JPH052738B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a sputtering apparatus for forming a thin film on the surface of a treated material.

(Prior art and its problems) Conventionally, sputtering apparatuses have two methods: one method performs sputtering by relatively moving the treated material and the target material, and the other method performs sputtering by keeping the treated material and target material facing each other in a stationary state. There is a method to do this.

One of the two methods is adopted depending on the sputter processing conditions and the like.

Therefore, if both types are used, two types of sputtering devices are required, which poses a problem in that equipment costs are high.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a sputtering device that has a simple configuration and can perform two types of sputtering processing with one device.

(Means to Solve the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a sputtering apparatus that holds a plurality of processing materials on a vertical pallet and forms a thin film on the processing materials. A plurality of processing materials are held concentrically on a pallet, and spindles for supporting the pallets that move forward and backward are provided at opposing positions on both side walls of the processing chamber, and on one of these spindles,
Stepping motors are connected to each other, a plurality of target materials are detachably arranged radially on at least one side wall of the processing chamber, and means for confirming the pallet rotation stop position is provided at a predetermined position in the processing chamber. It is.

(Example) Next, the present invention will be described with reference to drawings showing one example.

As shown in FIG. 1, the sputtering apparatus according to the present invention includes a charging chamber 1, first to third processing chambers 2,
a, 2b, 2c, and an extraction chamber 3, including a charging chamber 1 and a first processing chamber 2a, a first processing chamber 2a and a second processing chamber 2b, a second processing chamber 2b, a third processing chamber 2c, and a third processing chamber 2b. A slit valve 4 is provided between the processing chamber 2c and the extraction chamber 3, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 2, the charging chamber 1 is provided with a magazine 5 that is movable in the width direction of the furnace and has a plurality of pairs of independent arms 6. A shaft support 7 consisting of a concave groove is provided at the tip, and the shaft support 7 holds a plurality of disk-shaped processed materials W rotatably and loosely fitted in an annular groove 8 provided on a concentric circle. Shaft 10 of pallet 9
is becoming increasingly popular.

Further, a cylinder device 11 is provided in the charging chamber 1 at a position on the same line as the processing chamber 2, and the operation of this cylinder device 11 moves a predetermined arm 6 to the shaft 6a.
The pallet 9 is rotated upward and downward around the pallet 9 and delivered to a pallet transfer device 14, which will be described later.

The extraction chamber 3 has almost the same configuration as the charging chamber 1, and the pallet 9 on the pallet transfer device 14 located in the extraction chamber 3 is taken up into the magazine 5 by the rotation of the arm 6, and the pallet 9 is extracted. It is designed to extract from chamber 3.

Guide members 13 having a pair of upper and lower guide rollers 12a, 12b are provided at predetermined intervals in the lower part of the charging chamber 1, each of the processing chambers 2a, 2b, 2c, and the extraction chamber 3.

In addition, each of the processing chambers 2a, 2b, 2c and the extraction chamber 3 is equipped with a pallet transfer device 1 that moves in the adjacent space.
4 is provided. This pallet transfer device 14 is
As is clear from FIG. 4, there is a carrier body 15 having a rack 15a that meshes with a pinion (not shown) and a through hole 17 in the center, and a pallet support base provided on the carrier body 15 that moves up and down. It consists of 19. This pallet support body 19 has a shaft support 21 consisting of a concave groove at the upper end, and
Guide pins 19a and 19b located in the through hole 18 of the carrier body 15 are provided at the lower end.

Further, a central through hole 17 of the carrier body 15 is provided at the center of the bottom of the processing chambers 2a, 2b, 2c.
A push-up cylinder 20 having a piston rod 20a that moves back and forth therein is provided.

On the other hand, on the side wall B located above the push-up cylinder 20, as shown in FIG.
23b and a stepping motor 24 for rotating one press spindle 23b.

Pressing spindle 2 of the pallet rotating device 22
As shown in FIGS. 1, 3, and 6, rectangular sputtering electrodes C and circular sputtering electrodes D of known convectional type, triode type, or planar magnetron type are arranged radially around 3. It has been done.

Then, as shown in FIG. 6, the rectangular sputtering electrode C (target material 25) is
The center of the circular sputtering electrode D is arranged so that the center O of the processing material W mounted on the pallet 9 is shifted from the center O of the processing material W in the radial direction (H = 15 to 25 mm). It coincides with the center O of W.

However, the sputtering electrodes D are the 9th and 10th
As shown in the figure, it is attached via an adapter 26 having the same shape as the sputtering electrode C.

Further, the pallet 9 is provided with a through hole 28, and the opposing side wall B of each processing chamber 2a to 2c is provided with a through hole 28.
Emitter/receiver 29, 30 are provided (11th, 1st
2), when the light from the light projector 29 is detected by the light receiver 30 through the through hole 28, the center of the sputtering electrode D and the center of the processing material W are aligned. Alternatively, after detecting the position of the through hole 28 using the projector/receiver 29, 30, the pallet 9 may be rotated by a predetermined angle to bring it into a matching state. The through hole 28 and the light receivers 29 and 30 constitute a pallet rotation stop position confirmation means 27.

Next, the operation of the sputtering apparatus having the above configuration will be explained.

First, in order to process the processing material W while it revolves, a pallet 9 in which a plurality of processing materials W are previously mounted in the annular recess 8 is placed on the shaft support 7 of each arm 6 in the magazine 5 of the loading chamber 1. (Figures 2a and 2b).
Then, the charging chamber 1, each processing chamber 2, and the extraction chamber 3 are evacuated using a vacuum device (not shown), and a predetermined gas, for example, argon gas is supplied to achieve a predetermined sputtering pressure, and each slit valve 4 is opened.
By driving a pinion (not shown), each pallet transfer device 14 is moved to the left (in the direction of the charging chamber 1), and the pallet transfer device 14 in the first processing chamber 2a is
is located in charging chamber 1. Here, by driving the cylinder device 11, the shaft support 7 of the predetermined arm 6 is rotated and lowered about the shaft 6a, and the pallet 9a supported by the predetermined arm 6 is moved to the shaft support 21 of the pallet support body 19. Transfer it to the top (Figure 2c).

Then, the predetermined arm 6 pivots upward and returns to its original state, and each pallet transfer device 14
After moving to the right side (extraction chamber 3 side) of the processing chamber 2 and extraction chamber 3 by driving a pinion (not shown) and stopping, each slit valve valve 4 is closed.
Thereafter, each push-up cylinder 20 is operated and the piston rod 20a is inserted into the through hole 17, and the fourth piston rod 20a is inserted into the through hole 17.
Raise the pallet support stand 19 as shown in Figure b. In this way, when the pallet support stand 19 rises, this is detected, and as shown in FIG. At the same time, the pallet support base 19 is lowered by the operation of the push-up cylinder 20. In this state, the 10th
Process program for rotation processing as shown in the figure
At _P1 , the pallet 9 is rotated at a predetermined speed by driving the stepping motor 24 of the pallet rotating device 22, and sputtering is started by application to the sputtering electrode C.

During this sputtering process, the processing material W held loosely in each annular groove 8 of the pallet 9 is rotated (rotated) so that the locus of the rotation center O of the processing material W is aligned with the center of the target material 25. It will rotate and revolve in a state shifted from O'.

In addition, as mentioned above, the pallet support stand 19
When the original state is restored, the magazine 5 in the loading chamber 1 moves forward one pitch, and the next pallet 9b comes to the delivery position.

Therefore, during the sputtering process, each processing material W on the pallet 9 undergoes heating→cooling→heating, and is not subjected to magnetic field distribution only in a certain direction from the sputtering electrode C, that is, the temperature rise of the processing material W is suppressed. On the other hand, the sputtering direction with respect to the treated material W becomes random, and a thin film is formed almost uniformly on the front and back of the treated material W.

In this way, when the sputtering process is carried out for a certain period of time, each slit valve 4 is opened, and each pallet transfer device 14 moves to the left (toward the charging chamber 1 side) as described above, and the pallet is transferred to the charging chamber 1. 1 palette 9
While receiving b, the pallet support stand 1 of the processing chamber 2
When the pallet 9 stops rising, the press spindle 23 retreats and supports the pallet 9a in the first processing chamber 2a, and at the same time the pallet support stand 19 descends (the second
f figure). Thereafter, the pallet transfer device 14 moves to the right (extraction chamber 3 side) and transfers the pallets 9 in the charging chamber 1.
b is charged into the first processing chamber 2a, and the pallet 9a of the first processing chamber 2a is charged into the second processing chamber 2b.
Fig. 2h). Here, as above, palette 9b
The processed material W of 1 is subjected to the first sputtering process, and the processed material W of the pallet 9a is subjected to the second sputtering process, and in the same manner, each processed material W is sputtered in each processing chamber 2 to become a finished product.

In this way, when the pallet transfer device 14 supporting the pallets 9 is loaded into the extraction chamber 3, the loading chamber 1
In contrast to the operation described above, the shaft support 7 of the arm 6 waiting below pivots upward to receive the pallet 9, and as the magazine 5 moves, the pallet 9 is sequentially conveyed to the extraction port (not shown) of the extraction chamber 3.

In addition, the magazine 5 in the charging chamber 1 of the pallet 9
(Arm 6) or when extracting from the extraction chamber 3 to the outside of the apparatus, the charging chamber 1 and the extraction chamber 3 communicate with the outside air, so after holding the pallet 9 in the magazine 5 in the charging chamber 1, Of course, prior to the above-described operation, the slit valve 4 is closed, the charging chamber 1 and the extraction chamber 3 are purged, and the atmosphere and pressure are adjusted to a predetermined level.

Next, when processing the processing material W and the target material in a stationary state facing each other, the sputtering electrode D has a shape corresponding to the shape of the processing material W, and as described above, the pallet 9 is rotated. When supported by the device 22, the stepping motor 24 is rotated by means not shown until it is confirmed by the pallet rotation stop position confirmation means 27, and the processing material W is rotated.
is precisely opposed to the sputtering electrode D. Thereafter, according to the process program _P2 for stationary facing treatment shown in FIG. 10, sputtering is performed by applying sputtering electrode D for a predetermined time while the stepping motor 24 is stopped.

When the sputtering process is finished, the stepping motor 24 is rotated for a predetermined number of stepping pulses, the untreated material W is placed opposite the sputtering electrode D, and the sputtering process is performed. Once all the processing materials W have been processed, they are transferred to another processing chamber 2 or extraction chamber 3, as described above.

In the above embodiment, the number of processing chambers 2 is three, and the extraction chamber 3 is provided. However, the number of processing chambers 2 is not limited to three. Alternatively, the number of processing chambers 2 may be one, and the extraction chamber 3 may be omitted. The entrance chamber 1 may also serve as the extraction chamber 3, or the processing chamber 2 may be configured only. moreover,
Of course, the center O' of the sputtering electrode C may be located on the circumference drawn by the center of the processing material W, or the processing material W may be fixed to a pallet and only revolve.

(Effects of the Invention) As is clear from the above description, according to the sputtering apparatus according to the present invention, a plurality of processing materials are held concentrically on a pallet, and the processing materials are moved forward and backward into positions facing both side walls of the processing chamber. A stepping motor is connected to one of the spindles, and a plurality of target materials are removably disposed radially on both side walls of the processing chamber, and a plurality of target materials are arranged radially on both side walls of the processing chamber. Since a pallet rotation stop position confirmation means is provided at the sputtering device, a single sputtering device continuously rotates the pallet while controlling the number of rotations using a stepping motor, so that the material to be processed can be rotated or rotated.
Sputter processing is performed by rotating the pallet, and by intermittent rotation of the pallet using the stepping motor's rotation speed control and rotation stop confirmation means, the material to be processed is accurately stopped at a predetermined position, and sputter processing is performed while it is stationary and facing the target material. can be done.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a schematic plan view of a sputtering apparatus according to the present invention, Figs. 2a to 2h are a plan view and a side view showing the operation of the pallet and carrier body in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a schematic plan view of a processing chamber. 4a and 4b are front views showing the relationship between the push-up cylinder and the pallet support base; FIGS. 5a and 5b are explanatory cross-sectional views showing the operation of the pallet rotating device; FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the center of the processing material and the center of the target material; FIGS. 7 to 10 are diagrams showing how the target is attached to the side wall and a sectional view thereof; FIG. 11 is a sectional view of the processing chamber; Figure 12 is the first
1 is a front view of the pallet shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 13 is a driving circuit diagram of the stepping motor and sputtering electrodes C and D. 1 - charging chamber, 2, 2a, 2b, 2c - processing chamber,
3-extraction chamber, 5-magazine, 9, 9a, 9b-pallet, 14-pallet transfer device, 15-carrier body, 19-pallet support stand, 20-lifting (push-up) cylinder, 22-pallet rotating device, 23-
Pressing spindle, 24 ~ stepping motor, 2
5 - Target material, 27 - Pallet rotation stop position confirmation means, 28 - Through hole, 29 - Floodlight, 30 -
Light receiver, C, D ~ sputtering electrode, O ~ center of processing material, O' ~ center of target material (sputtering electrode).

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A sputtering device that holds a plurality of processing materials on a vertical pallet and forms a thin film on the processing materials, in which a plurality of processing materials are held concentrically on the pallet and a sputtering apparatus is provided in a processing chamber. Pallet supporting spindles that move forward and backward are provided at opposing positions on both side walls, a stepping motor is connected to one of the spindles, and a plurality of target materials can be attached to and detached from at least one side wall of the processing chamber, What is claimed is: 1. A sputtering apparatus characterized in that the sputtering apparatus is arranged radially and further includes means for confirming the stop position of pallet rotation at a predetermined position in the processing chamber. 2. The sputtering apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pallet rotation stop confirmation means comprises a through hole provided in the pallet and a light emitter/receiver provided on the side of the processing chamber.