JPH059641Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] This invention relates to a sample sampling device in a vacuum apparatus when forming at least two or more thin films on a workpiece such as a substrate mainly by plasma CVD. .

[Conventional technology]

When it is necessary to form at least two or more thin layers with different components on the surface of a substrate made of glass or stainless steel (hereinafter referred to as a workpiece) by, for example, plasma CVD, a vacuum device, that is, plasma CVD is used. Productivity has been increased by arranging a number of apparatuses corresponding to the number of film formation layers and processing workpieces simultaneously in batches in each plasma CVD apparatus. In the film forming process in this type of vacuum equipment, the workpiece is temporarily taken out to the outside each time the film forming process for each layer is completed, so a sample substrate (hereinafter referred to as sample) is placed on a substrate holder together with the workpiece. By using membrane processing, it is possible to obtain the samples necessary for testing even without a sample sampling device.
However, the above-mentioned conventional production method that includes a vacuum device increases equipment costs and requires creating a vacuum state of, for example, ^10-4 Torr in each process.
Since a predetermined plasma CVD process is performed for each process, the time required to create the vacuum state described above is added to the time required for film formation, so there is a limit to increasing productivity.

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

The method of forming at least two or more thin layers on the surface of a workpiece by installing a conventional vacuum device has the advantage that there is no need to provide a sample sampling device necessary to obtain a test sample. On the other hand, it has the above-mentioned problems in terms of production.

In order to solve these production problems, it is necessary to use a vacuum device mainly for transporting the workpiece.
A corridor-shaped conveying vacuum chamber in which a conveying means is incorporated, and connected in parallel to this common conveying vacuum chamber via separate vacuum gate valves.
It may be configured by first, second, third, . . . vacuum chambers for film formation. In this type of complex vacuum apparatus, in order to transfer the workpiece between the individual film-forming vacuum chambers and the transfer vacuum chamber, an auxiliary transfer means that can be switchably connected to the transfer means is provided for each film-forming vacuum chamber. It goes without saying that each membrane vacuum chamber is provided with one.

In such a complex vacuum system, by opening and closing the vacuum gate valves as appropriate, each vacuum chamber for film formation can be restored to a predetermined vacuum state in a short time, and this is not a batch method. However, the productivity can approach that of continuous methods.

However, when the vacuum equipment is configured in this way, the workpiece is taken out to the outside under atmospheric pressure only after the final film-forming process is completed, so sampling is required to obtain samples at each film-forming stage. There is a need for a sample sampling device that can perform this in a vacuum.

This idea consists of multiple film-forming vacuum chambers for forming multilayer films on the surface of a workpiece, and each of these film-forming vacuum chambers being connected in parallel to one side via a vacuum gate valve. In a complex vacuum device consisting of a vacuum chamber for transportation, we have developed a sample sampling device for a vacuum device that can collect samples at each film formation stage while maintaining vacuum during the multilayer film formation process of the workpiece. The purpose is to provide.

[Means for solving problems]

In this invention, as a technical means for solving the above-mentioned problems, a sample sampling device in a vacuum apparatus is configured as follows. That is,
A plurality of film-forming vacuum chambers arranged in a row to form a multilayer film on a plate-shaped workpiece, a transportation vacuum chamber connected to each of these film-forming vacuum chambers via a vacuum gate valve, and a plate-shaped workpiece. A cart is provided with a hole in which a workpiece and a sample are mounted via a dish-shaped holder, and this cart is moved between the transfer vacuum chamber and each of the film-forming vacuum chambers while changing direction. In order to transfer, a rotary table device disposed at a position corresponding to the vacuum gate valve in the transfer vacuum chamber, a transfer means provided in the longitudinal direction, and a transfer means provided in the longitudinal direction of each of the film forming vacuum chambers. and an elevating table for taking out and lifting the sample together with a holder from the cart placed on the rotary table device located close to the opening of the transfer vacuum chamber. At least two holding shafts are rotatably supported by a lifting device and a rigid bearing fixed to a top plate near and above the sample lifting device, and at least two holding shafts are rotatably supported at the lower end of each holding shaft. Holding frames each having a space on the inside that allows the table to pass through are fixed horizontally above the transport surface of the cart and at different heights, and these holding frames are attached to the lifting table. It is capable of reciprocating between a sample delivery position corresponding to the center and a standby position, and at the sample delivery position, the sample is transferred from the lifting table to the holding frame, and the transferred sample is placed in the standby position. and a sample hold device.

[Operation] Since the sample sampling device in the vacuum device according to this invention is configured as described above,
It works as follows. That is, a cart on which a workpiece and a sample are mounted via a holder is loaded into a film-forming vacuum chamber near the opening of the transport vacuum chamber by a rotary table device and auxiliary transport means. On the other hand, a sample other than the one mounted on the cart is placed in a holder and placed on the lower holding frame. The transfer vacuum chamber is evacuated to the same extent as the film-forming vacuum chamber, so when the first layer is formed in the film-forming chamber, the vacuum gate valve is fully opened and the cart is moved by the auxiliary transport means. It is pushed out onto a rotating table near the opening of the transfer vacuum chamber. When the cart pushed onto the rotary table is changed in direction by the rotary table, the sample on the cart is positioned directly above the sample lifting table of the sample lifting device.

On the other hand, all the holding frames are moved to the standby position. When the sample elevating table is raised, the sample is taken out together with the holder and held at a raised position higher than the holding frame.

Next, when the empty holding frame is rotated from the standby position to the sample delivery position and the sample elevating table is lowered, the sample is deposited on the holding frame and is held at the standby position. On the other hand, in the empty space of the cart from which the sample was taken out, the sample, which had been previously placed on the other holding frame, is attached to the cart in the reverse order of the above. Specifically, the holding frame is moved to the sample transfer position by raising the rotating lifting table (sample and holder are deposited on the lifting table), the holding frame is being placed in the standby position by lowering the rotating lifting table (the sample and holder are attached to the cart) [Embodiments] Hereinafter, embodiments of this invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an external plan view of the entire vacuum device in which the embodiment device of this invention is incorporated, and the second
The figure is a side view of its external appearance.

This composite vacuum apparatus includes film forming vacuum chambers 1A, 1B, and 1C for forming a multilayer (three layers in this example) film on the surface of a workpiece; 1C is composed of a common conveying vacuum chamber 3 connected in parallel via a vacuum gate valve 2.

The film forming vacuum chambers 1A, 1B, and 1C are connected to a cold trap + oil diffusion pump, or a turbo molecular pump and an oil rotary vacuum pump (not shown), respectively, via an exhaust vacuum valve (not shown). Each chamber 1A, 1B, and 1C can be maintained at a vacuum state of about ^10-5 Torr by closing the vacuum gate valve 2 and evacuating the chamber. ing.

Each of the vacuum chambers 1A, 1B, and 1C has a separate reaction gas inlet and a reaction gas outlet ( (none of which are shown) is provided at a predetermined position on the inner wall surface of each chamber, and the lead-out section is connected to a reaction gas exhaust system (not shown) to remove excess reaction gas generated during the film-forming reaction. Gaseous or fine powder products are discharged from each chamber 1A, 1B, 1C, respectively, and the partial pressure and flow rate of each reaction gas in each vacuum chamber 1A, 1B, 1C are regulated. However, these reaction gas exhaust systems are operated with all of the exhaust vacuum valves closed while the high vacuum exhaust system is stopped.

The transfer vacuum chamber 3 is a corridor-shaped transfer chamber provided for transporting workpieces into and out of the film-forming vacuum chambers 1A, 1B, and 1C while maintaining a vacuum state. It consists of three rather flat casings that are flanged together to maintain airtightness. A manual opening/closing door 4 is provided in the opening on one side (the left side in the figure).
An exhaust pipe (not shown) connected to a low vacuum exhaust system (not shown) separate from the above is attached to the bottom surface near the right end.

Incidentally, the workpiece and the sample are mounted on the cart 6 whose plan view is shown in FIG. Vacuum chamber 3 for transportation and vacuum chamber 1A, 1 for film formation
B, 1C are sequentially and intermittently reciprocated,
When the film formation of the third layer is completed in the film formation vacuum chamber 1C, the inside of the transport vacuum chamber 3 is returned at once along the arrow to a position opposite to the film formation vacuum chamber 1A. The configuration of the cart 6 used for this purpose will be explained. In addition,
The configurations of the transport means provided in the transport vacuum chamber 3 and the auxiliary transport means provided in each of the film-forming vacuum chambers 1A, 1B, and 1C are omitted since they are not directly related to the present invention.

The cart 6 is provided with a square hole corresponding to the shape of the holder as shown in FIG. 3, and a recess is formed at the edge of the square hole as shown in FIG. Four pairs of moving rollers 8 are attached to a base plate 7 along its longitudinal outer edge. The moving roller 8 is shown in FIGS. 5 and 6.
As shown in the figure, a roller 9 is rotatably attached to a support shaft 10, and this support shaft 10 is attached to a base plate 7 via a mounting block 11 fixed in a cantilevered manner by screwing.
It is fixed to the back side of the edge.

The sample _S1 is placed in the square hole with the recess of the base plate 7 via the holder 13 having a pallet-like recess formed therein to accommodate the sample S1, and is mounted on the cart 6. This is done in the work W
This is because, in addition to dealing with the case where the material of the holder is glass, samples S ₁ of various sizes and shapes can be mounted on the same cart 6 simply by rearranging the recess formed in the holder. Workpieces other than samples are placed in the sample storage section _S1 shown in FIG. 3, but the details are omitted. The cart 6 is sent into the room through the opening provided with the manual opening/closing door 4 of the vacuum chamber 3 for transportation, with the arrow side facing forward. It is located in the corner.

Next, the configuration of a sampling device for a sample formed by, for example, CVD processing according to this invention will be explained. This sampling device is
A sample lifting device 40 for lifting the sample S ₁ from the cart 6, and a sample holding device 50 for receiving the sample S ₁ taken out from the cart 6 by the sample lifting device 40 and holding it in a standby position. It is configured.

FIG. 7 is a side sectional view of the sample lifting device. This sample lifting device 40 is mounted on the bottom plate 4 near the opening of the vacuum chamber 3 for transportation.
1, and Fig. 1 shows its mounting position on a square table 4.
2. This square table 42 is
It is fixed concentrically to the upper end of a support rod 43, and this support rod 43 is slidably supported by a vacuum-sealed bearing 44 attached to the bottom plate 41. A support pipe 45 is concentrically welded and suspended from the vacuum-sealed bearing 44, and a linear head 46 is connected to the lower end of the support pipe 45. A support rod 43 of a rectangular table 42 is connected to an operating rod 47 of this linear head 46 via a shaft joint 48, which is a diamond-shaped block whose upper and lower parts are cut out horizontally.

The inclined surface of this joint 48 is attached to the support pipe 45.
Limit switch 4 installed in two places, top and bottom
It acts as an operating body that pushes up the rollers 9 and 49'.

Figure 8 is a plan view of the sample hold device, Figure 9
The figure is a side sectional view of the - section viewed in the direction of the arrow. This sample hold device 50 is mounted on a top plate (or lid plate) 51 near the opening of the transfer vacuum chamber 3, and its mounting position is shown in FIG.

A vacuum-sealed bearing block 52 is attached to the top plate 51 of the conveyance vacuum chamber 3, and holding shafts 53 and 54, each having a braking collar on the top, rotate on this bearing block 52 at symmetrical positions around the center. freely supported. Horizontal arms reinforced with ribs are fixed to the lower ends of these holding shafts 53 and 54 in a cantilevered manner, and holding frames 55 and 56 are fixed horizontally to these horizontal arms, respectively. . In order to prevent the holding frames 55 and 56 from interfering with each other when rotating, the holding shaft 54 is made longer than the holding shaft 53 and is provided in two stages, upper and lower.

The holding frames 55 and 56 have the same size, and both have a space inside that allows the rectangular table 42 to pass through in _the vertical direction. Become. The reason why these flanges are partially cut out is to avoid interference with the support rod 43 of the rectangular table 42 during operation.

The holding shafts 53, 54 are pin-coupled to respective actuating rods of double-acting air cylinders 59, 59' via horizontal links 57, 58 fixed to their upper ends, respectively.

The holding shafts 53 and 54 have the above-mentioned braking collars,
Braking torque is generated by sandwiching this and coming into contact with the braking plates arranged above and below, and the holding shafts 53, 54
The angular velocity of rotation is suppressed. The braking torque can be controlled by adjusting the pressing force of the braking plate by adjusting the tightening of the compression coil spring, but the double-acting air cylinders 59, 5
If 9' is equipped with a speed controller, the braking member described above becomes unnecessary. However, in order to keep the axial positions of the holding shafts 53 and 54 constant, it is desirable to provide a thrust collar instead of the braking collar.

Next, the operation of the sample sampling device according to the invention will be explained with reference to the above-mentioned embodiment.

A cart 6 on which workpieces other than samples and sample S ₁ are respectively attached via holders 13
are loaded into the film-forming vacuum chamber 1A using the above-mentioned rotary table device and auxiliary transport means.
Prior to this loading, vacuum chamber 1 for film formation was prepared.
All of A, 1B, and 1C start exhausting after fully closing the vacuum gate valve 2. On the other hand, the manual on-off valve 4 is opened and the vacuum chamber 3 for transportation is placed at atmospheric pressure, and at the same time the cart 6 is placed on the table of the rotary table device.
A sample S ₁ other than the one loaded on the cart 6 is placed in the holder 13 and placed on the lower holding frame 56, the manual opening/closing door 4 is sealed, and the transfer vacuum chamber 3 is evacuated. It is carried out to the same extent as for the membrane vacuum chamber 1A.

A description of the film-forming action of the CVD process of the workpiece and sample _S1 loaded in the film-forming vacuum chamber 1A will be omitted. When the deposition of the first layer in the vacuum chamber 1A for deposition is completed, the vacuum gate valve 2 is fully opened, and the cart 6 is placed on the table of the rotary table device of the vacuum chamber 3 for transportation by the auxiliary conveyance means described above. being pushed out. The cart 6 pushed out onto the rotary table is rotated exactly 90° clockwise when looking at the rotary table from above, and held in the state shown in FIG. 3. When the cart 6 is placed in this state, the center position of the sample S ₁ on the cart 6 and the transfer vacuum chamber 3
sample lifting device 4 protruding from the bottom of the
The center position of the rectangular table 42 of 0 is located on the same vertical line.

On the other hand, the holding frame 5 of the sample hold device 50
5, the double-acting air cylinder 59 is operated so that the operating rod is pushed out, and the holding shaft 53 is used as the rotation axis via the link 57, and the double-acting air cylinder 59 is rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise when viewed from above. Therefore, it is moved to the standby position shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG.

Now, when the linear head 46 is activated, the rectangular table 42 rises, and when it reaches the Y-Y plane (corresponding to the top surface of the cart 6) shown by the _two -dot chain line in FIG. It is taken out from the cart 6. In this case, the square table 42 is structured so as not to interfere with the rotary table device. When the rectangular table 42 continues to rise and slightly exceeds the height occupied by the holding frame 55, the limit switch 49 is activated, and the ninth
Holder 1 is placed in the upper position shown by the two-dot chain line in the figure.
Sample _S1 contained in 3 is placed and held.

Next, when the double-acting air cylinder 59 is operated to retract the actuating rod, the opposite operation to that described above is performed, and the holding frame 55, which has a notch, is connected to the holding shaft 43 of the square table 42. It is located at the position shown by the solid line in FIG. 8, that is, directly below the square table 42, without interfering with it. Therefore, the linear head 46 is again replaced with the square table 4.
When the holder 2 is operated to descend, the sample S ₁ housed in the holder 13 is deposited on the holding frame 55 . The holding frame 55 in which the sample _S1 is deposited is moved to the above-mentioned standby position by operating the double-acting air cylinder to push out the actuating rod again.

Sample S ₁ , on which the first layer was formed in the vacuum chamber 1A for film formation, was taken out in this way,
It is maintained in a vacuum state within the vacuum chamber 3 for transportation.

By performing the following operations in sequence, another sample S ₁ that had been previously placed on the holding frame 56 is placed in the empty space of the cart 6 from which the sample S ₁ was taken out together with the holder 13. 1
It is installed together with 3. That is, the holding frame 56 is rotated 90 degrees clockwise when viewed from above by the operation of the double-acting air cylinder 59', the rectangular table 42 is raised by the operation of the linear head 46, and the sample S ₁ is moved during this raising process. The square table 4 is rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise when viewed from above by the operation of the double-acting cylinder 59', and the operation of the linear head 46.
2 and the sample S ₁ during this descending process,
This is the attachment of the holder 13 to the cart 6.

These operations can be easily and automatically performed by the central control device as sequence operations.

Next, the cart 6 replenished with the sample S ₁ is placed in the vacuum chamber for film formation 1B to form a second layer, and the vacuum chamber for film formation 1C is used to form a third layer.

Therefore, a film formation sample of the first layer can be obtained using sample S ₁ , and a film formation sample of (second layer + third layer) can be obtained using the replenished sample S ₁ .

Also, if the sample _S1 is replenished after the deposition of the second layer, a deposition sample of (first layer + second layer) can be obtained from the first sample _S1 , and a deposition sample of the _third layer can be obtained from the replenished sample S1. In either case, a deposition sample of (first layer + second layer + third layer) can be obtained on a work (substrate) other than the sample. All of these samples are taken out when the multilayer deposition of the work is completed.

In this embodiment, the holding frames 55 and 56 of the sample hold device 50 are arranged in two stages, but if four or more samplings are required, the holding frames can be arranged in three or more stages. All you have to do is set it up.

〔effect〕

In the sample sampling device in the vacuum apparatus according to this invention, a plurality of vacuum chambers for film formation and a common vacuum chamber for transfer are connected in parallel to each of these vacuum chambers for film formation through vacuum gate valves. Using a complex vacuum device consisting of Can be collected.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a conceptual plan view of the entire vacuum device in which a sample sampling device is incorporated, which is an embodiment of the invention, Fig. 2 is a conceptual side view of the vacuum device, and Fig. 3 is a cart diagram. Plan view,
Fig. 4 is a partial sectional view of the cross section viewed in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 5 is a plan view showing a partial cross section of the moving roller, Fig. 6 is an external side view thereof, and Fig. 7 is the sample lifting device. FIG. 8 is a plan view of the sample hold device, and FIG. 9 is a side sectional view of the - section viewed in the direction of the arrow. 1A, 1B, 1C...vacuum chamber for film formation,
2... Vacuum gate valve, 3... Vacuum chamber for transportation, 6... Cart, 7... Base plate, 13... Holder, 15... Handle, 40... Sample lifting device, 41... Vacuum chamber for transportation bottom plate, 42
...Sample lifting table (square table),
44... Vacuum sealed bearing section, 46... Linear head, 50... Sample holding device, 51... Top plate of vacuum chamber for transfer, 52... Vacuum sealed bearing block, 53, 54... Holding shaft, 55 ,56
...Holding frame body, S ₁ ...Sample (sample board).

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A plurality of film-forming vacuum chambers arranged in a row to form a multilayer film on a plate-shaped workpiece, a transportation vacuum chamber connected to each of these film-forming vacuum chambers via a vacuum gate valve, and a plate-shaped workpiece. A cart with a hole for mounting the workpiece and sample through a dish-shaped holder, and this cart.
a rotary table device disposed at a position corresponding to the vacuum gate valve in the transfer vacuum chamber in order to transfer the transfer while changing the direction between the transfer vacuum chamber and each of the film forming vacuum chambers; and a conveyance means provided in the longitudinal direction, an auxiliary conveyance means provided in the longitudinal direction for each of the film-forming vacuum chambers, and on the rotary table device located close to the opening of the conveyance vacuum chamber. A sample lifting device equipped with an elevating table that takes out and lifts a sample together with a holder from the cart placed on the cart, and at least two holding shafts mounted on rigid bearings fixed to a top plate near and above the sample lifting device. At the lower end of each of these holding shafts, a holding frame body having a space inside which allows the sample lifting table to pass through is placed above the transport surface of the cart and at a height relative to each other. These holding frames are each fixed horizontally in different positions, and these holding frames are reciprocally movable between a sample transfer position corresponding to the center of the lifting table and a standby position, and the lifting table is fixed at the sample transfer position. A sample sampling device in a vacuum device, comprising a sample holding device that transfers a sample from the sample to the holding frame and holds the transferred sample at a standby position.