KR20100128795A - Apparatus for processing a large area substrate - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A large area substrate processing apparatus is provided to prevent the thermal expansion of a shower head due to the heat of a heater by installing a cooler inside the gas box on which shower heads are combined. CONSTITUTION: A reaction chamber(100) offers the space for processing a plurality of substrates(10). A susceptor(200) is arranged inside the reaction chamber. The susceptor comprises a heater(210) and a shaft(220). A gas box(300) is arranged on the top of the reaction chamber in order not to interfere with a tray(20) transferred in.

Description

Large Area Substrate Processing Equipment {APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING A LARGE AREA SUBSTRATE}

The present invention relates to a large-area substrate processing apparatus, and more particularly, to an apparatus for treating a substrate by injecting a reaction gas to the large-area substrate.

In general, the thin-film solar cell is a device that generates electricity through sunlight, and is manufactured through a substrate processing apparatus based on a substrate made of silicon.

The substrate processing apparatus typically includes a reaction chamber, susceptor, gas box and shower head. The reaction chamber provides space for processing a substrate.

The susceptor is disposed in the reaction chamber. The susceptor is provided with a tray in which a plurality of the substrates are arranged. The susceptor includes a heater for heating the substrate.

The gas box is disposed at the top to face the susceptor in the reaction chamber and includes a diffuser for injecting the reaction gas required for processing the substrates into the substrates.

The shower head is disposed between the gas box and the susceptor in the reaction chamber to uniformly provide the reaction gas to the substrates. The shower head has a structure in which an edge portion is fixed to the gas box.

On the other hand, in recent years, by arranging the substrates in a large area structure in the tray in order to process a larger number of substrates at one time, the configurations of the substrate processing apparatus also tend to become large.

Particularly, among the components of the substrate processing apparatus, the shower head has a large area, and thus the rate of thermal expansion from the heat of the heater is increased, thereby increasing the phenomenon that the central portion is convex compared to the edge portion fixed to the gas box. In addition, there is a problem in that the uniformity of the treated substrate is lowered because the reaction gas is not uniformly provided to the substrate.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of such problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a large-area substrate processing apparatus capable of reducing the thermal expansion ratio of the shower head.

In order to achieve the above object of the present invention, a large area substrate processing apparatus according to one aspect includes a susceptor, a gas box and a plurality of shower heads.

The susceptor has a tray in which a plurality of substrates are arranged in a large area structure. The gas box is disposed above the susceptor, and includes a plurality of diffusers for spraying and processing a reactive gas provided from the outside onto the substrates.

The shower heads are disposed adjacent to each other between the susceptor and the gas box and coupled to the gas box, each having a plurality of through holes so that the reaction gas is uniformly provided to the substrates.

Thus, the diffusers are configured to correspond one-to-one with the shower heads to inject the reaction gas into each of the shower heads.

Meanwhile, the susceptor includes a heater for heating the substrates, and thus the gas box may include a cooler for preventing the shower heads from thermally expanding due to heat generated from the heater. In addition, the shower heads may have a structure arranged in a grid form.

According to such a large area substrate processing apparatus, a plurality of shower heads are disposed adjacent to each other and coupled to a gas box so that the reaction gas is uniformly provided to the substrates arranged in the large area structure, so that the shower heads are connected to the heat of the heater. It is possible to reduce the rate of thermal expansion.

Accordingly, by preventing the shape of the shape of the shower heads from deepening due to thermal expansion, the substrates arranged in the large-area structure can be uniformly processed through the reaction gas.

In addition, as the size of each of the shower heads is reduced, the maintenance work and the machining work for manufacturing the same may be made easier, thereby reducing the time and cost required for this.

In addition, when replacing the shower heads, only a part of the shower head needs to be replaced, it is possible to expect a greater effect in terms of cost.

Meanwhile, a cooler is formed inside the gas box to which the shower heads are coupled to prevent the shower heads from thermally expanding due to the heat of the heater, thereby preventing the shower heads from being damaged or deformed due to thermal expansion. can do.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention should not be construed as limited to the embodiments described below and may be embodied in various other forms.

1 is a view showing a schematic configuration of a large area substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 is a detailed view of the tray, gas box and a plurality of shower heads of the large area substrate processing apparatus shown in It is a figure shown.

1 and 2, a large-area substrate processing apparatus 1000 according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a reaction chamber 100, a susceptor 200, a gas box 300, and a plurality of shower heads 400. )

The reaction chamber 100 provides a space for processing the plurality of substrates 10. Here, the substrate 10 means a substrate made of silicon for manufacturing a thin film solar cell that generates electricity through sunlight. In this case, the substrate 10 is typically formed in a square shape.

The reaction chamber 100 may be composed of a body 110 having an upper opening and a safety cover 120 for closing the upper opening. In detail, the safety cover 120 covers the lead base 111 formed at an upper portion of the body 110.

 The body 110 may include an inlet 112 or an outlet 114 for transporting the substrate 10 from the outside into the interior of the reaction chamber 100 or from the interior of the reaction chamber 100 to the outside at a side portion thereof. Can be. Here, the substrates 10 are arranged in a large area structure on the tray 20 to be brought into or out of the reaction chamber 100 at a time.

The susceptor 200 is disposed inside the reaction chamber 100. In the susceptor 200, a tray 20 having substrates 10 arranged in a large area structure is loaded into the reaction chamber 100. The susceptor 200 includes a heater 210 on which the tray 20 is substantially placed and a shaft 220 extending from the central portion of the heater 210 to the bottom of the reaction chamber 100.

The heater 210 includes a heat generating member 212 to heat the substrates 10 arranged on the tray 20. For example, the heat generating member 212 may be made of a heat generating metal material that generates heat by driving power applied from the outside.

The shaft 220 is configured to be movable in the vertical direction while passing through the lower portion of the reaction chamber 100 to move the heater 210. In detail, the shaft 220 moves the heater 210 downward when the tray 20 is loaded into the reaction chamber 100 so that the heater 210 does not interfere with the loading of the tray 20. When 20 is completely brought into the reaction chamber 100, the heater 210 is raised to allow the loaded tray 20 to be placed on the heater 210.

On the contrary, the shaft 220 moves the heater 210 downwardly so as to be separated from the tray 20 when the tray 20 is to be taken out from the reaction chamber 100 so that the heater 210 is moved to the tray 20. Do not interfere with the export of).

The gas box 300 is disposed above the susceptor 200 in the reaction chamber 100. Specifically, the gas box 300 is disposed above the inside of the reaction chamber 100 so as not to interfere with the tray 20 to be loaded. Accordingly, the step 130 may be configured to allow the gas box 300 to be seated inside the body 110 of the reaction chamber 100.

In detail, the gas box 300 is disposed on the plate 310 and the plate 310 mounted on the step 130 of the reaction chamber 100 so that the reaction gas RG is introduced from the outside. 320 and a plurality of diffusers 330 connected to the inlet pipe 320 inside the plate 310 to inject the reaction gas RG to the substrates 10.

The shower heads 400 are disposed adjacent to each other between the susceptor 200 and the plate 310 of the gas box 300 and coupled to the plate 310. Specifically, the shower heads 400 are disposed adjacent to each other on the same plane.

The shower heads 400 have a plurality of through holes 410 to uniformly provide the reaction gases RG injected from the diffuser 330 of the gas box 300 to the substrates 10. As a result, the shower heads 400 allow the substrates 10 to be uniformly processed by the reaction gas RG. For example, when the film is to be deposited on the substrates 10 through the reaction gas RG, the shower heads 400 may allow the film to be deposited on the substrates 10 to a uniform thickness.

The shower heads 400 correspond to the substrates 10 arranged in a large area structure on the tray 20. Specifically, since each of the substrates 10 has a rectangular shape, the shower heads 400 may also have a rectangular structure as a whole. Accordingly, the shower heads 400 may have a structure in which multiples of two are arranged in a lattice form to effectively implement the overall rectangular structure. For example, four shower heads 400 may be arranged in a grid form as shown in FIG. 2.

In addition, each of the shower heads 400 has a square structure as shown in FIG. It can be done easily.

In such a configuration of the shower heads 400, the diffusers 330 of the gas box 300 in one-to-one with the shower heads 400 to inject all of the reaction gas (RG) to each of the shower heads 400. Corresponding number is configured to correspond. In this case, each of the diffusers 330 may be configured to correspond to the center of each of the shower heads 400 to efficiently eject the reaction gas RG.

Hereinafter, the structure in which the shower heads 400 are coupled to the gas box 300 will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 3.

3 is an enlarged view of a portion A of FIG. 1.

Referring further to FIG. 3, each of the shower heads 400 has a bottom 420 on which through holes 410 are formed and a sidewall extending from an edge of the bottom 420 to be coupled to the plate 310 of the gas box 300. 430.

Accordingly, the reaction gas RG is first widely diffused in a closed space between the bottom 420 and the plate 310 formed as the side walls 430 of the shower heads 400 are coupled to the plate 310. It may be injected into the through holes 410.

In addition, the side walls 430 of each of the shower heads 400 are coupled to the plate 310 through a bolt 30 that is easily removable. As a result, the replacement work of each of the shower heads 400 may be simplified.

Accordingly, the plurality of shower heads 400 may be disposed adjacent to each other so that the reaction gas RG is uniformly provided to the substrates 10 arranged in the large-area structure of the tray 20. By coupling to the plate 310, the rate at which the shower heads 400 thermally expand by the heat of the heater 210 may be reduced.

Accordingly, the shower heads 400 may prevent deep deformation due to thermal expansion, thereby allowing the substrates 10 arranged in a large area structure to be uniformly processed through the reaction gas RG.

In addition, as the size of each of the shower heads 400 decreases, the maintenance work and the machining work for manufacturing them may be made easier, thereby reducing the time and cost required for the shower head 400.

In addition, when replacing the shower head 400, since only a portion of the shower head 400 needs to be replaced simply, a greater effect can be expected in terms of cost.

On the other hand, the plate 310 of the gas box 300 is made of a conductive metal material is applied RF for generating a plasma by the reaction gas (RG) from the outside. Here, a first insulator 500 may be disposed between the plate 310 and the step 130 of the reaction chamber 100 to prevent the RF from being applied to the reaction chamber 100.

Thus, RF is applied to the shower heads 400 directly exposed from the plate 310 to the space where the substrates 10 are processed. That is, the shower heads 400 are made of a conductive metal material to receive RF, and the application of the shower heads 400 is performed through bolts 30 that are coupled to the plate 310 at the sidewalls 430 of each of the shower heads 400. It can be made stable.

As a result, the reaction gas RG is excited into the plasma by RF to process the substrates 10. For example, in the case where it is desired to deposit a film on the substrates 10 through a plasma excited by RF, the reaction gas RG is argon (Ar), silane (SiH ₄ ), nitrogen (N ₂ ) or Ammonia (NH ₃ ), and the like.

In addition, the heater 210 of the susceptor 200 may have a built-in grounding member (not shown) that is grounded to the outside to provide a reference voltage to facilitate the excitation of the plasma by the RF.

Meanwhile, a second insulator 600 may be disposed between the shower heads 400 and the inside of the reaction chamber 100 to prevent the RF applied to the shower heads 400 from being applied to the reaction chamber 100. have. The second insulator 600 may have a structure substantially connected to the first insulator 500 in order to stably insulate the plate 310 and the shower head 400 from the reaction chamber 100.

Here, since the second insulator 600 may be affected by the heat generated from the heater 210 of the susceptor 200, the second insulator 600 may be made of a ceramic material having excellent heat resistance. On the other hand, since the heat from the heater 210 is blocked by the shower heads 400 and the second insulator 600, the first insulator 500 may be made of a resin material having excellent workability rather than heat resistance.

Hereinafter, the structure in which the substrates 10 are arranged in the tray 20 will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 4.

4 is a view illustrating a tray placed in the susceptor of FIG. 2 in detail.

Referring to FIG. 4 further, the tray 20 has a plurality of receiving grooves 22 in which the substrates 10 are accommodated at portions facing the shower heads 400, respectively.

In detail, the receiving grooves 22 are distinguished from each other in correspondence with the region in which the reaction gas RG is provided through the through holes 410 of the shower heads 400. In detail, since the through holes 410 may not be formed at a portion of the bottom 420 that meets the side wall 430, the receiving grooves 22 may be distinguished from each other in correspondence with the portions where the through holes 410 are formed. That is, the receiving grooves 22 are substantially the same number to correspond one-to-one with each of the shower heads 400.

As such, by arranging the substrates 10 in the receiving grooves 22 provided with the reaction gas RG substantially from each of the shower heads 400, it is possible to optimize the production yield of the substrates 10 to be processed. .

Hereinafter, a configuration for preventing the thermal expansion of the shower heads 400 due to heat from the heater 210 will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 5.

FIG. 5 is a view illustrating the inside of the gas box shown in FIG. 2.

Referring further to FIG. 5, the gas box 300 includes a cooler 312 inside the plate 310.

The cooler 312 has a configuration in which the cooling water CW is provided to most of the closed cooling spaces 313 except the diffuser 330 in the plate 310. Thus, the cooler 312 includes a supply pipe 314 for supplying the cooling water CW to the cooling space 313 and a drain pipe 315 for draining out from the cooling space 313.

The cooler 312 continuously circulates the coolant CW through the supply pipe 314 and the drain pipe 315 to perform the cooling function more smoothly. In this case, the supply pipe 314 and the drain pipe 315 may be connected to a separate cooling device that can lower the temperature of the cooling water CW from the outside of the plate 310.

The supply pipe 314 and the drain pipe 315 may be configured at one side of the plate 310 so as not to interfere with the structure in which the inlet pipe 320 and the diffuser 330 of the gas box 300 are connected as shown in FIG. 2. Can be.

As such, by configuring the cooler 312 in the plate 310 to which the shower heads 400 are coupled, the shower heads 400 may be prevented from thermally expanding due to the heat of the heater 210.

Thus, by preventing the shower heads 400 from being damaged or deformed due to thermal expansion, the replacement frequency of the shower heads 400 may be reduced, so that a greater effect may be expected in terms of cost.

The present invention is structured by dividing the shower heads into a plurality of non-integral pieces so that the reaction gas is uniformly provided to the substrates, and combining them with the gas box, thereby reducing the rate at which the shower heads are thermally expanded by the heat of the heater. It can be used in a large area substrate processing apparatus that can be.

Although the above has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, those skilled in the art will be variously modified and modified within the scope of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention described in the claims below. It will be appreciated that it can be changed.

1 is a view showing a schematic configuration of a large-area substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view illustrating in detail the susceptor, the gas box, and the plurality of shower heads of the large-area substrate processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1.

3 is an enlarged view of a portion A of FIG. 1.

4 is a view illustrating a tray placed in the susceptor of FIG. 2 in detail.

FIG. 5 is a view illustrating the inside of the gas box shown in FIG. 2.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

RG: reaction gas CW: coolant

10: substrate 20: tray

22: receiving groove 100: reaction chamber

200: susceptor 210: heater

220: shaft 300: gas box

310: plate 312: cooler

320: inlet pipe 330: diffuser

400: shower head 410: through hole

420: floor 430: side wall

1000: large area substrate processing apparatus

Claims (3)

A susceptor on which a tray on which a plurality of substrates are arranged in a large area structure is placed; A gas box disposed above the susceptor and having a plurality of diffusers for injecting and processing a reaction gas supplied from the outside into the substrates; And Disposed adjacent to each other between the susceptor and the gas box and coupled to the gas box, each comprising a plurality of shower heads having a plurality of through holes to uniformly provide the reaction gas to the substrates, And the diffusers are configured to correspond one-to-one with the shower heads to inject the reaction gas into each of the shower heads. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the susceptor includes a heater for heating the substrates, And the gas box has a cooler therein to prevent the shower heads from thermally expanding due to heat generated from the heater. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the shower heads have a lattice structure.

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