KR101587016B1 - Apparatus for lifting boat and Substrate processing Apparatus of Furnace Type - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a boat lifting apparatus. The boat lifting apparatus of the present invention comprises: a magnetic levitation member having a rail provided vertically, and a transfer block which levitates magnetically with respect to the rail; a drive unit providing propulsion to the transfer block; and a coupling member transmitting the propulsion of the drive unit to the transfer block.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a boat elevating apparatus and a furnace type substrate processing apparatus,

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate manufacturing apparatus, and more particularly, to a boat elevating apparatus for raising and lowering a boat on which substrates are loaded and a furnace type substrate processing apparatus having the same.

In various treatments of a substrate to be processed, for example, a semiconductor substrate, a heat treatment apparatus such as a CVD apparatus, a thin film forming apparatus such as an epitaxial growth apparatus, an oxide film forming apparatus, and a thermal diffusion apparatus for doping impurities is used .

A typical diffusion type heat treatment apparatus used for various heat treatments of the semiconductor substrate includes a process tube, a heater assembly installed to surround the process tube, and a boat elevating apparatus for loading or unloading the boat loaded with the substrates into the process tube .

The boat platform used in the diffusion type heat treatment system is compactly constructed using LM (Linear Motion) to raise and lower the boat. However, the oil from the lubricant for driving the LM in the chamber during the process and the particles due to the friction during up / down are the main causes of damaging the semiconductor production of good products.

An object of the present invention is to provide a boat elevating apparatus and a furnace-type substrate processing apparatus capable of preventing the occurrence of particles generated when a boat moves up and down in a chamber.

The problems to be solved by the present invention are not limited thereto, and other matters not mentioned can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a magnetic levitation member comprising: a vertically provided rail; and a transport block magnetically levitated with respect to the rail; A drive unit for providing thrust to the transport block; And a coupling member for transmitting the driving force of the drive unit to the transport block.

Also, the rail may include a first floating magnetic body, and the transport block may include a second floating magnetic body facing the first floating magnetic body and acting repulsive force.

Further, the coupling member may include a first coupler raised and lowered by the drive unit; And a second coupler arranged to be spaced apart from the first coupler by a predetermined distance and magnetically coupled with the first coupler and lifted and lowered together with the first coupler.

The coupling member may further include a sealing member sealing the movement path of the first coupler while isolating the first coupler from the second coupler.

The first coupler may include a cylindrical body having a predetermined thickness; And a connection portion extending from the cylindrical body and connected to the drive unit, and the second coupler may include a ring-shaped body partially opened to enclose a part of the cylindrical body.

Further, the first coupler includes a first permanent magnet portion; The second coupler may include a second permanent magnet portion magnetically coupled to the first permanent magnet portion.

The first permanent magnet unit may include a plurality of first permanent magnets arranged such that neighboring magnetic poles have different polarities, and the second permanent magnet unit may be arranged such that neighboring magnetic poles have different polarities, And a plurality of second permanent magnets arranged to have different polarities with respect to the first permanent magnets.

The drive unit may further include: a ball screw rotatably coupled to the actuator; And a moving base which is linearly moved up and down along the longitudinal direction of the ball screw in conjunction with rotation of the ball screw and connected to the first coupler.

According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a load lock chamber comprising: a load lock chamber having a boat on which the substrates are stacked; A process chamber disposed above or below the load lock chamber for processing substrates loaded on the boat; And a boat elevating device for loading / unloading the boat into the process chamber; A magnetically levitated member having a rail vertically installed in the load lock chamber and a transport block magnetically levitated with respect to the rail; A drive unit located outside the load lock chamber and providing a driving force to the transport block; And a coupling member for transferring the driving force of the drive unit to the transport block.

Further, the coupling member may include a first coupler raised and lowered by the drive unit; And a second coupler arranged to be spaced apart from the first coupler by a predetermined distance and magnetically coupled with the first coupler and lifted and lowered together with the first coupler.

In addition, the load lock chamber may be provided at one side with a vertically elongated transfer passage along the path of movement of the coupling member, the first coupler having a cylindrical body positioned within the load lock chamber and having a predetermined thickness; And a connection portion extending from the cylindrical body and connected to the drive unit located outside the load lock chamber through the movement passage.

The coupling member may further include a sealing member for sealing the moving path, which is the moving path of the first coupler, while isolating the first coupler from the second coupler.

In addition, the second coupler may include a ring-shaped body partially opened to enclose a part of the cylindrical body.

Further, the first coupler includes a first permanent magnet portion; The second coupler may include a second permanent magnet portion magnetically coupled to the first permanent magnet portion.

The first permanent magnet unit may include a plurality of first permanent magnets arranged such that neighboring magnetic poles have different polarities, and the second permanent magnet unit may be arranged such that neighboring magnetic poles have different polarities, And a plurality of second permanent magnets arranged to have different polarities with respect to the first permanent magnets.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, a magnetic levitation system is provided, and propulsion is provided outside the chamber, thereby preventing the generation of particles generated during the boat raising and lowering.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, since the first coupler and the second coupler are mutually coupled by the permanent magnet, and the first coupler is connected to the drive unit, even if power supplied to the boat elevating apparatus is cut off, Can be prevented.

1 is a plan view showing a cluster facility for substrate processing according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a side view of a cluster facility for substrate processing in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a view showing a process processing module.
4 is a sectional view showing the boat elevating apparatus.
5 is a perspective view of the boat lifting device viewed from the inside of the second load lock chamber.
6 is a perspective view of the boat lifting device viewed from the outside of the second load lock chamber.

Other advantages and features of the present invention and methods of achieving them will become apparent with reference to the embodiments described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the concept of the invention to those skilled in the art. Is provided to fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art, and the invention is only defined by the scope of the claims.

Unless defined otherwise, all terms (including technical or scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly accepted by the generic art in the prior art to which this invention belongs. Terms defined by generic dictionaries may be interpreted to have the same meaning as in the related art and / or in the text of this application, and may be conceptualized or overly formalized, even if not expressly defined herein I will not.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of illustrating embodiments and is not intended to be limiting of the present invention. In the present specification, the singular form includes plural forms unless otherwise specified in the specification. As used herein, the terms' comprise 'and / or various forms of use of the verb include, for example,' including, '' including, '' including, '' including, Steps, operations, and / or elements do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other compositions, components, components, steps, operations, and / or components. The term 'and / or' as used herein refers to each of the listed configurations or various combinations thereof.

1 and 2 are a plan view and a side view, respectively, of a cluster facility for substrate processing according to an embodiment of the present invention.

1 and 2, a cluster facility 1 for substrate processing includes a facility front end module 900, a load lock chamber 200, a transfer chamber 300, and a process module 400.

An Equipment Front End Module (EFEM) 900 is disposed in front of the cluster facility 1. The facility front end module 900 is provided with a load port 910 through which the cassette C is loaded and unloaded and a first substrate transfer robot 930 through which the substrate is taken out from the cassette C, And an index chamber 920 for transferring the substrate between the transfer chamber C and the load lock chamber 200. Here, an ATM (Atmosphere) robot is used as the first substrate transfer robot 930.

In this embodiment, the substrate may be a semiconductor wafer. However, the substrate is not limited to this, and the substrate may be another kind of substrate such as a glass substrate.

The index chamber 920 is positioned between the load port 910 and the load lock chamber 200. The index chamber 920 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape including a front panel 922, a rear panel 924 and both side panels 926 and a first substrate transfer robot 930 for transferring the substrate is provided therein do. Although not shown, the index chamber 920 may include a controlled airflow system, such as vents, a laminar flow system, to prevent particulate contaminants from entering the interior space.

The index chamber 920 is opened and closed by a gate valve GV1 for passage of the wafer with the load lock chamber 200 to the rear panel 924 in contact with the load lock chamber 200. [

The load ports 910 are arranged in a line on the front panel 922 of the index chamber 920. The cassette C is loaded and unloaded to the load port 204. [ The cassette C may be a front open unified pod having a front opened body and a door opening and closing the front of the body.

A dummy substrate storage portion 940 is provided on both side panels 926 of the index chamber 920. The dummy substrate storage section 940 provides a dummy substrate storage container 942 in which the dummy substrate DW is stacked. The dummy substrate DW stored in the dummy substrate storage container 942 is used when the processing module 400 lacks a substrate.

Although not shown, the dummy substrate storage container 942 may be provided in a different chamber than the side of the index chamber. As an example, the dummy substrate storage container 942 may be installed in the transfer chamber 300.

The load lock chamber 200 is connected to the facility front end module 900 through the gate valve GV1. The load lock chamber 200 is disposed between the facility front end module 900 and the transfer chamber 300. Three load lock chambers 200 may be provided between the facility front end module 900 and the transfer chamber 300. The load lock chamber 200 is capable of selectively switching the internal space to atmospheric pressure and vacuum pressure. The load lock chamber 200 is provided with a loading container 210 on which a substrate is loaded.

The transfer chamber 300 is connected to the load lock chamber 200 through the gate valve GV2. The transfer chamber 300 is disposed between the load lock chamber 200 and the process processing module 400. The transfer chamber 300 has a box shape of a rectangular parallelepiped, and a second substrate transfer robot 330 for transferring the substrate is provided in the transfer chamber 300. The second substrate transfer robot 330 transfers the substrate between the load lock chamber 200 and the boats 130 provided in the second load lock chamber 410 for the processing module of the process module 400. The second substrate transfer robot 330 may include an end effector capable of transporting one substrate or five substrates. Here, the second substrate transfer robot 330 uses a vacuum robot capable of transferring substrates in a vacuum environment.

A plurality of process modules 400 may be connected to the transfer chamber 300 through a gate valve GV3. For example, the three transfer modules 400 may be connected to the transfer chamber 300, but the number of the transfer modules is not limited thereto.

Referring to FIG. 2, the cluster facility 1 includes a vacuum exhaust unit 500 and a gas supply unit 600. The vacuum evacuation unit 500 is connected to each of the load lock chamber 200, the transfer chamber 300, the load lock chamber 410 for the processing module and the process chamber 100 to provide a vacuum line 510). The gas supply unit 600 includes a gas supply line 600 for supplying a gas to each chamber for forming a differential pressure between the load lock chamber 200, the transfer chamber 300, the load lock chamber 410 for the processing module, (610).

In addition, the index chamber 920 and the load lock chamber 200, the load lock chamber 200 and the transfer chamber 300, and the transfer chamber 300 and the load lock chamber 410 for the processing module are connected to the gate valves GV1, GV2, GV3), so that the respective chamber pressures can be independently controlled.

The process module 400, which is a furnace type semiconductor equipment, includes a second load lock chamber 410 and a process chamber 100.

The second load lock chamber 410 is connected to the transfer chamber 300 via the gate valve GV3. The second load lock chamber 410 is provided with a boat elevating apparatus 800 for loading / unloading the boat 130 in which the substrates are placed in a batch manner into the inner space of the process tube 110 of the process chamber 100 do. In one example, the boat 130 may include slots to allow for loading of 25, 50 sheets of substrates. The process chamber 100 is disposed above the second load lock chamber 410.

3 is a view showing a process processing module.

Referring to FIG. 3, the process chamber 100 may include an apparatus configuration for thin film deposition. In one example, the process chamber 100 includes a process tube 110, a heater assembly 120, a boat 130 that is a substrate loading unit, a side nozzle portion 140, and a supply portion 190.

The process tube 110 includes an inner tube 112 in which the boat 130 is accommodated and an outer tube 114 surrounding the inner tube 112. The process tube 110 is loaded with a boat 130 on which a substrate is loaded to provide an internal space on which the thin film deposition process proceeds. The process tube 110 may be made of a material that can withstand high temperatures, such as quartz.

The inner tube 112 and the outer tube 114 are formed in the shape of a circular tube with the upper portion closed. Although not shown, the inner tube 112 may have a cut along one side in the longitudinal direction (vertical direction). In one example, the incision may be provided in the form of a slot. The cutout portion may be formed in a straight line with the side nozzle portion 140.

Referring again to FIGS. 1 to 3, the process tube 110 includes an exhaust port 119 for forcedly sucking and exhausting the inside air to reduce the pressure inside the flange 118, A nozzle port 117 for mounting the side nozzle portion 140 for injecting the process gas into the process tube 110 is provided. The exhaust port 119 is provided for discharging the air in the process tube 110 to the outside in the process. A vacuum exhaust device (not shown) is connected to the exhaust port 119, and the process gas supplied to the process tube 110 through the exhaust port 119 is exhausted and the internal pressure is reduced. The heater assembly 120 is installed to surround the process tube 110.

The boat 130 may have slots into which a plurality of (e.g., 50) substrates are inserted. The boat 130 is mounted on the seal cap 180 and the seal cap 180 is either loaded into the process tube 110 or unloaded out of the process tube 110 by the boat elevator 800, . Once the boat 130 is loaded into the process tube 110, the seal cap 180 is engaged with the flange 118 of the process tube 110. On the other hand, a sealing member such as an O-ring for sealing is provided at a portion where the flange 118 of the process tube 110 and the seal cap 180 are in contact with each other, 110 and the seal cap 180. As shown in FIG.

The side nozzle unit 140 receives the gases contributing to the thin film growth to the surface of the substrate through the supply unit 190. The supply unit 190 may selectively supply the first process gas, the second process gas, the cleaning gas, and the inert gas (purge gas) to the side nozzle unit 140. For example, the second process gas may be a depressurized gas such as DCS, SiH 4, or Si 2 H 6. An etching gas such as Cl 2 or HCL may be used as the first process gas. For the purpose of doping the impurity, Or the like may be used.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing the boat elevating apparatus, FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the boat elevating apparatus viewed from inside the second load lock chamber, and FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the boat elevating apparatus viewed from the outside of the second load lock chamber.

3 to 6, the boat lifting device 800 includes a magnetic levitation member 810, a drive unit 850, and a coupling member 860.

The magnetic levitation member 810 includes a rail 812 and a transport block 816. The rail 812 is provided perpendicular to the inner surface 413 of the side panel 412 constituting the second load lock chamber 410. The rail 812 includes a first floating magnetic body 814. The transfer block 816 is connected to the seal cap 180 of the boat.

The transfer block 816 includes a second floating magnetic body 818 which is opposed to the first floating magnetic body 814 so as to be magnetically levitated with respect to the rail 812 and to which a repulsive force acts. The transfer block 816 is provided with a groove 816 through which the first floating magnetic body 814 is inserted on one side and a second floating magnetic body 818 is provided on the groove 816 so as to surround the first floating magnetic body 814. [ Is installed.

The drive unit 850 provides a propulsion force that allows the transport block 816 to be moved in the vertical direction. The drive unit 850 is installed on the outer surface 414 of the side panel 412 of the load lock chamber 410. For example, the drive unit 850 may include a ball screw 852 rotated in conjunction with an actuator (not shown), and a ball screw 852 interlocked with the rotation of the ball screw 852 to move the ball screw 852 vertically A guide rail 856 for guiding the vertical movement of the movable base 854, and a case 858. As shown in Fig. The movable base 854 is connected to the first coupler 870 of the coupling member 860. The drive unit 850 can be applied to various linear movement systems such as a linear screw (LM) system for moving the transport block in the vertical direction in addition to the ball screw system.

Coupling member 860 is provided for transferring the driving force of drive unit 850 to transfer block 816. The coupling member 860 includes a first coupler 870, a second coupler 880, and a sealing member 890.

The first coupler 870 is moved by the drive unit 850. The first coupler 870 may include a cylindrical body 872 having a predetermined thickness and a connecting portion 874 extending from the cylindrical body 872 and connected to the drive unit 850. The connecting portion 874 is connected to the moving base 854 through the moving passage 419 formed in the vertical direction along the moving path of the coupling member 860 to the side panel 412 of the load lock chamber 410. The cylindrical body 872 includes a first permanent magnet portion 873. The first permanent magnet portion 873 may include a plurality of first permanent magnets 873a arranged such that neighboring magnetic poles have different polarities.

The second coupler 880 may be arranged to be spaced apart from the first coupler 870 and may be magnetically coupled to the first coupler 870 and may be moved up and down together with the first coupler 870. For example, the second coupler 880 may be provided in a ring-shaped body partially opened to enclose a part of the cylindrical body 872. The ring-shaped body can be fixed to the transport block 816. The ring-shaped body may include a second permanent magnet portion 883 magnetically coupled to the first permanent magnet portion 873. [ The second permanent magnet portion 883 is disposed such that neighboring magnetic poles have polarities different from each other and a plurality of second permanent magnets 883a arranged to have different polarities with respect to the corresponding first permanent magnets 873a ).

The sealing member 890 is provided for sealing the movement path of the first coupler 870 while isolating the first coupler 870 from the second coupler 880. The sealing member 890 has a cylindrical shape with an inner space through which the cylindrical body 872 of the first coupler 870 can be moved and has an inner diameter larger than that of the cylindrical body, (413) to seal the transfer passage (419) so as to be isolated from the inside of the second load lock chamber (410).

In the boat elevating apparatus 800 having the above-described configuration, the transfer block 816 is lifted and raised in the second load lock chamber 410 in a magnetic levitation manner, and the propulsion force of the transfer block 816 is transferred to the second load lock chamber 410 By the drive unit 850 provided outside the first load lock chamber 410, it is possible to prevent particles from being generated due to friction, lubricant or the like due to the driving of the boat elevating apparatus 800 in the second load lock chamber 410.

The first and second couplers 870 and 880 are coupled to each other by permanent magnets and the first coupler 870 is connected to the drive unit 850, It is possible to prevent an accident that the transport block 816 falls even if the power provided to the transport block 800 is shut off.

The foregoing description is merely illustrative of the technical idea of the present invention, and various changes and modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the essential characteristics of the present invention. Therefore, the embodiments disclosed in the present invention are intended to illustrate rather than limit the scope of the present invention, and the scope of the technical idea of the present invention is not limited by these embodiments. The scope of protection of the present invention should be construed according to the following claims, and all technical ideas within the scope of equivalents should be construed as falling within the scope of the present invention.

100: process chamber 110: process tube
120: heater assembly 130: boat
140: side nozzle part 800: boat lift device
810: Magnetic levitation member 850: Drive unit
860: Coupling member

Claims (15)

A boat lifting apparatus comprising:
A magnetically levitated member having a rail vertically provided and a transport block magnetically levitated with respect to the rail;
A drive unit for providing thrust to the transport block; And
And a coupling member for transmitting the driving force of the drive unit to the transport block;
The coupling member
A first coupler lifted by the drive unit; And
And a second coupler arranged to be spaced apart from the first coupler by a predetermined distance and magnetically coupled with the first coupler and lifted and lowered together with the first coupler,
The first coupler
A cylindrical body having a predetermined thickness; And a connecting portion extending from the cylindrical body and connected to the drive unit, wherein the second coupler includes a ring-shaped body partially opened to enclose a part of the cylindrical body. The method according to claim 1,
The rail
A first floating magnetic body
The transport block
And a second floating magnetic body opposed to the first floating magnetic body and acting on a repulsive force. delete The method according to claim 1,
The coupling member
And a sealing member sealing the movement path of the first coupler while isolating the first coupler from the second coupler. delete The method according to claim 1,
The first coupler including a first permanent magnet portion;
And the second coupler includes a second permanent magnet portion magnetically coupled to the first permanent magnet portion. A boat lifting apparatus comprising:
A magnetically levitated member having a rail vertically provided and a transport block magnetically levitated with respect to the rail;
A drive unit for providing thrust to the transport block; And
And a coupling member for transmitting the driving force of the drive unit to the transport block;
The coupling member
A first coupler which is lifted by the drive unit and has a first permanent magnet portion; And
And a second coupler which is disposed to be spaced apart from the first coupler by a predetermined distance and has a second permanent magnet portion magnetically coupled to the first permanent magnet portion and is lifted and lowered together with the first coupler,
Wherein the first permanent magnet portion includes a plurality of first permanent magnets arranged such that neighboring magnetic poles have different polarities,
Wherein the second permanent magnet portion includes a plurality of second permanent magnets arranged such that neighboring magnetic poles have different polarities and also have different polarities with respect to the corresponding first permanent magnets. 8. The method of claim 7,
The drive unit
A ball screw rotated in conjunction with the actuator;
And a moving base that is linearly moved up and down along the longitudinal direction of the ball screw in conjunction with rotation of the ball screw and connected to the first coupler.
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