WO2003100848A1

WO2003100848A1 - Substrate processing device and substrate processing method

Info

Publication number: WO2003100848A1
Application number: PCT/JP2003/006454
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hitoshi Nakagawara; Seiichi Igawa; Yoshifumi Unehara
Original assignee: Anelva Corporation
Priority date: 2002-05-23
Filing date: 2003-05-23
Publication date: 2003-12-04
Also published as: JPWO2003100848A1; CN1293621C; CN1650416A; AU2003242422A1; KR20050002862A; JP4369866B2; KR100951337B1; TW200403351A; TWI232242B

Abstract

A substrate processing device and a substrate processing method for general purpose capable of suppressing the contamination of atmosphere in a processing chamber through carriers, continuously performing a stable conveyance and a high quality substrate processing, and coping with further upsizing substrates and various substrate dimensions, the device comprising a load lock chamber allowing the carriers having the substrate mounted thereon to be carried therein, a substrate transfer chamber having a transfer mechanism for transferring the substrate between the carriers, and a substrate processing chamber for applying a specified processing to the substrate, characterized in that the first carrier moves between the load lock chamber and the substrate transfer chamber and the second carrier moves between the substrate transfer chamber and the substrate processing chamber, and the substrate is transferred between the first carrier and the second carrier by the transfer mechanism.

Description

Description Substrate processing equipment and processing method Technical field

The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus and a processing method for continuously transporting a carrier on which a substrate is mounted to a processing chamber and performing a predetermined process, and particularly relates to a processing chamber attributable to the carrier moving between the processing chamber and the atmosphere. The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus and a processing method capable of solving the problem of atmospheric pollution and stably performing high quality thin film formation and etching. Background art

As a conventional example of a substrate processing apparatus, a production vapor deposition apparatus shown in FIG. 7 will be described. As shown in Fig. 7, in the conventional vapor deposition apparatus, the load lock chamber 10 for carrying in the carrier, the heating chamber 70, the vapor deposition chamber 30 and the load lock chamber for carrying out the carrier 10 'are gate valves 41 ~. Each room is provided with a transport unit 4 for a carrier 2. Usually, the transport unit 4 is preferably configured such that a row of a large number of transport ports is provided, and a carrier mounted on the roller row is moved by rotating the rollers by a drive system. Used for The substrate 3 is mounted on the carrier 2 in the atmosphere, the carrier 2 is transferred from the load lock chamber 10 to the heating chamber 70, and the substrate is heated to a predetermined temperature, and then sent to the vapor deposition chamber 30 to form a thin film. Thereafter, the carrier 2 is sent out to the load lock chamber 10 'and taken out into the atmosphere. After the processed substrate 3 ′ is recovered, the unprocessed substrate 3 is mounted on the carrier 2 again, and returned to the load lock chamber 10. By repeating these operations, thin films can be continuously formed on many substrates. In this conventional method, the carrier 2 for transporting the substrate is repeatedly transported between the atmosphere and the vacuum. Therefore, contaminants such as water in the air are adsorbed on the film attached to the carrier, and if the film adheres on the film, the adhesion is reduced and the film is easily peeled off. Particles generated by the peeling of the film are taken into the film and become a defect of the film, thereby causing a decrease in yield. It was also clarified that applying the vapor deposition device of Fig. 7 to the formation of an MgO film for a plasma display (PDP) poses a major problem in display performance. As shown in Fig. 8, it was found that when the film was repeatedly formed on the substrate, the water pressure in the deposition chamber increased, and the film quality of MgO changed accordingly. That is, 2 5 0 times about the water pressure in the deposition chamber and repeating the film formation becomes 3 X 1 0 one ⁴ P a degree, M g O film obtained is to indicate Suyo the X-ray diffraction pattern of FIG. 9 It was found that the (1 1 1) plane had a (2 0 0) plane and a (2 2 0) plane. Since the secondary electron emission coefficient of the MgO film differs depending on the crystal plane, if the crystal planes coexist, brightness unevenness occurs and the display performance of the PDP is greatly reduced. Therefore, to stably obtain a high-performance display performance, should Ru maintaining the partial pressure of water vapor deposition chamber to below 3 X 1 0- ⁴ P a.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 9-27-9741 proposes a vapor deposition apparatus which solves the above-mentioned problem of peeling off the adhered film and the problem of taking in moisture and the like into the vapor deposition chamber. In this deposition apparatus, as shown in FIG. 10, a load lock chamber 10 for loading a substrate, a deposition chamber 30 and a load lock chamber 10 for unloading a substrate are connected by gate valves 41 and 42. The deposition chamber 30 transports the substrate 3 from the load lock chamber 10 to the carrier (tray) 2. The substrate mounting section 31 that deposits the substrate 3, the vapor deposition section 32, and the substrate that sends the processed substrate to the load lock chamber 10 '. The carrier 2 is configured to circulate between the mounting section, the vapor deposition section, and the collection section, and is not exposed to the atmosphere. That is, the substrate 3 is in the load lock chamber 10 After being carried in, it is mounted on the carrier (tray) 2 of the substrate mounting portion 31 by the transport unit 4 composed of the above-described transport roller row, is sent to the vapor deposition portion 32, and is heated by a heating mechanism (not shown). The MgO film is formed by being heated to a predetermined temperature. Thereafter, the carrier 2 is transported to the substrate collecting section 33, the processed substrate 3 'is removed from the carrier 2, and only the substrate is taken out to the load lock chamber 10'. On the other hand, the carrier 2 is returned to the substrate mounting section 31 along the upper transport path. In this way, the carrier is always conveyed in a vacuum, so that the adhered film does not come into contact with the atmosphere, greatly suppressing the generation of particles and suppressing the incorporation of moisture and the like. It was found that a homogeneous MgO film with a crystal plane could be formed, and that it could be used for a high-performance PDP. Disclosure of the invention

However, it has been found that it is actually very difficult for the vapor deposition apparatus shown in FIG. 10 to cope with an increase in the size of the substrate. That is, in the transport method for transporting a single substrate, both ends of the substrate are transported while being placed on the transport port, so that when the substrate is enlarged, the radius of the substrate is increased. As a result, the transportation became unstable, and in the worst case, the substrate was broken, and the stable production of high-definition and high-performance PDP became difficult. This problem becomes more apparent when the substrate is transported in the lateral direction of the substrate to improve the tact time. Furthermore, since various complicated settings such as the interval between the roller rows are required depending on the size of the substrate, it is practically impossible to deal with various types of substrates, and the versatility is low. there were.

In this way, in order to cope with the enlargement and diversification of substrates, it is indispensable to use a device configuration in which the substrates are mounted on a carrier of a predetermined size from the time of carrying in the substrates. Further inspection of film separation and film quality maintenance 讨 was carried out. Among these, a vapor deposition system was developed in which the carrier was covered with a mask during film formation to suppress film deposition on the carrier and the mask was kept in a vacuum chamber without being taken out (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-131). No. 232), it was found that, although improved compared to the device configuration in Fig. 7, it was not enough to support a high-definition, high-performance large PDP. For example, if the mask opening is larger than the carrier opening, the film adheres to the carrier and causes the same problem as described above. Conversely, if the mask opening is small, the vapor deposition material wraps around and deposits on the outer peripheral portion of the substrate. Therefore, it was found that there was a problem that the film thickness was thin and the crystal planes were mixed, resulting in uneven brightness.

The problems described above are not limited to the MgO vapor deposition apparatus, but also occur in film forming apparatuses such as sputtering and CVD used for forming various thin films and processing apparatuses such as etching. In the field of processing, there has been a demand for a substrate transfer method that enables stable and continuous processing without affecting film quality and processing performance.

Under such circumstances, the present invention is directed to a substrate processing apparatus and a processing method capable of suppressing contamination of the atmosphere in a processing chamber through a carrier and continuing stable substrate transfer and high-quality substrate processing. It is an object of the present invention to provide a highly versatile substrate processing apparatus and a processing method that can cope with an ever-larger substrate and that can cope with various substrate dimensions. The substrate processing apparatus of the present invention performs a predetermined process on a substrate, a load lock chamber for loading a carrier with a substrate mounted thereon, a substrate transfer chamber having a transfer mechanism for transferring a substrate between carriers. A substrate processing apparatus comprising: a first carrier that moves between the load port chamber and the substrate transfer chamber; and a substrate that moves between the substrate transfer chamber and the substrate processing chamber. A first carrier and the second carrier, wherein the first carrier and the second carrier are Wherein the substrate is transferred between carriers. Further, the first carrier on which the processed substrate is mounted is carried out to the door lock chamber.

With these, for example, the carrier holding the substrate during film formation does not need to be exposed to the air, so that the thin film resulting from moisture or the like adsorbed and occluded on the carrier-adhered film in the air and brought into the deposition chamber is prevented. Nonuniform film quality and film peeling can be greatly reduced, and a high-quality thin film without defects can be continuously produced on many substrates.

In the present invention, the transfer mechanism includes a carrier holding mechanism having a plurality of carrier holders and two carrier holding mechanisms that can be interchanged with each other, and the carrier is moved between the holders of the two carrier holding mechanisms. And a mobile mechanism to be operated.

With this, the carrier is moved between the two holding mechanisms while holding the substrate from the first and second carriers on the holding table by the holding mechanism, and the substrate is placed on the carrier again in that state. By doing so, the substrate can be transferred. With this configuration, even with a large substrate, transfer with high throughput can be reliably performed, so that a substrate processing apparatus with high productivity can be realized. Moreover, since the apparatus area can be significantly reduced as compared with the transfer method using a robot or the like, a large cost reduction can be achieved for the entire substrate processing apparatus.

Further, it is preferable to use a vacuum suction or electrostatic suction mechanism as the substrate holding mechanism. Since this holding mechanism can hold the substrate from the back side, it can hold not only large-sized substrates but also substrates of various sizes without contaminating or flawing the film deposition surface on the surface. The substrate can be easily and reliably transferred between carriers.

Further, the substrate transfer chamber is maintained in a dry gas atmosphere. For example, N ₂ gas is used. Thereby, the substrate transfer mechanism and the processing device configuration can be simplified.

It is preferable that the carrier supports four sides of the substrate, so that even if the substrate is enlarged, the radius of the substrate can be suppressed and a uniform thin film can be formed on the entire surface. Further, the present invention is particularly suitably used for forming a film having high hygroscopicity such as a MgO film.

The substrate processing method of the present invention comprises: a load lock chamber for carrying in and out a carrier on which a substrate is mounted; a substrate transfer chamber for transferring a substrate between carriers; a substrate processing chamber for performing a predetermined process on the substrate; A first carrier that moves between the load lock chamber and the substrate transfer chamber, and a second carrier that moves between the substrate transfer chamber and the substrate processing chamber. In the loading chamber, the substrate is transferred between the first carrier and the second carrier, and the second carrier carried into and out of the substrate processing chamber is continuously exposed without being exposed to the atmosphere. It is characterized in that substrate processing is performed.

Here, as described above, the transfer mechanism includes two carrier holding mechanisms each having a plurality of carrier holding bases and can be interchanged with each other, and a holding base of the two carrier holding mechanisms. A moving mechanism for moving the carrier between the two holding mechanisms, wherein the substrate is held by the substrate holding mechanism from the first and second carriers on the holding table, and the carrier is held between the two holding mechanisms. It is preferable that the substrate is transferred by placing the substrate on the carrier again in that state. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a basic configuration example of a substrate processing apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of an MgO film deposition apparatus for a PDP. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating transfer of a substrate.

FIG. 4 is an X-ray diffraction diagram showing the crystal orientation of the MgO film formed according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating another configuration example of the vapor deposition apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating another configuration example of the substrate processing apparatus.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of a conventional vapor deposition apparatus.

FIG. 8 is a graph showing the relationship between the number of produced film deposition substrates and the water pressure. FIG. 9 is an X-ray diffraction diagram showing the crystal orientation of the MgO film formed by the conventional apparatus.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing a conventional example of a vapor deposition apparatus in which the influence of moisture in the atmosphere is suppressed.

In the figure, 1, 1 'and 2 indicate carriers, 3 and 3' are substrates, 4 is a transport unit, 5 is a substrate transfer mechanism, 6 is a robot, 10 and 10 'are load lock chambers, 20 is a substrate transfer chamber, 21 and 22 are carrier holding mechanisms, 23 is a substrate holding mechanism, 30 is a processing chamber, 34 is a storage hearth for MgO, 35 is vapor deposition means, 40 46 to 46 indicate a gate valve, 50 indicates a first auxiliary chamber, 60 indicates a second auxiliary chamber, 70 indicates a first heating chamber, and 80 indicates a second heating chamber. BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

The schematic configuration of the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention is shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, the substrate processing apparatus has a structure in which a load lock chamber 10, a substrate transfer chamber 20 and a processing chamber 30 are connected via gate valves 41 and 42. The first carrier 1 moves between the lock chamber 10 and the substrate transfer chamber 20 to transfer the substrate, and the second carrier 1 ′ moves between the substrate transfer chamber 20 and the processing chamber 30. Convey the substrate. Here, the substrate transfer chamber 20 is N _The substrate transfer mechanism 5 is installed in a dry gas atmosphere such as a gas or in a vacuum.

The substrate 3 is mounted on the first carrier 1 in the air, loaded into the load lock chamber 10 and evacuated (after the substrate transfer chamber is filled with N ₂ gas if the substrate transfer chamber has an N ₂ gas atmosphere). The gate valve 41 is opened and sent to the substrate transfer chamber 20. In the substrate transfer chamber 20, the substrate 3 is transferred from the first carrier 1 to the second carrier 1 'by the substrate transfer mechanism 5, and the second carrier 1' on which the substrate 3 is mounted is processed. After being sent to the chamber 30 and subjected to predetermined processing, it is returned to the substrate transfer chamber 20. In the substrate transfer chamber, the processed substrate 3 ′ is transferred from the second carrier 1 ′ to the first carrier 1, and the first carrier 1, is taken out to the atmosphere via the load lock chamber 10 and processed. The finished substrate 3 ′ and the unprocessed substrate 3 are exchanged and returned to the load lock chamber 10 again. In this manner, the second carrier entering the processing chamber 30 does not come into contact with the atmosphere, and the substrates 3 and 3 'are always transported by the carrier. Processing can be repeated and continued.

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a vapor deposition apparatus in which the method of manufacturing an MgO film according to the present invention is performed, and FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a method of transferring a substrate in a substrate transfer chamber. In the present embodiment, the load lock chamber 10, the first auxiliary chamber 50, the substrate transfer chamber 20, the second auxiliary chamber 60, the first heating chamber 70, the vapor deposition chamber 30, and the carrier transfer direction It is composed of a second heating chamber 80 that converts and also heats the substrate. Gate valves 41 to 46 are provided between the chambers. Each of the first and second heating chambers is provided with a heating mechanism (not shown) for heating the substrate to a predetermined temperature. In the present embodiment, the load lock chamber 10, the first auxiliary chamber 50, the second auxiliary chamber 60, the first heating chamber 70, and the vapor deposition chamber 30 have an upper part for transporting carriers in the right direction in the drawing. A transport unit and a lower transport unit for transporting leftward are arranged respectively. Each transport unit 4 includes, for example, two rows of transport rollers described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 9-2793941, and is mounted on the opening by rotating the rollers by a drive system. A structure in which the transported carrier is transported is preferably used. In addition, one transfer unit is attached to the second heating chamber 80 so as to be vertically movable, so that the carrier can be moved from the upper transfer path to the lower transfer path. The mechanism described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 9-2797341 is preferably used as the mechanism for moving the transfer unit up and down, and the transfer unit is moved up and down by a cylinder, for example, through a bellows. A structure is used.

Further, in the substrate transfer chamber 20, the above-described transport unit 4 serving as a carrier holding shelf is stacked in two stages, and two sets of carrier holding mechanisms 21 and 22 having a structure of moving up and down are arranged on the left and right. The carrier 1, 1 'can be moved between the transport units of the two carrier holding mechanisms. As the up-down movement mechanism, for example, the mechanism described in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 9-279349 is used. Further, on the top wall of the substrate transfer chamber 20, a substrate holding mechanism 23 including a known suction mechanism for vacuum-sucking the substrate is provided.

An opening is formed in the bottom wall of the vapor deposition chamber 30, and a hearth 34 for accommodating the vapor deposition means (for example, a plasma source manufactured by Chugai Furnace Co., Ltd.) 35 and 1 ^ 10 is formed below the opening. Equipped. An oxygen gas introduction mechanism will be installed near the opening to control the film quality.

A glass substrate (for example, for a 42-inch television) is placed on a carrier in a horizontal position, and is transported horizontally by a transport system. The transport method is explained below. I will tell. The substrate is held on four sides, and a film is formed on one side (the lower side in this embodiment) of the substrate.

The first carrier 1 circulates in the atmosphere between the load lock chamber 10 and the substrate transfer chamber 20, and the second carrier 1 ′ circulates between the substrate transfer chamber 20 and the second heating chamber 80. Circulate.

First, the glass substrate 3 is mounted on the first carrier 1 and carried into the load lock chamber 10. The load lock chamber 1 0 is evacuated to a predetermined pressure (1 0- ⁵ P a table). Thereafter, the gate valve 41 is opened, and the first carrier 1 is transferred to the first auxiliary chamber 50. The first carrier 1 carried into the first auxiliary chamber 50 is heated to about 150 ° C. by a heating mechanism (not shown) to perform a degassing process. Heating was discontinued and the 1 0- ⁴ P a stand to reach after drying N ₂ gas is introduced to atmospheric pressure.

At this time, the second carrier 1 ′ on which the processed substrate 3 ′ is mounted is on standby on the lower transfer unit of the second auxiliary chamber 60, and N ₂ gas is introduced into the room.

The substrate transfer chamber is filled with N ₂ gas atmosphere pressure.

The substrate transfer operation in the substrate transfer chamber 20 from this state will be described with reference to FIG.

From the state of FIG. 3A, the gate valve 42 is opened, and the first carrier 1 is transferred to the upper shelf of the first carrier holding mechanism 21 of the substrate transfer chamber 20. On the other hand, the gate valve 43 is opened, and the second carrier 1 ′ on which the substrate 3 on which the film has been formed is mounted is transferred from the second auxiliary chamber 60 to the lower shelf of the second carrier holding mechanism 22 ( b).

From the top wall of the substrate transfer chamber, the vacuum suction mechanism 23 is pushed down by a cylinder (not shown) via a bellows, and comes into contact with each substrate to be sucked in vacuum and then pushed up. Here, the first and second carrier holding mechanisms 2 1 , 22 are moved to the same height, the transport rollers are rotated, and the first and second carriers are moved to the opposite units of the carrier holding mechanism, respectively (c). Subsequently, the vacuum suction means 23 is pushed down again, and the processed substrate 3 'force S is mounted on the first carrier 1 and the unprocessed substrate 3 is mounted on the second carrier 1' (d). Next, the first and second carriers move to the opposite units, respectively (e). Subsequently, the first and second carrier holding mechanisms move up and down, the gate valves 42 and 43 are opened, and the first carrier 1 is transferred to the lower transport unit of the first auxiliary chamber 50 and the second carrier 1 'is sent to the upper transfer unit of the second auxiliary chamber 60 (f).

Next, in the second auxiliary chamber 6 0, after being evacuated to a predetermined pressure 1 0- ⁵ P a stand, a gate valve 44 is opened, the second carrier is conveyed into the first heating chamber 7 0. In the first heating chamber 70, heating is performed up to 300 ° C. by a heating mechanism (not shown). The pressure to perform degassing to reach the 1 0- ³ P a stand. Thereafter, the gate valve 45 is opened, and the second carrier is sent to the second heating chamber 80 through the vapor deposition chamber 30 and is heated for a predetermined time. In the second heating chamber 80, the transport unit 4 on which the carrier is placed is lowered by, for example, a vertical movement mechanism disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-979341, and the gate valve 46 is opened again, and The carrier No. 2 moves in the opposite direction to the loading direction and is loaded into the vapor deposition chamber 30.

The heating of the substrate is not limited to the above embodiment, and may be performed in the load lock chamber 10 or the second auxiliary chamber.

In the vapor deposition chamber 30, a MgO film is deposited on the substrate 3 mounted on the second carrier 1 'under predetermined film forming conditions. That is, 80 sccm of oxygen gas is introduced into the vapor deposition chamber, and Ar gas is further introduced to a pressure of 0.1 Pa, and the plasma vapor deposition source is driven to deposit an MgO film on the substrate.

Thereafter, the second carrier 1 ′ moves the first heating chamber 70 and the second auxiliary chamber 60. The substrate is transferred to the substrate transfer chamber 20 through which the substrate is transferred between the first and second carriers as described above.

The processed substrate 3 ′ mounted on the first carrier 1 is transferred to the load lock chamber 10 via the first auxiliary chamber 50. After the introduction into the atmosphere, the first carrier is taken out into the atmosphere, the processed substrate 3 ′ is collected, and the unprocessed substrate 3 is mounted on the first carrier 1 again.

As described above, the MgO film is continuously deposited on the substrate. During this time, the second carrier 1 ′ does not come into contact with the air, so that a MgO film having no defect and having no defect can be stably formed. In addition, the X-ray diffraction pattern of the obtained MgO film has a (111) crystal plane as shown in FIG. It has become possible to continuously produce high-performance PDPs. B, A, and C show diffraction patterns at a position 3 cm away from the center of the substrate and the edge of the substrate.

Although the apparatus configuration in FIG. 1 has a configuration in which the carrier is loaded and unloaded in one load lock chamber, a configuration in which two load lock chambers are provided and loaded from one side and unloaded from the other may be used. An example of this is shown in FIG. In the apparatus shown in FIG. 5, substrate transfer chambers 20 and 20 and load lock chambers 10 and 10 ′ are arranged on both sides of the processing chamber 30, and the first substrate transfer chamber 20 and the first load lock are provided. Two sets of the first carrier 1 that move between the chamber 10 and the atmosphere, and between the second substrate transfer chamber 20 and the second load lock chamber 10 and the atmosphere, and the first substrate transfer chamber 20 A second carrier 1 ′ moving between the processing chamber 30 and the second substrate transfer chamber 20 ′ is arranged.

In the present invention, the number and arrangement of the processing chambers and auxiliary chambers of the substrate processing apparatus, and the number of carriers circulating in the substrate processing apparatus at the same time depend on, for example, the tact time in each chamber. What is necessary is just to select suitably. Further, in this embodiment, a vacuum suction means is used as a substrate holding mechanism of the substrate transfer chamber, but a known electrostatic suction means is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Heisei 9-2793941. May be used. Further, the substrate transfer mechanism is not limited to the above. For example, two substrate holding mechanisms are mounted around a rotation axis, and after holding the substrates of the first and second carriers, the substrate is rotated 180 °. The configuration may be such that the shaft is rotated and the substrate is placed on the carrier in that state, or the substrate may be transferred by a robot. Further, the case where the substrate is transported and transferred while the substrate is horizontal has been described above. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a configuration in which the substrate is transported, transferred and processed while the substrate is vertical may be adopted.

In the above embodiment, the in-line type vapor deposition apparatus has been described. The present invention is also applied to, for example, a cluster type vapor deposition apparatus as shown in FIG. In this case, the first carrier 1 moves between the load lock chamber 10 and the substrate transfer chamber 20 and the second carrier 1 ′ moves between the substrate transfer chamber 20 and the processing chamber 30 (30). , 30 "). In the transfer room, the first and second carrier substrates are transferred by, for example, the robot 6 having two hands.

Further, as described above, the present invention is not limited to a vapor deposition apparatus, and may be suitably used for an apparatus for producing a Cr oxide film as an exposure blank by a sputtering method, for example, and may be various processing such as etching. It can be applied to equipment.

Industrial applicability

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the problem of contamination which has conventionally occurred during the transfer of a substrate, and to form a film of excellent quality with good stability. It is possible to provide an apparatus for producing a hygroscopic dielectric film such as magnesium at a high speed.

Claims

The scope of the claims

1. A load lock chamber for loading a carrier loaded with a substrate, a substrate transfer chamber having a transfer mechanism for transferring a substrate between carriers, and a substrate processing chamber for performing a predetermined process on a substrate. A substrate processing apparatus having

A first carrier that moves between the load lock chamber and the substrate transfer chamber; and a second carrier that moves between the substrate transfer chamber and the substrate processing chamber. A substrate processing apparatus, wherein a substrate is transferred between a first carrier and the second carrier.

2. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first carrier on which the processed substrate is mounted is carried out to the load lock chamber.

3. The transfer mechanism has two carrier holding mechanisms and two substrate holding mechanisms, each having a plurality of carrier holding tables, which can be exchanged with each other, and moves the carrier between the holding tables of the two carrier holding mechanisms. 3. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the substrate processing apparatus includes: a moving mechanism.

4. The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the substrate holding mechanism is a vacuum suction or an electrostatic suction mechanism.

5. The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the substrate transfer chamber is maintained in a dry gas atmosphere.

6. The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the carrier supports four sides of the substrate.

7. The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the thin film is a MgO film.

8. Load lock chamber for loading / unloading carriers with substrates A substrate transfer chamber for transferring a substrate between the substrate transfer chamber and a substrate processing chamber for performing a predetermined process on the substrate, wherein a first substrate is transferred between the load lock chamber and the substrate transfer chamber. A carrier and a second carrier that moves between the substrate transfer chamber and the substrate processing chamber, wherein the substrate is transferred between the first carrier and the second carrier in the substrate transfer chamber. A substrate processing method, wherein the substrate is continuously transferred without exposing the second carrier carried into and out of the substrate processing chamber to the atmosphere.

9. The transfer mechanism has two carrier holding mechanisms and a substrate holding mechanism which have a plurality of carrier holding tables and can be interchanged with each other, and moves the carrier between the holding stands of the two carrier holding mechanisms. A carrier is moved between the two holding mechanisms while the substrate is held by the substrate holding mechanism from the first and second carriers on the holding table, and again in that state. 9. The substrate processing method according to claim 8, wherein the substrate is transferred by placing the substrate on a carrier.