KR100677343B1 - Vertical type multi workpiece processing system and method therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vertical multi-substrate processing system for carrying out substrate processing by carrying a substrate in a vertical state. The vertical multi-substrate processing system of the present invention is capable of multi-processing predetermined plasma processing processes (cleaning, ashing, strip processing, etc.) for a large area substrate for a display device. In order to achieve this, the present inventors have a substrate transport robot which draws out a substrate from a cassette stored in a horizontal state, converts the substrate from a horizontal state to a vertical state, and transports it, and a vertical process processor disposed around the substrate transport robot. have.

Board, Cassette, Vertical, Plasma

Description

VERTICAL TYPE MULTI WORKPIECE PROCESSING SYSTEM AND METHOD THEREFOR}

1 is a perspective view schematically showing a vertical multiple substrate processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a plan view schematically illustrating a vertical multiple substrate processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a front view schematically showing a vertical multiple substrate processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a view for explaining the configuration of the plasma processing unit shown in FIG. 1;

5 is a cross-sectional view showing a substrate mounted on a protective case;

Figure 6a shows a first substrate transport unit with the blade in a horizontal state;

6B is a view showing a first substrate conveying unit in which a blade is switched from a horizontal state to a vertical state by rotation;

7 to 9 are views for explaining a substrate transfer process from the substrate cassette to the load lock chamber;

10 and 11 are views illustrating a plasma processing unit in which a third substrate transfer unit is installed to prevent shaking of a substrate in a substrate transfer process between a load lock chamber and a process chamber;

12 is a schematic plan view of a vertical multiple substrate processing system according to another embodiment of the present invention;

13A and 13B illustrate a substrate conveyance process in FIG. 12.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

110: substrate cassette 120: table

130: plasma processing unit 132: load lock chamber

140: process chamber 190: first substrate transport unit

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate processing system, and more particularly to a vertical multiple substrate processing system for carrying out substrate processing by transporting the substrate in a vertical state.

Recently, information processing devices have been rapidly developed to have various types of functions and faster information processing speeds. This information processing apparatus has a display device for displaying the operated information. Until now, a cathode ray tube monitor has been mainly used as a display device, but in recent years, with the rapid development of semiconductor technology, the use of a flat panel display which is light and occupies small space is rapidly increasing. The flat panel display includes a liquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma display panel (PDP), and an EL.

Such a flat panel display is required to be enlarged in size as a display that is easier to see and expressive in terms of use, and to obtain a large number of panels from one substrate in terms of manufacturing cost. In order to meet the demand, the substrate size of the panel is gradually increased, and accordingly, an additional space is required as the size of the substrate, thereby increasing the installation area and installation cost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object thereof is to provide a new type of vertical multi-substrate processing system capable of carrying out a process while conveying a substrate in a minimal space.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new type of vertical multi-substrate processing system capable of processing more substrates within a predetermined time.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a vertical multi-substrate processing system of a new type that can improve the efficiency of the work space by minimizing the transfer space in the process by allowing the substrate to proceed vertically.

According to an aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object, a vertical multi-substrate processing system comprises a cassette in which the substrates are received in a horizontal state; A first substrate conveying unit which draws the substrate from the cassette in a horizontal state and transfers the substrate in the horizontal state to a state close to the vertical; It may include a plurality of process processing units disposed adjacent to the first substrate transport unit and the process is carried out in the vertical state by receiving the substrate in a vertical state from the first substrate transport unit.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the first substrate transport unit rotates at an angle about a horizontal axis to convert the substrate from a horizontal state to a vertical or near vertical state or from a vertical state (close to vertical state) to a horizontal state. It may include a blade.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the first substrate transport unit is a base; A vertical arm installed to be vertically movable from the base; And an arm portion installed on the vertical arm and rotatably connected to the cassette or the processing portion to be unfolded or folded and to which the blade is rotatably connected at an end thereof.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the arm portion includes: a first horizontal arm rotatably connected to the tip of the vertical arm; And a second horizontal arm on which a blade is rotatably connected at an angle (for example, 90 degrees) at a tip rotatably connected to a tip of the first horizontal arm.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the first substrate transport unit may further include a position shift driving unit installed at the tip of the second horizontal arm shaft to rotate the blade at an angle.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the blade may further include vacuum suction holes for gripping the substrate, and may include a clamp means for mechanically fixing the substrate as necessary.

According to another aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object, a vertical multi-substrate processing system comprises a central chamber having a plurality of sides; A table connected to one side of the central chamber and on which a cassette is placed; A plurality of process units connected to the remaining sides of the central chamber and in which the process is performed in a state where the substrate is vertical; And a substrate conveying unit installed in the central chamber to convey a vertical substrate between the cassette and the processing units. The substrate conveying unit may convey the substrates to the respective processing units in a state in which the substrates stored in the cassette are taken out in a horizontal state and converted into a vertical state (or close to a vertical state).

According to one embodiment of the invention, the substrate transport unit is a rotatable base; A vertical arm installed to be vertically movable from the base; A first horizontal arm rotatably connected to the tip of the vertical arm; A second horizontal arm rotatably connected to a tip of the first horizontal arm; And a blade connected to the tip of the second horizontal arm to rotate at an angle about a horizontal axis.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the substrate transport unit may further include a position change driving unit installed at the tip of the second horizontal arm shaft to rotate the blade at an angle.

A substrate processing method in a vertical multi-substrate processing system of the present invention includes the steps of placing a cassette containing the substrates in a horizontal state on a table; The substrate transport robot withdraws the substrates stored in the cassette in a horizontal state, the substrate transport robot rotates the blade on which the substrate is supported at a predetermined angle so that the substrate from the horizontal state to the vertical state (or close to vertical) ; Moving for transporting the substrate to the load lock chamber while supporting the substrate in a vertical state (or near vertical); Loading the substrate in a vertical state into the load lock chamber; And transferring the substrate transferred to the load lock chamber to a process chamber installed at a rear end of the load lock chamber to perform a predetermined process in the process chamber.

For example, embodiments of the present invention may be modified in various forms, and the scope of the present invention should not be construed as being limited by the embodiments described below. This embodiment is provided to more completely explain the present invention to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the shape of the elements in the drawings and the like are exaggerated to emphasize a clearer description.

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 13B. In addition, in the drawings, the same reference numerals are denoted together for components that perform the same function.

The basic intention of the present invention is that a predetermined plasma treatment process (cleaning, ashing, stripping, etc.) can be multi-processed on a large area substrate for a display device. In order to achieve this, the present inventors have a substrate transport robot which draws out a substrate from a cassette stored in a horizontal state, converts the substrate from a horizontal state to a vertical state, and transports it, and a vertical process processor disposed around the substrate transport robot. have.

1 to 3 are a perspective view, a plan view, and a front view schematically showing a vertical multi-substrate processing system in which a plurality of vertical processing units capable of performing plasma surface treatment on a substrate for a display device are installed.

1 to 3, in the vertical multi-substrate processing system 100, a cassette station 102 in which a display apparatus substrate (hereinafter, referred to as a substrate) 10 is loaded / unloaded is disposed on one side of a front surface thereof.

The cassette station 102 is a portion into which a substrate or a substrate cassette 110 is loaded / exported, and has a table 120 on which a plurality of substrate cassettes 110 can be accommodated by stacking substrates in multiple stages.

1 and 2, a transfer path 108 is disposed between the cassette station 102 and the plasma processing unit 130. The first substrate conveying unit 190 is installed in the conveying path 108 so as to be movable along the track. The first substrate transfer unit 190 is for vertical substrate transfer between the substrate cassette 110 and the plasma processing unit 130.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 6A, and 6B, the first substrate transport unit 190 has an inversion function of converting a substrate from a horizontal state to a vertical state (or vice versa), and the first substrate transport unit The substrate is moved along the track of the transfer part in a state where the substrate is converted to the vertical state.

Looking at the configuration of the first substrate transport unit 190, it has a base 191 that can be linearly moved along the transport path (108). The base 191 is provided with a vertically movable vertical arm 192. An arm portion 193 having a structure that can be folded or unfolded is installed at the tip of the vertical arm 192, and a blade 194 is installed at the tip of the arm 193. The arm portion 193 is composed of a first horizontal arm 193a, a second horizontal arm 193b, and a third horizontal arm 193c, and the first horizontal arm 193a is a horizontal plane at the tip of the vertical arm 192. Rotatably connected on the second horizontal arm 193b is rotatably connected on the horizontal plane at the tip of the first horizontal arm 193a, and the third horizontal arm 193c is rotatably connected to the second horizontal arm 193b. The tip is rotatably connected on a horizontal plane. For example, as in the present embodiment, the arm portion may consist of three arms or only two arms. The driving method of the arm unit having such arms is a technology commercialized in a semiconductor process, and it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various modifications and easy implementations will be omitted.

Meanwhile, the blade 194 supporting the substrate is rotatably installed at the tip of the third horizontal arm 193c, and the rotation of the blade 194 is rotated 90 degrees about the horizontal axis, thereby rotating the substrate 10. You can switch from horizontal to vertical or from vertical to horizontal. The blade 194 is rotated by the position change driver 195 installed at the tip of the third horizontal arm 193c. FIG. 6A illustrates the first substrate transport unit 190 in which the blades 194 are in a horizontal state, and FIG. 6B illustrates the first substrate transport unit 190 in which the blades 194 are switched from a horizontal state to a vertical state by rotation. ) Is showing. The position switching driver 195 may be a method using a rotating motor. For reference, a vacuum suction method may be used for supporting the substrate in the blade 194, and for this purpose, vacuum holes 194a are formed in the blade. Although not shown, in order to support a more stable substrate, a chucking method of holding a substrate edge to a blade may be applied. On the other hand, the rotation of the arm portion 193 is made by a common driving unit (not shown) installed on the base 191, which is a technique commonly used in a semiconductor manufacturing facility, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

As described above, in the vertical multi-substrate processing system 100 of the present invention, the substrate stored in the horizontal state in the substrate cassette is taken out and then conveyed to each plasma processing unit 130 in a state where the position is changed to the vertical state. Therefore, the size of the facility can be reduced by minimizing the occupied space for transferring the substrate.

7 to 9 are diagrams illustrating a substrate conveying process by the first substrate conveying unit 190.

As shown in FIG. 7, the arm portion 193 of the first substrate transfer unit 190 is unfolded so that the blade 194 is inserted into the storage space of the substrate cassette 110, and the blade 194 is the substrate 10. ). In this state, the substrate 10 is drawn out from the substrate cassette 110 by the folding operation of the arm portion 193. The substrate thus drawn is erected 90 degrees by the 90 degree rotation of the blade 190 (see FIG. 8). After the base 191 is rotated 180 degrees toward the plasma processing unit and moved to the position to be conveyed, the blade 194 moves to the chamber of the load lock chamber 193 by the unfolding operation of the arm unit 193. When the blade 194 enters the load lock chamber 193, the substrate is stably received by the support rollers 162, 164, 166 of the load lock chamber 193 (see FIG. 9).

As shown in FIG. 9, the substrate 10 conveyed to the load lock chamber is conveyed to the vertical processing unit 142 of the process chamber 140 by the second substrate transport unit 150, as shown in FIG. 10. It is placed on the susceptor 143 installed in the (142). On the other hand, the substrate after the process in the vertical processing unit 144 is conveyed to the load lock chamber in the reverse order of the method entered, and then conveyed to the substrate cassette 110.

Here, the substrate 10 may be protected in the protective case 20 and then stored in the storage space 112 of the substrate cassette 110. As shown in FIG. 5, the protective case 20 has an opening 22 in which only the front surface 12 to be processed in the substrate 10 is exposed, and an insertion hole 24 into which the substrate can be inserted. . Since the substrate is stored in the substrate cassette 110 while protected by the protective case 20, contamination of the substrate due to friction between the units for transferring the substrate 10 can be prevented in advance. Since the front is open, smooth processing can be achieved. On the other hand, the protective case 20 can be seen that two chucking pieces 26 protruding from one side of the top. The chucking piece 26 is a portion formed on the upper end of the protective case so that the chucking portion 156 of the second substrate transfer unit 150 can easily chuck the protective case 20, as shown in FIG. The king piece 26 may be manufactured in a suitable shape according to the chucking structure of the chucking portion 156.

2 and 4, the plasma processing units 130 are disposed in parallel to the back of the transfer path 106. Plasma processing unit 130 is composed of a load lock chamber 132 and a process chamber 140, the load lock chamber 132 is disposed adjacent to the transfer path 108, the process chamber 140 is a load lock chamber ( 132) is arranged in the rear end. The load lock chamber 132 and the process chamber 140 are provided with vacuum exhaust lines 149 on both sides.

The process chamber 140 has two vertical processing units 142 capable of simultaneously processing two substrates standing in a vertical state, and one plasma source unit 144 is disposed between the vertical processing units 142. Have a structure arranged. The vertical processing unit 142 includes a susceptor 143 on which a vertical substrate is placed on a surface facing the plasma source unit 144. Although not shown, the susceptor 143 on which the substrate 10 is seated may be provided with clamps for fixing the substrate during the process in a portion corresponding to the four corner portions of the substrate 10.

As described above, the process chamber 140 may process two substrates in two vertical processing units 142 by disposing the vertical processing units 142 on both sides with one plasma source unit 144 therebetween. It has a structural feature that can be. To this end, the load lock chamber 132 disposed in front of the process chamber 140 also has two chamber spaces connected to the vertical processing unit 142 of the process chamber. That is, there are two substrate entrances 148 between the process chamber 140 and the load lock chamber 132, and the substrate in the vertical state from the first substrate transfer unit is drawn in / drawn from the front surface of the load lock chamber 132. There are two substrate entrances 131 which are each opened and closed by a conventional gate valve (not shown). On the other hand, the load lock chamber 132 and the process chamber 140 is provided with vacuum exhaust lines 149 on both sides, the exhaust from the chamber and the vertical processing unit 142 of the load lock chamber can be made stable.

The process chamber 140 here may be configured to perform various substrate processing operations. For example, the process chamber may be an ashing chamber that removes the photo resist using plasma to remove the photo resist, the process chamber may be a CVD chamber configured to deposit an insulating film, and the process chamber may be An etch chamber configured to etch apertures or openings in the insulating film to form interconnect structures, the process chamber may be a PVD chamber configured to deposit a barrier film, and the process chamber may deposit a metal film. It may be a PVD chamber configured to. Multiple processing systems may be required to perform all the processes required for complete fabrication of integrated circuits or chips.

9 and 10, the load lock chamber 132 is a place where a substrate for processing in the vertical processing unit 142 of the process chamber 140 temporarily waits, and makes the atmospheric pressure high vacuum state. It acts as a buffer and serves as a substrate handing over to take over the substrate received from the first substrate transfer unit 190 to the vertical processing unit 142 of the process chamber 140, each of the load lock chamber 132 In the chamber, a second substrate transfer unit 150 and a first substrate support unit 160 for transferring the substrate 10 are installed. The first substrate support unit 160 supports the substrate in the process of taking over the substrate flowing in the vertical state by the first substrate transport unit 190 and the substrate from the load lock chamber 132 to the process chamber. For the unit. The first substrate support unit 160 is provided with lower support rollers 162 and front and back support rollers 164 and 166 for supporting a substrate conveyed by the first substrate transport unit 190.

Looking at the second substrate carrying unit in more detail, the second substrate carrying unit 150 is installed on the upper chamber of the load lock chamber 132. The second substrate transfer unit 150 has an arm portion 152 having a structure that can be folded or unfolded in a left-right (X-axis direction) direction, and a chucking portion for chucking an upper portion of the substrate on the end of the arm portion 152 ( 156). The arm part 152 is a first arm 154 which is slidably moved in the left and right directions from the guide member 153 fixed to the upper chamber, and is provided at the lower end of the first arm 154 and is slidably moved in the left and right directions. It consists of two arms 155. The first arm 154 is moved by the front and rear drive unit 153a installed in the guide member 153, and the second arm 155 is moved by the front and rear drive unit 154a installed in the first arm 154. Is made by For example, a conventional linear motion guide rail may be used for the first arm 154 and the second arm 155. As the front and rear drives 153a and 154a, a pneumatic cylinder, a hydraulic cylinder or a motor and a ball screw may be used. It can be used, which is an example of a typical linear actuator, so a detailed description thereof will be omitted. On the other hand, the chucking portion 156 provided at the end of the second arm is made of two and may chuck the upper portion of the substrate by a forceps method or chucking by a vacuum suction method.

As shown in Figure 10, the load lock chamber is provided with a third substrate transfer unit 170 for preventing the shaking of the substrate during the substrate transfer process between the process chambers.

As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the second substrate conveying unit 150 described above is installed at an upper end of the load lock chamber, and a third substrate conveying unit 170 is installed at one lower end of the load lock chamber. The third substrate carrying unit 170 has a configuration substantially similar to that of the second substrate carrying unit 150. That is, the third substrate transfer unit has an arm portion 172 having a structure that can be folded or unfolded in the left and right directions (X-axis direction), and an adsorption portion for adsorbing and fixing the entire surface of the substrate with a vacuum at the end of the arm portion 172 ( 176). The arm part 172 is provided with a first arm 174 which slides in the left and right directions from the guide member 173 fixed to one side of the chamber, and is installed at the lower end of the first arm 174 and slides in the left and right directions. It consists of a second arm 175.

As described above, in the plasma processing unit 130 in which the second and third substrate transfer units 150 and 170 are installed, the third substrate transfer unit 170 stably absorbs and holds the lower end of the substrate, thereby improving the problem of shaking the substrate during the substrate transfer process. It has the effect that the stable substrate conveyance is possible.

12-13B are plan views schematically illustrating a vertical multi-substrate processing system according to another embodiment of the present invention.

12 to 13B, the vertical multi-substrate processing system 200 is a centralized multi-substrate processing method, and a hexagonal central chamber 202 is installed at the center thereof, and the central chamber 202 is provided. Three plasma processing units 140, each of which is processed on an angled side, are connected and installed, and a front side has a cassette station 102 having a table 120 on which a substrate cassette 110 on which substrates are placed is placed. . A gate valve (not shown) is provided between the central chamber 202, the plasma processing unit 140, and the cassette station 102 so as to allow selective entry and exit of the substrate, respectively, through which the substrate of the central chamber 202 is transported. It is possible for the unit 190 to selectively load and unload the substrate into each plasma processing unit or substrate cassette. The central chamber 202 may be four angles, five angles, seven angles, or the like, depending on the number of plasma processing units installed. In addition, each of the central chamber and the plasma processing unit may be provided with a vacuum pressure forming apparatus (not shown).

12 to 13B is a plasma processing unit 140 having the same configuration and function as the vertical multiple substrate processing system 100 according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. ), A cassette station 102, a table 120, a substrate cassette 110, and the like, which are described in detail above, and thus will be omitted in the present embodiment. However, in the present embodiment, since the central chamber 202 serves as a load lock chamber, the process processing unit includes only the process chamber 140.

12 to 13B, the substrate transport unit 190 installed in the central chamber 202 has the same structure as the first substrate transport unit 190 disclosed in the first embodiment.

Substrate transfer in the vertical multi-substrate processing system 200 of the present invention having the configuration as described above is as follows.

When the cassette 110 containing the substrates is placed on the table 120, the arm 193 of the substrate transfer unit is unfolded so that the blade 194 is inserted into the storage space of the substrate cassette 110, and the blade 194. Will support the substrate 10 (see FIG. 13A). In this state, the substrate 10 is drawn out from the substrate cassette 110 by the folding operation of the arm portion 193. The substrate thus drawn out is erected 90 degrees by the 90 degree rotation of the blade 190. In that state, the base 191 is rotated to face the process chamber 140 to which the substrate is to be loaded. In addition, the blade enters the process chamber 140 by the unfolding operation of the arm 193, and when the blade 194 enters the process chamber 140, the substrate is loaded on the susceptor of the process chamber. (See FIG. 13B).

As described above, the vertical multi-substrate processing system 200 shown in FIGS. 12 to 13B can omit a transfer path for transfer during substrate transfer lubrication, compared to the system described above, and thus the overall equipment width and The area can be significantly reduced, and the installation can be made more compact.

Except for the characteristic configuration and operation of the vertical multi-substrate processing system 200 according to the above embodiment is the same as that of the previous embodiment, detailed description thereof will be omitted here.

In the above, the configuration and operation of the vertical multi-substrate processing system according to the present invention is shown in accordance with the above description and drawings, but this is merely described, for example, and various changes and modifications without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention. Of course this is possible.

As described above, the vertical multi-substrate processing system of the present invention has the following special effects.

First, since the substrate is vertically conveyed and the process is carried out in the vertical position, not only the volume of the process chamber but also the transport space for conveying the substrate can be minimized, thereby reducing the utilization of the line (reducing the installation area). It has a special effect that can increase and improve the efficiency of the workspace.

Second, because two substrates can be processed at the same time, productivity is improved.

Claims (9)

In a vertical multi-substrate processing system: A cassette in which substrates are stored in a horizontal state; A blade which rotates about 90 degrees about a horizontal axis to convert the substrate from a horizontal state to a vertical state or from a vertical state to a horizontal state, and uses the blade to pull the substrate out of the cassette in a horizontal state, and the substrate in the horizontal state A first substrate transporting unit for converting the substrate into a state near the vertical; A plurality of process units disposed adjacent to the first substrate transfer unit and receiving a substrate in a vertical state from the first substrate transfer unit and performing a processing process on the substrate in a vertical state; The plurality of process units each include a process chamber having a plasma source unit and two vertical process units disposed on both sides with the plasma source unit interposed therebetween, and simultaneously plasma processing two substrates transferred to the two vertical process units. Vertical multi-substrate processing system, characterized in that. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of process units comprises a load lock chamber disposed in front of the process chamber, And a second substrate transfer unit for transferring the substrate in a vertical state between the first substrate transfer unit and the process chamber in the load lock chamber. The method of claim 1, The first substrate carrying unit Base; A vertical arm installed to be vertically movable from the base; And an arm portion installed on the vertical arm and rotatably connected to the cassette or the processing portion to be unfolded or folded and to which the blade is rotatably connected 90 degrees. Type multi-substrate processing system. The method of claim 3, The arm portion comprises: a first horizontal arm rotatably connected to a tip of the vertical arm; And And a second horizontal arm to which the blade is rotatably connected by 90 degrees to a tip that is rotatably connected to a tip of the first horizontal arm. The method of claim 4, wherein The first substrate carrying unit And a position shifting driver installed at the tip of the second horizontal arm axis to rotate the blade 90 degrees. The method of claim 3, The blade further comprises a vacuum suction holes for holding a substrate, the vertical multiple substrate processing system. In a vertical multi-substrate processing system: A central chamber having a plurality of sides; A table connected to one side of the central chamber and on which a cassette is placed; A plurality of process units connected to the remaining sides of the central chamber and in which the process is performed in a state where the substrate is vertical; And A substrate conveying unit installed in the central chamber to convey a vertical substrate between the cassette and the processing units; The substrate transport unit And transferring the substrates to the respective processing units in a state where the substrates stored in the cassette are taken out in a horizontal state and converted into a vertical state. The method of claim 7, wherein The substrate transport unit Rotatable base; A vertical arm installed to be vertically movable from the base; A first horizontal arm rotatably connected to the tip of the vertical arm; A second horizontal arm rotatably connected to a tip of the first horizontal arm; And And a blade connected to the distal end of the second horizontal arm and rotated 90 degrees about a horizontal axis, wherein the blade is rotated 90 degrees so that the substrate is switched from horizontal to vertical or vertical to horizontal. Substrate processing system. The method of claim 8, The substrate transport unit And a position shifting driver installed at the tip of the second horizontal arm axis to rotate the blade 90 degrees.

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