JPH0242900B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a continuous sputtering device capable of continuously sputtering a substrate, and in particular to an air to air sputtering device.
This invention relates to a type of sputtering device.

Currently, vacuum evaporation method, ion plating method,
Problems with vapor deposition equipment such as sputtering method include:
One problem is that the inside of the vacuum chamber gets very dirty. In particular, in a sputtering device, since the attached atoms ejected from the target are non-directional, contamination within the chamber tends to become particularly large. In addition, some conventional continuous sputtering devices use anti-fouling shields,
Even if you attach the anti-fouling shield, that part will be fine, but other parts that are not shielded will still get dirty. Furthermore, since the anti-stick shield is usually made of metal, it is inconvenient that the state of the spatter inside cannot be seen.

In view of the above points, the present invention has a configuration in which spatter treatment is performed using a cylindrical anti-adhesive shield having a glass window formed in a part thereof, thereby preventing contamination in the vacuum chamber and making it possible to monitor the state of spatter inside the vacuum chamber. At the same time, the present invention provides a continuous sputtering device capable of continuously sputtering a substrate by having a structure in which a plurality of the cylindrical anti-stick shields are combined and rotated to have a function of transferring the substrate. That is.

Embodiments of the continuous sputtering apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Figure 1 shows the overall configuration of the continuous sputtering device.
FIG. 2 shows the structure of the cylindrical anti-corrosion shield used in that case. In these figures, a rotary member 3 in which four cylindrical anti-stick shields 2 are combined in a radial manner is rotatably arranged in a vacuum chamber 1. A carry-in path 5 for carrying in the substrate 4 is connected to one side of the vacuum chamber 1, and a carry-in path 6 for carrying the substrate 4 out is connected to the same side. In the middle of the carry-in path 5, a pressure adjustment chamber 8A is defined by a shutter 7, and in the carry-out path 6, a pressure control chamber 8B is defined by a shutter 9. Here, both pressure adjustment chambers 8A and 8B are located on one side of the vacuum chamber 1 so as to take up as little space as possible. Vacuum chamber 1 and pressure adjustment chamber 8
A and 8B are designed to be vacuum-suctioned by independent vacuum exhaust systems. An inlet 10 for blowing out an inert gas such as argon is provided in the center of the vacuum chamber 1. A target 11 for emitting metal atoms for forming a desired thin film is placed at the end of each cylindrical anti-adhesion shield 2 near the inlet 10, and a substrate holder 12 is placed at the other end. Each is provided. This substrate holder 12 has the function of holding the substrate 4 carried into the vacuum chamber 1. A notch 20 is formed in the substrate holder 12, for example, as shown in FIG.
A pair of plate spring-type clamping members 16 that detachably hold the holder are fixed. These pair of clamping members 16
The substrate 4 is removably held on the outer surface of the substrate holder. Note that the material of the cylindrical anti-adhesion shield 2 is preferably stainless steel or the like. However, if the entire circumference of the cylindrical anti-adhesive shield 2 is made of stainless steel, the inside cannot be seen, so a glass window 15 made of hard glass is formed in a portion. Note that although the substrate holder 12 is fixed to the outer end of the cylindrical anti-adhesive shield 2 and rotates together with it, the four targets 11 do not need to be fixed to the shield 2; B,
It is sufficient if it is fixedly installed on the vacuum chamber 1 side at the inner end of the shield 2 that has come to C so that the positional relationship is as shown in FIG.

In addition, the lower center of the rotating member 3, which is made up of four cylindrical anti-stick shields 2 joined together at their inner ends, is open, and the inert gas that has exited the inlet 10 flows into the lower center of the rotating member 3. It passes through the open part and enters the inside of the seal through the gap between the target 11 and the shield 2.

In addition, in the pressure adjustment chambers 8A and 8B, the substrate 4 is transferred to the substrate holder 12 on the vacuum chamber 1 side through the carry-in path 5, and the substrate on the substrate holder 12 side is transferred to the carry-in path 6.
A transfer means such as a telescoping arm for carrying out the vacuum chamber 1 through the vacuum chamber 1 is provided.

In the above configuration, the pressure adjustment chamber 8 is
After the pressure adjustment chamber 8A reaches a high vacuum state comparable to that of the vacuum chamber 1, the substrate 4 supplied into the chamber A is carried into the vacuum chamber 1 by the opening/closing operation of the shutter 7, and is first placed in the position A. Substrate holder 12 of a certain cylindrical anti-corrosion shield 2
is held in At this position A, the voltage relationship is such that the target 11 is grounded and the substrate holder 2 is negative. As a result, ion cleaning of the substrate is performed by reverse sputtering. Thereafter, the rotating member 3 rotates 90 degrees, and the substrate 4 also comes to position B accordingly. At this position B, the voltage relationship is such that the target 1 is negative and the substrate holder 12 is ground, and normal sputtering processing is performed. The sputtered substrate 4 is transferred to the discharge position at position C by further rotation of the rotary member 3 by 90 degrees. here,
The substrate 4 is removed from the substrate holder 12 and transferred by opening and closing the shutter 9 into a pressure adjustment chamber 8B set to a high vacuum similar to that of the vacuum chamber 1, and then taken out into the atmosphere from there. Such operations are performed continuously and sequentially.

According to the above embodiment, the following effects can be achieved.

(1) Place the target 1 at one end of the cylindrical anti-stick shield 2.
1 and a substrate holder 12 at the other end, and the sputtering process is performed within the cylindrical anti-adhesion shield 2, so that the inconvenience of spatter atoms adhering to the vacuum chamber 1 and contaminating it can be prevented.

(2) Since a plurality of cylindrical anti-corrosion shields 2 are combined radially to form a rotating member, the substrate 4
The substrates 4 can be sequentially rotated and transferred, and the substrate 4 can be continuously sputtered.

(3) Since the glass window 15 is provided on a part of the circumferential surface of the cylindrical anti-adhesive shield 2, it is convenient for monitoring the dirt status caused by spatter inside the shield when the vacuum chamber 1 is opened during maintenance, for example. be.

(4) Pull out the substrate loading path 5 and unloading path 6 to the vacuum chamber 1 from one side of the chamber 1, and provide a pressure adjustment chamber 8 for each of them.
Since A and 8B are provided, the vacuum in the vacuum chamber 11 does not have to be extremely recirculated every time a substrate is carried in and out, and the installation space can be reduced. Further, since the substrate 4 enters from one side of the chamber 1 and comes out from the same side, it is convenient for monitoring work operations.

In addition, although the above-mentioned example shows the case where the spatter treatment is not performed at the position C, it is also possible to perform the sputter treatment at the position C as necessary. It is also possible to omit the reverse sputtering at position A and perform the reverse sputtering before the vacuum chamber is brought into the chamber.

As explained above, according to the present invention, a cylindrical anti-adhesive shield having a glass window is used to perform spatter treatment inside the shield, thereby preventing contamination in the vacuum chamber and making it possible to monitor the spatter state. In addition, by combining the cylindrical anti-adhesive shield to form a rotating member that has the function of transporting the substrate, a continuous sputtering device that enables continuous sputtering of the substrate can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a plan sectional view showing an embodiment of a continuous sputtering device according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a cylindrical anti-stick shield in the embodiment, and Fig. 3 is an example of a substrate holder. FIG. 1... Vacuum chamber, 2... Cylindrical anti-stick shield, 3... Rotating member, 4... Substrate,
5... Carrying in path, 6... Carrying out path, 7, 9... Shutter, 8A, 8B... Pressure adjustment chamber, 11... Target, 12... Substrate holder, 15...
glass window.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A vacuum chamber, a pressure adjustment chamber provided so as to be able to communicate with the inlet and outlet sides of the vacuum chamber, and a plurality of cylindrical anti-stick shields each having a glass window formed in a part, arranged radially. A rotating member arranged in the vacuum chamber in a combined structure, a target disposed on the end face on the rotation center side of each of the cylindrical anti-adhesion shields and emitting atoms, and a target for emitting atoms of each of the cylindrical anti-adhesion shields. a substrate holder disposed on the other end surface, the substrate entering the vacuum chamber from the pressure adjustment chamber on the entry side is held by the substrate holder to perform sputtering, and the substrate is sputtered by rotation of the rotating member. A continuous sputtering device characterized in that the sputtering device is transferred to a discharge position and delivered to the pressure adjustment chamber on the discharge side. 2. The continuous sputtering apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pressure adjustment chambers on the inlet side and the outlet side are arranged on one side of the vacuum chamber.