KR20020041294A - Vacuum processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide vacuum processing equipment which can supply inert gases to the whole surface of a substrate to be processed, even if a vacuum preparation chamber has a small space. CONSTITUTION: This equipment is provided with a vacuum processing chamber 10 which make a predetermined processing for a substrate G in the vacuum, vacuum preparation chambers 20 and 30 in which the substrate to be processed is temporally maintained at the process of the substrate G being transferred into and out from the vacuum processing chamber 10, and inert gas supplying means 45, 57 and 90 which supply the inert gasses to the vacuum preparation chambers 20 and 30. The inert gas supplying means 45, 57 and 90 are provided with front surface side inert gas supplying ports 58 and 91 which supply the inert gasses to the front surface side of substrate G which is maintained in the vacuum preparation chambers 20 and 30, and inert gas supplying parts 57 and 90 having rear surface inert gas supplying ports 59 and 92 which supply the inert gasses to the rear surface of the substrate G.

Description

Vacuum processing apparatus {VACUUM PROCESSING APPARATUS}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vacuum processing apparatus that performs a film forming process, a dry etching process, or the like on a substrate to be processed, such as a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display device (LCD).

In general, in the LCD manufacturing process for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device, a vacuum processing apparatus is used to perform film formation or etching treatment by dry etching, sputtering, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) or the like on a glass substrate for an LCD to be a substrate to be processed. The circuit element etc. which are necessary for this liquid crystal display device are formed.

As such a vacuum processing apparatus, it is comprised by the processing chamber which performs the above-mentioned various processes under vacuum, for example, and the vacuum prechamber connected to this processing chamber. These chambers have an exhaust system containing a vacuum pump.

This vacuum preliminary chamber carries in a glass substrate at atmospheric pressure, evacuates the inside to become a vacuum state, and then carries the glass substrate into the processing chamber or takes out the processed glass substrate so that the processing chamber can maintain a vacuum state. In addition, it serves as an interface between the atmosphere side and the vacuum side. As the vacuum preliminary chamber, a load-lock chamber (unload lock chamber) is usually known. By providing this loadlock chamber, when carrying in and carrying out a to-be-processed board | substrate to a process chamber, the fluctuation | variation of the atmosphere in this process chamber can be made extremely small.

In practice, however, in order to further reduce the effect of the transfer efficiency and the atmosphere to the processing chamber, a transfer chamber for transferring the glass substrate is provided as a separate vacuum preparatory chamber between the load lock chamber and the processing chamber. Also in this conveyance chamber, the exhaust system containing a vacuum pump is provided.

In such a vacuum processing apparatus, when the LCD glass substrate processed from the processing chamber is carried out to the conveyance chamber, the residual gas and the reaction gas accompanying this glass substrate also flow into a conveyance chamber. In order to prevent the adverse influence by these gases, an inert gas, such as N ₂ gas, which replaces these gases is supplied into the transfer chamber.

In the conventional vacuum processing apparatus, an N ₂ gas supply port and an exhaust port are respectively provided at diagonal corners of the transfer chamber, and N ₂ gas is supplied to all surfaces of the substrate surface and the rear surface by the gas flow. It is supposed to be.

In the load lock chamber, a positioner for positioning the substrate is provided. In the conventional positioner, for example, as shown in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 94-249966, a positioning portion capable of advancing and retracting is provided in the vicinity of each corner portion of the diagonal of the substrate, and is advantageously provided by these positioning portions. Positioning is performed by sandwiching the corners of the diagonal of the substrate.

In addition, as the liquid crystal display devices are spreading to information equipment, televisions, and the like, large screens of new display screens are expected, and LCD glass substrates tend to be enlarged. For example, there is a need for a huge LCD glass substrate with one side up to 1 meter. In accordance with such a large substrate, when each chamber of the vacuum processing apparatus is enlarged in a conventional configuration, the apparatus itself is remarkably large, and therefore, attempts are made to miniaturize each chamber as much as possible.

For this purpose, the internal mechanism is miniaturized and the space occupied by other than the glass substrate is minimized. For this reason, the space around a glass substrate is extremely small also in a conveyance chamber and a load lock chamber.

However, even if the inert gas is introduced into the transfer chamber with a small space around the substrate as in the prior art, the gas does not flow smoothly in the chamber, and the inert gas cannot be efficiently supplied to all surfaces of the surface and the back of the glass substrate. A problem arises in that the residual gas or the reactive gas cannot be sufficiently replaced with an inert gas. Similarly, even at the time of positioning in the load lock chamber, the space is so small that it cannot be coped with by the conventional positioner.

The present invention can supply an inert gas to all surfaces of a substrate to be processed even if the space around the glass substrate in the vacuum preliminary chamber is small. It is an object to provide a processing device.

The present invention provides a processing chamber for performing a predetermined process in a vacuum state with respect to a substrate to be processed, and an opening portion connected to the processing chamber to be connected to each other, and the substrate being loaded into and taken out of the processing chamber. A vacuum preliminary chamber in which a processing substrate is temporarily held and the inside of the chamber is maintained in vacuum, and inert gas supply means for supplying an inert gas into the vacuum prechamber, wherein the inert gas supply means is retained in the vacuum prechamber. A vacuum processing apparatus comprising: an inert gas supply unit having a surface side inert gas supply port for supplying an inert gas to the surface side of the processed substrate and a back side inert gas supply port for supplying an inert gas to the back surface side of the substrate to be processed. To provide.

In addition, the present invention provides a processing chamber which performs a predetermined process in a vacuum state with respect to a substrate to be processed, and a substrate to be processed is temporarily held while the processing substrate is carried in and out of the processing chamber. A vacuum preliminary chamber, which is maintained at a vacuum, the vacuum prechamber having a mounting table for mounting the substrate to be processed in the chamber, a positioning mechanism for performing alignment of the substrate to be processed in the chamber, and the chamber. A lifting mechanism for raising and lowering the substrate to be loaded in the chamber, and the alignment mechanism is provided along the inner wall surface of the vacuum prechamber above the loading position of the substrate to be processed in the vacuum prechamber. The lifting mechanism has a plurality of pressing members for pressing each side of the substrate, and is carried in the vacuum prechamber by the lifting mechanism. Is raised to a height position corresponding to the group pressure member in the position to provide a vacuum processing apparatus for executing the alignment of the substrate by the pressing member of said alignment mechanism.

The vacuum processing apparatus having the above-described configuration supplies an inert gas to the surface side of the substrate to be processed and supplies an inert gas to the back surface side of the substrate to be processed, and retains the residue accompanied by the substrate when taken out from the processing chamber. The gas or the reaction gas is replaced with an inert gas.

Moreover, the pressurizing member of the positioning mechanism in a vacuum prechamber is provided above the carrying path of the to-be-processed board | substrate in a vacuum prechamber, raises it to the upper direction by the lifting mechanism, and is pressed by the pressurizing member at the position. Alignment of the processing substrate is performed.

1 is a perspective view showing a schematic appearance of an etching apparatus for an LCD glass substrate according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a horizontal cross-sectional view schematically showing the inside of the etching apparatus shown in FIG.

3 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the internal structure of a transfer chamber and a load lock chamber provided as a vacuum preliminary chamber in the etching apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

4 is a perspective view schematically showing the internal structure of a transport chamber and a load lock chamber partially installed as a vacuum preliminary chamber in the etching apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the flow of an inert gas in the conveyance chamber of the etching apparatus shown in FIG. 1; FIG.

6 is a perspective view for explaining in detail the positioner of the load lock chamber shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings

100 etching apparatus 10 processing chamber

20: conveying chamber 21, 31, 35: gate valve

22, 32: vacuum gate chamber 23, 33: exhaust port

30 load lock chamber 45 inert gas supply source

50 conveyance mechanism 57, 90 inert gas supply unit

58, 91: surface side inert gas supply port

59, 92: back side inert gas supply port

61a, 61b: cylinder 70: positioner

71, 72: pressing member

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

In the present embodiment, the vacuum processing apparatus will be described taking as an example an etching apparatus for performing an etching process on a transparent LCD glass substrate (hereinafter referred to as a "glass substrate").

1 is a perspective view showing a schematic appearance of an etching apparatus according to the present embodiment, FIG. 2 is a horizontal cross-sectional view schematically showing the inside of the etching apparatus, and FIG. 3 is a vacuum in the etching apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the internal structure of the transfer chamber and the load lock chamber installed as a preliminary chamber, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view schematically showing the internal structure of the transfer chamber and the load lock chamber partially, and FIG. 5 is a transfer chamber. It is a perspective view which shows the flow of inert gas in FIG. 6, and FIG. 6 is a perspective view for demonstrating the positioner of a load lock chamber in detail.

As shown in FIG. 1, the etching apparatus 100 consists of aluminum and stainless steel, and has the processing chamber 10 which performs a plasma etching process with respect to the glass substrate G in a predetermined | prescribed gas atmosphere.

The transfer chamber 20 is connected to the processing chamber 10 through the gate chamber 22. Openings 10a and 22a, 20a and 22b are opened in the connecting portion of these chambers for conveyance of the glass substrate. In addition, the load lock chamber 30 is connected to the opposite side of the side to which the transfer chamber 20 is connected via the gate chamber 32. Similarly, openings 32a and 20b, 30a and 32b are opened in the connecting portions of these chambers.

These conveyance chambers 20 and load lock chambers 30 function as vacuum preparatory chambers. The load lock chamber 30 is provided with an opening 30b connected to the atmosphere side, and is provided with a gate valve 35 for opening and closing the opening 30b. The gate valve 35 is driven by the cylinder 35a. Moreover, the footrest 48 used when repairing the conveyance chamber 20 is provided, and various power supply devices etc. are accommodated in this inside.

2 and 3, the gate chamber 22 and the gate chamber 32 are provided with gate valves 21 and 31 which are opened and closed by cylinders 21a and 31a in the respective chambers. . The cylinders 21a and 31a are attached to the outside of the chamber bottom, respectively, and are connected to each gate valve 21 and 31 inside the chamber by rods capable of maintaining a vacuum. Among these openings, the opening 22a is opened and closed by the gate valve 21, and the opening 32a is opened and closed by the gate valve 31. In addition, loading and unloading of the glass substrate G between chambers is performed through an opening part with the specific gate valve open.

In addition, each chamber of the etching apparatus 100 can make each inside into a predetermined vacuum degree by an exhaust system. A vacuum pump 41 for exhausting the inside of the chamber is attached to the lower portion of the processing chamber 10. Exhaust ports 23 are provided under both side walls of the gate chamber 22, respectively, and these exhaust ports 23 are connected to the vacuum pump 42 through exhaust pipes. By the exhaust of this vacuum pump 42, the inside of the conveyance chamber 20 and the gate chamber 22 is exhausted, and the desired vacuum degree can be reached. Similarly, exhaust ports 33 are provided below both side walls of the gate chamber 32, and these exhaust ports 33 are connected to the vacuum pump 43 through the exhaust pipe. By the exhaust of this vacuum pump 43, the inside of the load lock chamber 30 and the gate chamber 32 is exhausted, and a desired vacuum degree can be reached. In addition, the processing chamber 10 is provided with a processing gas supply source 44 for supplying a processing gas, and the transfer chamber 20 and the load lock chamber 30 are provided with an inert gas supply source 45 for supplying an inert gas. have.

A substrate station (not shown) is provided in front of the gate valve 35 of the load lock chamber 30, that is, the atmosphere side, and a cassette in which a plurality of glass substrates are stored is mounted. The glass substrate G is taken out one by one from this cassette by a transfer mechanism not shown, and is carried in to the load lock chamber 30. In addition, the glass substrate G after a process is carried out from the load lock chamber 30, and is collect | recovered by this cassette. In this embodiment, in one load lock chamber, the supply (loading in) of the glass substrate before the treatment and the recovery (loading in) of the glass substrate after the treatment are performed, but another equivalent chamber (unload lock chamber) is provided and supplied. It is also possible to carry out and recovery independently.

Hereinafter, each chamber is demonstrated, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 2, the mounting table 11 on which the glass substrate G is mounted is disposed in the processing chamber 10. On this mount 11, four first support pins 12 that can be moved up and down to support the glass substrate G when carrying in and out of the glass substrate G, and four second support pins 13 which can be moved and pivoted up and down. Is installed.

The mounting table 11 also functions as a lower electrode for forming plasma. An upper electrode (not shown) opposite to the mounting table 11 is provided, and a high frequency electric field is formed between these electrodes, and a processing gas is supplied from the processing gas supply source 44 to generate plasma. The film formed on the glass substrate G is etched by this plasma.

The conveyance chamber 20 is maintained in a predetermined pressure-reduced atmosphere by the exhaust by the vacuum pump 42 through the exhaust port 23. As shown in FIG.2 and FIG.3, in this conveyance chamber 20, the articulated conveyance mechanism 50, a pair of buffer 55, and the inert gas supply part 57 are provided.

This conveyance mechanism 50 performs the water supply of a glass substrate between the process chamber 10 and the load lock chamber 30. As the structure, the drive part 51, such as a motor, is provided below the conveyance chamber 20 outside. The shaft from the drive part 51 is airtightly introduced into the inside of the conveyance chamber 20 using a magnetic seal such as a magnetic fluid, and is connected to the first arm 52. A second arm 53 is rotatably attached to the distal end of the first arm 52, and a fork-shaped substrate support plate 54 is rotatably connected to the second arm 53.

This board | substrate supporting plate 54 mounts glass substrate G at the time of conveyance. You may equip this board | substrate supporting plate 54 with the vacuum chuck function so that the glass substrate positioned during conveyance may not separate or fall.

As for the conveyance mechanism 50 comprised in this way, the 1st arm 52 and the 2nd arm 53 are driven by the drive part 51, and the board | substrate support plate 54 expands and contracts. Thereby, the board | substrate support plate 54 performs the expansion | extension operation | movement which enters or retracts into the processing chamber 10 or the load lock chamber 30, and conveys the hold | maintained glass substrate G. As shown in FIG.

In addition, the substrate support plate 54 must be swiveled in the conveyance chamber 20 to change the stretching direction, that is, the conveying direction. However, when the substrate supporting plate 54 is rotated while holding the rectangular glass substrate, even if the substrate is rotated around the center of the glass substrate, the chamber has a circular shape having an inner diameter larger than the diagonal length of the glass substrate. It becomes.

Therefore, the pair of buffers 55 are provided with the lifting function by the cylinder 56, and are received from the substrate support plate 54 so as to push up the glass substrate G during conveyance from the lower surface side at both ends and temporarily. Keep it. The substrate support plate 54 pivots without holding anything. Such a configuration is described, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-148410. By providing this buffer 55, when changing the conveyance direction of a glass substrate, it is not necessary to make it turn to hold | maintain the glass substrate in the board | substrate support plate 54, and the conveyance chamber 20 can be made small by that much space, Savings can be achieved.

The inert gas supply portion 57 is composed of two straight pipes as shown in Figs. 3 and 5, and as shown in Fig. 2, in the conveying chamber 20 on the load lock chamber 30 side. It is provided on both sides of an end part. The inert gas supply unit 57 is discharged to the, for example, N ₂ gas or the like, vacuum pump 42 and an inert gas ejection toward the glass substrate (G) of the feed as the displacement gas from the inert gas supply source (45). When the glass substrate G after the etching process was carried out from the processing chamber 10, this is installed in order to replace the residual gas and reaction gas which remain in the conveyance chamber 20 with this glass substrate G with inert gas. It is. This inert gas supply part 57 is the surface side inert gas supply port 58 which supplies an inert gas to the surface side of glass substrate G, and the back surface side which supplies an inert gas to the back surface side of glass substrate G. As shown in FIG. An inert gas supply port 59 is provided.

As shown in FIG. 5, the inert gas discharged from the front side inert gas supply port 58 and the back side inert gas supply port 59 is formed at the end of the glass substrate G at the end of the load lock chamber 30 side, respectively. It passes through almost all surfaces on the front side and the back side, and reaches the end portion on the etching processing chamber 10 side. At this time, the inert gas accompanies the residual gas or the reactive gas around the glass substrate G, and reaches the vacuum gate chamber 22 through the openings 20a and 22b, and goes outward from the exhaust ports 23 on both sides thereof. Discharged.

Next, the load lock chamber 30 is maintained in a predetermined reduced pressure atmosphere by the exhaust by the vacuum pump 43 through the exhaust port 33. The load lock chamber 30 has two pairs of buffers 60a and 60b (see FIGS. 3 and 4) for temporarily holding the glass substrate G, and a positioner for positioning the glass substrate G. 70 and an inert gas supply part 90 are provided.

As shown in FIG. 4, the buffers 60a and 60b are arranged in two upper and lower stages on both wall portions 30c and 30d in the load lock chamber 30, and the lifting and lowering functions of the cylinders 61a and 61b are performed. It is provided, and it receives and hold | maintains temporarily so that the glass substrate G in the middle of conveyance may be pushed up from the lower surface side at both ends from the board | substrate support plate 54. As shown in FIG. In addition, this lifting operation not only performs the water supply of the glass substrate G, but also moves the glass substrate G to the position of the alignment by the positioner 70 mentioned later.

As shown in FIG. 2, the positioner 70 is provided with four pressing members 71 in total, two each in the side walls 30c and 30d of the load lock chamber 30, and the openings 30a, A total of four pressing members 72 are provided in the inner side of the wall portions 30e and 30f on the side of 30b). As shown in FIG. 3, these pressing members 71 and 72 are provided above the openings 30a and 30b, that is, above the glass substrate loading path.

FIG. 6 representatively shows the pressing members 71 and 72 provided in the wall portions 30d and 30f of the positioner 70. These pressing members 71 and 72 are both the housing 80, the pressurizer 81 which presses the glass substrate G, and the guide part which the base end part of the pressurizer 81 slides the inside ( 83, the air cylinder 82 provided inside the housing body 80, the transmission member 89 which transmits the operation of the air cylinder 82 to the pressurizer 81, the pressurizer 81, and the housing body. It has a vacuum seal 84 which prevents air leakage from the clearance gap of 80, and the sealing member 85 which seals between the housing body 80 and the side wall part of the load lock chamber 30. .

In addition, the sensor cable 86 and the driving air are supplied from the hole portion 80a penetrating through the side wall portion of the load lock chamber 30 and the rear wall in the housing body 80. In addition, the pressurizing member 72 of the positioner 70 is similar to the pressurizing member 71, and the housing body 80, the pressurizer 81, the guide part 83, the air cylinder 82, and the transmission member 89 ) And a vacuum seal 84. On the other hand, a pipe member 87 having a flange portion 88 is connected to the side wall of the housing body 80 of the pressing member 72, and the pipe member 87 has a side wall portion of the load lock chamber 30. It is installed through.

The side wall part and the flange part 88 of the load lock chamber 30 are sealed by the sealing member 88a. Then, the sensor cable 86 and driving air are supplied through the pipe member 87. Most of the housing bodies 80 of these pressing members 71, 72 are accommodated in the recesses of the wall portion of the load lock chamber 30, and almost only the pressurizer 81 moves forward and in the load lock chamber 30. Retreat Therefore, the space required for the positioner 70 in the load lock chamber 30 may be small. When the pressing members 71 and 72 are completely accommodated in the recesses of the wall, only the tip of the pressurizer 81 moves forward and backward in the load lock chamber 30, so that the space required for the positioner 70 can be made smaller. Can be.

The inert gas supply unit 90 mainly supplies an inert gas such as N _{2 in} order to return the internal vacuum state to atmospheric pressure in accordance with the opening and closing of the load lock chamber 30 and the like. As shown in FIG.2 and FIG.3, it is provided in the center of the wall part 30f of the standby gate valve 35 side of the load lock chamber 30. As shown in FIG. This inert gas supply part 90 is the surface side inert gas supply port 91 which supplies an inert gas to the surface side of glass substrate G, and the back surface inert which supplies inert gas to the back surface side of glass substrate G. As shown in FIG. The gas supply port 92 sandwiches the opening 30b, and is provided one by one up and down.

The inert gas discharged from these surface side inert gas supply port 91 and the back surface inert gas supply port 92 is the glass substrate at the edge part of the atmospheric side (gate valve 35 side) similarly to the conveyance chamber 20. It passes through almost all the surfaces of the surface side and the back surface side of (G), and reaches the edge part of the conveyance chamber 20 side. At this time, the inert gas accompanies the particles around the glass substrate G, the residual gas, the reactive gas, and the like, passes through the openings 30a and 32b to the vacuum gate chamber 32, and the exhaust ports 33 on both sides thereof. From the outside.

Next, operation | movement of the etching processing apparatus comprised as mentioned above is demonstrated.

First, the gate valve 35 is opened, and the glass substrate before processing is carried out by the transfer mechanism (not shown) on the atmospheric side from the cassette of the substrate station (not shown) provided on the atmospheric side of the load lock chamber 30 (not shown). G) is carried into the load lock chamber 30, and the glass substrate G is mounted in the upper buffer 60a.

Next, the gate valve 35 is closed, the inside of the load lock chamber 30 is exhausted by the vacuum pump 43, and the inside is made into a predetermined vacuum degree. Thereafter, the glass substrate G mounted on the buffer 60a is raised by the cylinder 61a together with the buffer 60a to the position where the pressing members 71 and 72 of the positioner 70 touch. And the pressurizer 81 pressed by the air cylinder 82 protrudes, mounted in the buffer at the position, and performs alignment of the glass substrate G. As shown in FIG.

Thereafter, the glass substrate G opens the gate valve 31 of the gate chamber 32 between the transfer chamber 20 and the load lock chamber 30, and the substrate support plate 54 of the transfer mechanism 50. ) Is carried into the conveyance chamber 20. And the glass substrate G is carried in to the conveyance chamber 20, and the gate valve 31 is closed.

Next, the gate valve 21 is opened, and the glass substrate G supported by the substrate support plate 54 is carried into the etching process chamber 10. And the glass substrate G is supported on the 2nd support pin 13 in the state which protruded the 2nd support pin 13 to the upper side of the mount base, and by the 2nd support pin 13 descending, It mounts on the mounting table 11. Thereafter, the substrate support plate 54 retreats from the etching processing chamber 10.

Next, the etching process is performed in the etching process chamber 10. After the processing, the gate valve 21 is opened, and the substrate supporting plate 54 holding the glass substrate G to be subsequently processed enters the glass substrate G on the second supporting pin 13. Support it. Then, once, the substrate support plate 54 retreats. Subsequently, the processed glass substrate G 'is lifted up to the lower side of the glass substrate G before the treatment by the first support pins 12, and the substrate supporting plate enters the etching processing chamber 10 again. Glass substrate G 'after treatment is guided to 54. And the board | substrate support plate 54 retreats to the conveyance chamber 20, and the gate valve 21 is closed. At this time, in the etching chamber 10, the first support pin 12 protrudes to support the glass substrate G before the process, and after the second support pin 13 is turned, the first support pin 12 is rotated. This lowering is carried out, and the glass substrate G before a process is mounted in the mounting table 11, and a predetermined etching process is performed.

Then, the glass substrate (G ') is a transport chamber 20, the inert gas supply to the transfer chamber (20, 57, at the same time vacuum pump 42 for feeding an inert gas such as N ₂ gas as a displacement gas from fetch after treatment Exhaust)

Residual gas or reaction gas remaining in the conveyance chamber 20 is replaced with the glass substrate G 'after a process by the inert gas supplied as this substitution gas. After the replacement, the gate valve 31 is opened and the glass substrate G 'after the treatment is mounted on the buffer 60b below the load lock chamber 30 by the transfer mechanism 50. Then, the gate valve 31 is closed and the pressure in the load lock chamber 30 is made atmospheric by supplying the N ₂ gas as the inert gas from the inert gas supply unit 90. After that, the gate valve 35 is opened, and the glass substrate G 'after the treatment is stored in the cassette of the substrate station in the lower buffer 60b by the atmospheric transfer mechanism. After the storage, the glass substrate G before the processing is taken out of the cassette by the transfer mechanism, and is transferred to the upper buffer 60a to be mounted. This processing operation is performed by repeatedly operating until all the glass substrates loaded in the cassette are processed.

As described above, when the pressure in the transfer chamber 20 and the pressure in the etching chamber 10 are at almost the same degree of vacuum, the flow rate of the inert gas for gas replacement cannot be increased. That is, as in the related art, when the inert gas supply port for supplying the inert gas is provided only at the bottom of the chamber, when the space in the transfer chamber 20 becomes small, it becomes difficult to spread the inert gas into the chamber, and eventually, the glass substrate G after the treatment (G). There arises a problem that the gas replacement on all facets of ') is not performed effectively.

On the other hand, since the inert gas supply part 57 of this embodiment is provided with the surface side inert gas supply port 58 and the back surface inert gas supply port 59, the conveyance chamber 20 in the enlargement of a glass substrate. Even if the temporary space is small (when the gap between the outer circumference of the glass substrate G and the side wall of the transfer chamber 20 is small), the inert gas discharged from these supply ports is processed at the end on the load lock chamber 30 side. It can be guided to the edge part on the side of the etching process chamber 10 through almost all the surfaces on the front surface side and the back surface side of the glass substrate G '.

Therefore, residual gas and reaction gas around the glass substrate G 'after a process can be led to the exhaust port 23 surely in a short time, and can be discharged to the exterior. In addition, since the exhaust port 23 is provided below the vacuum gate chamber 22, particles generated in the movable portion of the gate valve 21 are discharged from the exhaust port 23 without entering the transfer chamber 20.

Similarly, also in the load lock chamber 30, since the inert gas supply part 90 has the front side inert gas supply port 91 and the back side inert gas supply port 92, it is the process of the glass substrate G 'after processing. Inert gas can be supplied on all surfaces along the front and back sides.

In addition, in the load lock chamber 30 and the conveyance chamber 20, even if the particle which exists in the chamber at the time of supplying an inert gas floats and floats on the upper surface or lower surface of the glass substrates G and G ', it is the front side or the back surface of a glass substrate. The particles are discharged to the outside by the airflow of the inert gas flowing through the side. Moreover, the temperature of both surfaces of the glass substrate G 'after the process which became high temperature by the etching process also falls by making an inert gas of normal temperature flow on the surface side or the back surface side of a glass substrate.

In addition, the pressing members 71 and 72 of the positioner 70 in the load lock chamber 30 are provided above the loading position of the glass substrate G, and at the time of alignment, the glass substrate G is moved to the upper position. I'm moving. Therefore, since the site | part for alignment is not provided on a conveyance path | route, conveyance of glass substrate G does not interfere.

Thereby, it is not necessary to make a pressurizing member stand by on a conveyance path | route at the time of conveyance of a glass substrate like conventionally, and since the waiting space is unnecessary, even if the space of the load lock chamber 30 is small, it is enough of glass substrate G. Positioning can be performed.

In addition, this invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, A various deformation | transformation is possible within the scope of the idea of this invention. For example, in the above embodiment, the case where two of the transfer chamber 20 and the load lock chamber 30 are used as the vacuum preliminary chamber is illustrated. It may be.

In addition, although showing a case of using N ₂ gas as the mainly inert gas is not limited to this, but can be applied to the Ar gas, He gas or the like, other inert gases. In addition, in the said embodiment, although the example which performed exhaust of the conveyance chamber 20 and the load lock chamber 30 via the vacuum gate chambers 22 and 32 was shown, the conveyance chamber 20 and the load lock chamber ( An exhaust port may be provided in 30).

In addition, although the etching process apparatus was shown in the said Example, it is not limited to this, It is applicable to other vacuum processing apparatuses, such as an etching apparatus and a film-forming apparatus.

As described above, according to the present invention, the inert gas is supplied from the surface side inert gas supply port for supplying the inert gas to the surface side of the substrate to be processed and the back surface inert gas supply port for supplying the inert gas to the back surface side of the substrate to be processed. Therefore, even if the space of the vacuum preliminary chamber is small, the inert gas can be reliably supplied to the front and back surfaces of the substrate to be processed, and the inert gas can be supplied to all surfaces of the substrate to be processed. Therefore, the residual gas or reaction gas accompanying a to-be-processed substrate can be reliably substituted by inert gas in a short time.

Moreover, the pressurizing member of the positioning mechanism in a vacuum prechamber is provided above the loading position of the to-be-processed board | substrate in a vacuum prechamber, and the to-be-processed board | substrate carried in the vacuum prechamber respond | corresponds to a pressurizing member with a lifting mechanism. Since it raises to the height position to perform the alignment of a to-be-processed board | substrate by a pressurizing member in that position, a pressurizing member does not interfere with conveyance of a to-be-processed board | substrate. Therefore, it is not necessary to hold the pressurizing member at the time of carrying the substrate to be processed, and the space of the vacuum preliminary chamber can be reduced by that amount, so that the processing of the substrate can be performed in a small space.

According to the present invention, in a vacuum processing apparatus for etching a glass substrate for an LCD, an inert gas supply unit having a front side inert gas supply port and a back side inert gas supply port is provided therein to provide a space for a vacuum prechamber. Even if this is small, the residual gas or the reactive gas accompanying the processing target substrate can be reliably replaced in a short time, and the pressing member of the alignment mechanism in the vacuum preliminary chamber is provided above the position of the processing substrate. Since the target substrate carried in the vacuum preliminary chamber is aligned at a height corresponding to the pressing member by the lifting mechanism, the pressing member does not interfere with the transfer of the substrate. It is not necessary to make it stand by, and the space of a vacuum prechamber can be made small by that.

Claims (18)

In the vacuum processing apparatus, A processing chamber which performs a predetermined process in a vacuum state on the substrate to be processed; A vacuum preliminary chamber in which an opening is connected to the processing chamber and is connected to the processing chamber, and the processing substrate is temporarily maintained and the inside of the chamber is maintained in a vacuum while the processing substrate is carried in and out of the processing chamber; Inert gas supply means for supplying an inert gas into the vacuum prechamber, The inert gas supply means includes a surface side inert gas supply port for supplying an inert gas to the surface side of the substrate to be held in the vacuum prechamber and a back side inert gas supply port for supplying an inert gas to the back surface side of the substrate to be processed. Inert gas supply unit having a Vacuum processing unit. The method of claim 1, In the vacuum processing apparatus, it has an exhaust port provided so that the gas in the vacuum preliminary chamber is exhausted toward the processing chamber side, and the inert gas supply unit is provided at an end opposite to the processing chamber side in the vacuum preliminary chamber. Characterized Vacuum processing unit. The method of claim 2, A gate valve connected between an opening of the processing chamber and an opening of the vacuum preliminary chamber, for passing an opening through which the substrate is to be processed, an opening on a side connected to the opening of the processing chamber, and the gate valve. A housing having a drive unit for opening and closing is installed, and the exhaust port is provided in the lower portion of the housing Vacuum processing unit. In the vacuum processing apparatus, A processing chamber which performs a predetermined process in a vacuum state on the substrate to be processed; A conveying chamber having a conveying mechanism configured to connect an opening to each other of the processing chamber, the conveying mechanism for conveying the substrate to be processed while maintaining its vacuum inside; A load lock chamber temporarily installed between the transfer chamber and the atmospheric side so as to be switchable between an atmospheric atmosphere and a vacuum atmosphere, and temporarily holding the substrate to be processed and the substrate to be carried in the atmosphere; At least an inert gas supply means for supplying an inert gas to the conveying chamber, The inert gas supply means includes a surface side inert gas supply port for supplying an inert gas to the surface side of the substrate to be held in the transfer chamber and a back side inert gas supply port for supplying an inert gas to the back surface side of the substrate to be processed. Inert gas supply unit having a Vacuum processing unit. The method of claim 4, wherein It has an exhaust port provided to exhaust the gas in the said conveyance chamber at the said process chamber side, The said inert gas supply part is provided in the edge part on the opposite side to the said process chamber in the said conveyance chamber, It is characterized by the above-mentioned. Vacuum processing unit. The method of claim 5, A gate valve connected between an opening of the processing chamber and an opening of the transfer chamber and passing through the substrate, a gate valve for closing an opening on the side connected to the opening of the processing chamber, and opening and closing the gate valve. A housing having a driving unit for driving is installed, and the exhaust port is installed under the housing. Vacuum processing unit. The method of claim 4, wherein In the vacuum processing apparatus, an exhaust port is provided so that the gas in the load lock chamber is exhausted toward the conveying chamber side, and the inert gas supply portion is provided at an end opposite to the conveying chamber side in the load lock chamber. Characterized Vacuum processing unit. The method of claim 7, wherein A gate valve connected between an opening of the load lock chamber and an opening of the transfer chamber, for passing the opening to be processed, a gate valve for closing an opening on the side connected to the opening of the transfer chamber, and the gate valve. A housing having a drive unit for opening and closing the drive is installed, the exhaust port is characterized in that installed in the lower portion of the housing Vacuum processing unit. The method of claim 4, wherein The inert gas supply means includes a first inert gas supply unit for supplying an inert gas into the transfer chamber, a surface side inert gas supply port for supplying an inert gas to a surface side of a substrate to be held in the load lock chamber, and the blood And a second inert gas supply section having a back surface inert gas supply port for supplying an inert gas to the back surface side of the processing substrate. Vacuum processing unit. The method of claim 1, Inert gas supplied from the inert gas supply means is characterized in that the replacement gas Vacuum processing unit. In the vacuum processing apparatus, A processing chamber which performs a predetermined process in a vacuum state on the substrate to be processed; And a vacuum preliminary chamber in which a substrate to be processed is temporarily held and the inside thereof is maintained in a vacuum while the substrate to be processed is carried in and out of the processing chamber. The vacuum preliminary chamber includes a mounting table for mounting the substrate to be processed in the chamber, a positioning mechanism for performing alignment of the substrate to be processed in the chamber, and a lifting mechanism for elevating the substrate to be loaded into the chamber. The alignment mechanism has a plurality of pressing members for pressing each side of the substrate to be processed along the inner wall surface of the vacuum prechamber above the loading position of the substrate to be processed in the vacuum prechamber, The to-be-processed substrate carried in the vacuum preliminary chamber is lifted by the lifting mechanism to a height position corresponding to the pressurizing member, and positioning of the to-be-processed substrate is performed by the pressurizing member of the positioning mechanism at that position. By Vacuum processing unit. The method of claim 11, The elevating mechanism elevates the mounting table, thereby elevating the substrate to be mounted on the mounting table. Vacuum processing unit. In the vacuum processing apparatus, A processing chamber which performs a predetermined process in a vacuum state on the substrate to be processed; A conveying chamber connected to said processing chamber and having a conveying mechanism for conveying said substrate to be processed while maintaining its vacuum inside thereof; A load lock chamber temporarily installed between the transfer chamber and the atmospheric side so as to be switchable between an atmospheric atmosphere and a vacuum atmosphere, and temporarily holding the substrate to be carried out to the atmospheric side and the substrate to be loaded from the atmospheric side; A positioning mechanism for performing alignment of the substrate to be processed in the load lock chamber; An elevating mechanism for elevating the processing target substrate carried in the load lock chamber; The positioning mechanism has a plurality of pressing members for pressing each side of the substrate to be processed along the inner wall surface of the load lock chamber above the loading position of the substrate to be processed in the load lock chamber. The to-be-processed substrate carried in the load lock chamber is raised by the elevating mechanism to a height position corresponding to the pressurizing member, and positioning of the to-be-processed substrate is performed by the pressurizing member of the positioning mechanism at that position. Characterized by Vacuum processing unit. The method of claim 13, The elevating mechanism elevates the mounting table, thereby elevating the substrate to be mounted on the mounting table. Vacuum processing unit. In the vacuum processing apparatus, A processing chamber which performs a predetermined process in a vacuum state on the substrate to be processed; A conveying chamber having a conveying mechanism for conveying the substrate to be processed while being connected to the processing chamber by providing an opening to each other and being kept in vacuum; A load lock chamber temporarily installed between the transfer chamber and the atmospheric side so as to be switchable between an atmospheric atmosphere and a vacuum atmosphere, and temporarily holding the substrate to be carried out to the atmospheric side and the substrate to be loaded from the atmospheric side; Inert gas supply means for supplying at least an inert gas to the conveying chamber; A positioning mechanism for performing alignment of the substrate to be processed in the load lock chamber; An elevating mechanism for elevating a substrate to be processed carried in the load lock chamber; The inert gas supply means includes a surface side inert gas supply port for supplying an inert gas to the surface side of the substrate to be held in the transfer chamber and a back side inert gas supply port for supplying an inert gas to the back surface side of the substrate to be processed. And an inert gas supply unit having a pressure in which the alignment mechanism pressurizes each side of the substrate to be processed along the inner wall surface of the load lock chamber above a loading position of the substrate to be processed in the load lock chamber. And a plurality of pressurizing members, and the substrate to be loaded into the load lock chamber is lifted by the elevating mechanism to a height position corresponding to the pressurizing member, and the treated member is pushed by the pressurizing member of the alignment mechanism at the position. Characterized in that to perform the alignment of the substrate Vacuum processing unit. The method of claim 15, Inert gas supplied from the inert gas supply means is characterized in that the replacement gas Vacuum processing unit. In the vacuum processing apparatus, A processing chamber in which the substrate to be treated is subjected to a predetermined treatment in a processing gas atmosphere; The inert gas is supplied to respective surfaces at the ends of both the surface and the rear surface of the substrate to be connected to the processing chamber and taken out from the processing chamber after the predetermined processing, and is carried on both the surface and the rear surface of the substrate to be processed. And a vacuum preliminary chamber provided therein with an inert gas supply means for replacing and removing the processing gas. Vacuum processing unit. The method of claim 17, The inert gas supply means has two gas supply ports for discharging the inert gas on both the front surface and the rear surface of the substrate, the gas supply port is provided on the side opposite to the side connected to the processing chamber and the substrate Characterized in that the position is directly discharged to both the front and back surfaces of the Vacuum processing unit.