JPH0837220A - Substrate carrier for vacuum equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To carry substrates with high efficiency without damaging the substrates without using an expensive equipment by taking out the substrates from a substrate storing cassette chamber and moving them up and down and then moving the substrates to a treatmant chamber-side pull-out equipment and then receiving the substrates from the pull-out equipment and moving them up and down. CONSTITUTION:A cassette chamber A has an elevator mechanism which holds a storage cassette wherein substrates are stored at constant intervals and moves the cassette up and down. A cassette-side pull-out equipment 2 takes out or inserts substrates 7 one by one from or into the storage cassette chamber A and moves linearly. An X-Y table B has a mechanism which receives the pulled- out substrates 7 and moves up and down and it also has a slide structure which moves the substrates to a pull-out equipment installed at the treatment chamber C side. The treatment chamber-side pull-out equipment takes out the substrates from the X-Y table B and then inserts them into a treatment chamber C. The treatment chamber C has a mechanism which receives the substrates 7 to be treated from the treatment chamber-side pull-out equipment and then moves up and down.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate transfer device for a vacuum device. More specifically, the present invention relates to a vacuum apparatus for plasma etching, ion plating, vacuum deposition, CVD, etc., for transporting a plate-shaped substrate such as glass, plastic, ceramics, metal, or semiconductor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in the processing of objects to be processed in a vacuum apparatus, a laborious and inefficient, non-continuous, manual replacement work called a batch method is generally performed. In addition, devices of the type that continuously exchange objects to be processed are also used, but normally, it is necessary to use a large number of expensive devices such as scalar robots with a complicated structure, and these devices can be easily produced on a production line. Could not be incorporated into.
Further, in recent years, in a device for processing a liquid crystal substrate, which has received a great deal of technical development, the substrate itself is large and is also a transparent body, so that the conventional device has a disadvantage. For example, in the case of semiconductors, silicon wafers are small and relatively strong and easy to transfer, but they are easily scratched like glass. Has the drawback that it is susceptible to physical and chemical damage. Therefore, in the case of a transparent body, the suction pad cannot be used even on the back surface for these reasons. As described above, currently, due to these factors, the automation of the transportation and exchange process still has a problem.

On the other hand, the glass is easily broken, and there is a problem in manual work, and especially the generation of dust is a serious problem, which is a factor of lowering the yield. Also, in terms of cost and reliability, these problems have been problems that must be solved by all means. The present invention has been made in view of these circumstances, and reliably and highly efficiently transfers a substrate without using an expensive device such as a robot and without damaging the substrate such as glass. It is an object of the present invention to provide a new substrate transfer device for a vacuum device that can be used.

[0004]

In order to solve these problems, the present invention performs reaction, film formation, or processing of a substrate and a storage cassette chamber containing a substrate to be processed in a vacuum apparatus. An apparatus for carrying a substrate to and from a processing chamber, comprising: (a) a cassette chamber provided with an elevator mechanism capable of holding a storage cassette that accommodates substrates at regular intervals and vertically moving the cassette; ) A linearly moving cassette-side drawer for taking out or inserting the substrates one by one from the storage cassette chamber, and (c) a mechanism for vertically moving up and down by receiving the pulled-out substrates, which are arranged on the processing chamber side. XY table equipped with a slide structure for moving to the drawer device, (d) processing chamber side drawer device for taking out a substrate from the XY table and inserting it into the processing chamber, and (e) processing chamber side drawer. To provide a vacuum device substrate conveying apparatus characterized by comprising a processing chamber having a mechanism for lifting up and down by receiving the substrate which is an object to be treated from the apparatus.

With this apparatus, it is possible to carry the substrate with high efficiency and with a simple and inexpensive structure without damaging the substrate.

[0006]

EXAMPLES Examples will be shown below to describe the apparatus of the present invention in more detail. (A) Cassette Chamber As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the cassette chamber can be fixed at any position by mounting the substrate holder (1) and using an elevator mechanism. This mechanism has two purposes, one is the selection of substrates arranged in multiple stages, and the other is a slight downward movement that does not contact the upper substrate when transferring the substrate to the cassette side drawer. , Placing the substrate on the drawer. (B) Drawer Device Two drawer devices (2) are used, one on the cassette side and the other on the processing chamber side. Both have the same purpose and mechanism, and can be moved linearly by a required stroke. Although not shown in the drawing, the drawing device (2) fixed to the belt and the glass stage (3) fixed thereon are driven by a motor. (C) XY table The XY table has a function as a table on which a substrate is placed and a function for moving the substrate to the processing chamber side. Although not shown in the drawing, the table fixed to the belt is driven by a motor and slides the slide 4 to move. Further, in order to surely transfer the substrate from the drawer, the XY table, the slide (4) and the support angle (5) are integrally supported by the column (6) and moved up and down. (D) Processing chamber The processing chamber has a function of receiving and fixing the substrate by the drawer of the processing chamber. A heating device, a gas introduction device, a vacuum sensor, a film thickness monitor, various analysis sensors, and the like are incorporated inside the processing chamber for the purpose of other processing.
Of course, although not shown in the drawing, when the drawing device is returned to its original state, the gate valve is closed to start the process.

In order to return the substrate to the original cassette holder after the processing is completed, the reverse process is performed and the substrate is stored in the original cassette. Although not actually shown in this drawing, a control device such as a position sensor, a sequencer, or a microcomputer is appropriately provided. Further, FIG. 3 illustrates the substrate holding mechanism of the present invention. Particularly in the case of a glass substrate, it is necessary to avoid surface contact as much as possible, but four taper-shaped chemically resistant hard rubber claws (8) are used to receive the side surface. Therefore, it can be transported without contacting the front and back surfaces of the substrate.

[0008]

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION The structure of the mechanism of the present invention has the following effects. 1) Since the structure is simple, it is possible to make an efficient transfer device without requiring a large space. 2) Since an expensive scalar robot as in the past is not required, an inexpensive automatic transfer system can be created. Therefore, a system such as a single-wafer apparatus can be incorporated in a small size at a low cost even in a field where only a batch system has been conventionally considered.

3) Even a large and easily damaged substrate such as glass for liquid crystal substrates can be transported more reliably and safely than the conventional arm type robot. 4) In the case of a glass substrate for liquid crystal, it is indispensable to use a suction pad when it is held by the robot arm, but there is a problem that the trace of the pad remains in the subsequent process, but there is no satisfactory solution. However, these problems basically do not occur because the processing is performed only on the edge surface of the glass.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing the whole of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view corresponding to FIG.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing a jig for holding a substrate.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A cassette room B XY table C processing room 1 substrate holder 2 drawer 3 glass stage 4 slide 5 supporting angle 6 support 7 substrate 8 claw

Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Office reference number FI technical display location H01L 21/203 9545-4M 21/205 21/3065

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An apparatus for carrying a substrate between a storage cassette chamber containing a substrate to be processed in a vacuum apparatus and a processing chamber for carrying out reaction, film formation or processing of the substrate, comprising: ) A cassette chamber that holds an accommodating cassette that accommodates substrates at regular intervals, and is equipped with an elevator mechanism that can move the cassette up and down, and (b) a linear chamber that takes out or inserts substrates one by one from the accommodating cassette chamber. (C) an XY table having a slide structure for moving the cassette-side drawing device to a drawing device arranged on the processing chamber side and having a mechanism capable of vertically moving up and down by receiving the drawn substrate; (D) A processing chamber-side drawer that takes out the substrate from the XY table and inserts it into the processing chamber, and (e) a mechanism that receives the substrate that is the object to be processed from the processing-chamber-side drawer and moves up and down. Vacuum device substrate conveying apparatus characterized by comprising a processing chamber having. 2. The transfer device according to claim 1, which is provided in a plasma etching device for a transparent conductive film, a black matrix or a color filter formed on a liquid crystal substrate. 3. The transfer apparatus according to claim 1, which is provided in a single-wafer type film forming apparatus such as a sputtering apparatus, an ion plating apparatus, a vacuum vapor deposition apparatus, a CVD apparatus. 4. The transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the substrate is supported on the side surfaces of the plurality of conical claws.