performs the vacuum treatment. A reverse conveyance means for back conveying the processed object by processing; The net transfer means of the (n-1) th processing chamber when forwarding the object to be processed into the nth processing chamber and back conveying the processed object from the nth processing chamber; And a driving means for moving the back conveying means to the transferable position, respectively. The method according to claim 1, The vacuum processing apparatus characterized by transferring the to-be-processed object by said forward conveying means, and recovering the said processed to-be-processed object from the nth process chamber which performs the last vacuum process by the said reverse conveyance means. . The method according to claim 1 or 2, From the said nth processing chamber which transfers the said to-be-processed object to the said 1st processing chamber which performs a vacuum process for the first time among the said 1st-nth processing chamber, and performs a vacuum process last among the said 1st-nth processing chamber, And a water chamber capable of recovering the processed object and converting the air opening and the vacuum seal.

Images