KR20180037675A - Loadlock chamber, substrate processing system having the same and method for discharging particle of loadlock chamber - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a loadlock chamber, a substrate processing system having the same, and a method for discharging foreign substances of the loadlock chamber. According to the present invention, the loadlock chamber, the substrate processing system having the same, and the method for discharging foreign substances from the loadlock chamber allow foreign substances of the chamber to be discharged to the outside while being slowly floated through a first discharge module by a suction force, which is relatively weak, and then, allow foreign substances of the chamber to be rapidly discharged through a second discharge module by a suction force, which is relatively strong, thereby having an effect of completely removing foreign substances from the chamber. In addition, since a plurality of exhaust ports are formed on an edge of the chamber, foreign substances of the chamber are dispersed for discharge. Thus, foreign substances are prevented from concentrating on any one of the exhaust ports such that no foreign substance remains on an exhaust port side. Accordingly, there is an effect to prevent a substrate from be polluted by foreign substances remaining on the exhaust port side. Since the exhaust port formed on one side surface of the chamber and the exhaust port formed on the other side surface of the chamber are connected to separate vacuum pumps, respectively, such that even if an error occurs in any one of the vacuum pumps, the chamber is decompressed using another vacuum pump. Therefore, even if an error occurs in any one of the vacuum pumps, it is possible to continuously operate the substrate processing system including the loadlock chamber, thereby improving productivity.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] The present invention relates to a load lock chamber, a substrate processing system having the same, and a method for discharging foreign matter from the load lock chamber.

The present invention relates to a load lock chamber, a substrate processing system having the same, and a foreign matter discharge method for the load lock chamber.

In order to manufacture a semiconductor device, a flat panel display, or a thin film solar cell, a deposition process of depositing a specific material on a surface of a substrate to form a thin film, a process of exposing or hiding a selected region of the thin film formed using a photosensitive material A photolithography process, an etching process for forming a pattern by removing a selected thin film, and the like.

Each unit process is performed in each process chamber that is optimally designed to suit each unit process.

A cluster type substrate processing system in which the productivity is improved by minimizing the time for transferring the substrates to the respective process chambers by spatially adjoining the respective process chambers for performing the respective unit processes has been developed and used .

The clustered substrate processing system includes a transfer chamber provided with a robot for transferring a substrate, a plurality of process chambers provided outside the transfer chamber, and a load lock chamber provided outside the transfer chamber.

The load lock chamber temporarily stores the unprocessed substrate of the storage portion in which the substrate is stored, or temporarily stores the processed substrate of the process chamber via the transfer chamber. The substrate stored in the load lock chamber is brought into the process chamber in the case of the transfer chamber or taken out to the storage section.

The conventional load lock chamber will be described with reference to Fig. 1 is a schematic plan sectional view of a conventional load lock chamber.

As shown, the conventional load lock chamber has a chamber 11 providing a space in which the substrate S is temporarily stored, and a vacuum pump 15 for depressurizing the interior of the chamber 11 to a vacuum state.

On the one side and the other side of the chamber 11 are formed substrate entry openings 11a and 11b through which the substrate S enters and exits and the substrate entry openings 11a and 11b are respectively formed on one side and the other side of the chamber 11 (Not shown), respectively.

At this time, the substrate entrance 11a is selectively communicated by the open / close plate and the side of the storage portion in a state where the substrate S is stored, and the substrate entrance 11b is connected to the transfer chamber in a vacuum state, . In the chamber 11, an exhaust port 11c communicating with the vacuum pump 15 is formed.

Thus, when the substrate S in the storage portion is to be carried into the process chamber, the substrate inlet 11a is opened to insert the substrate S into the chamber 11, and then the substrate inlet 11a is closed. Thereafter, the vacuum pump 15 is driven to discharge the foreign matter of the chamber 11 to the outside while reducing the pressure inside the chamber 11. [ Thereafter, the substrate inlet 11b is opened, and then the substrate S of the chamber 11 is transferred to the process chamber via the transfer chamber.

When the substrate S in the process chamber is to be taken out to the storage section, the substrate inlet (11b) is opened to introduce the substrate (S) in the process chamber into the chamber (11) via the transfer chamber, 11b. Thereafter, the vacuum pump 15 is driven to discharge foreign substances in the chamber 11 to the outside while depressurizing the interior of the chamber 11, and then the substrate inlet 11a is opened to carry the substrate S to the storage portion .

The conventional load lock chamber as described above has a disadvantage in that it is difficult to completely discharge foreign substances present inside the chamber 11 due to the structure and the method of discharging the foreign substances by reducing the pressure of the chamber 11. [

Since a single exhaust port 11c is formed, much foreign matter is concentrated on the side of the volleyball 11c. As a result, a relatively large amount of foreign matter may remain on the side of the exhaust port 11c, which may cause contamination of the substrate S.

Since one vacuum pump 15 for reducing the pressure of the chamber 11 is provided, the entire substrate processing system including the load lock chamber must be stopped at the time of the abnormality of the vacuum pump 15. As a result, the productivity is lowered.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a load lock chamber, a substrate processing system having the same, and a method of discharging a foreign material in a load lock chamber that can solve all the problems of the conventional art.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a load lock chamber capable of completely discharging foreign substances in a chamber, a substrate processing system having the same, and a method of discharging a foreign material in the load lock chamber.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a load lock chamber capable of preventing contamination of a substrate and improving productivity, a substrate processing system having the same, and a method of discharging a foreign material in a load lock chamber.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a load lock chamber including: a chamber having a substrate entry port; A vacuum pump for decompressing the interior of the chamber; And a first exhaust module and a second exhaust module formed on a side surface of the chamber in which the substrate entry port is not formed and communicating with the vacuum pump and discharging the foreign substances in the chamber at different rates.

Further, the substrate processing system according to the present embodiment includes: a transfer chamber in which a robot for transferring a substrate is installed; A plurality of processing chambers provided outside the transfer chamber, in which the substrates are transferred and processed; A first discharge port which is formed on a side surface of the chamber in which the substrate entrance port is not formed and communicates with the vacuum pump, and discharges foreign substances in the chamber at different speeds; And a load lock chamber having a module and a second drain module.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of discharging a foreign matter in a chamber of a load lock chamber for discharging a foreign substance in a chamber formed with a substrate inlet port by using a vacuum pump, Discharging through a first discharge module formed in the chamber; And a second exhaust module formed in the chamber with a suction force greater than a suction force of the vacuum pump when the foreign substance is discharged through the first discharge module after the first discharge module is closed Step < / RTI >

In the load lock chamber according to the embodiment of the present invention, the substrate processing system having the same, and the foreign matter discharging method of the load lock chamber, the foreign substances in the chamber are gradually discharged through the first discharge module with a relatively weak suction force, , The foreign substances in the chamber can be quickly discharged through the second discharge module with a relatively large suction force, so that the foreign substances in the chamber can be completely removed.

Since a plurality of exhaust ports are formed on the edge side of the chamber, the foreign substances in the chamber are dispersed and discharged. This prevents the foreign matter from concentrating on any one exhaust port, so that no foreign matter remains on the exhaust port side. Therefore, it is possible to prevent contamination of the substrate by the foreign substances remaining on the exhaust port side.

Since the exhaust port formed on one side of the chamber and the exhaust port formed on the other side of the chamber communicate with separate vacuum pumps, even if an error occurs in any one of the vacuum pumps, the chamber is decompressed using another vacuum pump . Therefore, even if an abnormality occurs in any one of the vacuum pumps, the substrate processing system including the load lock chamber can be continuously operated, and productivity can be improved.

1 is a schematic plan sectional view of a conventional load lock chamber;
2 is a plan view of a substrate processing system according to a first embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 3 is a schematic perspective view of the load lock chamber shown in Figure 2;
FIG. 4A is a schematic plan sectional view of FIG. 3; FIG.
4B is an enlarged view of the " A "
5 is a schematic perspective view of a load lock chamber according to a second embodiment of the present invention;
6 is a schematic perspective view of a load lock chamber according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

It should be noted that, in the specification of the present invention, the same reference numerals as in the drawings denote the same elements, but they are numbered as much as possible even if they are shown in different drawings.

Meanwhile, the meaning of the terms described in the present specification should be understood as follows.

The word " first, "" second," and the like, used to distinguish one element from another, are to be understood to include plural representations unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. The scope of the right should not be limited by these terms.

It should be understood that the terms "comprises" or "having" does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, or combinations thereof.

It should be understood that the term "at least one" includes all possible combinations from one or more related items. For example, the meaning of "at least one of the first item, the second item and the third item" means not only the first item, the second item or the third item, but also the second item and the second item among the first item, Means any combination of items that can be presented from more than one.

It should be understood that the term "and / or" includes all possible combinations from one or more related items. For example, the meaning of "first item, second item and / or third item" may include not only the first item, the second item or the third item but also two of the first item, Means a combination of all items that can be presented from the above.

It is to be understood that when an element is referred to as being "connected or installed" to another element, it may be directly connected or installed with the other element, although other elements may be present in between. On the other hand, when an element is referred to as being "directly connected or installed" to another element, it should be understood that there are no other elements in between. On the other hand, other expressions that describe the relationship between components, such as "between" and "between" or "neighboring to" and "directly adjacent to" should be interpreted as well.

In each step, the identification codes (for example, S100, S110, S120, etc.) are used for convenience of explanation, and the identification codes do not describe and explain the order of each step, Unless the order is described, it may happen differently from the stated order. That is, each step may occur in the same order as described, may be performed substantially concurrently, or may be performed in reverse order.

Hereinafter, a load lock chamber according to embodiments of the present invention, a substrate processing system having the same, and a foreign matter discharging method of the load lock chamber will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First Embodiment

2 is a plan view of a substrate processing system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

The substrate processing system according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes a transfer chamber 110 in which a robot 61 for transferring a substrate S is installed and which maintains a vacuum state, A plurality of process chambers 150 installed outside the transfer chamber 110 and providing a space for processing the substrate S and a process chamber 150 installed between the process chamber 150 and the transfer chamber 110, And a load lock chamber 200 for temporarily holding the substrate S in contact with the outer surface of the substrate.

That is, the substrate processing system according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes a cluster-type substrate processing process in which each process chamber 150 that performs a unit process such as a deposition process, a photo process, or an etching process is spatially adjacently installed System.

A storage space 50 in which a substrate S is stored may be installed at one side of the load lock chamber 200 and the substrate S of the storage unit 50 may be stored in a cassette or the like have. The storage unit 50 may be provided with another robot 65 for transferring the substrate S.

The load lock chamber 200 receives the unprocessed substrate S of the storage unit 50 and stores the processed substrate S temporarily or transfers the processed substrate S of the process chamber 150 via the transfer chamber 110 You can keep it temporarily.

The processed substrate S of the process chamber 150 and the processed substrate S of the transfer chamber 110 which are input to the load lock chamber 200 via the transfer chamber 110 have the same meaning.

The load lock chamber 200 will be described with reference to Figs. 2 to 4B. FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of the load lock chamber shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 4A is a schematic plan view of FIG. 3, and FIG. 4B is an enlarged view of the "A"

As shown in the figure, the load lock chamber 200 according to the first embodiment of the present invention provides a space in which the substrate S is stored and decompresses the inside of the chamber 210 having the hexahedron shape and the chamber 210 And a discharge unit for discharging the foreign substance to the outside of the chamber 210.

The substrate S stored in the chamber 210 may be carried into the process chamber 150 via the transfer chamber 110 or may be taken out of the storage unit 50.

A substrate S is provided on one and the other opposite surfaces of the chamber 210 so that the substrate S can be transferred between the chamber 210 and the chamber 210 or between the chamber 210 and the transfer chamber 110. [ The substrate entrance ports 211 and 213 for entering and exiting can be formed to face each other. Opening and closing plates for selectively opening and closing the substrate entrance ports 211 and 213 may be installed in the chamber 210, respectively. Therefore, the substrate entrance 211 can be selectively communicated with the storage part 50 side by the opening / closing plate, and the substrate entrance 213 can be selectively communicated with the transfer chamber 110.

When the substrate S of the storage unit 50 is to be carried into the process chamber 150, the substrate inlet 211 is opened to introduce the substrate S into the chamber 210 with the robot 65 , The substrate entrance 211 is closed. Thereafter, the discharge unit is driven to clean the inside of the chamber 210, and then the substrate entrance 213 is opened. Thereafter, the substrate S of the chamber 210 is carried into the process chamber 150 by the robot 61. [

When the substrate S of the process chamber 150 is to be taken out to the storage unit 50, the substrate entrance 213 is opened and the substrate S of the process chamber 150 is transferred And is introduced into the chamber 210. Thereafter, the substrate entrance 213 is closed and the discharge unit is driven to clean the interior of the chamber 210. Then, the substrate entrance 211 is opened, and the substrate of the chamber 210 is moved by the robot 65 And is taken out to the storage unit 50.

The discharging unit may include a vacuum pump 230 and a discharging module 250. The discharging unit discharges the foreign substances from the chamber 210 to the outside of the chamber 210 in a floating state, The foreign matter can be completely discharged.

The discharge module 250 may be formed on one side of the chamber 210 in which the substrate outlets 211 and 213 are not formed. At this time, the first exhaust module 251 and the second exhaust module 255 can communicate with each other.

The first exhaust module 251 includes a first exhaust port 252 formed at one side of the chamber 210 and a second exhaust port 253 communicated with the vacuum pump 230 at one side and a second exhaust port 253 communicated with the first exhaust port 252 at the other side. And a first valve 254 installed in the second conduit 253 to open and close the second conduit 253. At this time, the first exhaust port 252, the second conduit 253, and the first valve 254 may be provided in a plurality of sets.

The second exhaust module 255 includes a second exhaust port 256 formed on one side of the chamber 210 in which the first exhaust module 251 is formed and a second exhaust port 256 communicating with the vacuum pump 230 on the one side, A second conduit 257 communicating with the second conduit 257 and a second valve 258 installed in the second conduit 257 to open and close the second conduit 257.

The first exhaust module 251 can slowly discharge the foreign substances in the chamber 210 while the second exhaust module 255 discharges the foreign substances in the floating chamber 210 and the foreign substances in the non- And can be discharged to the outside of the chamber 210 quickly.

The first exhaust port 252 and the first exhaust port 253 of the first exhaust module 251 may be formed to have the same diameter and the second exhaust port 256 of the second exhaust module 255, The channel 257 may be formed to have the same diameter. The diameter of the second exhaust port 256 of the second exhaust module 255 may be larger than the diameter of the first exhaust port 252 of the first exhaust module 251. More preferably, the diameter of the second exhaust port 257 may be formed to be 3.5 to 4.5 times larger than the diameter of the first exhaust port 252. More specifically, the diameter of the second exhaust port 257 may be 95 to 105 mm, and the diameter of the first exhaust port 252 may be 21 to 30 mm.

Thus, when the first exhaust module 251 slowly discharges the foreign substances in the chamber 210 and discharges the foreign substances in the chamber 210 to the outside, the suction force of the vacuum pump 230 can be relatively weakened, It is natural that the suction force of the vacuum pump 230 can be relatively increased when the foreign substance of the chamber 210 is discharged to the outside through the second discharge module 255. [

That is, while the second conduit 257 is closed by using the second valve 258, the foreign substances in the chamber 210 are slowly floated and discharged through the first discharge module 251, The foreign substances in the chamber 210 can be rapidly discharged to the outside through the second exhaust module 255 in a state where the first conduit 253 is closed by using the second exhaust module 255. It is preferable that the floating and discharging of the foreign matter through the first discharging module 251 and the discharging of the foreign matter through the second discharging module 255 are sequentially alternated.

A baffle plate 270 may be installed in the chamber 210 so as to cover the second exhaust port 256. The baffle plate 270 can prevent foreign substances in the chamber 210 from being concentrated toward the center of the second exhaust port 256 when the foreign substances in the chamber 210 are discharged to the outside through the second exhaust module 255 have.

In detail, the baffle plate 270 may have a size slightly larger than the diameter of the second exhaust port 256, and a plurality of through holes 272 may be formed. The baffle plate 270 may be spaced apart from the second exhaust port 256 with an interval from the inner surface of the chamber 210. The foreign substances in the chamber 210 are discharged through the second exhaust port 256 through the outside of the outer circumferential surface of the through hole 272 and the baffle plate 270 when the foreign substances in the chamber 210 are discharged through the second exhaust module 255. [ So that the foreign matter of the chamber 210 can be introduced through the entire portion of the second exhaust port 256.

The load lock chamber 200 according to the first embodiment of the present invention and the substrate processing system having the load lock chamber 200 according to the first embodiment of the present invention are configured to slowly float foreign substances in the chamber 210 through the first discharge module 251 using a relatively weak suction force The foreign substances in the chamber 210 can be quickly discharged to the outside through the second exhaust module 255 by using a relatively strong suction force to completely remove foreign substances from the chamber 210. [

Since the first exhaust port 252 and the second exhaust port 256 are formed on the edge sides of the chamber 210, the foreign substances in the chamber 210 are dispersed toward the first exhaust port 252 and the second exhaust port 256 And then discharged. Accordingly, foreign matter is prevented from concentrating on the exhaust port side compared with the case where only one exhaust port is formed, so that no foreign matter remains on the first exhaust port 252 and the second exhaust port 256 side. Therefore, the substrate S is prevented from being contaminated by the foreign substances remaining in the first exhaust port 252 and the second exhaust port 255. [

The foreign matter discharging method of the load lock chamber according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described.

First, the chamber 210 is decompressed through the first discharge module 251. At this time, the suction force of the vacuum pump 230 is adjusted so that the foreign substances in the chamber 210 float and can be gradually discharged through the first exhaust port 252. Thereafter, after the first exhaust module 251 is closed, the foreign substances in the chamber 210 are discharged to the second chamber 210 with a suction force larger than the suction force of the vacuum pump 230 when the foreign substance is discharged through the first discharge module 251, And is discharged through the discharge module 255.

At this time, the diameter of the second exhaust port 256 is preferably larger than the diameter of the first exhaust port 252, more preferably 3.5 to 4.5 times.

Second Embodiment

5 is a schematic perspective view of a load lock chamber according to a second embodiment of the present invention, and only differences from the first embodiment will be described.

As shown in the drawing, the load lock chamber 300 according to the second embodiment of the present invention is configured such that the first discharge module 351 and the second discharge module 355 are mutually opposed to each other without forming the substrate inlets 311 and 313 (Not shown) may be formed on one side surface and the other side surface of the chamber 310, respectively.

The first exhaust module 351 and the second exhaust module 355 provided at one side of the chamber 310 may communicate with any one of the vacuum pumps 330 and may be installed at the other side of the chamber 310 The first exhaust module 351 and the second exhaust module 355 can communicate with the other vacuum pump 330. [ That is, the vacuum pump 330 connected to the first exhaust module 351 and the second exhaust module 355 provided at one side of the chamber 310 and the first exhaust module 351 And the second exhaust module 355 and the vacuum pump 330 may be provided separately.

In this case, even if an abnormality occurs in any of the vacuum pumps 330, the chamber 310 can be depressurized by using the other vacuum pump 330, so that an abnormality occurs in any one of the vacuum pumps 330 The substrate processing system including the load lock chamber 300 can be continuously operated.

Third Embodiment

FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view of a load lock chamber according to a third embodiment of the present invention, and only differences from the second embodiment will be described.

As shown, the load lock chamber 400 according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention includes a first exhaust module 451 and a second exhaust module 455, which are installed on and communicate with one side of the chamber 410, And may be communicated with the first exhaust module 451 and the second exhaust module 455, which are installed on the other side of the chamber 210 and communicate with each other through the communicating pipe 460. A vacuum pump 430 may be connected to the communicating pipe 460.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Will be clear to those who have knowledge of. Therefore, the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims, and all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalents should be interpreted as being included in the scope of the present invention.

200: load lock chamber
210: chamber
211, 213: substrate entrance
230: Vacuum pump
251: First exhaust module
255: second exhaust module

Claims (10)

A chamber having a substrate entrance port formed therein;
A vacuum pump for decompressing the interior of the chamber;
And a first discharge module and a second discharge module which are formed on a side surface of the chamber where the substrate entry port is not formed and communicate with the vacuum pump and discharge the foreign materials of the chamber at different speeds. . The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the suction force of the vacuum pump when discharging the foreign substance through the first discharge module is weaker than the suction force of the vacuum pump when the foreign substance is discharged through the second discharge module. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the first exhaust module and the second exhaust module each have a first exhaust port and a second exhaust port respectively formed on the side surface of the chamber,
And the diameter of the second exhaust port is 3.5 to 4.5 times the diameter of the first exhaust port. The method of claim 3,
Wherein a baffle plate having a plurality of through holes is formed in the chamber so as to cover the second exhaust port. 5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein the baffle plate is spaced apart from the second exhaust port. The method according to claim 1,
The vacuum pump having the first exhaust module and the second exhaust module connected to one side of the chamber and the vacuum pump communicated with the first exhaust module and the second exhaust module provided on the other side of the chamber, A load lock chamber characterized by a separate. A transfer chamber in which a robot for transferring a substrate is installed;
A plurality of processing chambers provided outside the transfer chamber, in which the substrates are transferred and processed;
A first discharge port which is formed on a side surface of the chamber in which the substrate entrance port is not formed and communicates with the vacuum pump, and discharges foreign substances in the chamber at different speeds; And a load lock chamber having a module and a second drain module. A method of discharging foreign substances in a load lock chamber for discharging foreign matter in a chamber formed with a substrate entrance port by using a vacuum pump,
Discharging the foreign substances in the chamber through a first discharge module formed in the chamber while floating the foreign substances; And
A step of discharging a foreign matter of the chamber through a second discharge module formed in the chamber with a suction force larger than a suction force of the vacuum pump when discharging a foreign substance through the first discharge module after closing the first discharge module And discharging the foreign matter to the load lock chamber. 9. The method of claim 8,
Wherein the first exhaust module and the second exhaust module each have a first exhaust port and a second exhaust port formed on a side surface of the chamber,
Wherein the diameter of the second exhaust port is larger than the diameter of the first exhaust port. 9. The method of claim 8,
Wherein the diameter of the second exhaust port is 3.5 to 4.5 times the diameter of the first exhaust port.

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