JPS6236735B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention mainly applies to surface processing of objects to be processed such as substrates in high vacuum or low vacuum, such as vapor deposition equipment, sputtering equipment, dry etching equipment, plasma CVD equipment, electron beam welding machines, etc. The present invention relates to vacuum processing equipment.

In this type of vacuum processing equipment, the turntable on which the object to be processed is mounted is rotated from outside the vacuum chamber and moved up and down, so failures occur when the shaft of the turntable is placed in a vacuum-sealed state. It is made to be taken out and rotated on this shaft or moved up and down. Therefore, a function is required to avoid mutual interference between the two different types of motion, but conventional devices require complicated functions such as using separate motors as power sources for each of these two types of motion. The drawbacks were that the structure was complicated and the equipment cost was high.

An object of the present invention is to provide an economical vacuum processing apparatus that can rotate and move a turntable up and down with a simple configuration using one motor.

According to the present invention, there is provided a turntable that holds an object to be processed that is placed substantially in a water-level in a vacuum container, and a portion that is fixed to the turntable and extends outside the vacuum container through a vacuum seal portion. a rotating shaft having a spiral threaded portion; a first gear mounted so that a female threaded portion cut into the shaft hole engages with the threaded portion of the rotating shaft; The first gear and the second gear may be coupled to a second gear that is mounted so as to slide relative to each other only in the direction, or the first gear and the second gear may be coupled to each other. a gear coupling means for uncoupling and stopping the second gear; the first gear is driven by one motor, and the turntable is controlled by selectively controlling the gear coupling means; A vacuum processing apparatus characterized in that it can move up and down or rotate can be obtained.

Here, in order to facilitate comparison with the present invention,
A conventional example of a vacuum processing apparatus applied to a sputtering apparatus will be described with reference to a side sectional view of FIG. In the figure, there is a sputtering target 2 in the upper part of a vacuum vessel 1, and a turntable 4 on which a substrate 3 is placed is opposed to the sputtering target 2. A shaft 5 is fixed to the center of the turntable 4, and extends into the atmosphere from the bottom through a vacuum seal 6. A cylindrical metal fitting 8, which surrounds the central portion of the shaft 5 and has a spiral thread 7 on its outer surface, is attached. The metal fitting 8 is fixed in a concentric relationship with the shaft 5, but is free to rotate relative to the shaft 5 and is not fixed at all. Although it is not clear from the figure, the cylindrical fitting 8 itself is fixed against rotation when viewed from the fixing system of the main body of the apparatus, but is free against vertical movement. The gear 9 has a hole in the center thereof having a female thread that engages with the screw 7, and is fitted into the cylindrical metal fitting 8. Furthermore, the gear 9 is coupled to a motor 11 via a gear 10. By driving this motor 11, the cylindrical metal fitting 8 can move the turntable 4 up and down. Further below the shaft 5, a longitudinally elongated gear 12 is concentrically mounted and connected to a motor 14 via a gear 13. By driving this motor 14,
The shaft 5 fixed to the gear 12 can be rotated.

However, according to such a configuration, the cylindrical metal fitting 8
Not only does this require a complicated mechanism, but also two motors, which end up occupying a large space, affecting the arrangement of various parts, and making adjustment cumbersome. In addition to this example, there are various attempts, but in order to rotate the turntable and move it up and down, it is necessary to use some kind of mechanism similar to the metal fitting 8, or to remove the mechanism for vertical movement when rotating. These operations are required. In either case, two motors are still used. If one were to force the motor to be driven by one motor by switching, it would become more complex mechanically and operationally.

Next, examples of the vacuum processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing the structure of an embodiment of the present invention when applied to a sputtering device. In this example, when two gears that provide rotational motion and vertical motion respectively to the shaft of a turntable are directly connected, and the rotational motion is performed, the gear that originally performs vertical motion also rotates the table. By giving a rotational speed of It functions as it appears.

In FIG. 2, a helical thread 15 is cut directly into a part of the shaft 5' extending from the turntable 4 through the vacuum seal 6 into the atmosphere, and this part has a hole in the center. A gear 9' with an open female thread is fitted therein. A motor 11' is connected to the gear 10' which is connected to the gear 9' through one shaft thereof, and a clutch brake unit 18 is connected through the other shaft thereof. The other end of the clutch brake unit 18 is connected to a gear 19 and further to a gear 20 fitted on the shaft 5' of the turntable 4. A key groove 21 is provided in a part of the shaft 5', and a roller 22 protruding toward the center is provided in a part of the center hole of the gear 20.
is added. Since this roller 22 is inserted into the keyway 21, the shaft 5' is connected to the gear 2.
Although it cannot rotate relative to 0, it can move up and down. Of course, a straight protrusion may be provided on the shaft 5' and a recess may be provided in the central hole of the gear 20. Note that the brake in the clutch brake unit 18 is installed so as to act on the gear 19 side.

Now, when the clutch brake unit 18 is in the clutch ON and brake OFF state, the rotation of the motor 11' rotates the shaft 5', that is, the turntable 4, through the gear 10', the clutch, the gear 19, and the gear 20. let At this time, gear 9'
is rotating at the same speed as the gear 20 and is therefore fixed relative to the shaft 5', so that it has no effect on the shaft 5'. Next, clutch OFF,
When the brake is ON, the gear 19 and the gear 20 are fixed by the action of the brake, so the shaft 5', that is, the turntable 4 does not rotate. Therefore, the rotation of the gear 9' acts on the vertical movement of the turntable 4. In this example, it is required to change the rotation speed of the motor during rotation and when moving in the vertical direction, but in that case, a two-speed motor is used as the motor, and the speed is changed using the same switch as the clutch brake unit. This can be easily achieved by interlocking. Depending on the arrangement, it is also possible to use a motor 11'' via a gearwheel 10'' instead of the motor 11', if necessary.

In the above embodiment, an example of application to a sputtering apparatus is given, but it goes without saying that the present invention can be similarly applied to general vacuum processing apparatuses such as a vapor deposition apparatus, a dry etching apparatus, and a plasma CVD apparatus. Also, in this example, the turntable faces upward and the object to be processed is placed on the top surface, but if necessary, it is also possible to hold the object to be processed on the bottom surface, or the turntable faces upward. A suspended structure is also possible. It is clear that the configuration according to the present invention is also possible in these cases. Furthermore, this example uses an electric clutch/brake mechanism;
It is easy to understand that this can also be done mechanically.

As is clear from the above explanation, according to the present invention, not only can the turntable be rotated and moved up and down with a simple configuration using one motor, but also the degree of freedom in attaching parts, etc. is increased. In addition, the operation becomes easier, and the accuracy of the brake action at the time of stopping is increased, resulting in a significant effect of improving the operating performance of the device and the economical efficiency of the equipment.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing the structure of a conventional example of a vacuum processing apparatus, and FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing the structure of an embodiment according to the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a vacuum container, 4 is a turntable, 5, 5' is a rotating shaft of the turntable, 6 is a vacuum seal, 9, 9', 10, 10', 10'', 19,
20 is a gear, 11, 11', 11'' is a motor, 15
18 is a clutch brake unit, 21 is a keyway, and 22 is a roller.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A turntable that holds a workpiece placed approximately horizontally in a vacuum container, and a portion that is fixed to the turntable and extends outside the vacuum container through a vacuum seal portion. a rotating shaft having a spiral threaded portion; a first gear mounted so that a female threaded portion cut into the shaft hole engages with the threaded portion of the rotating shaft; The first gear and the second gear may be coupled to a second gear that is mounted so as to slide relative to each other only in the direction, or the first gear and the second gear may be coupled to each other. gear coupling means for uncoiling and stopping the second gear; one motor drives the first gear and controls the gear coupling means to move the turntable up and down. A vacuum processing device characterized by being movable or rotating. 2. The vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the gear coupling means is constituted by a clutch brake unit.