JPS6074531A - Vacuum processing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Application of the Invention] The present invention relates to a vacuum processing apparatus, and particularly to a vacuum processing apparatus suitable for performing a predetermined process on a substrate in a dry process.

[Background of the invention]

Vacuum processing apparatuses for subjecting substrates to predetermined treatments in a dry process include dry etching apparatuses, plasma CVD apparatuses, sputtering apparatuses, and the like, which are commonly used depending on the purpose.

Incidentally, recent advances in semiconductor manufacturing technology have been remarkable, and, for example, dry etching devices that can etch a 1 μm pattern have emerged and are attracting attention. As the pattern becomes finer, the diameter of the substrate becomes larger.
Along with this, major issues have arisen, such as how to suppress the floor area occupied by the equipment, which tends to increase, and how to improve throughput, which indicates the number of substrates processed per hour. Such problems are not limited to dry etching apparatuses, but are posed in general vacuum processing apparatuses that perform a predetermined process on a substrate through a dry process.

[Purpose of the invention]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum processing apparatus that can suppress an increase in the floor area occupied by the apparatus due to an increase in the diameter of a substrate and improve throughput.

[Summary of the invention]

The present invention comprises a vacuum processing chamber in which substrates are processed in a dry process, a vacuum preliminary chamber for substrate supply (hereinafter referred to as the first preliminary chamber), and a vacuum preliminary chamber for substrate recovery (hereinafter referred to as the second preliminary chamber). 1J1 preliminary chamber, a vacuum processing chamber, and a second preliminary chamber, and a substrate transfer means that rotates and simultaneously transfers substrates between the vacuum processing chamber, the first preliminary chamber, and the second preliminary chamber. A vacuum preliminary chamber (hereinafter referred to as the third preliminary chamber) that can be communicated with and in which the substrate transport means can stand by.
This device is characterized by having the following features, and is designed to suppress an increase in the floor area occupied by the device due to an increase in the diameter of the substrate, and improve throughput.

[Embodiments of the invention]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5.

@ In Figures 1 to 5, vacuum processing chambers 20a and 20b in which the substrate 10 is processed in a dry process, a first preliminary chamber,
The second preparatory chamber, the first preparatory chamber, and the vacuum processing chambers 20a, 2
0b and the second preliminary chamber Kiku, and the substrate transport means that simultaneously transports the substrates 10, and the vacuum processing chambers 20a, 211.
b, a first preliminary chamber (part), and a third preliminary chamber ω that can communicate with the second preliminary chamber 0 and in which the substrate transfer means can stand by.

In this case, the vacuum processing chambers 20a and 20b are provided side by side with a space large enough to allow standby between the substrate transfer means, and the first preliminary chamber (equipment) is connected to the vacuum processing chamber through a vacuum opening/closing means, for example, a gate valve 70. In the third preliminary chamber ω at a position corresponding to the processing chamber 20a,
The second preliminary chamber 0 includes a vacuum opening/closing means, for example, a gate valve 71.
The third preparatory chamber ω is located at a position corresponding to the vacuum processing chamber 20b through the vacuum processing chamber 20b.
are provided in each.

In the vacuum processing chamber 20a, an upper electrode 21a is attached to a fixed shaft 22.
The upper electrode 21 is installed in the third preliminary chamber ω via a.
A bellows 2 is vertically opposed to a and is movable up and down.
The size of the lower electrode 24a, in which the lower electrode 24a is inserted through the substrate 10 and the vacuum processing chamber 20a, is
It is larger than the inner dimension of the vacuum processing chamber 20a.
An O-ring 25a is provided at the lower end of the O-ring 25a, which airtightly separates the vacuum processing chamber 20a from the third preliminary chamber ω when the lower electrode 24a rises and the outer periphery of its surface comes into contact with the lower electrode 24a. An elevating rod 26a of an elevating device (not shown) is provided on the back surface of the lower electrode 24a that is in contact with the atmosphere. A substrate support 27g is inserted into the center of the lower electrode 24a so as to be movable up and down and kept airtight by means of a bellows. The upper end surface of the substrate support na protrudes from the surface of the lower electrode 24a when raised, and becomes below the surface of the lower electrode 24a when lowered. On the other hand, in the vacuum processing chamber 20b, an upper electrode 21 b
is installed internally via the fixed shaft 22b, and the third preliminary chamber mark is
The lower electrode 24b is vertically opposed to the upper electrode 21b, and is larger than the inner dimension of the vacuum processing chamber 20b. At the time of contact, the vacuum processing chamber 20b and @
An O-ring 25b is provided to airtightly separate the third preliminary chamber ω. An elevating rod 26b of an elevating device (not shown) is provided on the back surface of the lower mold fi 24b that is in contact with the atmosphere. Both substrate supports 27b and 2 are located at positions where the substrate 10 can be supported in a well-balanced manner on both sides of the center of the lower electrode 24b.
7c is inserted so as to be movable up and down and kept airtight by a bellows 23d. The upper end surfaces of the substrate supports 27b and 27c protrude from the surface of the lower electrode 24b as they rise, and become below the surface of the lower electrode 24b as they fall. Vacuum processing chamber 2
Exhaust nozzles 28a and 28b are provided on the top walls of 0a and 20b, respectively, to which exhaust pipes (not shown) are connected to a vacuum evacuation device (not shown). Further, lower electrodes 24g, 24 are attached to the fixed shafts 22a, 22b.
The upper electrode 20a is open toward the surface of the upper electrode 20a.

A gas flow path (not shown) is formed in communication with a gas discharge hole (not shown) drilled in the gas supply bag 20b! A gas conduit (not shown) connected to the gas passage (not shown) communicates with and is connected to the gas flow path. '@1 In the preliminary chamber, the board 1 is
0 at a position where it can support the substrate support 31a in a well-balanced manner,
I care about 31b! It holds the IM and is movable up and down.

The elevated substrate support 31a.

The upper end surface of 31b is set to be on the same level as the upper end surface of the elevated substrate support 2'7a.

A vacuum opening/closing means is provided on the side wall of the first preliminary chamber which is in contact with the atmosphere.
For example, a gate valve 72 is provided, and on the atmosphere side corresponding to the gate valve 72, for example, a cassette mounting table 80a that can be raised and lowered intermittently is provided. Further, between the first preliminary chamber and the cassette mounting table 80a, a substrate 10 is taken out from the cassette tray a placed on the cassette mounting table 8f)a and the substrate 10 is passed through the gate valve 72 to the first cassette mounting table 80a. A known substrate carrying device (not shown) for carrying substrates into the preliminary chamber I is provided. On the other hand, in the @2 preparatory room, a substrate support 41 is provided in a position where the substrate 10 can be supported at its center while maintaining airtightness and being movable up and down. The upper end surface of the elevated substrate support is set to be on the same level as the upper end surface of the elevated substrate supports 2'7b and 2'7C. A vacuum opening/closing means, for example, a gate valve 73 is provided on the side wall of the second preliminary chamber in contact with the atmosphere, and a cassette mounting table 8ob that can be raised and lowered intermittently is provided on the atmosphere side corresponding to the gate valve 73.
is provided. Also, between the second preliminary chamber and the cassette mounting table 8θb, a cassette 90b is provided which carries out the substrate 10 from the second preliminary chamber through the gate valve 72 and places the substrate 10 on the cassette mounting table 80b. A known substrate unloading device (not shown) is provided. In addition, the first
Preliminary room 30. The second preliminary chamber can be evacuated.

The substrate transfer means (equipment) includes a shaft 51, an ε movement device 52 that rotationally drives the shaft 51, and in this case, three arms 53a to 53a.
53c, and substrate mounting tools 54a-54c. The axis 51 is located at the center of the substrate support 27a, at the center between the substrate support 27b and Zrc, and at the center between the substrate supports 31g and 31.
It is rotatably provided with its upper end protruding into the third preparatory chamber ω at a position where the distances from the center between the space b and the center of the substrate support 41 are equal, respectively, and maintaining airtightness. Axis 5
The lower end of 1 is connected to a drive device 52 . Arm 5
One end of 3a-53c is the lower electrode 24a.

24b has a height that can be rotated when lowered, and in this case, the arms 53a and 53c are in a straight line, and the arm A33b is aligned with the shaft 5 at an interval of 90° from the arms 53a and 53c.
1 is provided. The other end of the arm 53a is provided with a substrate mounting tool 54a having a shape and one dimension that can transfer the substrate 10 between the substrate supports 31a, 31b and the substrate support 27a. Support tool 27a
Also provided is a substrate mounting tool 54b with a shape and two dimensions capable of transferring the substrate 10 between the substrate supports 27b and 27c,
At the other end of the arm 53c are substrate supports 27b and 2'lc.
Further, a substrate mounting tool 54C having a shape and size of 9 and capable of transferring the substrate 10 to and from the substrate support tool 41 is provided. Incidentally, tapered protrusions are formed in the outer peripheral portions of the substrate mounting tools 54 a - 54 e along the outer periphery of the substrate 10 .

In the vacuum processing apparatus configured as described above, first, a cassette 90a containing a predetermined number of substrates 10 is placed on the cassette mounting table 80a, and an empty cassette 9 is placed on the cassette mounting table 8ob.
0b are placed respectively. In this case, the cassette 90a
, 90b are placed with their open ends corresponding to the gate valves 72 and 73, and the cassette 90a is raised so that the substrate 10 stored at the bottom thereof can be taken out by the substrate loading device, The cassette 90b is lowered from the top so that the substrate 10 can be stored in the substrate unloading device. Thereafter, one substrate 1θ is taken out from the cassette 90a by the substrate loading device, and this substrate 10 is loaded into the first preliminary chamber (material) via the gate valve 72 by opening the gate valve 72. In the first preliminary chamber, the substrate support 3
By raising 1a and 31b, the substrate 10 is transferred from the substrate loading device to the substrate supports 31a and 31b, and the substrate loading device exits from the first preliminary chamber Shu and the gate valve 72 is closed.

In this state, the first preparatory chamber θ is depressurized and evacuated to a pressure comparable to that of the third preparatory chamber θ, which is evacuated to a predetermined pressure.
After this is completed, gate valve 70 is opened. gate valve 70
When the shaft 51 is opened, the driving device 52 rotates the shaft 51 in the counterclockwise direction, so that the substrate mounting tool 54a is transferred from the third preliminary chamber ω to the first preliminary chamber ω via the gate valve 70. It enters the chamber separately and is rotated until it comes into contact with the substrate supports 31a and 31b. In addition, at the same time, the board mounting tool 54b
is the substrate support 4a, and the substrate mounting tool 54C is the substrate support 2.
It is rotated until it comes into contact with 7b and 27c. In this state, the substrate 1 is lowered by lowering the substrate supports 31a and 31b.
o is received by the substrate mounting tool 54a, and then the driving device 5
2 by rotating the shaft 51 in the clockwise direction,
The substrate holder F, IIa that has received the substrate 10 enters the third preliminary chamber ω from the first preliminary chamber via the gate valve 70 and is further rotated until it comes into contact with the substrate support 27a.

By raising the substrate support 27a in this state, the substrate 1
0 is received by the substrate support 27a. Thereafter, by rotationally driving the shaft 51 in the counterclockwise direction by the driving device 52, the substrate mounting tools 54a to 54c are rotated to a standby position in the third preliminary chamber ω, and wait there. on the other hand,
The gate valve 70 is closed, and the substrate support 27a is lowered to place the substrate 1o on the lower electrode 24a. After the substrate 1o is placed on the lower electrode 24a, the lower electrode 24a is raised until its outer periphery comes into contact with the OII song 5a, thereby separating the vacuum processing chamber 20a and the third
Communication with the preliminary chamber 6o is hermetically blocked. In this state,
In the vacuum processing chamber 20a, the substrate 10 is subjected to a predetermined process in a dry process. It should be noted that while the substrate 10 is being processed, the next substrate 10 is carried into the first preparatory room (equipment) by the above-described operation and is loaded onto the substrate support 3.
1a and 31b, and then the first preliminary chamber (equipment) is depressurized and evacuated to the same pressure as the $3 preliminary chamber ω. After the processing of the substrate 10 in the vacuum processing chamber 20g is completed, the lower electrode 2
4a is lowered to its original position, and thereby the vacuum processing chamber 20a and @3 preliminary chamber ω are communicated again. after that,
The substrate 10 is received by the substrate support 27a by raising the substrate support 27a. In this state, drive bag #L52
By rotating the shaft 51 in the counterclockwise direction,
The substrate mounting tool 54b is rotated until it comes into contact with the substrate support tool 27a. Thereafter, by lowering the substrate support 27a, the substrate 10 is received by the substrate holder 8b, and in this state, by rotationally driving the shaft 51 in the clockwise direction by the driving bag [52, the substrate holder 54b is placed on the substrate 10. support tool 27b,
It is rotated until it comes into contact with 27c. Thereafter, by raising the substrate supports 27b and 27C, the substrate 10 is received by the substrate supports 27b and 2'7CI. Thereafter, by rotationally driving the shaft 51 in the clockwise direction by the driving device 52, the substrate mounting tools 54a to 54c are rotated to a standby position in the third preliminary chamber 6o, and wait there. on the other hand,
By lowering the substrate supports γb and 27c, the substrate 1o is placed on the bottom electrode. Substrate 1 to lower electrode 24b
After the placement of the lower electrode 24b is completed, the outer periphery of the lower electrode 24b is
It is raised until it comes into contact with the II song 5b, thereby airtightly cutting off the communication between the vacuum processing chamber 20b and the third preliminary chamber ω. In this state, the substrate 1o is further subjected to a predetermined process in a dry process in a vacuum processing chamber. In addition,
At the same time as the substrate support 27b and Tic receive the substrate 1o, the substrate support 31a and 31 are carried into the first preliminary chamber blade.
The substrate 1o received at step b is received by the substrate support 27a by the above-described operation, and the processing in the vacuum processing chamber 20a as well as the processing in the vacuum processing chamber 20b is performed as described above. Furthermore, while the processing is being carried out in the vacuum processing chambers 20a and 20b, the next substrate 1 is placed in the first preliminary chamber (equipment).
0 is carried in by the above-described operation and the substrate support 31a,
31b, and the first preparatory chamber 2 is decompressed and evacuated to a pressure comparable to that of the third preparatory chamber ω. After the processing of the substrate 1O in the vacuum processing chamber 20b is completed, the lower electrode 24b is lowered to its original position, and thereby the vacuum processing chamber 20b and the third preliminary chamber ω are communicated again. In this state, by raising the substrate supports 27b and 27c, the substrate 10 is received by the substrate supports 27b and 27c. Thereafter, the shaft 51 is rotated counterclockwise by the driving device 52, and the substrate mounting tool 54c is rotated from the standby position until it comes into contact with the substrate supports 2'lb and 27c. Thereafter, by lowering the substrate supports 27b and 27c, the substrate 10 is received by the substrate mounting device 54c. Thereafter, by rotationally driving the shaft 51 in the clockwise direction by the driving device 52, the substrate mounting tool 54c is moved to the third position.
The lead enters the second preliminary chamber through the gate valve 71 opened from the preliminary chamber 60 and is rotated until it comes into contact with the substrate support 41 . After that, by raising the substrate support 41,
The substrate 10 is received by the substrate support 41 while the substrate 10
The substrate mounting tool 54c that has passed the
1 in the counterclockwise direction, the gate valve 7
1 and exits from the @2 preliminary room 60 and waits at a standby position in the third preliminary chamber 60. In addition, a substrate mounting tool 54a,
54b also waits at a predetermined standby position. When the substrate mounting tool 54c leaves the second preliminary chamber 40, the gate valve 71 is closed. Note that at the same time that the substrate 10 is received by the substrate holder 54c in the vacuum processing chamber 20b, the substrate 10 is received by the substrate holder 54a in the first preliminary chamber, and the substrate is received by the substrate holder 54b in the vacuum processing chamber 20a. 1
0 is received, and at the same time that the board support 41 receives the substrate 10 from the board placement tool 54c, the board support 27a receives the substrate 10 from the substrate placement device 54.
Receiving the substrate 10 from a and the substrate support 27b.

The substrate 10 is received from the substrate mounting tool 54b at 27c. While the substrate 10 is being processed in the vacuum processing equipment [20a, 20b, the substrate 10 received by the substrate support 41 is transferred to the substrate unloading device by lowering the substrate support 41, and is transferred to the substrate unloading device. The substrate 10 is carried out from the second preliminary chamber Kiku by the substrate carrying out device via the gate valve 73 which is opened, and is stored in the cassette 90b. In addition, the substrate 10
After being carried out, the gate valve n is closed and the second preliminary room
It is decompressed and evacuated to the same pressure as the preparatory chamber ω. On the other hand, the next substrate 10 is carried into the first preparatory chamber concave by the above-described operation and is received by the substrate supports 31a and 31b, and the first preparatory chamber (material) has the same size as the third preparatory chamber 60. By repeating the above operations, the substrates 10 stored in the cassette 90a are sequentially subjected to predetermined processing, and the processed substrates 10 are stored in the cassette 90b.
are stored in sequence.

The vacuum processing apparatus like this embodiment provides the following effects.

(1) The substrate transfer means includes a first preparatory chamber, a vacuum processing chamber, and a second
Since this means can rotate around the same center of rotation using a single drive device so that substrates can be transported to and from the preliminary room at the same time, it requires less installation space and waiting time than when using conventional straight substrate transport means. The space required is small, and therefore, an increase in the floor area occupied by the device due to an increase in the diameter of the substrate can be suppressed.

(2) Substrates can be transferred simultaneously between the first preliminary chamber, the vacuum processing chamber, and the second preliminary chamber, and the substrates can be transferred to the first preliminary chamber while the substrates are being processed in the vacuum processing chamber. Since substrates can be carried in and carried out from the second preliminary chamber, throughput can be improved.

(3) Since the structure allows the first preliminary chamber and the second preliminary chamber to be shared by each vacuum processing chamber, an increase in the floor area occupied by the apparatus due to the large diameter of the substrate can be suppressed.

(4) When used as a dry etching device, it can be used for multiple purposes. For example, the first preliminary chamber has a cleaning function (hereinafter referred to as pretreatment) for the etching surface, and the second preliminary chamber has an ashering function (hereinafter referred to as pretreatment) for removing photoresist.
When these functions (hereinafter abbreviated as post-processing) are combined, the following processing can be performed.

(1) Pre-processing - High-speed etching - Finish etching - Post-processing (+13 1ff processing - High-speed etching - μ wave etching → Post-processing (110 Pre-processing - Etching - Etching - Post-processing・1
6. In addition to this example, the mounting direction of each gate valve is
The angle and the like may be appropriately selected in consideration of an existing production line if there is one, or in consideration of space if a new production line is to be established. As a result, if there is an existing production line, there is no need to change it, and if a new production line is to be established, the area required for an expensive lean room can be minimized. Further, in this embodiment, two vacuum processing chambers are provided, but the number may be one, or two or more may be provided depending on the case.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, the present invention rotates between the vacuum processing chamber, the first preliminary chamber, the second preliminary chamber, the first preliminary chamber, the vacuum processing chamber, and the second preliminary chamber, and simultaneously rotates the substrate. By having a substrate transfer means for transferring, a vacuum processing chamber, a third preparatory chamber that can communicate with the first preparatory chamber and a second preparatory chamber, and is provided so that the substrate transfer means can wait, it is possible to handle large-diameter substrates. This has the effect of suppressing the increase in the floor space occupied by the equipment due to the change in size and improving throughput.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing one embodiment of a vacuum processing apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A in FIG.
Figure 4 is a detailed plan view of the substrate mounting tool in Figure 1, and Figure 5 is a detailed plan view of the substrate mounting tool in Figure 1.
The figure is a sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG. 3. 10... Substrate, 20a, 20b... Vacuum processing chamber, Capital... 1st preliminary room, Japanese... 2nd preliminary room, Seki... ... Board transfer, 19°O 1 diagram

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Substrate transport means that rotates and simultaneously transports the substrates between a vacuum processing chamber where substrates are processed in a dry process, a vacuum preliminary chamber for supplying substrates, and a substrate recovery device. and a vacuum preparatory chamber that can communicate with the vacuum processing chamber, the vacuum preparatory chamber for substrate supply, and the vacuum preparatory chamber for substrate recovery, and in which the substrate transfer means can stand by. Device. 2. The vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 1, comprising at least one vacuum processing chamber. 3. The substrate conveyance means is equipped with a shaft rotatably provided in the preliminary chamber where the means can stand by, a drive device for rotatably driving the shaft, and a small shaft having one end attached to the shaft llff. The vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 1, which comprises two arms and a substrate mounting tool provided at the other end of the arms.