WO2011132913A2

WO2011132913A2 - Substrate processing apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2011132913A2
Application number: PCT/KR2011/002794
Authority: WO
Inventors: Sun Hong Choi; Dong Young Kang; Sung Rok Bae; Ji Hun Lee; Tae Wan Lee
Original assignee: Jusung Engineering Co Ltd
Current assignee: Jusung Engineering Co Ltd
Priority date: 2010-04-21
Filing date: 2011-04-19
Publication date: 2011-10-27
Anticipated expiration: 2012-10-21
Also published as: KR101288483B1; KR20110117296A; TW201140747A; WO2011132913A3

Abstract

A substrate processing apparatus for deposition on a substrate seated therein is disclosed. The substrate processing apparatus includes a chamber having a reaction space, a main disc accommodated in the chamber, on which at least one substrate is placed, a rotating member vertically installed to come into contact with the main disc so as to support the main disc, the rotating member being rotated along with the main disc and having a greater rotational diameter than a radius of rotation of the main disc, and a drive device to drive the rotating member.

Description

SUBSTRATE PROCESSING APPARATUS

The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus for deposition on a substrate seated therein.

In general, fabrication of semiconductor devices includes, e.g., a process of forming a circuit pattern on a silicon substrate, and a packaging process of cutting the substrate to a predetermined size and packaging the substrate with an epoxy resin envelope, etc.

Forming the circuit pattern on the substrate requires a series of processes including deposition of a thin film having a predetermined thickness, photolithography for applying a photoresist to the deposited thin film and forming a photoresist pattern via exposure and developing, etching to pattern the thin film using the photoresist pattern, ion implantation to implant particular ions into a predetermined region of the substrate, and washing for removal of impurities. These processes are performed within a process chamber in which an optimum environment for the corresponding process is created.

In addition, semiconductor substrates, organic substrates and solar-cell substrates are fabricated by depositing a plurality of thin film layers on a substrate and etching the deposited thin film layers to have desired characteristics.

Of the aforementioned processes, deposition is performed by arranging a plurality of substrates on an upper surface of a main disc accommodated in a chamber and then, rotating the main disc. The main disc is rotated by a drive shaft coupled thereto, the drive shaft vertically extending between the bottom of the chamber and a lower surface of the main disc.

However, in the case of a relatively large main disc, height deviation at the vicinity of an edge thereof is likely to occur if the drive shaft has any alignment error. The resulting height deviation may cause distance deviation between the main disc and a heater which provides a heat source required for deposition.

The above described problem may further cause temperature deviation of the substrates seated on the main disc, which deteriorates uniform deposition quality.

An object of the present invention devised to solve the problem lies in a substrate processing apparatus, which is capable of minimizing height deviation of a main disc during rotation of the main disc, the main disc being accommodated in a deposition process chamber to support a plurality of substrates seated thereon.

The object of the present invention can be achieved by providing a substrate processing apparatus including a chamber having a reaction space, a main disc accommodated in the chamber, on which at least one substrate is placed, a rotating member vertically installed to come into contact with the main disc so as to support the main disc, the rotating member being rotated along with the main disc and having a greater rotational diameter than a radius of rotation of the main disc, and a drive device to drive the rotating member.

The substrate processing apparatus may further include a pumping ring mounted to an outer surface of the rotating member and having a plurality of vertical pumping holes.

The pumping ring may be rotated along with the rotating member.

The drive device may drive the outer surface of the rotating member or an outer surface of the pumping ring to rotate the main disc.

The drive device may include a drive wheel to transmit rotational drive force to the outer surface of the rotating member or the outer surface of the pumping ring while coming into contact therewith.

The drive wheel may be mounted to the chamber such that a part of the drive wheel is exposed to an inner surface of the chamber.

The drive device may include at least one drive wheel to transmit rotational drive force to the rotating member while coming into contact with the rotating member, and the drive wheel may drive an inner surface of the rotating member to rotate the main disc.

The drive device may include a drive shaft vertically penetrating a lower surface of the chamber to transmit rotational drive force to the drive wheel.

The at least one drive wheel may include a plurality of drive wheels spaced apart from one another, and each drive wheel may have a diameter that is less than an inner diameter of the rotating member.

The drive shaft may be provided below the center of the main disc, and the drive wheel may have a diameter corresponding to an inner diameter of the rotating member.

A gear groove may be formed in the inner surface of the rotating member, and the drive wheel may be a drive gear engaged with the gear groove to drive the rotating member.

The drive device may include a drive shaft seated on an upper surface of the main disc to extend upward from the main disc so as to rotate the main disc.

The substrate processing apparatus may further include a lid provided on the chamber to selectively open or close the reaction space, and the drive shaft may penetrate through the lid to extend toward the main disc.

A bearing may be provided at a bottom surface of the chamber such that a lower end of the rotating member is seated on the bearing, the bearing serving to guide rotation of the rotating member.

The rotating member may have a cylindrical pipe shape, and the main disc may be rotatably seated on an upper end of the rotating member.

The substrate processing apparatus may further include a heating unit located in an interior space of the rotating member to heat the substrate.

The heating unit may be a ring-shaped high-frequency electric heater.

The main disc may have a circular plate shape.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate processing apparatus including a chamber having a reaction space, a lid provided on the chamber to selectively open or close the reaction space, a main disc accommodated in the chamber, on which at least one substrate is placed, a rotating member on which the main disc is placed, the rotating member containing a heating unit therein, and a drive device to selectively rotate the main disc, wherein the main disc is separably coupled to the rotating member, and when the lid is opened to expose the reaction space, the main disc is separated from the rotating member and is discharged to the outside of the chamber in a state in which the substrate is placed on the main disc.

The main disc may include a grip recess, into which a gripper of a robot arm is inserted, for discharge of the main disc.

A substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention has the effect of minimizing height deviation of a main disc during rotation of the main disc, the main disc being accommodated in a deposition process chamber to support a plurality of substrates seated thereon.

Further, the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention can minimize temperature deviation between the substrates seated on the main disc 500, thereby achieving uniform deposition quality.

Furthermore, the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a pipe-shaped rotating member to guide rotation of the main disc, which can improve driving stability of the main disc.

In addition, in the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention, the entire main disc, on which the plurality of substrates is seated, can be discharged from the deposition process chamber after completion of deposition. This enables simultaneous discharge of the plurality of substrates, resulting in remarkably increased discharge efficiency of the substrates as compared to discharging the substrates or auxiliary susceptors individually. As a result, temperature deviation between the respective substrates caused when the substrates or the auxiliary susceptors are discharged individually can be minimized, which prevents deterioration in the quality of thin films.

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principle of the invention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 illustrates a sectional view of an embodiment of a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a sectional view of an embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates a sectional view of an embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIGs. 4a and 4b illustrate plan views of a main disc and a pumping ring provided in the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 illustrates a sectional view of an embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates a sectional view of an embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 illustrates a sectional view of an embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 illustrates a sectional view of an embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 illustrates another embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 10 illustrates another operational state of the substrate processing apparatus illustrated in FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 illustrates another operational state of the substrate processing apparatus illustrated in FIG. 9.

FIG. 12 illustrates another operational state of the substrate processing apparatus illustrated in FIG. 9.

FIG. 13 illustrates another operational state of the substrate processing apparatus illustrated in FIG. 9.

Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many alternate forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these exemplary embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope to those skilled in the art. The same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts.

FIG. 1 illustrates a sectional view of an embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus 1000 according to the present invention.

The substrate processing apparatus 1000 according to the present invention includes a chamber 400 having a reaction space s, a main disc 500 accommodated in the chamber 400, on which one or more substrates 10 are seated, a rotating member 1200 vertically installed to come into contact with the main disc 500 so as to support the main disc 500, the rotating member 1200 being rotated along with the main disc 500 and having a greater rotational diameter than a radius of rotation of the main disc 500, and a drive device 600 to drive the rotating member 1200.

Thus, the substrate processing apparatus 1000 according to the present invention may include a lid 300 to selectively open or close the reaction space s of the chamber 400. The chamber 400 may be provided at a lateral surface thereof with a slot valve for discharge of the substrates 10. The substrate processing apparatus 1000 according to the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 1 as including the lid 300 provided on the chamber 400 to selectively open or close the reaction space s.

A gas feeding unit 100 may be provided at the lid 300 to provide the main disc 500 with process gas. Specifically, the gas feeding unit 100 feeds the process gas into a gas injection unit 200, which is accommodated in the chamber 400 and serves to uniformly inject the process gas over the plurality of substrates 10. The gas feeding unit 100 and the gas injection unit 200 may be connected to each other via gas feeding pipes.

The gas injection unit 200 may be coupled to the lid 300 which shields the top of the chamber 400. The gas injection unit 200 may have a plurality of injection holes 210. The gas injection unit 200 having the plurality of injection holes 210 can ensure uniform injection of the process gas.

The chamber 400 approximately takes the form of a barrel internally defining the reaction space s. Effectively, the chamber 400 may have a cylindrical or polygonal barrel shape.

The main disc 500, on which the substrates 10 are seated, is rotatably installed in the reaction space s of the chamber 400.

The main disc 500 is rotated by the rotating member 1200. The rotating member 1200 vertically extends downward from the main disc 500 while coming into contact at an upper end thereof with a lower surface of the main disc 500 and has a greater rotational diameter than a radius of rotation of the main disc 500.

The rotating member 1200 may take the form of a pipe rotatable along with the main disc 500.

The main disc 500 may have a circular plate suitable to be seated on the upper end of the rotating member 1200.

The rotating member 1200, which has a greater rotational diameter than a radius of rotation of the main disc 500, may internally define a certain space therein and may stably support the lower surface of the main disc 500. The rotating member 1200 may have a pipe shape having a diameter greater than a radius of rotation of the main disc 500. A heating unit which will be described hereinafter may be located within the rotating member 1200.

Although the main disc 500 of the embodiment has been illustrated in FIG. 1 as having the same diameter as that of the rotating member 1200, it will be appreciated that the rotating member and the main disc may be prepared based on various combinations of shapes and sizes so long as the rotating member 1200 has a greater rotational diameter than a radius of rotation of the main disc 500.

The rotating member 1200 has a diameter corresponding to the size of the main disc 500. As the rotating member 1200 is driven, the main disc 500 placed on the rotating member 1200 can be rotated.

In the previously described conventional method, the main disc, on which the substrates are seated, is rotated by the drive shaft coupled to the center of the lower surface of the main disc. However, this method cannot guarantee horizontal balance of the main disc if the drive shaft has any alignment error.

In particular, the recent tendency of gradually increasing the size of the main disc 500 may aggravate height deviation at the edge of the main disc. Height deviation with regard to an upper surface of the main disc may cause distance deviation between a heater 800 serving as the heating unit and the substrates 10 seated on the upper surface of the main disc as well as deposition temperature deviation. The deposition temperature deviation deteriorates uniform deposition quality.

Accordingly, to minimize height deviation of the main disc 500, the substrate processing apparatus 1000 according to the present embodiment is designed to rotate the main disc 500 using the pipe-shaped rotating member 1200, instead of the conventional method for rotating the main disc using the drive shaft coupled to the center of the lower surface of the main disc.

Specifically, the purpose of using the rotating member 1200 is to reduce height deviation of the main disc 500 which may be caused as the diameter of the main disc 500 increases. Although the rotating member 1200 may also cause certain deviation, the rotating member 1200 is designed to support the rim of the lower surface of the main disc 500 and thus, can reduce height deviation of the main disc 500 as compared to the conventional method in which height deviation is amplified in a radial outward direction of the main disc 500. Since the rotating member 1200 is designed on the basis of the rim of the main disc 500 rather than the center of the main disc 500 in the design stage of the substrate processing apparatus 1000, the rotating member 1200 has less possibility of causing height deviation.

The embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 7 all include the rotating member 1200 to support and guide rotation of the main disc 500, and differ in the driving method of the rotating member 1200, etc. A detailed description thereof will follow with reference to the respective drawings.

A bearing b may be provided on the bottom of the chamber 400 to minimize rotational friction of the rotating member 1200 and to guide rotation of the rotating member 1200.

The rotating member 1200 may have a heavy weight because it is made of a metallic material and has a size corresponding to the size of the large main disc 500.

In addition, due to the configuration in which the main disc 500 is placed on the rotating member 1200, vertical load applied by the main disc 500 as well as the rotating member 1200 may be applied to the bearing b.

Thus, the bearing b needs not only to bear the vertical load, but also to support the rotating member 1200 which is rotated about an axis perpendicular to a direction in which the vertical load is applied. The bearing b may be a thrust bearing under the assumption that load is applied in a rotating direction.

The drive device 600 to drive the rotating member 1200 may be designed to drive an outer surface or an inner surface of the rotating member 1200.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, the drive device 600 may include a drive wheel 630 which comes into contact with the outer surface of the rotating member 1200 so as to rotate the outer surface, and a drive unit 620 to drive the drive wheel 630.

The drive unit 620 is located at the outside of the chamber 400. The drive wheel 630 penetrates through the chamber 400 to extend into the reaction space s, thereby acting to rotate the rotating member 1200 while coming into contact with the outer surface of the rotating member 1200.

The drive wheel 630 may transmit drive force via friction with the outer surface of the rotating member 1200, and may take the form of a gear.

The substrate processing apparatus 1000 according to the present embodiment may include the heater 800 accommodated in the chamber 400 to indirectly heat the substrates 10 placed on the main disc 500. In the embodiment according to the present invention illustrated in FIG. 1, the heater 800 is located below the main disc 500.

The heater 800 may include a plurality of concentric rings. The heater 800 may be a high-frequency electric heater to be operated based on electromagnetic induction of high-frequency current, or an infrared heater.

If the heater 800 is a high-frequency electric heater, the heater 800 heats the main disc 500 using electromagnetic induction of high-frequency current. In this case, the heater 800 may include a helical induction coil through which high-frequency current flows, a high-frequency power source (not shown) to apply high-frequency current to the induction coil, and a cooler (not shown) to cool the induction coil.

Through the high-frequency electric heating, a uniform high-frequency magnetic field may be created around the main disc 500. In this case, a surface temperature of the main disc 500, i.e. a deposition temperature of the substrates 10 may be changed according to a distance between turns of the induction coil and/or a distance between the induction coil and the main disc 500.

The heater 800 may be located below the main disc 500 to heat the substrates 10 placed on the main disc 500 to a desired deposition temperature.

The main disc 500 may include a seating region where one or more substrates 10 are seated. Also, the main disc 500 may be made of a material capable of being heated to at least 300℃ by high-frequency induction heating (i.e. electromagnetic induction of high-frequency current). Of course, the main disc 500 is preferably made of a material capable of being heated to a maximum of 1400℃.

In the case that the heater 800 is an induction type heater, the cooler may serve to cool the heater 800 in order to prevent overheating of the heater 800. Also, to prevent heat loss due to the cooling of the heater 800, an insulator 700 may be interposed between the main disc 500 and the heater 800. The insulator 700 may contain an insulating material. The insulator 700 may take the form of a plate having a central through-hole.

Additionally, a gas exhaust unit 900 may be provided at a lower surface of the chamber 400 to exhaust the process gas remaining in the reaction space s of the chamber 400.

FIG. 2 illustrates a sectional view of an embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus 1000 according to the present invention. A description overlapped with the description with reference to FIG. 1 will be omitted.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, a pumping ring 1100 is further provided at an outer circumference of the main disc 500. The pumping ring 1100 has a plurality of suction holes to discharge the gas remaining after completion of deposition. The pumping ring 1100 may be attached to the outer surface of the rotating member 1200.

In this case, the drive wheel 630 of the drive device 600 may be adapted to drive an outer surface of the pumping ring 1100. Provision of the pumping ring 1100 may minimize a protruding length of the drive wheel 630 into the chamber 400.

FIG. 3 illustrates a sectional view of an embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus 1000 according to the present invention.

The embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3 and the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2 both include the pumping ring 1100, but differ in that the drive wheel 630 of the drive device 600 of FIG. 3 directly drives the outer surface of the rotating member 1200 similar to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, rather than driving the outer surface of the pumping ring 1100.

This configuration can prevent unnecessary increase in a distance between the chamber 400 and the rotating member 1200 and allows the drive wheel 630 to directly drive the rotating member 1200 if the pumping ring 1100 has a small thickness.

FIGs. 4a and 4b illustrate plan views of the main disc 500 and the pumping ring 1100 of the substrate processing apparatus 1000 according to the present invention.

Specifically, FIG. 4a illustrates discharge of the deposition process gas through the suction holes in a state in which only the main disc 500 is rotated and the pumping ring 1100 is fixed. If only the main disc 500 is rotated and the pumping ring 1100 is fixed, the gas present on the upper surface of the main disc 500 may exhibit curvilinear discharge paths prior to being discharged through pumping holes 1100h of the pumping ring 1100.

If the gas to be discharged through the pumping holes 1100h curvilinearly moves in a radial direction, the discharged gas may remain a pattern on the deposited thin films.

This may have a negative effect on the deposition quality of the substrates 10 seated on the upper surface of the main disc 500.

On the other hand, as illustrated in FIG. 4B, if the main disc 500 and the pumping ring 1100 are rotated together, the gas remaining on the substrates 10 is centrifugally directed toward the pumping holes 1100h according to a predetermined pattern, and the pumping ring 1100 having the pumping hole 1100h may discharge the reaction gas according to a predetermined pattern while being rotated along with the main disc 500.

FIG. 5 illustrates a sectional view of an embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus 1000 according to the present invention.

A description overlapped with the description with reference to FIGs. 1 to 4b will be omitted.

Similarly, the substrate processing apparatus 1000 according to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5 performs deposition while rotating the main disc 500 placed on the pipe-shaped rotating member 1200.

However, differently from the above described embodiments, in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5, the drive device 600 to drive the rotating member 1200 is driven in contact with the inner surface of the rotating member 1200, rather than being driven in contact with the outer surface of the rotating member 1200 or the outer surface of the pumping ring 1100 secured to the outer surface of the rotating member 1200.

Here, a plurality of drive wheels 630 to drive the inner surface of the rotating member 1200 may be spaced apart from one another, and each drive wheel 630 may have a diameter that is less than an inner diameter of the rotating member 1200.

Also, a plurality of drive devices 600 may be spaced apart from one another. Similar to those of the above described embodiments, the drive device 600 may include the drive wheel 630 and the drive unit 620. The drive wheel 630 may take the form of a drive gear.

If the drive wheel 630 takes the form of a drive gear, the rotating member 1200 may be provided at the inner surface thereof with a gear groove 1200g corresponding to the drive gear.

Here, a height h of the gear groove 1200g is preferably greater than a thickness t of the drive gear.

If the height h of the gear groove 1200g corresponds to the thickness t of the drive gear, e.g., possible height deviation depending on an installation height of the drive gear may be reflected in height deviation of the main disc 500. Thus, the drive wheel 630 of the drive device 600 preferably takes the form of a drive gear, and the gear groove 1200g formed at the inner surface of the rotating member 1200 so as to be engaged with the drive gear preferably has the height h greater than the thickness t of the drive gear.

With the above described configuration, only rotational force may be applied to the rotating member 1200 during driving of the drive wheel 630 in the form of the drive gear. Specifically, if the height h of the gear groove 1200g is equal to the thickness t of the drive gear and the drive wheel 630 is slightly tilted during rotation thereof, the tilted drive wheel 630 may vibrate the rotating member 1200, or may cause height deviation due to vibration.

In the present embodiment, the drive device 600 may include a drive shaft 610 to drive the drive wheel 630, and the drive unit 620 to drive the drive shaft 610. Also, a sealing member (not shown), such as a bellows, may be provided to seal a hole of the chamber 400 through which the drive shaft 610 penetrates.

FIG. 6 illustrates a sectional view of an embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus 1000 according to the present invention.

A description overlapped with the description with reference to FIGs. 1 to 5 will be omitted. The drive device 600 of the substrate processing apparatus 1000 illustrated in FIG. 6 drives the inner surface of the rotating member 1200, similar to the above described drive device 600 of the substrate processing device illustrated in FIG. 5.

In the present embodiment, the drive shaft 610 may be located below the center of the main disc 500, and the drive wheel 630 may have a diameter corresponding to the inner diameter of the rotating member 1200.

In this case, since the diameter of the drive wheel 630 corresponds to the inner diameter of the rotating member 1200, a single drive wheel 630 may drive the entire rotating member 1200.

Similar to the above described embodiments, the drive device 600 may include the drive wheel 630 and the drive unit 620, and the drive wheel 630 may take the form of a drive gear.

If the drive wheel 630 takes the form of a drive gear, similar to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5, the rotating member 1200 may be provided at the inner surface thereof with the gear groove 1200g corresponding to the drive gear, and the height of the gear groove 1200g may be greater than the thickness of the drive gear.

If the gear groove 1200g is not present at the rotating member 1200, this driving method is not different from the conventional method in which the main disc is directly driven by the single drive shaft provided beneath the main disc.

As described above, the reason why the pipe-shaped rotating member 1200 is used to drive the main disc 500 is to minimize height deviation of the main disc 500 due to an alignment error of the drive shaft 610. Thus, to eliminate problems encountered when the drive wheel 630 to drive the rotating member 1200 is vertically secured to the rotating member 1200, a vertical width (height) of the gear groove 1200g is preferably greater than a thickness of the drive gear.

In addition, similar to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5, the drive device 600 may include the drive shaft 610 to drive the drive wheel 630 and the drive unit 620 to drive the drive shaft 610, and the sealing member, such as a bellows, may be provided to seal the hole of the chamber 400 through which the drive shaft 610 penetrates.

FIG. 7 illustrates a sectional view of an embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus 1000 according to the present invention. A description overlapped with the description with reference to FIG. 6 will be omitted.

Similar to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 6, in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 7, the drive shaft 610 may be located below the center of the main disc 500, and a single drive wheel 630 may drive the entire rotating member 1200 since the drive wheel 630 has a diameter corresponding to an inner diameter of the rotating member 1200.

If the drive wheel 630 takes the form of a drive gear, similar to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 6, the rotating member 1200 may be provided at the inner surface thereof with the gear groove 1200g corresponding to the drive gear, and the height of the gear groove 1200g may be greater than the thickness of the drive gear.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 7, the drive wheel 630 may be located above the insulator 700 and the heater 800. Locating the drive wheel 630 close to the main disc 500 may alleviate height deviation or tilting of the main disc 500 which may occur in proportion to a distance between a drive force transmission location and the main disc 500 during rotation of the drive wheel 630.

FIG. 8 illustrates a sectional view of an embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus 1000 according to the present invention. A description overlapped with the description with reference to FIGs. 1 to 7 will be omitted.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 8, similarly, the drive device 600 to drive the main disc 500 may include the drive shaft 610 to rotate the drive wheel 630 and the drive unit 620 to drive the drive shaft 610.

The present embodiment differs from the above described embodiments in that the drive wheel 630 serves to directly drive the main disc 500, rather than driving the rotating member 1200 or the pumping ring 1100.

The drive shaft 610 may vertically extend downward from the top of the reaction space s, and the drive wheel 630 may be inserted into a seating recess 500g indented in the upper surface of the main disc 500 so as to rotate the main disc 500.

Although the conventional method, in which the drive shaft is connected to the center of the lower surface of the main disc to drive the main disc, may suffer from deterioration in deposition quality due to height deviation of the main disc caused by tilting of the drive shaft or tiling of the heavy main disc, installing the drive shaft 610 to vertically extend downward from the top of the chamber 400 and providing the drive wheel 630 at a lower end of the drive shaft 610 so as to transmit drive force allows the rotating member 1200 to guide horizontally balanced rotation of the main disc 500.

Even in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 8, if the drive wheel 630 takes the form of a drive gear, the seating recess 500g in which the drive gear is seated may be provided at a lateral surface thereof with a gear groove engaged with the drive gear. A height of the seating recess 500g provided with the gear groove is preferably greater than a thickness of the drive gear.

This serves to prevent the drive gear from unevenly applying drive force to the main disc 500 in a vertical direction, thereby preventing height deviation of the main disc 500.

If the height of the gear groove is equal to the height of the drive gear and the drive wheel 630 is slightly tilted during rotation of the drive wheel 630, the tilted drive wheel 630 may vibrate the rotating member 1200, or may cause height deviation due to vibration.

Thus, if the drive wheel 630 of the drive device 600 takes the form of a drive gear, the height of the gear or the seating recess 500g is preferably greater than the thickness of the drive gear.

In addition, although the drive wheel 630 in the form of the drive gear may rotate the main disc 500 while being seated in the seating recess 500g, the drive shaft 610 and the drive wheel 630 may be separated from the main disc 500 if the lid 300 is separably provided on the reaction space s to expose the reaction space s to the outside.

FIG. 9 illustrates another embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus 1000 according to the present invention, FIG. 10 illustrates another operational state of the substrate processing apparatus 1000 illustrated in FIG. 9, FIG. 11 illustrates another operational state of the substrate processing apparatus 1000 illustrated in FIG. 9, FIG. 12 illustrates another operational state of the substrate processing apparatus 1000 illustrated in FIG. 9, and FIG. 13 illustrates another operational state of the substrate processing apparatus 1000 illustrated in FIG. 9.

Deposition of thin films performed within the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention has a limit in the thickness of a thin film obtained via one cycle and therefore, should be repeatedly performed several tens to hundreds of times to obtain a required film thickness, resulting in an extremely slow process rate.

After deposition on a plurality of substrates on a single main disc is completed, the substrates may be lifted and discharged one by one. Also, although discharging each auxiliary susceptor on which the substrate is placed may be possible, discharging the substrates or the auxiliary susceptors one by one requires enormous discharge time because the number of the substrates is great, causing serious deterioration in the discharge efficiency of the substrates.

Accordingly, the substrate processing apparatus 1000 according to the present invention may discharge the main disc 50 on which the substrates 10 or the auxiliary susceptors are placed, in addition to discharging the substrates 10 or the auxiliary susceptors individually.

The substrate processing apparatus 1000 according to the present invention includes the chamber 400 having the reaction space s, the lid 300 provided on the chamber 400 to selectively open or close the reaction space s, the main disc 500 accommodated in the chamber 400 such that one or more substrates 10 are placed thereon, the rotating member 1200 on which the main disc 500 is placed, the rotating member 1200 containing the heating unit therein, and the drive device 600 to selectively rotate the main disc 500. The main disc 500 is separably coupled to the rotating member 1200. When the lid 300 is opened to expose the reaction space s, the main disc 500 can be discharged from the chamber 400 in a state in which the substrates 10 are placed on the main disc 500.

In the substrate processing apparatus 1000 according to the present invention, the lid 300 is provided on the chamber 400 having the reaction space s to selectively open or close the reaction space s.

If the lid 300 is opened, the reaction space s is exposed to the outside and the entire main disc 500 can be discharged to the outside.

Here, the main disc 500 may have a grip recess 500g' into which a gripper of a robot arm (see FIGs. 10 to 13) is inserted, for discharge of the main disc 500.

As illustrated in FIG. 9, in the substrate processing apparatus 1000 according to the present invention, the grip recess 500g' is formed in the upper surface of the main disc 500. As the gripper of the robot arm which will be described hereinafter is inserted into the grip recess 500g', the main disc 500 can be discharged to the outside by the robot arm.

After completion of thin film deposition, as illustrated in FIG. 10, the lid 300 shielding the reaction space s is lifted to open the reaction space s.

Then, to discharge the main disc 500, the robot arm 20 is introduced into the chamber 400. The robot arm 200 is movable vertically and horizontally and may be provided at an end thereof with the gripper 21.

The gripper 21 may be horizontally extended or contracted.

As illustrated in FIG. 11, after the robot arm 20 access the upper surface of the main disc 500, the gripper 21 is inserted into an opening 500h formed in the upper surface of the main disc 500. Thereafter, if the gripper 21 is horizontally extended as illustrated in FIG. 12, both ends of the gripper 21 may be caught by the grip recess 500g'.

Next, as illustrated in FIG. 13, the robot arm 20 is lifted and then, horizontally moved in a state in which the gripper 21 is caught by the grip recess 500g', thereby discharging the main disc 500 on which the substrates 10 are seated. A lifting height of the robot arm 200 may be determined based on a height of the chamber 400.

Various embodiments have been described in the best mode for carrying out the invention.

The present invention provides a substrate processing apparatus capable of minimizing height deviation of a main disc during rotation of the main disc.

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. Thus, it is intended that the present invention cover the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

A substrate processing apparatus comprising:

a chamber having a reaction space;

a main disc accommodated in the chamber, on which at least one substrate is placed;

a rotating member vertically installed to come into contact with the main disc so as to support the main disc, the rotating member being rotated along with the main disc and having a greater rotational diameter than a radius of rotation of the main disc; and

a drive device to drive the rotating member.
The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a pumping ring mounted to an outer surface of the rotating member and having a plurality of vertical pumping holes.
The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the pumping ring is rotated along with the rotating member.
The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the drive device drives the outer surface of the rotating member or an outer surface of the pumping ring to rotate the main disc.
The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the drive device includes a drive wheel to transmit rotational drive force to the outer surface of the rotating member or the outer surface of the pumping ring while coming into contact therewith.
The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the drive wheel is mounted to the chamber such that a part of the drive wheel is exposed to an inner surface of the chamber.
The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the drive device includes at least one drive wheel to transmit rotational drive force to the rotating member while coming into contact with the rotating member, and the drive wheel drives an inner surface of the rotating member to rotate the main disc.
The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the drive device includes a drive shaft vertically penetrating a lower surface of the chamber to transmit rotational drive force to the drive wheel.
The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the at least one drive wheel includes a plurality of drive wheels spaced apart from one another, and each drive wheel has a diameter that is less than an inner diameter of the rotating member.
The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the drive shaft is provided below the center of the main disc, and the drive wheel has a diameter corresponding to an inner diameter of the rotating member.
The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein a gear groove is formed in the inner surface of the rotating member, and the drive wheel is a drive gear engaged with the gear groove to drive the rotating member.
The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the drive device includes a drive shaft seated on an upper surface of the main disc to extend upward from the main disc so as to rotate the main disc.
The apparatus according to claim 12, further comprising a lid provided on the chamber to selectively open or close the reaction space, and the drive shaft penetrates through the lid to extend toward the main disc.
The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a bearing is provided at a bottom surface of the chamber such that a lower end of the rotating member is seated on the bearing, the bearing serving to guide rotation of the rotating member.
The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rotating member has a cylindrical pipe shape, and the main disc is rotatably seated on an upper end of the rotating member.
The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a heating unit located in an interior space of the rotating member to heat the substrate.
The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the heating unit is a ring-shaped high-frequency electric heater.
The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the main disc has a circular plate shape.
A substrate processing apparatus comprising:

a chamber having a reaction space;

a lid provided on the chamber to selectively open or close the reaction space;

a main disc accommodated in the chamber, on which at least one substrate is placed;

a rotating member on which the main disc is placed, the rotating member containing a heating unit therein; and

a drive device to selectively rotate the main disc,

wherein the main disc is separably coupled to the rotating member, and when the lid is opened to expose the reaction space, the main disc is separated from the rotating member and is discharged to the outside of the chamber in a state in which the substrate is placed on the main disc.
The apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the main disc includes a grip recess, into which a gripper of a robot arm is inserted, for discharge of the main disc.