KR100853573B1 - Substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing system - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided is a substrate processing apparatus capable of suppressing a device space required for an opening and closing operation of a cover. From the state in which the lid 62 is in airtight contact with the chamber main body 61, the lifting motors 107, 127 are operated to raise the lid 62 slightly. Next, the lid 62 is slid in the horizontal direction along the guide rails 201 and 202 arranged at different ends on both sides of the processing chamber 60. The cover 62 is slid to the position away from the chamber main body 61 and then lowered, and the cover 62 is rotated at the position after the lowering.

Description

Substrate Processing System and Substrate Processing System {SUBSTRATE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND SUBSTRATE PROCESSING SYSTEM}

1 is a perspective view showing an overview of a vacuum processing system,

2 is a horizontal sectional view showing the vacuum processing system of FIG. 1;

3 is a cross-sectional view showing an etching processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a perspective view of an essential part of an etching processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

5 is a perspective view of an essential part of an etching process according to an embodiment of the present invention as viewed from another angle;

6 is a side view of the etching apparatus;

7 is another side view of the etching apparatus;

8 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating control of a slide motor;

9 is a side view for explaining the opening and closing operation of the lid, showing a state in which the lid is closed;

10 is a side view for explaining the opening and closing operation of the lid, showing a state in which the lid is slightly raised;

11 is a side view illustrating the operation of opening and closing the lid, showing a state in which the lid is slid;

12 is a side view illustrating the opening and closing operation of the lid, showing a state in which the lid is lowered;

Fig. 13 is a side view illustrating the opening and closing operation of the lid, showing a state after the lid is rotated 180 °;

14 is a side view from the opposite side illustrating the opening and closing operation of the lid, showing a state in which the lid is slightly raised;

15 is an enlarged view of an essential part showing a connecting part of a slider and a succession rail member;

FIG. 16 is a side view illustrating the opening and closing operation of the lid, showing a state in which the lid is sliding together with the inherited rail member; FIG.

17 is a side view illustrating the opening and closing operation of the lid, showing a state in which the lid is lowered;

18 is a side view illustrating the opening and closing operation of the lid, and showing a state in which the lid is rotated 180 °;

19 is a diagram explaining an opening and closing operation of a cover.

Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings

1: vacuum processing system 10: etching processing apparatus

60: processing chamber 61: chamber body

62: cover 63, 64: switchgear

72: susceptor 74: shower head

77 processing gas supply system 80 high frequency power supply

101, 121: slider 102, 122: slide motor

103a, 103b, 123a, 123b: lifting shaft 104, 124: movable body

105, 125: lifting jack 106: rotary motor

107, 127: lifting motor 108, 128: coupling

109, 129: pinion gear 110, 130: rack gear

S: LCD Board

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing system for performing a predetermined process on a substrate such as a flat panel display (FPD) substrate represented by, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD) substrate.

Conventionally, for example, in the manufacturing process of an LCD board | substrate, what is called a multi-chamber-type vacuum provided with two or more substrate processing apparatuses which perform predetermined processes, such as etching, ashing, and film-forming, on a LCD board | substrate in a reduced pressure atmosphere. Processing systems are in use.

This vacuum processing system has a conveyance chamber in which the board | substrate conveyance mechanism which has a conveyance arm which conveys a board | substrate is installed, and the some board | substrate processing apparatus provided in the circumference | surroundings, and a to-be-processed board | substrate is each substrate processing apparatus by the conveyance arm in a conveyance chamber. Is carried in the processing chamber of the substrate, and the processed substrate is carried out from the processing chamber of each substrate processing apparatus.

By the way, in this type of substrate processing apparatus, a slide mechanism for sliding a lid and a lid as a switchgear for attaching and detaching the lid for the purpose of easily performing maintenance in the processing chamber, mounting and detachment of a heavy material in the lid, and a lid, By setting it as the structure which has a rotating mechanism which rotates about a horizontal axis, it is proposed to make a cover slide in a horizontal direction, isolate | separate from a chamber main body, and to rotate a cover after that (for example, patent document 1).

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-185534 (FIG. 6, etc.)

In the lid opening and closing apparatus of the said patent document 1, a pair of guide rail is used for opening and closing of the cover of a process chamber (process module). By the way, in the substrate processing system of the multi-chamber type which arrange | positioned several process chambers around a conveyance chamber (transfer module), it is necessary to convey a board | substrate through a gate opening between a conveyance chamber and a process chamber, Cannot place guide rails. For this reason, in patent document 1, the guide rail is arrange | positioned so that it may become parallel in the conveyance direction of a board | substrate in both side parts of a process chamber so that a board | substrate conveyance may not be disturbed.

Therefore, when opening the cover, the cover is further slid outward from each of the processing chambers arranged around the transfer chamber, which has been a factor of increasing the footprint of the apparatus.

Moreover, in the lid opening / closing apparatus of the said patent document 1, the operation | movement at the time of opening a lid is performed in order of raising a lid once, sliding in a horizontal direction, and rotating 180 degree from that position. By the way, in this lid opening-and-closing apparatus, since the rotation center of a lid is a height position which lifted a lid and sliding it in the horizontal direction, considering the rotation radius of a lid, the height to the ceiling of an installation place (in a clean room), and a crane head dimension In some cases, the relationship with the In particular, in recent years, the increase in size of the substrate to be processed has progressed, for example, since the substrate processing apparatus has also been enlarged because the substrate having a long side of more than 2 m in length is to be treated, the installation space such as the ceiling height required for opening and closing of the cover is required. It is becoming difficult to secure.

Moreover, in the lid opening-and-closing apparatus of patent document 1, the height position of the lid | cover at the time of opening, and the position of a chamber main body will change very much. For this reason, when performing internal maintenance work, it is necessary to prepare a work bench with a different height. In addition, it is preferable that there is no step between the lid and the chamber main body from the viewpoint of ensuring the safety of the operator during maintenance.

As described above, it has been desired to provide a substrate processing apparatus capable of reducing the area of the apparatus by reducing the area required for the opening and closing operation of the lid. In addition, it has been desired to provide a substrate processing apparatus that suppresses the height required for the opening and closing operation of the cover, is hard to be restricted by the ceiling height of the installation place, and also facilitates maintenance work.

This invention is made | formed in view of such a situation, and makes it a subject to provide the board | substrate processing apparatus which can suppress the apparatus space required for opening / closing operation of a cover.

MEANS TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM In order to solve the said subject, the 1st viewpoint of this invention is a substrate processing apparatus which processes a board | substrate in a processing chamber, The said processing chamber is a chamber main body, the cover which was detachably attached on the said chamber main body, and An opening / closing device for attaching and detaching a cover is provided, and the opening and closing device provides a substrate processing apparatus, which opens and closes the cover by sliding the cover in a direction orthogonal to the conveying direction of the substrate to the processing chamber.

In the first aspect, the opening and closing apparatus preferably includes a slide mechanism for sliding the lid in a horizontal direction, a lift mechanism for raising and lowering the lid in a vertical direction, and a rotation mechanism for rotating the lid about a horizontal axis. Do.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate in a processing chamber, wherein the processing chamber includes a chamber main body, a lid detachably mounted on the chamber main body, and an opening / closing device for attaching and detaching the lid. The opening and closing apparatus includes a slide mechanism for sliding the lid in a horizontal direction, a lift mechanism for raising and lowering the lid in a vertical direction, and a rotation mechanism for rotating the lid about a horizontal axis. Provide a processing device.

In the first or second aspect, the slide mechanism slides the lid to a position where it does not overlap the chamber body, and the lifting mechanism lowers the lid which slides to a position where it does not overlap the chamber body. The rotating mechanism is preferably opened by rotating the lowered lid so that the upper end of the lid in the open state is at the same height position as the upper end of the chamber body. In this case, it is preferable that the lifting mechanism raises the lid before sliding the lid by the slide mechanism.

The slide mechanism may further include a pair of slide moving parts for sliding movement, a driving part for driving the slide moving parts to slide the lid, and a pair of guides for guiding the pair of slide moving parts, respectively. It is preferable to have a member.

In this case, it is preferable that the said guide member is arrange | positioned in the both sides of the said process chamber in parallel with each other, and having an elevation.

Moreover, it is more preferable that the guide member arrange | positioned at the high position among the said guide members is arrange | positioned at the side part of the conveyance chamber side which conveys a board | substrate to the said processing chamber.

In addition, the guide member disposed at a higher position among the guide members is provided at a shorter length than the other guide member disposed at a lower position, and is coupled to the slide moving portion at the tip of the short guide member. It is preferable to arrange | position the inherited rail member which moves with a slide moving part, supporting this.

Moreover, it is preferable that the said lifting mechanism is equipped with a pair of movable body connected to the said cover, and it raises and closes the said cover in cooperation with these movable bodies. In this case, it is preferable that one of the movable bodies descends between the inherited rail member and the end of the short guide member when the lid is lowered.

Moreover, it is preferable to have a rotation support part which rotatably supports a pair of mutually opposing side wall of the said cover, and the said rotation mechanism makes this rotation support part a rotation axis.

Moreover, it is preferable to provide the sensor which detects the position shift in the closed state in which the said cover was attached to the said chamber main body, and the position shift in the open state in which the said cover was isolate | separated from the said chamber main body.

In addition, the substrate processing apparatus further includes a mounting table for mounting the substrate in the processing chamber, and a gas supply unit for supplying the processing gas to the substrate, and preferably performs gas processing on the substrate. In this case, it is preferable that the gas supply part has a shower head in which a plurality of gas discharge holes are formed, and the shower head is mounted in the lid.

Moreover, it is preferable that a substrate processing apparatus is a vacuum processing apparatus which processes a board | substrate in the state which reduced the pressure in the said processing chamber.

The 3rd viewpoint of this invention arrange | positions the board | substrate processing apparatus of the said 1st viewpoint and a 2nd viewpoint adjacent to the conveyance chamber which conveys a board | substrate, It provides the substrate processing system characterized by the above-mentioned.

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter, the preferred form of this invention is described, referring drawings.

Here, the case where the substrate processing apparatus of this invention is used for the multi-chamber type vacuum processing system for performing an etching process with respect to glass LCD substrate (it only describes as a "substrate" hereafter) S is demonstrated. .

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an overview of this vacuum processing system 1, and FIG. 2 is a horizontal sectional view showing the inside thereof. In this vacuum processing system 1, the transfer chamber 20 which is a transfer module and the load lock chamber 30 are connected in the center part. Three etching processing apparatuses 10 are arranged around the transfer chamber 20 as process modules. In addition, between the transfer chamber 20 and the load lock chamber 30, between the transfer chamber 20 and each etching processing apparatus 10, and in the opening which communicates the load lock chamber 30 and the outside atmosphere, these space | intervals are provided between these. Gate valves 22 that are hermetically sealed and that can be opened and closed are interposed therebetween.

Moreover, the pair of guide rails 201 and 202 parallel to each other are provided in the horizontal direction at the side part of each etching processing apparatus 10 with a height difference. These guide rails 201 and 202 extend in the direction in which the cover 62 of the processing chamber 60 is deployed. In this embodiment, the development direction of the lid 62 is a direction orthogonal to the carrying out direction of the substrate between the transfer chamber 20 and each etching processing apparatus 10.

In addition, as will be described later, the guide rail 202 is provided at a position higher than the guide rail 201 and shorter than the guide rail 201. Moreover, the extension mounting rail part 206 is arrange | positioned at the edge part of the guide rail 202. As shown in FIG.

Furthermore, the opening and closing devices 63 and 64 which perform opening and closing of the lid 62 are arranged in each etching processing apparatus 10.

On the outer side of the load lock chamber 30, two cassette indexers 41 are provided, and cassettes 40 each containing the substrate S are mounted thereon. One of these cassettes 40 accommodates an unprocessed substrate S, and the other receives a processed substrate S. As shown in FIG. These cassettes 40 are liftable by the lift mechanism 42.

The board | substrate conveying means 43 is provided on the support 44 between these two cassettes 40, The conveying means 43 is the arm 45 and 46 provided in two upper and lower stages, and these are integrated integrally. A base 47 is provided to support retracting and rotatable.

Four protrusions 48 supporting the substrate S are formed on the arms 45 and 46. The projection 48 is made of an elastic body made of synthetic rubber having a high coefficient of friction, and acts to prevent the substrate S from shifting or falling while supporting the substrate. In addition, only one cassette 40 may be provided. In this case, the processed substrate S is returned to the empty space in the same cassette.

Each etching processing apparatus 10 has a processing chamber as described later, and its internal space can be maintained in a predetermined reduced pressure atmosphere, and the etching process is performed in the processing chamber. The detail of this etching processing apparatus 10 is mentioned later.

Similar to the etching processing apparatus 10, the conveyance chamber 20 can be hold | maintained in predetermined | prescribed reduced pressure atmosphere, and the conveyance mechanism 50 is arrange | positioned in it as shown in FIG. And the board | substrate S is conveyed between the load lock chamber 30 and three etching processing apparatuses 10 by this conveyance mechanism 50. As shown in FIG.

The conveyance mechanism 50 is provided in the one end part of the base 51, and the 1st arm 52 provided in the base 51 so that rotation was possible, and the 2nd arm provided in the front end part of the 1st arm 52 so that rotation is possible. The drive device which is provided in the base 51 with the fork-shaped board | substrate support plate 54 which is rotatably attached to the 53 and the 2nd arm 53, and supports the board | substrate S. It is possible to convey the board | substrate S by driving the 1st arm 52, the 2nd arm 53, and the board | substrate support plate 54 by this. In addition, the base 51 is rotatable and capable of vertical movement.

Like the etching processing apparatus 10 and the conveyance chamber 20, the load lock chamber 30 can also be hold | maintained in predetermined | prescribed reduced pressure atmosphere, and a pair of positioner for positioning the board | substrate S in it. A buffer rack 31 having a positioner 32 is disposed.

Next, the etching process apparatus 10 is demonstrated in detail with reference to FIGS. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the etching processing apparatus 10, FIGS. 4 and 5 are perspective views of main parts thereof, and FIGS. 6 and 7 are side views.

The etching processing apparatus 10 is equipped with the processing chamber 60 for performing an etching process with respect to the board | substrate S in it. The processing chamber 60 includes a chamber main body 61, a lid 62 detachably mounted on the chamber main body 61, and an opening and closing device 63 that attaches and detaches the lid 62 to the chamber main body 61. , 64). When the processing is performed in the processing chamber 60, a seal member 95 is provided between the chamber body 61 and the lid 62 in order to enable the vacuum suction by allowing the inside thereof to be an airtight space.

The opening and closing devices 63 and 64 are provided with a slide mechanism which opens and closes the lid 62 using a pair of guide rails 201 and 202 provided at both sides of the processing chamber 60. As shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, the guide rail 201 and the guide rail 202 are in directions perpendicular to orthogonal to the carrying-in / out direction of the substrate S in both side portions of the processing chamber 60. They are arranged in parallel and in different stages with a predetermined elevation.

The guide rail 202 of the higher height arrange | positioned at the conveyance chamber 20 side is hypothesized so that it may run on the gate valve 22 which carries out the carrying out of the board | substrate S to each etching processing apparatus 10. FIG. . Thus, the board | substrate S which passed through the gate opening 22a by giving the height difference to the guide rail 201 and the guide rail 202, and arrange | positioning the guide rail 202 in the position relatively higher than the guide rail 201. The lid 62 can be guided by the guide rails 201 and 202 without disturbing the carrying in and out of the. Therefore, the lid 62 can be slid in a direction substantially orthogonal to the carrying in and out directions of the substrate S, and the space required for the opening and closing operation of the lid 62 can be reduced. Such a space saving effect is provided with a plurality of processing apparatuses around the transport mechanism, for example, in the vacuum processing system 1 in which a plurality of etching processing apparatuses 10 are arranged around the transport chamber 20. It is especially large in a substrate processing system of a multi-chamber type.

4 and 5, the guide rail 202 is formed shorter than the guide rail 201, and an extension rail portion 206 is connected to an end thereof, and the extension rail portion ( 206 is provided with an inherited rail member 203 that can move on. The inherited rail mechanism using this inherited rail member 203 will be described later.

The opening and closing device 63 using the guide rail 201 on the opposite side to the transfer chamber 20 has a main configuration, a slider 101 which is slidably horizontally coupled to the guide rail 201. And a slide motor 102 which is a driving source for moving the slider 101, a lifting jack 105 connected to the slider 101, and a rotating motor 106 for rotating the lid 62.

The elevating jack 105 includes two lifting shafts 103a and 103b having a screw thread, a movable body 104 supported by the lifting shaft 103a and 103b so as to be liftable and lifting, and a lifting motor 107 as a driving source. ). The two lifting shafts 103a and 103b are connected by the coupling 108, and the rotation of the lifting motor 107 is distributed to and transferred to the two lifting shafts 103a and 103b, respectively. Is rotated synchronously.

The movable body 104 is connected via the lid 62 and the rotary support part 111, and the movable body 104 is moved up and down by the rotation of the elevating shafts 103a and 103b. The cover 62 can also be lifted up and down in conjunction with.

A pinion gear 109 is provided at the tip end of the rotation shaft of the slide motor 102, and a linear rack gear 110 (see Fig. 6) is mounted on the guide rail 201 in parallel. The slide pinion mechanism allows the slider 101 to slide along the guide rail 201. Since the slider 101 is connected to the lid 62 via the lifting jack 105 and the rotary support 111, the slider 62 may move in a horizontal direction in conjunction with the slider 101.

On the other hand, the opening and closing device 64 using the guide rail 202 on the side of the transfer chamber 20 has, as a main configuration, sliders 121a and 121b provided to be slidable in the horizontal direction while engaging with the guide rail 202, The slide motor 122 which is a drive source which moves the slider 121a, 121b, and the lifting jack 125 connected with the slider 121a, 121b are provided. In addition, the opening and closing device 64 is not provided with a rotating motor, and the lid 62 is rotated using the rotating motor 106 of the opening and closing device 63 as a driving source.

The elevating jack 125 includes two elevating shafts 123a and 123b with threads formed thereon, a movable body 124 supported by the elevating shafts 123a and 123b so as to be elevated and lowered, and an elevating motor 127 as a driving cause. Equipped with. The two lifting shafts 123a and 123b are connected by a coupling 128 disposed at their upper positions, and the rotation of the lifting motor 127 is distributed to the two lifting shafts 123a and 123b, Each lifting shaft 123a, 123b is configured to rotate in synchronization.

The movable body 124 has a substantially T-shaped appearance from the front, and is connected via the lid 62 and the rotation support part 131 at the lower portion thereof, and is rotated by the lifting shafts 123a and 123b. When the movable body 124 moves up and down, the lid 62 can also be moved up and down in association with the movable body 124. Thus, since the movable body 124 is convex downward and is connected to the cover 62 via the rotation support part 131 in the lower part, the movable body 124 is moved using the inherited rail mechanism mentioned later. By lowering in a long stroke, the lowering stroke of the lid 62 can be large.

The pinion gear 129 is provided at the front end of the rotation shaft of the slide motor 122, and the rack rail 130 (refer to FIG. 7) of a linear type is mounted on the guide rail 202 in parallel. The pinion mechanism makes it possible to slide the sliders 121a and 121b along the guide rails 202. Since the sliders 121a and 121b are connected to the lid 62 via the lifting jack 125 and the rotary support 131, the lid 62 is moved in the horizontal direction in conjunction with the slide movement of the sliders 121a and 121b. Let's do it.

The rotary motor 106 provided in the opening / closing apparatus 63 is fixed to the movable body 104, and rotates the lid | cover 62 with the rotary support part 111 and the rotary support part 131 as a rotating shaft. That is, the rotation support part 111 and the rotation support part 131 rotatably support the center part of the side wall in which the cover 62 opposes, respectively, and are located on the same line of the horizontal direction, and are connected to the rotation motor 106, respectively. The cover 62 is rotated by making these rotation support parts 111 and 131 into a rotating shaft.

In addition, the slide motor 102 of the switchgear 63 and the slide motor 122 of the switchgear 64 are separated from the inverter 150 by the control part 150 as shown in FIG. The configuration is controlled via 151 and 152. With such a configuration, even when a delay or the like occurs in the slider 101 or the sliders 121a and 121b due to the influence of load variation or the like during the slide movement, the slide motor 102 and the slide motor 122 are separately controlled by the inverter. It becomes possible, and the precision of a slide stop position can be improved.

In addition, although the cover is actually provided in the outer side of the switchgear 63 and the switchgear 64, and each drive system is not seen, the cover is abbreviate | omitted. 4 and 5, the rack gears 110 and 130 are omitted.

Referring to FIG. 3, the susceptor 72 is disposed below the inner space of the processing chamber 60 via the insulating member 71, and the LCD substrate S is mounted on the susceptor 72. .

An exhaust pipe 81 is connected to the lower side of the side wall of the chamber main body 61, and an exhaust device 82 is connected to the exhaust pipe 81. The exhaust device 82 includes a vacuum pump such as a turbomolecular pump, and is thus configured to vacuum suction the internal space of the processing chamber 60 to form a predetermined reduced pressure atmosphere.

Above the susceptor 72, a shower head 74 is provided which faces in parallel with the susceptor 72 and functions as an upper electrode. This showerhead 74 is screwed (not shown) to the insulating member 75 arranged around it, and the insulating member 75 is supported by the supporting portion 62a which protrudes into the lid 62. And screwed (not shown). The shower head 74 is connected to a process gas supply system 77 for supplying a process gas for etching treatment to the shower head 74 via a pipe 76, and a plurality of shower heads 74 are provided on the bottom surface of the shower head 74. The processing gas is discharged from the gas discharge hole 74a toward the substrate S.

On the other hand, a feed rod 78 is connected to the center of the upper surface of the shower head 74, a matcher 79 is connected to an upper end of the feed rod 78, and a high frequency power supply 80 is connected to the matcher 79. ) Is connected. Therefore, after evacuating the inner space of the processing chamber 60 by the exhaust device 82 to a predetermined reduced pressure state, the processing gas is introduced from the shower head 74, and the pressure is adjusted to a predetermined pressure, By applying high frequency power from the power supply 80 to the shower head 74 via the matching unit 79 and the feed rod 78, plasma of the processing gas is formed in the space above the substrate S, thereby forming a substrate ( The etching process for S) proceeds.

Next, the processing operation of the vacuum processing system comprised as mentioned above is demonstrated. First, two arms 45 and 46 of the conveying means 43 are driven forward and backward to load two substrates S at a time from one cassette 40 (the cassette on the left side in FIG. 1) containing the unprocessed substrate. Bring into lock room 30.

In the load lock chamber 30, the substrate S is held by the buffer rack 31, and after the arms 45 and 46 are retracted, the gate valve 22 on the atmospheric side of the load lock chamber 30 is closed. do. Thereafter, the inside of the load lock chamber 30 is exhausted, and the inside is reduced to a predetermined degree of vacuum. After the vacuum suction is completed, the positioning of the substrate S is performed by bringing the positioner 32 into contact with the substrate S while moving in the direction indicated by reference numeral A in FIG.

After performing alignment of the board | substrate S, the gate valve 22 between the conveyance chamber 20 and the load lock chamber 30 is opened, and the board | substrate S is conveyed by the conveyance mechanism 50 by the conveyance chamber 20. I bring it in). Subsequently, the board | substrate S carried into the conveyance chamber 20 is received on the board | substrate support plate 54 of the conveyance mechanism 50, and it carries in to the predetermined etching processing apparatus 10. As shown in FIG. Subsequently, the substrate support plate 54 is evacuated from the etching apparatus 10 and the gate valve 22 is closed. At this time, the chamber main body 61 and the lid 62 are sealed by the seal member 95 in the processing chamber 60 of the etching processing apparatus 10 to enable vacuum suction.

In the etching processing apparatus 10, as shown in FIG. 3, after the substrate S is mounted on the susceptor 72, the internal space of the processing chamber 60 is reduced to a predetermined pressure. The process gas for etching processing supplied from the processing gas supply system 77 is discharged toward the substrate S via the shower head 74, and the matching device 79 and the feed rod from the high frequency power supply 80 ( High frequency power is supplied to the shower head 74 via 78, and plasma is formed in the space on the substrate S, so that the etching process for the substrate S is performed.

After this etching process is complete | finished, the gate valve 22 is opened, the board | substrate S of the process completed is received by the board | substrate support plate 54 of the conveyance mechanism 50, and it is conveyed to the load lock chamber 30. As shown in FIG. The board | substrate S conveyed to the load lock chamber 30 enters into the cassette 40 (the cassette on the right side of FIG. 1) for a processed board | substrate by the arms 45 and 46 of the conveying means 43. As shown in FIG. Thereby, although a series of processing operation | movement on one board | substrate is complete | finished, this process operation is repeated by the number of board | substrates mounted in the cassette 40 for unprocessed board | substrates.

When such processing is repeated, for example, a predetermined number of times, it is necessary to perform maintenance of the etching processing apparatus 10. In this case, the cover 62 of the processing chamber 60 is removed by the opening and closing devices 63 and 64 described above, and moved to the position away from the chamber main body 61.

 Next, the opening and closing devices 63 and 64 of the lid 62 and the opening and closing operations thereof will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 9 to 18. In addition, although the switchgear 63 and the switchgear 64 cooperate to perform the opening-closing operation | movement of the cover 62, in the following description, it opens and closes, referring FIG. 9-13 and FIG. 14-18 for convenience. The operation of the 63 and the switchgear 64 will be described separately.

As described above, the pair of guide rails 201 and 202 are arranged in parallel on both sides of the processing chamber 60 with height difference. 9-13 is a side view which looked at the processing chamber 60 from the opposite side to the conveyance chamber 20, and shows the series of operation | movement which makes the lid | cover 62 open state sequentially. In addition, for convenience of explanation, only the front guide rail 201 is shown in FIGS. 9-13. Reference numeral 204 denotes a mount for supporting the guide rail 201.

First, FIG. 9 shows a state during processing in which the lid 62 is hermetically contacted with the chamber main body 61.

In the slide start position of the guide rail 201, the photoelectric sensor 211 which detects whether the stopper 210 and the cover 62 of the processing chamber 60 are attached to the correct position in the closed state is arrange | positioned. The stopper 212 and the photoelectric sensor 213 are also disposed at the slide end position of the guide rail 201, that is, the stop position at which the slider 101 comes into contact and stops. In addition, the stopper 210, the photoelectric sensor 211, the stopper 212, and the photoelectric sensor 213 are shown integrally, respectively.

From the state shown in FIG. 9, as shown in FIG. 10, the cover 62 is raised slightly by operating the lifting motor 107, and raising the movable body 104 of the lifting jack 105 slightly. By driving the slide motor 102 in this state, by the engagement of the pinion gear 109 and the rack gear 110, the slider 101 slides along the guide rail 201, shown in phantom in FIG. As described above, the cover 62 moves horizontally with the opening and closing device 63.

As shown in FIG. 11, after the lid 62 is displaced from above the chamber main body 61, the slider 101 is slid to a position contacting the stopper 212, and then the driving of the slide motor 102 is stopped. Let's do it. The positional shift of the slide position of the lid | cover 62 can be detected by monitoring the stop position of this slider 101 by the photoelectric sensor 213. FIG. Next, the lifting motor 107 is operated to lower the movable body 104 of the lifting jack 105 to lower the lid 62.

Then, by operating the rotary motor 106 in the position where the lid 62 is lowered, the lid 62 is rotated with the rotary support portions 111 and 131 as the rotation center as shown in FIG. 12. Since the rotation of the lid 62 is carried out after the lid 62 is lowered, the height H necessary for the rotation can be suppressed to be low, making it difficult to be restricted by the ceiling height of the installation site or the like. When the cover 62 is rotated 180 degrees in this way, as shown in FIG. 13, the cover 62 is fully expanded. In such an open state, by lowering the lid 62 before rotation, for example, the lower end of the chamber main body 61 and the upper end of the lid 62 can be aligned to almost the same height.

14 and 16 to 18 are side views of the processing chamber 60 viewed from the transport chamber 20 side, and a series of operations of sequentially opening the lid 62 from the opposite side to FIGS. 9 to 13 are sequentially performed. It is shown. For convenience of description, only the front guide rail 202 is shown in FIG. 14, FIG. 16-FIG. 18, and the gate valve 22 and the gate opening 22a are abbreviate | omitted. Reference numeral 205 denotes a mount for supporting the guide rail 202.

As described above, the guide rail 202 is provided at a position relatively higher than the guide rail 201, and is formed shorter than the guide rail 201, and the extension rail portion 206 is provided at the tip side. The succession rail member 203 is disposed there. The inherited rail member 203 is movable to move on the extension rail portion 206 horizontally through, for example, a slider, not shown, while guiding the extension rail portion 206 formed lower than the guide rail 202. As a sieve, a rail capable of engaging with the sliders 121a and 121b is disposed on the upper surface.

In the slide start position of the guide rail 202, the photoelectric sensor 215 which detects whether the stopper 214 and the lid | cover 62 of the processing chamber 60 are attached in the correct position in the closed state is arrange | positioned. The stopper 216 and the photoelectric sensor 217 are also disposed at the slide end position of the extension rail portion 206, that is, the stop position at which the inherited rail member 203 comes into contact and stops. In addition, the stopper 214, the photoelectric sensor 215, the stopper 216, and the photoelectric sensor 217 are shown integrally, respectively.

First, the lifting motor 127 is operated from the state in which the lid 62 is in airtight contact with the chamber main body 61, and the movable body 124 is slightly lifted by the lifting jack 125. As shown in FIG. 14, the lid 62 is slightly lifted from the chamber main body 61. By driving the slide motor 122 in this state, the slider 121a, 121b slides along the guide rail 202 by the combination of the pinion gear 129 and the rack gear 130, and thus the lid ( 62 is moved in the horizontal direction as shown by an imaginary line in FIG.

And as shown in FIG. 14, the succession rail member 203 is made into the state (connected state) which contacted the guide rail 202, and the slider 121a is advanced on the inheritance rail member 203. As shown in FIG. At this time, as shown in FIG. 15, the lock rail 203 is fixed to the end of the guide rail 202 by using a lock cylinder 207 so as not to move the lock rail 203. Put it. In the position where only the slider 121a is mounted on the inherited rail member 203, the slide motor 122 is stopped and the movement of the sliders 121a and 121b is once stopped.

 In this position, the coupling rail member 203 and the slider 121a are connected using any coupling means, for example, a fixing pin 208. In addition, the lock cylinder 207 is released after the connection. After connecting the inheritance rail member 203 and the slider 121a in the state where only the slider 121a was supported by the inheritance rail member 203 in this way, as shown in FIG. 16, the slide motor 122 is again carried out. Is driven to advance the sliders 121a and 121b together with the inherited rail member 203 in the direction of the tip of the extension rail portion 206. And the cover 62 is moved to the position which does not overlap with the chamber main body 61. FIG.

After sliding the sliders 121a and 121b to the position where the inherited rail member 203 contacts the stopper 216, the slide motor 122 is stopped. The positional shift of the slide position of the lid | cover 62 can be detected by monitoring the stop position of the slider 121a, 121b by the photoelectric sensor 217. FIG. Then, as shown in FIG. 17, the lifting motor 127 is operated, the movable body 124 is lowered by the lifting jack 125, and the cover 62 is lowered. At this time, the T-shaped movable body 124 lowers between the two sliders 121a and 121b and is inserted between the inherited rail member 203 and the guide rail 202. Thereby, the rotation center of the lid | cover 62 shown with the reference numeral B in FIG. 17 can be made lower than the height of the guide rail 202. FIG. That is, by using the inherited rail member 203, the movable body 124 can be lowered by a long stroke, and also the descending stroke of the cover 62 can be taken large by this.

Then, the cover 62 is rotated by driving the rotary motor 106 at the position where the cover 62 is lowered. Since the cover 62 is rotated after the cover 62 is lowered, rotation is performed by the rotation center B at a lower position as shown in FIG. 18, so that the height H necessary for the rotation is adjusted. It becomes possible to restrain it low and can make it hard to be restricted by the ceiling height etc. of an installation place.

As described above, the cover 62 is operated by simultaneously operating the opening and closing devices 63 and 64 of both sides of the processing chamber 60, sliding the lid 62 in the horizontal direction, then lowering it and further rotating it by 180 °. It is in a fully developed state. In such an open state, by lowering the lid 62 before rotation, it becomes possible to make the upper end of the chamber main body 61 and the upper end of the lid 62 almost the same height.

Based on the above, a series of opening / closing operations of the lid 62 in the processing chamber 60 is schematically shown in FIG. 19. First, FIG. 19A shows a state in which the lid 62 is hermetically contacted with the chamber main body 61. From this state, as shown in FIG.19 (b), the lifting motors 107 and 127 of the switchgear 63 and 64 are operated, and the movable bodies 104 and 124 are moved by the lifting jacks 105 and 125. FIG. By slightly raising), the lid 62 is slightly raised.

Next, the slide motors 102 and 122 of the switchgear 63 and 64 are driven. Then, the sliders 101, 121a, 121b slide along the guide rails 201, 202 arranged at different ends on both sides of the processing chamber 60, and furthermore, the inherited rail member 203 (shown in FIG. 19). (Not shown) moves on the extension rail portion 206, so that the lid 62 moves in the horizontal direction as shown in Fig. 19C. In this state, maintenance in the chamber main body 61 can be performed easily.

After the lid 62 is slid to the position away from the chamber main body 61, as shown in Fig. 19D, the lifting motors 107 and 127 are operated to be lifted by the lifting jacks 105 and 125. The movable bodies 104 and 124 are lowered, and the cover 62 is lowered by a long stroke. Then, by operating the rotary motor 106 in the position where the lid 62 is lowered, the lid 62 is rotated, for example, by 90 degrees, as shown in FIG. 19E. By locking in this position, simple maintenance inside the lid 62 can be executed.

Further, when the rotary motor 106 is operated to rotate the lid 62 by 180 ° from its original position, as shown in FIG. 19 (f), the upper end (open side) of the lid 62 is chambered. It becomes possible to align and open to approximately the same height as the upper end of the main body 61. Thereby, the maintenance work in the cover 62, the heavy object existing in the cover 62, for example, the removal of the showerhead 74, etc. can be performed easily and safely by a lifting crane etc. Also, the mounting operation of the lid 62 is in the reverse order of this order.

As described above, the opening and closing devices 63 and 64 for attaching and detaching the lid 62 include a slide mechanism for sliding the lid 62, an elevating mechanism for lifting the lid 62 up, and a rotation mechanism for rotating the lid 62. FIG. Since the lid 62 is slid, the lid 62 can be slid to be separated from the chamber main body 61, and then the lid 62 can be freely rotated about the horizontal axis.

At this time, by lowering the lid 62 further from the position in which the lid 62 is slid in the horizontal direction and rotating the lid 62, the height required for the rotation of the lid 62 can be suppressed lower than that of the conventional structure, and the installation of the processing chamber 60 is performed. Space, especially height constraints can be relaxed. Moreover, in the state which rotated the cover 62 180 degrees, the chamber main body 61 so that the upper end of the chamber main body 61 and the upper end (open end) of the cover 62 can be made to be substantially the same height. Since no step is generated between and, the maintenance work such as mounting or detachment of heavy material in the lid 62 can be easily and safely performed.

Further, by arranging the guide rail 202 used for the slide mechanism at a position higher than the guide rail 201, the loading and unloading of the substrate S into the processing chamber 60 with the gate valve 22 interposed therebetween. Since the lid | cover 62 can be expanded in the direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the board | substrate S, it becomes possible to reduce the footprint of the whole vacuum processing system.

As described above, since the photoelectric sensors 211, 213, 215, and 217 are disposed in the guide rails 201 and 202 and the extension rails 206, the lid 62 and the open and closed states, respectively. It is possible to detect the misalignment of the position in, thereby improving the reliability of the apparatus.

In addition, various modifications are possible for this invention, without being limited to the said embodiment. For example, in the said embodiment, the height difference is provided in the pair of guide rails 201 and 202, it extends and installs in the direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the board | substrate S, and the opening-closing direction (slide direction) of the cover 62 is carried out. Although the direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the board | substrate S was shown, you may arrange | position a guide rail in parallel with the conveyance direction of the board | substrate S in the place where there is no restriction | limiting in the installation space (footprint).

Moreover, the slide mechanism which slides the cover 62 horizontally, and the lifting mechanism which raises and lowers the cover 62 are not limited to the said embodiment, Various mechanisms can be employ | adopted.

In addition, although the said embodiment showed the case where this invention was used for a plasma etching apparatus, other vacuum processing, such as ashing and CVD, may be sufficient. In addition, a vacuum process is not necessarily limited to a plasma process, Another gas process may be sufficient, Furthermore, the vacuum process other than a gas process may be sufficient.

Furthermore, although the vacuum processing system for processing an LCD board | substrate was mentioned as the board | substrate as an example, it is not limited to this, The board | substrate processing apparatus which processes another FPD board | substrate or a semiconductor wafer may be sufficient. As the FPD, besides a liquid crystal monitor (LCD), a light emitting diode (LED) display, an electroluminescence (EL) display, a fluorescent fluorescence display (VFD), a plasma display panel (PDP), and the like are exemplified. .

(Industrial availability)

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be favorably used in a substrate processing apparatus that performs a predetermined process on substrates such as various FPD substrates.

According to the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention, the device space required for the opening and closing operation of the lid can be suppressed. That is, the substrate processing which can suppress the footprint of an apparatus by reducing the area required for the opening / closing operation | cover of a lid by using the switchgear which opens and closes by sliding a lid in the direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction which conveys a board | substrate to a process chamber. A device can be provided.

In addition, by using an opening and closing device having a slide mechanism for sliding the lid in the horizontal direction, a lifting mechanism for raising and lowering the lid in the vertical direction, and a rotating mechanism for rotating the lid about the horizontal axis, the height required for the opening and closing operation of the lid is increased. By suppressing, it is possible to provide a substrate processing apparatus which is hard to be restricted by the installation site and which is easy to maintain.

Claims (22)

A substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate in a processing chamber, The processing chamber includes a chamber main body, a lid detachably mounted on the chamber main body, and an opening and closing device for attaching and detaching the lid. The opening and closing device has a slide mechanism for sliding the lid in a direction orthogonal to the conveying direction of the substrate to the processing chamber, a lifting mechanism for elevating the lid, and a rotating mechanism for rotating the lid about a horizontal axis, The lid is slid by the slide mechanism to a position which does not overlap the chamber body, and is lowered by the lifting mechanism. Substrate processing apparatus. A substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate in a processing chamber, The processing chamber includes a chamber main body, a lid detachably mounted on the chamber main body, and an opening and closing device for attaching and detaching the lid. The opening and closing device has a slide mechanism for sliding the lid in a direction orthogonal to the conveying direction of the substrate to the processing chamber, The slide mechanism has a pair of guide members disposed at both sides of the processing chamber in parallel with each other and with a height difference. Substrate processing apparatus. A substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate in a processing chamber, The processing chamber includes a chamber main body, a lid detachably mounted on the chamber main body, and an opening and closing device for attaching and detaching the lid. The opening and closing device has a slide mechanism for sliding the cover in the horizontal direction, a lifting mechanism for raising and lowering the cover in the vertical direction, and a rotating mechanism for rotating the cover about a horizontal axis, The lid is slid to a position where it does not overlap the chamber body by the slide mechanism, is lowered by the elevating mechanism, and is rotated by the rotation mechanism, whereby the upper end of the lid in the open state is the upper end of the chamber body. Characterized in that it is opened to be at the same height position as Substrate processing apparatus. The method of claim 1, The lid is rotated by the rotating mechanism, so that the upper end of the lid in an open state is opened to be at the same height position as the upper end of the chamber body. Substrate processing apparatus. The method according to claim 3 or 4, The lifting mechanism raises the lid before sliding the lid by the slide mechanism. Substrate processing apparatus. The method of claim 2, The slide mechanism has a pair of slide moving parts for sliding movement, and a driving part for driving the slide moving parts to slide the cover, the slide mechanism being provided on opposite side walls of the cover. Substrate processing apparatus. delete The method of claim 6, The guide member arrange | positioned at the high position among the said guide members is arrange | positioned at the side part of the conveyance chamber side which conveys a board | substrate to the said process chamber, It is characterized by the above-mentioned. Substrate processing apparatus. The method of claim 8, The guide member disposed at a higher position among the guide members is provided in a shorter position than the other guide member disposed at a lower position, and the slide member moves to the front end of the short guide member in combination with the slide moving portion while supporting it. An inherited rail member that moves with the unit is disposed. Substrate processing apparatus. The method of claim 2 or 3, The elevating mechanism includes a pair of movable bodies connected to the lid, and moves the lid up and down by interlocking with the movable bodies. Substrate processing apparatus. The method of claim 9, The elevating mechanism includes a pair of movable bodies connected to the lid, and interlocks with these movable bodies to elevate the lid, One side of the said movable body descends between the said inherited rail member and the edge part of the said short guide | guide member, when lowering the said cover, It is characterized by the above-mentioned. Substrate processing apparatus. The method of claim 2 or 3, It has a rotation support part rotatably supporting a pair of mutually opposing side walls of the said cover, The said rotation mechanism makes this rotation support part a rotating shaft, It is characterized by the above-mentioned. Substrate processing apparatus. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, And a sensor for detecting a position shift in a closed state in which the lid is attached to the chamber body, and a position shift in an open state in which the lid is separated from the chamber body. Substrate processing apparatus. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, A mounting table for mounting a substrate in the processing chamber, and a gas supply unit for supplying a processing gas to the substrate, Performing gas processing on the substrate, Substrate processing apparatus. The method of claim 14, The gas supply part has a shower head in which a plurality of gas discharge holes are formed, and the shower head is mounted in the lid. Substrate processing apparatus. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, It is a vacuum processing apparatus which processes a board | substrate in the state which pressure-reduced in the said processing chamber, It characterized by the above-mentioned. Substrate processing apparatus. The substrate processing apparatus in any one of Claims 1-3 was arrange | positioned adjacent to the conveyance chamber which conveys a board | substrate, It is characterized by the above-mentioned. Substrate processing system. The method of claim 3, wherein The slide mechanism includes a pair of slide moving parts for sliding movement, a driving part for driving the slide moving parts to slide the lid, and a pair of guide members for guiding the pair of slide moving parts, respectively. Characterized by having Substrate processing apparatus. The method of claim 18, The guide members are arranged in both side portions of the processing chamber in parallel with each other and with a height difference. Substrate processing apparatus. The method of claim 19, The guide member arrange | positioned at the high position among the said guide members is arrange | positioned at the side part of the conveyance chamber side which conveys a board | substrate to the said process chamber, It is characterized by the above-mentioned. Substrate processing apparatus. The method of claim 20, The guide member disposed at a higher position among the guide members is provided in a shorter position than the other guide member disposed at a lower position, and the slide member moves to the front end of the short guide member in combination with the slide moving portion while supporting it. An inherited rail member that moves with the unit is disposed. Substrate processing apparatus. The method of claim 21, The elevating mechanism includes a pair of movable bodies connected to the lid, and interlocks with these movable bodies to elevate the lid, One side of the said movable body descends between the said inherited rail member and the edge part of the said short guide | guide member, when lowering the said cover, It is characterized by the above-mentioned. Substrate processing apparatus.

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