JPH05247635A - Sputtering equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Object] The present invention relates to a sputtering apparatus, and an object thereof is to realize a sputtering apparatus capable of preventing the spattering metal from flowing around with a simple and compact structure. Constitution: In a vacuum chamber 1, a target 8 connected to a sputtering power source 7, a shield cylinder 9 provided around the target 8 and a wafer stage 6 on which a wafer 18 is mounted are sputtered. In the apparatus, the wafer 18 mounted on the wafer stage 6 can be surrounded and a movable shield cylinder 21 that is vertically movable is provided.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a sputtering apparatus. Specifically, it relates to improvement of a shield that prevents spatter from flowing around.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a conventional sputtering apparatus. This comprises a vacuum chamber 1, a wafer transfer chamber 3 connected to the vacuum chamber 1 via a gate valve 2, and a vacuum pump 5 connected via a gate valve 4. A wafer stage 6, a target 8 connected to a sputtering power source 7, a shield tube 9, an ion gas emission port 10 and the like are provided.
Further, the wafer stage 6 is provided with a cooling water introducing line 11, a heater line 12, a gas introducing line 13, an RF introducing line 14, an RF matching box 15, etc., and the RF matching box 15 has an RF (high frequency) power source 1
6 is connected.

The wafer 18 transferred from the wafer transfer chamber 3 onto the wafer stage 6 by the robot tray 17 can be sputtered. However, in this apparatus, since there is a gap between the shield cylinder 9 and the wafer stage 6 for transporting the wafer 18, the sputtered metal flows into the inner surface of the vacuum chamber 1 and the gate valve 4 through the gap. . Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, a sputtering device has been developed which prevents wraparound.

This apparatus is almost the same as the apparatus described with reference to FIG. 2, except that the wafer stage 6 is elevated from the wafer transfer position A to the sputtering position B and the target 8
It is configured so that it can contact the shield tube 9 provided around the. Then, the wafer stage 6 is lowered to a position A during wafer transfer and raised to a position B during sputtering treatment.

[0005]

In the conventional sputtering apparatus shown in FIG. 3, the wafer stage 6 is moved up and down by the stage up-and-down drive unit 19, which is accompanied by a vacuum by the bellows 20 and the like. There is a problem that a seal is required, and a treatment measure against the movement of the cooling water introduction line 11, the heater line 12, the gas introduction line 13, the RF introduction line 14, etc. is required, and the apparatus becomes complicated and large. .

The present invention is intended to realize a sputtering apparatus capable of preventing the spattered metal from flowing around with a simple and compact structure.

[0007]

According to the sputtering apparatus of the present invention, a target 8 connected to a sputtering power source 7 and a shield tube 9 provided around the target 8 are provided in a vacuum chamber 1. , A wafer stage 6 on which the wafer 18 is mounted, and a movable shield cylinder 21 that can surround the wafer 18 mounted on the wafer stage 6 and that is movable up and down. It is characterized by

In addition to that, a driving means 22 for driving the movable shield cylinder 21 up and down is provided. By adopting this configuration, it is possible to obtain a sputtering apparatus which has a simple and compact structure and which can prevent the spattered metal from flowing around.

[0009]

In the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, since the movable shield cylinder 21 is provided, the structure is simple and compact as compared with the conventional mechanism for moving the wafer stage. Also, since the vacuum seal area is small, it is suitable for ultra-high vacuum measures.

[0010]

1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of the present invention.
In this embodiment, as shown in the figure, a vacuum chamber 1, a wafer transfer chamber 3 connected to the vacuum chamber 1 through a gate valve 2, and a vacuum pump 5 connected through a gate valve 4 are used. The vacuum chamber 1 is provided with a wafer stage 6, a target 8 connected to a sputtering power source 7, a shield cylinder 9, an ion gas emission port 10, etc., and the wafer stage 6 has a cooling water introduction line 11 and a heater line. 12, a gas introduction line 13, an RF introduction line 14, an RF matching box 15, etc. are provided, and an RF power source 16 is connected to the RF matching box 15. This structure is similar to the conventional example described in FIG. 2, and the main points of this embodiment are as follows.

The point of the present embodiment is that a movable shield cylinder 21 is provided which can shield the space between the wafer 18 placed on the wafer stage 6 and the shield cylinder 9 provided around the target 8. The driving means (for example, a cylinder) 22 that can drive the movable shield cylinder 21 up and down from the outside of the vacuum chamber 1 and the bellows 23 for vacuum sealing between the driving means 22 and the vacuum chamber 1 are provided. A slight clearance is provided between the shield cylinder 9 and the movable shield cylinder 21 so as not to prevent the movable shield cylinder 21 from moving up and down.

The drive means 22 for the movable shield cylinder 21
The bellows 23 must be provided at a position that does not hinder the transfer of the wafer 18 from the wafer transfer chamber 3 to the wafer stage 6. (In FIG. 1, the driving means 22 and the bellows 23 near the sluice valve 2 are shown in this position for convenience.)

In this embodiment having such a configuration, when the wafer 18 is transferred from the wafer transfer chamber 3 to the wafer stage 6 or in the opposite direction, the movable shield cylinder 21 is retracted upward by the drive means 22. Then, during the sputtering process, the movable shield cylinder 21 can be lowered to shield the space between the shield cylinder 9 and the wafer stage 6. As a result, it is possible to prevent the sputtered metal from flowing into the vacuum chamber or the gate valve. Further, since the wafer stage 6 may remain fixed, it can be made compact. Further, since the driving means for driving the movable shield cylinder 9 can be small, vacuum sealing between the driving means and the vacuum chamber can be facilitated, and high vacuum can be supported.

[0014]

According to the present invention, since the movable shield cylinder is provided, it is not necessary to move the wafer stage up and down as in the conventional case to prevent the spatter from wrapping around, and the wafer stage can be fixed, so that the structure is simple and compact. Becomes Further, the vacuum seal between the drive means of the movable shield cylinder and the vacuum chamber becomes easy, and it is possible to adapt to a high vacuum.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional sputtering device.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional sputtering apparatus having a wraparound prevention function.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Vacuum chamber 2 ... Gate valve 3 ... Wafer transfer chamber 4 ... Gate valve 5 ... Vacuum pump 6 ... Wafer stage 7 ... Sputtering power source 8 ... Target 9 ... Shield cylinder 10 ... Ion gas emission port 11 ... Cooling water introduction line 12 ... Heater line 13 ... Gas introduction line 14 ... RF introduction line 15 ... RF matching box 16 ... RF power source 17 ... Robot tray 18 ... Wafer 19 ... Vertical drive unit 20, 23 ... Bellows 21 ... Movable shield tube 22 ... Driving means

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A vacuum chamber (1), a target (8) connected to a sputtering power source (7), a shield cylinder (9) provided around the target (8), and a wafer (18). A wafer stage (6) for mounting a wafer on which a wafer (18) mounted on the wafer stage (6) is provided.
A sputtering apparatus comprising a movable shield tube (21) that can surround the above and is movable up and down. 2. The sputtering apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising drive means (22) for driving the movable shield cylinder (21) up and down.