JPH11300193A - Substrate processing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To provide a substrate processing apparatus capable of performing processing and transfer under a wide range of controlled pressures. SOLUTION: In a substrate processing apparatus for performing substrate processing under a reduced pressure state by a turbo-molecular pump 4, a bypass line 10 extending before and after the turbo-molecular pump 4 is provided, and an opening / closing valve 11 and an APC valve 14 are provided in the bypass line 10. In addition, a slow line 17 having an on-off valve 12 was provided, bypassing the on-off valve 11.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus or the like, and more particularly, to a substrate processing apparatus for performing a substrate processing under reduced pressure by an ultra-high vacuum pump such as a turbo molecular pump.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a substrate processing apparatus such as a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus,
It is known to use an ultra-high vacuum pump such as a turbo molecular pump (hereinafter referred to as TMP) for an exhaust system in order to perform an ultra-high vacuum process. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing piping around a TMP in a conventional substrate processing apparatus. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a valve provided on an exhaust pipe 5 connected to a chamber (not shown) for opening and closing the exhaust pipe 5.
Is a TMP provided on the downstream side of the valve 1 of the exhaust pipe,
2 is provided in an exhaust pipe 6 connected to a pump (not shown) from the TMP 4, a valve for opening and closing the exhaust pipe 6, 7 is a bypass pipe provided to bypass the valve 2, and 3 is a bypass pipe 7 A valve provided to open and close this bypass pipe.

The TMP4 cannot operate unless the reaction chamber side is about 0.5 Torr or less and the pump side is about 3 Torr or less. In addition, it takes about 5 minutes to start and stop the TMP4. For this reason, when the chamber is evacuated, the valves 1 and 3 are opened, and the valve 2 is opened after the chamber becomes about 10 Torr or less. When the valve 3 is first opened, when starting to pull from the atmospheric pressure, by starting pulling from the thin (large exhaust resistance) bypass pipe 7, a large load is prevented from being applied to the pump, and a sudden pressure change is applied to the chamber. This is to prevent the occurrence of the following.

After the chamber is set to 0.5 Torr or less, the TMP 4 is turned on, and after 5 minutes, processing such as a process can be performed in a state where the chamber is pulled to 0.5 Torr or less.

[0005]

Therefore, in such a conventional piping system, the pressure is 0.5 Torr or more (for example, 1 Torr or more).
Under the pressure of Torr), there is a problem that the pressure cannot be controlled at all and the process and the transfer of the substrate (wafer) cannot be performed.

Accordingly, the present invention solves the problem that the process cannot be performed at a pressure of 0.5 Torr or more and the substrate cannot be transported, and the substrate can be processed and transported under a wide range of controlled pressures. It is an object to provide a processing device.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate under reduced pressure by an ultra-high vacuum pump such as a turbo molecular pump. A bypass line that extends before and after the pump is installed, and an on-off valve and a pressure control device are provided in the bypass line.

According to such a configuration, under a wide range of pressure, pressure control using a pressure control device provided in the bypass line becomes possible.

In the embodiment, an opening / closing valve 1, an APC valve 13, a TMP4, and an opening / closing valve 2 are provided from a chamber side to a main line 9 provided from a chamber side to a pump side, and a bypass line for the main line 9 is provided. An opening / closing valve 11 and an APC valve 14 are provided at 10, and a slow line 17 having a valve 12 is provided at the opening / closing valve 11.

According to such a configuration, pressure control can be performed in a wide range from a high pressure to a low pressure of 0.5 Torr or less.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an exhaust pipe 5 connected to a chamber (not shown), a valve for opening and closing the exhaust pipe 5, 4 a TMP provided downstream of the valve 1 of the exhaust pipe, and 2 A valve 13 is provided on the exhaust pipe 6 connected to the pump (not shown) from the TMP 4 and opens and closes the exhaust pipe 6.
APC (Aut) which is a pressure control device provided between
o Pressure Control valve (butterfly valve). Here, exhaust pipes 5, 6,
The valves 1 and 2 and the APC valve 13 are connected to the main line 9.
Is composed. Note that the butterfly valve may be another APC device such as a gas ballast.

Reference numeral 10 denotes a bypass line for the main line 9. The bypass line 10 is a pipe 15 connecting the upstream side of the valve 1 to the downstream side of the valve 2.
An opening / closing valve 11 provided in the pipe 15 for opening and closing the pipe 15, and an APC valve 14 as a pressure control device provided downstream of the opening / closing valve 11, and further forming a slow line 17. And a pipe 16 which is connected to bypass the valve 11 and is thinner than the pipe 15 and has a higher pipe resistance, and an open / close valve 12 provided in the pipe 16 to open and close the pipe 16. The pipe resistance of the main line 9 is configured to be smaller than the pipe resistance of the bypass line 10.

The operation of the embodiment will be described below. When the chamber is evacuated, all valves 1, 2, 1
From the state in which the pipes 1 and 12 are closed, the valve 12 of the pipe 16 having a large pipe resistance is opened.
After the pressure becomes equal to or less than Torr, the valve 11 of the pipe 15 having a smaller resistance than the pipe 16 is opened.

After that, the valves 11 and 12 are closed and the valves 1 and 2 are opened. After the chamber becomes 0.5 Torr or less (for example, 10 ^{-8 to} 0.5 Torr), the TMP 4 is turned on. After 5 minutes, processing such as the process described in the conventional technique becomes possible.

[0015] 0.5 Torr or more (for example, 1 Torr)
When it is necessary to carry out a process or transfer a wafer under the pressure described above, the valve 1 is closed (the valve 2 may be opened or closed), the valve 11 is opened, and the pressure can be controlled by the APC valve 14.

When the main line 9 (0.5 Torr or less) is evacuated, the APC valve 13 can control the pressure (APC). Bypass line 10
(0.5 Torr or more)
APC is possible by the PC valve 14. As described above, the main line, the bypass line, and the processing and transport at a wide range of pressures controlled by the APC of each line can be performed.

[0017]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the bypass line extending between the front and rear of the ultra-high vacuum pump is installed and the on-off valve and the pressure control device are provided in the bypass line, the control is performed. There is an effect that it is possible to provide a substrate processing apparatus capable of performing processing and transport under a wide range of pressures.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a piping structure as a pressure control mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing a piping structure in a conventional substrate processing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 2, 11, 12 opening / closing valve 4 TMP (turbo molecular pump) 9 main line 10 bypass line 13, 14 APC valve

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate under reduced pressure by an ultra-high vacuum pump, comprising: a bypass line extending before and after the ultra-high vacuum pump; and an on-off valve and a pressure control device in the bypass line. The substrate processing apparatus provided with.