JPH05150840A - Pressure controller - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] In a pressure control device, the pressure in the processing chamber is controlled over a wide range, the piping man-hours are reduced, the device is downsized, the number of joint points is reduced, and leakage is prevented. In a pressure control device 5 of a dry etching device 1, a pressure control flow path 7 is connected to an etching chamber 2 at one end and a vacuum exhaust device 3 is connected to the other end, and pressure control of this one system. A coarse adjustment valve 8 and a fine adjustment valve 9 provided adjacent to each other in the flow path 7, a coarse adjustment valve driving step motor 11 and a fine adjustment valve driving step for driving the coarse adjustment valve 8 and the fine adjustment valve 9. The structure including the motor 12 is used.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pressure control device,
In particular, the present invention relates to a technique effectively applied to, for example, a pressure control device that controls the degree of vacuum in a vacuum processing chamber of a dry etching device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a semiconductor device manufacturing process, processes such as thin film formation by low pressure chemical vapor deposition, dry etching and ion implantation with plasma, and pattern drawing with an electron beam are performed under a vacuum atmosphere. Control is an important parameter.

As a pressure control device for controlling such a vacuum degree, for example, Industrial Research Institute Co., Ltd., Showa 59
As described in the literature of "Electronic Materials" November 1984, reprints, P45 to P51, issued on November 20, there are the following first and second conventional pressure control devices.

That is, the pressure control device of the first conventional example has a structure in which only one adjusting valve is provided in the middle of the vacuum pipe and the degree of vacuum is controlled only by this one adjusting valve.

In the pressure control device of the second conventional example, a vacuum pipe and a bypass pipe are connected in parallel between the primary side bypass block and the secondary side bypass block, and a coarse adjustment valve is provided in the middle of the vacuum pipe. A bypass valve is provided with a fine adjustment valve.

[0006]

However, in the structure of the pressure control device of the first conventional example, only one adjusting valve is provided in the middle of the vacuum pipe, and the vacuum degree is controlled by only one adjusting valve. Therefore, when a high degree of vacuum is required, the diameter of the vacuum piping must be increased, and when a low degree of vacuum is required, the diameter of the vacuum piping must be reduced. There was a problem that the range of the degree of vacuum controlled by the diameter of was limited.

Further, in the structure of the pressure control device of the second conventional example, a vacuum pipe and a bypass pipe are connected in parallel between the primary side bypass block and the secondary side bypass block, and the vacuum pipe is in the middle thereof. Since the coarse adjustment valve is provided in the above and the fine adjustment valve is provided in the bypass pipe, there is a problem that the number of piping steps is increased and the device is enlarged.

Further, in the structure of the second conventional pressure control device, three couplings are provided in each of the primary side and secondary side bypass blocks, and two couplings are provided in each of the coarse adjustment valve and the fine adjustment valve. Since the structure has been provided, there is a problem in that the number of joint points increases, which causes leakage.

An object of the present invention is to provide a pressure control device capable of controlling the pressure in the processing chamber over a wide range.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a pressure control device capable of reducing the number of piping steps and downsizing the device.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a pressure control device capable of reducing the number of joints and preventing the occurrence of leaks.

The above and other objects and novel features of the present invention will be apparent from the description of this specification and the accompanying drawings.

[0013]

Among the inventions disclosed in the present application, a brief description will be given to the outline of typical ones.
It is as follows.

That is, in the pressure control device of the present invention, one system of pressure control flow path is connected to the processing chamber at one end and the gas supply / discharge device is connected to the other end, and the pressure control flow path of this one system is provided. And a coarse adjustment valve and a fine adjustment valve that are provided adjacent to each other, and a coarse adjustment valve drive unit and a fine adjustment valve drive unit that drive the coarse adjustment valve and the fine adjustment valve.

[0015]

In the pressure control device having the above structure, when performing pressure control in a large exhaust amount in the low pressure region, first, the exhaust gas amount is increased by operating the coarse adjustment valve having a large opening area in the opening direction to increase the required pressure. Coarse adjustment is performed to bring it closer to the set value, and then fine adjustment is performed to obtain the set pressure value with the fine adjustment valve having a small opening area.

Further, when pressure control is performed in a small exhaust amount in the high pressure region, the exhaust amount is narrowed down by closing the coarse adjustment valve having a large opening area, and the pressure is adjusted by the fine adjustment valve having a small opening area.

[0017]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a pressure control device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG.

The present embodiment is applied to a dry etching apparatus 1, and this dry etching apparatus 1 carries out an etching process by using active plasma and has an etching chamber 2.

The etching chamber 2 is a vacuum chamber for performing an etching process, and has a structure in which a predetermined degree of vacuum is set. The etching chamber 2 and the vacuum exhaust device 3 such as a vacuum pump are connected by a vacuum pipe 4.
A pressure control device 5 is provided midway.

The gist of the present embodiment is that the degree of vacuum in the etching chamber 2 can be controlled over a wide range by the pressure control device 5.

That is, the pressure control device 5 has a device body 6. A pressure control flow passage 7 of one system is formed so as to penetrate through the apparatus main body 6, and a coarse adjustment valve 8 and a fine adjustment valve 9 are provided adjacent to each other in the pressure control flow passage 7 of one system. There is.

The coarse adjustment valve 8 and the fine adjustment valve 9 have large and small rectangular shapes, and in the fully closed state (0% position of the opening), the coarse adjustment valve 8 corresponds to the opening area of the pressure control passage 7. 60-70
%, The fine adjustment valve 9 occupies at a rate of about 30 to 40%.

A coarse adjustment valve driving step motor 11 and a fine adjustment valve driving step motor 12 are directly connected to the rotary shafts 10 of the coarse adjustment valve 8 and the fine adjustment valve 9, and the coarse adjustment is performed according to the number of pulses. The valve 8 and the fine adjustment valve 9 are controlled in their opening degrees independently of each other.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

When performing the vacuum control in the large displacement in the low vacuum region close to the normal pressure, first, the coarse adjustment valve 8 having a large opening area is operated in the opening direction to increase the displacement to reach the set vacuum. Make a rough adjustment so that they are closer together.

Then, the fine adjustment valve 9 having a small opening area is used for fine adjustment to obtain the set vacuum degree.

Further, when performing the vacuum degree control in the small exhaust amount in the high vacuum region, first, the coarse amount adjusting valve 8 having a large opening area is closed to narrow the exhaust amount.

Next, the fine adjustment valve 9 having a small opening area is used for fine adjustment so as to approach the set vacuum degree.

Therefore, the degree of vacuum in the etching chamber 2 can be controlled with high accuracy from the low vacuum region to the high vacuum region.

Further, since the structure is such that the coarse adjustment valve 8 and the fine adjustment valve 9 are provided adjacent to each other in the pressure control flow path 7 of one system, the number of piping steps can be reduced and the apparatus can be miniaturized. it can.

Further, since the structure is such that the coarse adjustment valve 8 and the fine adjustment valve 9 are provided adjacent to each other in the pressure control flow path 7 of one system, it is possible to reduce the number of joints and prevent the occurrence of leakage. it can.

Although the invention made by the present inventor has been specifically described based on the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Needless to say.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the coarse control valve and the fine control valve having large and small rectangular shapes are provided adjacent to each other in the pressure control passage having a rectangular cross section has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. Alternatively, a semi-circular coarse adjustment valve and a fine adjustment valve can be provided in the pressure control flow path having a circular cross section through a double rotary shaft including a hollow shaft and a solid shaft.

In the above description, the invention mainly made by the present inventor has been described with reference to the pressure control device used in the dry etching apparatus which is the field of application which is the background of the invention. Although the invention mainly made by the present inventor has been described with reference to a pressure control device used in a dry etching device which is a field of application of the background, the invention is not limited to this, and other semiconductor manufacturing devices such as an electron beam drawing device can be used. It can be applied not only to the pressure control device used, but also to a pressure control device controlling the positive gas pressure in the processing chamber.

[0035]

The effects obtained by the typical ones of the inventions disclosed in the present application will be briefly described as follows.
It is as follows.

(1). One system of pressure control flow path, one end of which is connected to the processing chamber and the other end of which is connected to a gas supply / discharge device, and
Structure including a coarse adjustment valve and a fine adjustment valve provided adjacent to each other in the pressure control flow path of the system, and a coarse adjustment valve drive unit and a fine adjustment valve drive unit that drive the coarse adjustment valve and the fine adjustment valve Therefore, the pressure in the processing chamber can be controlled over a wide range.

(2). Since the coarse control valve and the fine control valve are provided adjacent to each other in the pressure control flow path of one system,
The number of piping steps can be reduced and the device can be downsized.

(3). Since the coarse control valve and the fine control valve are provided adjacent to each other in the pressure control flow path of one system,
It is possible to reduce the number of joints and prevent leakage.

[0039]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a pressure control device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Dry Etching Device 2 Etching Chamber 3 Vacuum Evacuation Device 4 Vacuum Piping 5 Pressure Control Device 6 Device Main Body 7 Pressure Control Flow Path 8 Coarse Adjustment Valve 9 Fine Adjustment Valve 10 Rotation Shaft 11 Step Motor for Coarse Adjustment Valve 12 Fine Adjustment Valve Drive For step motor

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A pressure control flow path of one system having a processing chamber connected to one end thereof and a gas supply / discharge device connected to the other end thereof, and a rough passage provided adjacent to each other in the pressure control flow path of this one system. A pressure control device comprising: a regulating valve and a fine regulating valve; and a coarse regulating valve driving unit and a fine regulating valve driving unit that drive the coarse regulating valve and the fine regulating valve. 2. The pressure control device according to claim 1, wherein the processing chamber is a vacuum processing chamber, and the gas supply / discharge device is a gas exhaust device.