514972 五、發明說明（1) 技術領域 本發明係有關於一種真空處理裝置，該真空處理裝置 係用以對液晶顯示裝置（LCD)用之玻璃基板等被處理基 板施予成膜處理或乾蝕刻處理等者。 於製造一般的液晶顯示裝置之LCD製程中，係使用真 空處理裝置，藉著乾蝕刻、濺鍍或CVD (化學氣相沈積） 等，對被處理基板，即LCD用之玻璃基板上施予成膜或蝕 刻處理’以形成於液晶顯示裝置中之必要電路元件等。 這樣之真空處理裝置係諸如以處理腔及真空予備腔所 構成。該處理腔係用以於真空下進行前述之種種處理，該 真空予備腔則是用以連結至該處理腔。這些腔都具有具備 真空幫浦之排氣系統。 該真空予備腔係用以於大氣狀態將玻璃基板搬入，内 部排氣呈真空狀態後，將玻璃基板朝處理腔搬入，或將經 處理之玻璃基板搬出，以維持處理腔呈真空狀態者，即， 作為大氣側與真空側的中介。已知，通常係使用加載互鎖 (load-lock )真空腔（卸載互鎖真空腔）作為真空予備腔。 藉著设置此加載互鎖真空腔，於被處理基板朝處理腔進行 搬入或搬出時，係可將處理腔内之氣氛變動控制到極小。 但疋’於實際上，為了使大氣對搬送效率或處理腔的 影響進一步減少，於加載互鎖真空腔與處理腔之間，係設 置有別的真空予備腔，即，用以搬送玻璃基板之搬送腔。 於這些腔中亦設置有包含真空幫浦之排氣系統。514972 V. Description of the invention (1) TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a vacuum processing device, which is used to apply a film forming process or a dry etching process to a substrate to be processed such as a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display device (LCD). By. In the LCD manufacturing process of manufacturing a general liquid crystal display device, a vacuum processing device is used, and a film is formed on a substrate to be processed, that is, a glass substrate for LCD, by dry etching, sputtering, or CVD (chemical vapor deposition). Etching process' to form necessary circuit elements and the like in a liquid crystal display device. Such a vacuum processing apparatus is constituted by, for example, a processing chamber and a vacuum preparation chamber. The processing chamber is used to perform the above-mentioned various processes under vacuum, and the vacuum preparatory chamber is used to be connected to the processing chamber. These chambers have an exhaust system with a vacuum pump. The vacuum preparation chamber is used to carry the glass substrate in the atmospheric state, and after the internal exhaust is in a vacuum state, the glass substrate is moved into the processing chamber, or the processed glass substrate is carried out to maintain the processing chamber in a vacuum state, that is, As an intermediary between the atmospheric side and the vacuum side. It is known that a load-lock vacuum chamber (unloading interlock vacuum chamber) is generally used as the vacuum preparatory chamber. By setting this loading interlocking vacuum chamber, when the substrate to be processed is moved into or out of the processing chamber, the atmospheric variation in the processing chamber can be controlled to be extremely small. However, in fact, in order to further reduce the influence of the atmosphere on the transfer efficiency or the processing chamber, a separate vacuum preparatory chamber is provided between the loading interlocking vacuum chamber and the processing chamber, that is, the Transfer cavity. An exhaust system including a vacuum pump is also provided in these cavities.
於這樣的真空處理裝置中，要將經處理腔處理之LCD 4 五、發明說明（2) 玻璃基板朝搬送腔搬送時，伴隨著該玻璃基板之殘留氣體 或反應氣體亦會流入搬送腔。為了防止這些氣體所造成之 不良影響，就會將惰性氣體，諸如氮氣供給至搬送腔内， 以置換上述氣體。 於習知之真空處理裝置中，搬送腔之對角上之角部係 分別設有氮氣供給口與排氣口，藉著氣體的流動，而使氮 氣遍佈基板表面及裏面。 又，於加載互鎖真空腔内，係設置有定位基板位置之 定位裝置。過去的定位裝置，諸如特開平6-249966號公報 中所示，於基板之對角上之各角落之附近，係設有可前進 及後退之定位部位，藉著這些定位部位，則可將玻璃基板 對角上之各角落挾住，進行定位。 又，伴隨著資訊機器及電視等的普及，液晶顯示裝置 係朝著顯示晝面大晝面化發展，即，有LCD玻璃基板大型 化的傾向。諸如，需要一邊lm之巨大的1片LCD玻璃基 板。因此，為了配合如此巨大之基板，於習知構造中之真 空處理裝置之各腔室亦變的大型化，而使裝置本體變的非 常的巨大，故欲使各腔室能極力的小型化之試驗係正在進 行。 為了實現上述小型化，係將内部機構小型化或是玻璃 基板以外之空間變小。因此，搬送腔或加載互鎖真空腔中， 玻璃基板周圍之空間就變的極小。 但是，如此一來，要與過去相同，將惰性氣體導入至 基板周圍空間狹小之搬送腔時，由於氣體無法順利地流動 514972 五、發明說明（3) 於腔室内，故惰性氣體將無法有效率的供給至玻璃基板表 面及裏面，而產生殘留氣體或反應氣體等無法被惰性氣體 充份置換之問題。相同地，於加載互鎖真空腔内之定位， 亦由於空間狹小，而有過去的定位裝置變的無法對應之問 題0 發明之揭示 本發明之目的係提供一種真空處理裝置，該真空處理 裝置係即使於真空予備腔中之玻璃基板周圍空間變小，亦 可對被處理基板全面供給惰性氣體，即使於這樣的空間 内’亦可搭載用以進行被處理基板之定位之定位裝置。 本發明係提供一種真空處理裝置，該真空處理裝置係 包含有：一處理腔，係用以於真空中對被處理基板進行預 定之處理者；一真空予備腔，係設置有與前述處理腔之開 口部相連結之開口部，且用以於該被處理基板搬入或搬出 該處理腔之過程中，暫時的保持該被處理基板，並其腔室 内部可保持真空者；及一惰性氣體供給裝置，係用以供給 h性氣體至該真空予備腔内者；χ，該惰性氣體供給裝置 係具備有一惰性氣體供給部，而該惰性氣體供給部則包含 有 表面側^性氣體供給口，係用以供給惰性氣體至保 持於該真空予備腔内之被處理基板之表面側者；及一裏面 側^性乳體供給口 ’係用以供給惰性氣體至該被處理基板 之裏面側者。 又:本發明係進而提供一種真空處理裝置，該真空處 裝置係包含有：_處理腔，係用以於真空中對被處理基 五、發明說明（4) 板進行預定之處理者；及一真空予備腔，係於該被處理基 板搬入或搬出該處理腔之過程中，暫時的保持該被處理基 板，且其内部可保持真空者；又，該真空予備腔則包含有： 一載置台，係用以於腔室内載置該被處理基板者；一定位 機構，係用以於該腔室内進行該被處理基板之定位者；及 一昇降機構，係用以使搬入至該腔室内之被處理基板昇降 者；進而，前述定位機構，於該真空予備腔中之被處理基 板搬入位置較上方處，則具有複數個押壓構件，該複數個 押壓構件係用以押壓沿著該真空予備腔之内壁面設置之被 處理基板之各邊；藉此，搬入至該真空予備腔内之被處理 基板，藉著該昇降機構上昇至對應該押壓構件高度之位置 後，於該位置，係可藉著該定位機構之押壓構件進行定位。 上述之真空處理裝置，係具備有一用以供給惰性氣體 至經處理之被處理基板之表面側之表面側惰性氣體供給口 及一用以供給惰性氣體至該被處理基板之裏面側之褢面側 惰性氣體供給口。藉此，係可將由處理腔搬出時，伴隨著 被處理基板之殘留氣體或反應氣體，以惰性氣體置換掉。 又，真空予備腔内之定位機構之押壓構件，係被設置 於真空予備腔中之被處理基板之搬入路徑之上方，藉著昇 降機構上昇至該上方，就可於該位置藉著押壓構件進行被 處理基板之定位。 圖面之簡單說明 第1圖係顯示本發明之一實施形態之LCD玻璃基板用 之蝕刻裝置之概略外觀立體圖。 514972 五、發明說明（5) 第2圖係概略的顯不第1圖之姓刻裝置之内部之水平 截面圖。 第3圖係顯示第1圖之蝕刻裝置中作為真空予備腔之 搬送腔及加載互鎖真空腔内部之構造之縱截面圖。 第4圖係概略的顯不第1圖之钱刻裝置中作為真空予 備腔之搬送腔及加載互鎖真空腔内部之構造之部份立體 圖。 第5圖係顯示第1圖之蝕刻裝置之搬送腔中之惰性氣 體流動之透視圖。 第6圖係詳細說明第1圖之加載互鎖真空腔之定位裝 置之透視圖。 發明之最佳實施形態 以下係一面參照圖面，一面詳細的說明本發明之實施 形態。 於此實施形態中，真空處理裝置係以對透明LCD用玻 璃基板（以下稱玻璃基板）進行蝕刻處理之蝕刻裝置作為 一例說明之。 第1圖係顯示本實施形態之蝕刻裝置之概略外觀立體 圖，第2圖係概略的顯示該蝕刻裝置内部之水平截面圖， 第3圖係顯示第1圖之蝕刻裝置中作為真空予備腔之搬送 腔及加載互鎖真空腔内部之構造之縱截面圖，第4圖係概 略的顯示搬送腔及加載互鎖真空腔内部之構造之部份立體 圖，第5圖係顯示於搬送腔中惰性氣體流動之透視圖，第 6圖係詳細說明加載互鎖真空腔之定位裝置之透視圖。 514972 五、發明說明·（ 6) 如第1圖所示，蝕刻裝置100係具備有一處理腔10, 該處理腔10係由鋁或不鏽鋼所構成，用以於預定之氣體氣 氛中，對玻璃基板G施予電漿蝕刻處理。 於此處理腔10中，係經由一閘腔22而與搬送腔20 相連接。於這些腔室之連接部份，為了玻璃基板的搬送， 係開口有開口部l〇a、22a、20a及22b。進而，於搬送腔 2〇之連接側之反對側，係經由一閘腔32而與加載互鎖真 空腔相連接。相同地，這些腔室之連接部份，係開口有 開口部 32a、20b、30a 及 32b。 這些搬送腔20及加載互鎖真空腔30係具有真空予備 腔之功能。於加載互鎖真空腔30,係形成有與大氣側相連 接之開口部30b，且設置有用以開閉該開口部3〇b之閘閥 35。閘閥35係藉著汽缸35a而被驅動。又，具備有於保養 搬送腔20時使用之踏台48，於該踏台48中，則收納有各 種電源裝置。 閘腔22及閘腔32係如第2圖及第3圖中所示，於各 別之腔室内，係具備有藉著汽缸2ia及31a而開閉驅動之 閘閥21、31。汽缸21a及31a係分別安裝於腔室底部的外 側，腔室内部之各閘閥2卜31則藉著可保持真空之鎖相連 結。這些開口部中，開口部2 2 a係藉著閘閥2 i而開閉，開 口部32a則是藉著閘閥31而開閉。然後，腔室間之玻璃基 板G之搬入或搬出，係於任一閘閥開的狀態下，通過開口 部而進行。 又，蝕刻裝置100之各腔室，藉著排氣系統，係可將 9 五、發明說明（7) 各自的内部達成希望之真空度。於處理腔1〇之下部，係安 裝有用以將腔室内部排氣之真空幫浦41。於閘腔22之兩 側壁下方，則分別設有排氣口 23，這些排氣口 23係經由 排氣管而接續至真空幫浦42。藉著此真空幫浦42之排氣， 係可將搬送腔20及閘腔22内排氣，而達到希望之真空度。 又，相同地，閘腔32之兩側壁下方，係分別設有排氣口 33這些排氡口 33係經由排氣管而接續至真空幫浦43。 藉著此真空幫浦43之排氣，係可將加載互鎖真空腔3〇及 閘腔32内排氣，而達到希望之真空度。進而，於處理腔 1〇中，係設置有用以供給處理氣體之處理氣體供給源44， 於搬送腔20及加載互鎖真空腔3〇中，則設置有用以供給 惰性氣體之惰性氣體供給源45。 前述加載互鎖真空腔30之閘閥35之前方，即大氣側， 係δ又有圖中未不之基板站，用以載置經收納複數玻璃基板 之卡匣。此玻璃基板G，藉著圖中未示之移送機構，由該 卡匣1枚枚的取出’搬入加載互鎖真空腔^又，處理後 之玻璃基板G，則是由加載互鎖真空腔3〇搬出，朝該卡匣 回收。於此實施形態中，係以丨個加載互鎖真空腔進行處 理前之玻璃基板之供給（搬入）及處理後之玻璃基板之回 收（搬出），但再設置一個相同之腔室（卸載互鎖真空腔）， 使供給與回收各別獨立進行亦可。 以下係分別說明各腔室。 如第2圖所示’於前述處理腔1〇之内部，係配置有用 以載置玻璃基板G之載置台11。於該載置台I〗上，則設 10 514972 五、發明說明（8 ) 置有4支上下移動可能之第1支持梢12及4支可上下移動 與旋轉之第2支持梢13。該第1支持梢12係用以於搬入 及搬出時支持玻璃基板G。 又’該載置台11係具有用以形成電漿之下部電極之功 能。與該載置台11相平行對向，則設置有圖中未示之上部 電極。於該等電極間形成高頻電場後，進一步由處理氣體 供給源44供給處理氣體，生成電漿。藉著該電漿則可蝕刻 形成於玻璃基板G上之膜。 於刖述搬送腔20内，係經由排氣口 23，藉著真空幫 浦42之排氣，以保持於預定之減壓氣氛下。於此搬送腔 2〇内，係如第2圖及第3圖所示，設置有多關節種類之搬 送機構50、一對緩衝裝置55及惰性氣體供給部57。 此搬送機構50係用以於處理腔10及加載互鎖真空腔 30之間，進行玻璃基板之交接。其構成之一，係於搬送腔 20之外側下方，設有馬達等驅動部51。驅動部51之軸， 係於搬送腔20之底部，使用磁性流體等磁氣密封膠，朝内 部氣密的導入，朝第丨臂52連接。於該第1臂52之前端， 則安裝有旋動可能之第2臂53,進而，於第2臂53，則被 連接有旋動可能之又狀之基板支持板54。 此基板支持板54係用以於搬送時載置玻璃基板G。此 基板支持板54亦可具備有一真空鎖功能，以防止於搬送 中，經位置調整之玻璃基板移位而落下。 具備上述構成之搬送機構50,係可藉著驅動部51驅 動第1臂52及第2臂53，伸縮及旋轉基板支持板54。藉 11 514972 五、發明說明（9) 此，基板支持板54係可朝處理腔10或加載互鎖真空腔3〇 内，進行進入或退避之伸縮動作，搬送經保持之玻璃基板 G 〇 又，為了改變基板支持板54之伸縮方向，即，搬送方 向，必須於搬送腔20内旋轉。但是，基板支持板54，於 保持長方形之玻璃基板下進行旋轉時，即使以玻璃基板之 中央為中心點旋轉，腔室亦必須為具有較玻璃基板之對角 線長度更大之内徑之圓形。 又，一對之緩衝裝置55係藉著汽缸56而具有昇降機 月b，且係用以將由基板支持板54過來之搬送途中之玻璃基 板G由兩端下面側向上推地暫時的保持。基板支持板54 則以沒有任何保持的狀態旋轉。這樣子的構造，係諸如記 載於特開2001-148410號公報中。藉著設置該緩衝裝罝 55，於改變玻璃基板的搬送方向時，係不需要於玻璃基板 保持於基板支持板54的狀態下旋轉，故搬送腔2〇可以減 小，所需空間可變小。 前述惰性氣體供給部57，係如第3圖及第5圖所示， 由二根直管所構成，且如第2圖所示，係設置於加載互鎖 真空腔30側之搬送腔20内之端面之兩側。此惰性氣體供 給部57係由惰性氣體供給源45供給置換氣體，諸如一面 將氮氣等惰性氣體朝玻璃基板G吐出，一面以真空幫浦排 氣。這樣做，係為了將由處理腔1〇經蝕刻處理後之玻璃基 板G搬出時，伴隨著該玻璃基板g被帶至搬送腔20内之 殘留氣體或反應氣體，藉著惰性氣體置換掉。該惰性氣體 12 五、發明說明·（ 10) 供、ό α卩5 7係設置有用以朝玻璃基板G表面側供給惰性氣 體之表面側惰性氣體供給口 58及用以朝玻璃基板G裏面 側供給惰性氣體之裏面側惰性氣體供給口 59。 如第5圖所示，由表面側惰性氣體供給口 58及裏面側 惰性氣體供給口 59吐出之惰性氣體，係分別由加載互鎖真 空腔30側之端部通過玻璃基板G之表面側及裏面側之全 面，而到達蝕刻處理腔10側之端部。此時，惰性氣體係帶 領著玻璃基板G周圍之殘留氣體及反應氣體，經開口部 20a、22b至真空閘腔22，由其兩側之排氣口 23朝外部排 然後，前述加載互鎖真空腔30係經由排氣口 33以真 空幫浦43排氣，而保持於預定之減壓氣氛。又，於該加載 互鎖真空腔30内，係設置有用以暫時保持玻璃基板^之 二組緩衝裝置60a、60b (參照第3圖、第4圖）、用以進 行玻璃基板G之定位之定位裝置7〇及惰性氣體供給部9〇。 緩衝裝置60a、60b，如第4圖所示，係以上下兩段配 置於加載互鎖真空腔30内之兩壁部3〇c、3〇d側，且藉著 汽缸61a、61b而具有昇降機能，用以將由基板支持板54 搬送來之玻璃基板G，於途中由兩端下面側向上推這樣子 地暫時保持。又，該昇降動作不僅用以進行玻璃基板〇之 父接，亦可使玻璃基板G移動至後述之定位裝置7Q之定 位位置。 定位裝置70,如第2圖所示，係於加載互鎖真空腔3〇 之側壁部30c、30d之内側，設有各二個，合計四個之 五、發明說明（11 ) 構件71 ’又，於開口部3〇a、3〇b側之壁部3〇e、3〇f之内 側，設有各二個，合計四個之押壓構件72。這些押壓構件 71、72係如第3圖所示，設於較開口部3〇a、3〇b上方的 位置，即玻璃基板搬入路徑之上方。 第6圖係代表的顯示設於定位裝置7〇中之壁部3〇d、 30f之押壓構件71、72。這些押壓構件71、72都具備有： 一框體80; —押壓元件8卜係用以押壓玻璃基板一引 導部83，係用以讓押壓元件81之基端部滑入其中；一空 氣汽缸82，係設置於框體8〇中；一傳達構件89，係用以 將空氣汽缸82之移動傳達至押壓元件81 ; 一真空密封元 件84,係用以防止大氣由押壓元件81與框體8〇之間隙漏 出；及一密封元件85,係用以將框體8〇與加載互鎖真空 腔30之側壁部之間密封。 然後，由貫通加載互鎖真空腔3〇之側壁部與框體8〇 内之後壁之孔部80a，供給感應電纜86及驅動用空氣。又， 定位裝置70之押壓構件72係與押壓構件71相同，都具備 有框體80、押壓元件81、引導部83、空氣汽缸“、傳達 構件89及真空密封元件84。一方面，於押壓構件72之框 體80之側壁，係接續有具有凸緣部88之管狀構件，該 管狀構件87係貫通加載互鎖真空腔3〇之側壁部。 加載互鎖真空腔30之側壁部與凸緣88之間則是以密 封元件88a密封。然後，㈣該管狀構件87而供給感應電 纜86及驅動用空氣。這些押壓構件7卜72之框體8〇的大 部份都是被收容於加載互鎖真空心〇之壁部之凹所，幾乎 514972 五、發明說明（l2 ) 只有押壓元件81於加載互鎖真空腔30内進退。因此，於 加載互鎖真空腔30内，定位裝置70需要的空間可小。如 將押壓構件7卜72完全的收容於壁部之凹所，因為僅有押 壓元件81的前端於加載互鎖真空腔3〇内進退，故定位裝 置70之必要空間可更小。In such a vacuum processing device, the LCD to be processed by the processing chamber is used. 4. V. INTRODUCTION TO THE INVENTION (2) When the glass substrate is transported toward the transport chamber, the residual gas or reaction gas accompanying the glass substrate also flows into the transport chamber. In order to prevent the adverse effects caused by these gases, an inert gas such as nitrogen is supplied into the transfer chamber to replace the above gases. In the conventional vacuum processing apparatus, the corners on the diagonals of the transfer chamber are respectively provided with a nitrogen supply port and an exhaust port, so that nitrogen gas is spread on the surface and inside of the substrate by the flow of the gas. In addition, a positioning device for positioning the substrate is provided in the loading interlocking vacuum chamber. Conventional positioning devices, such as shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-249966, have positioning parts that can be moved forward and backward near the corners on the opposite corners of the substrate. With these positioning parts, the glass can be Position the corners of the substrate on each corner. With the spread of information equipment, televisions, and the like, liquid crystal display devices have been developed to have a large display area, that is, a large LCD glass substrate. For example, a huge LCD glass substrate with one lm on one side is required. Therefore, in order to cope with such a huge substrate, the chambers of the vacuum processing device in the conventional structure have also become large, and the device body has become very large. Therefore, it is desirable to minimize the size of each chamber. The trial department is ongoing. In order to achieve the above miniaturization, the internal mechanism is miniaturized or the space other than the glass substrate is reduced. Therefore, the space around the glass substrate in the transfer chamber or the load-locking vacuum chamber becomes extremely small. However, in this way, when the inert gas is introduced into the conveying chamber with a small space around the substrate, as in the past, the gas cannot flow smoothly 514972 5. Description of the invention (3) In the chamber, the inert gas will not be efficient Is supplied to the surface and the inside of the glass substrate, and the problem that the residual gas or the reaction gas cannot be fully replaced by the inert gas is generated. Similarly, the positioning in the loading and interlocking vacuum chamber also has the problem that the previous positioning devices become unavailable due to the small space. Disclosure of the invention The object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum processing device, which is a vacuum processing device. Even if the space around the glass substrate in the vacuum preparation chamber becomes small, the inert gas can be fully supplied to the substrate to be processed. Even in such a space, a positioning device for positioning the substrate to be processed can be mounted. The present invention provides a vacuum processing device. The vacuum processing device includes: a processing chamber for performing predetermined processing on a substrate to be processed in a vacuum; and a vacuum preparatory chamber provided with the processing chamber. An opening part connected with the opening part, and used for temporarily holding the processed substrate while the processed substrate is being moved into or out of the processing chamber, and a vacuum inside the chamber can be maintained; and an inert gas supply device Is used to supply h-type gas to the vacuum preparation chamber; χ, the inert gas supply device is provided with an inert gas supply portion, and the inert gas supply portion includes a surface-side gas supply port, which is used for The inert gas is supplied to the surface side of the substrate to be processed which is held in the vacuum preparation chamber; and a backside milk supply port is used to supply the inert gas to the inner side of the substrate to be processed. In addition, the present invention further provides a vacuum processing device. The vacuum processing device includes: a processing chamber for processing a substrate to be processed in a vacuum. 5. Description of the invention (4) plate; and The vacuum preparation chamber is a process for temporarily holding the substrate to be processed while the substrate to be processed is being moved into or out of the processing chamber, and a vacuum can be maintained inside the vacuum preparation chamber. In addition, the vacuum preparation chamber includes: a mounting table, It is used for placing the substrate to be processed in the chamber; a positioning mechanism is used for positioning the substrate to be processed in the chamber; and a lifting mechanism is used to make the substrate moved into the chamber Those who handle the substrate lifter; furthermore, the aforementioned positioning mechanism has a plurality of pressing members at the upper position where the substrate to be processed is carried in the vacuum preparation chamber, and the plurality of pressing members are used to press along the vacuum. Each side of the substrate to be processed disposed on the inner wall surface of the preparatory cavity; thereby, the substrate to be processed moved into the vacuum preparatory cavity is raised to a position corresponding to the height of the pressing member by the lifting mechanism. After, in this position, the line may be positioned by the pressing member of the positioning mechanism. The above-mentioned vacuum processing apparatus is provided with a surface-side inert gas supply port for supplying an inert gas to a surface side of a processed substrate and a sag surface side for supplying an inert gas to a back side of the substrate to be processed. Inert gas supply port. Thereby, the residual gas or reaction gas accompanying the substrate to be processed can be replaced with an inert gas when being carried out of the processing chamber. In addition, the pressing member of the positioning mechanism in the vacuum preparation chamber is set above the carrying path of the substrate to be processed in the vacuum preparation chamber, and it is raised to the upper position by the lifting mechanism, so that the position can be pressed by the position. The component performs positioning of the substrate to be processed. Brief Description of Drawings Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic appearance of an etching apparatus for an LCD glass substrate according to an embodiment of the present invention. 514972 V. Description of the invention (5) Figure 2 is a schematic horizontal cross-sectional view showing the inside of the device carved by the name in Figure 1. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the internal structure of a transfer chamber serving as a vacuum preparatory chamber and a loading interlocking vacuum chamber in the etching apparatus of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a schematic perspective view showing a part of the internal structure of a transfer chamber serving as a vacuum preparation chamber and a loading interlocking vacuum chamber in the money engraving device of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing the flow of an inert gas in the transfer chamber of the etching apparatus of Fig. 1; Fig. 6 is a perspective view illustrating the positioning device of the loading interlocking vacuum chamber of Fig. 1 in detail. BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, the vacuum processing apparatus is described using an etching apparatus for etching a glass substrate for a transparent LCD (hereinafter referred to as a glass substrate) as an example. Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the outline of the etching apparatus of this embodiment. Fig. 2 is a horizontal cross-sectional view schematically showing the inside of the etching apparatus. Fig. 3 is a diagram showing the transfer of a vacuum preparation chamber in the etching apparatus of Fig. 1 Vertical sectional view of the internal structure of the chamber and the loading interlocking vacuum chamber. Figure 4 is a partial perspective view schematically showing the structure of the transfer chamber and the interior of the loading interlocking vacuum chamber. Figure 5 shows the flow of inert gas in the transfer chamber. A perspective view, FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating a positioning device for loading an interlocking vacuum chamber in detail. 514972 V. Description of the invention · (6) As shown in Fig. 1, the etching device 100 is provided with a processing chamber 10, which is composed of aluminum or stainless steel, and is used for glass substrates in a predetermined gas atmosphere. G applied a plasma etching treatment. The processing chamber 10 is connected to the transfer chamber 20 through a gate chamber 22. At the connecting portions of these chambers, openings 10a, 22a, 20a, and 22b are opened for the transportation of the glass substrate. Furthermore, the opposite side of the connection side of the transfer chamber 20 is connected to the load-locking true cavity via a gate cavity 32. Similarly, the connecting portions of these chambers have openings 32a, 20b, 30a, and 32b. These transfer chambers 20 and the load-locking vacuum chambers 30 have the function of preparing a vacuum chamber. The loading interlocking vacuum chamber 30 is formed with an opening portion 30b connected to the atmosphere side, and a gate valve 35 is provided to open and close the opening portion 30b. The gate valve 35 is driven by the cylinder 35a. In addition, a step 48 is provided for maintaining the transport chamber 20, and various power sources are accommodated in the step 48. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the gate chamber 22 and the gate chamber 32 are each provided with gate valves 21 and 31 which are opened and closed by the cylinders 2ia and 31a. The cylinders 21a and 31a are respectively installed on the outside of the bottom of the chamber, and the gate valves 2 and 31 inside the chamber are connected by a lock capable of maintaining a vacuum. Among these openings, the opening 2 2 a is opened and closed by the gate valve 2 i, and the opening 32 a is opened and closed by the gate valve 31. Then, the glass substrate G between the chambers is moved in or out through the opening portion while any gate valve is opened. In addition, each chamber of the etching apparatus 100 can achieve a desired degree of vacuum in each of the chambers through the exhaust system. Below the processing chamber 10, a vacuum pump 41 is installed for exhausting the inside of the chamber. Below the two side walls of the lock chamber 22, there are exhaust ports 23 respectively. These exhaust ports 23 are connected to the vacuum pump 42 through exhaust pipes. By the exhaust of the vacuum pump 42, the inside of the transfer chamber 20 and the gate chamber 22 can be exhausted to achieve the desired degree of vacuum. Also, similarly, the exhaust chambers 33 are respectively provided below the two side walls of the gate cavity 32, and the exhaust ports 33 are connected to the vacuum pump 43 through an exhaust pipe. By the exhaust of this vacuum pump 43, the inside of the load-locking vacuum chamber 30 and the gate chamber 32 can be exhausted to achieve the desired degree of vacuum. Further, a processing gas supply source 44 for supplying a processing gas is provided in the processing chamber 10, and an inert gas supply source 45 for supplying an inert gas is provided in the transfer chamber 20 and the load-locking vacuum chamber 30. . In front of the gate valve 35 of the loading interlocking vacuum chamber 30, that is, the atmosphere side, there is a substrate station not shown in the figure, which is used to place a cassette containing a plurality of glass substrates. The glass substrate G is taken out of the cassette by a transfer mechanism not shown in the figure, and is moved into the loading interlocking vacuum chamber ^, and the processed glass substrate G is the loading interlocking vacuum chamber 3 〇Remove it and collect it into the cassette. In this embodiment, a single loaded interlocking vacuum chamber is used to supply (carry in) the glass substrate before processing and recover (move out) the processed glass substrate, but then set up a same chamber (unloading interlocking) Vacuum chamber), and supply and recovery can be performed independently. Each chamber is described below. As shown in FIG. 2 ', inside the processing chamber 10, a mounting table 11 for placing a glass substrate G is disposed. On the mounting table I, 10 514972 is set. V. Description of the invention (8) Four first support pins 12 that can move up and down and four second support pins 13 that can move and rotate up and down are placed. The first support tip 12 is used to support the glass substrate G during loading and unloading. The mounting table 11 has a function of forming a lower electrode of the plasma. Opposite to this mounting table 11, an upper electrode (not shown) is provided. After a high-frequency electric field is formed between the electrodes, a processing gas is further supplied from a processing gas supply source 44 to generate a plasma. The plasma can be used to etch a film formed on the glass substrate G. The inside of the conveyance chamber 20 is exhausted through the exhaust port 23 through the vacuum pump 42 to be maintained in a predetermined decompression atmosphere. In the transfer chamber 20, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, a multi-joint type transfer mechanism 50, a pair of buffer devices 55, and an inert gas supply unit 57 are provided. The transfer mechanism 50 is used to transfer glass substrates between the processing chamber 10 and the load-locking vacuum chamber 30. One of the configurations is provided below the outer side of the transfer chamber 20, and a driving unit 51 such as a motor is provided. The shaft of the driving portion 51 is attached to the bottom of the transfer chamber 20, and is magnetically sealed with a magnetic fluid such as a magnetic fluid. A second arm 53 capable of rotating is attached to the front end of the first arm 52, and a second substrate supporting plate 54 is also connected to the second arm 53 capable of rotating. This substrate supporting plate 54 is used to place a glass substrate G during transportation. The substrate supporting plate 54 may also be provided with a vacuum lock function to prevent the position-adjusted glass substrate from being dropped during transportation. The conveying mechanism 50 having the above-mentioned structure is capable of driving the first arm 52 and the second arm 53 by the driving unit 51, and retracting and rotating the substrate supporting plate 54. By 11 514972 V. Description of the invention (9) Therefore, the substrate support plate 54 can be retracted into and out of the processing chamber 10 or the interlocking vacuum chamber 30, and the held glass substrate G is transported. In order to change the telescopic direction of the substrate supporting plate 54, that is, the conveying direction, it is necessary to rotate in the conveying chamber 20. However, when the substrate supporting plate 54 is rotated under a rectangular glass substrate, even if the substrate is rotated around the center of the glass substrate, the chamber must be a circle with an inner diameter larger than the diagonal length of the glass substrate. shape. The pair of buffer devices 55 are provided with a lifter b through a cylinder 56 and are used to temporarily hold the glass substrate G in the middle of the conveyance from the substrate support plate 54 from the lower sides of both ends. The substrate supporting plate 54 is rotated without any holding. Such a structure is described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-148410. By providing the buffer device 55, when changing the conveying direction of the glass substrate, it is not necessary to rotate the glass substrate while it is held on the substrate support plate 54, so the conveying cavity 20 can be reduced, and the required space can be reduced. . The inert gas supply unit 57 is composed of two straight tubes as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5 and is provided in the transfer chamber 20 on the side of the load-locking vacuum chamber 30 as shown in FIG. 2. On both sides of the end face. This inert gas supply unit 57 is supplied with a replacement gas from an inert gas supply source 45. The inert gas such as nitrogen is discharged toward the glass substrate G while being exhausted by a vacuum pump. This is for the purpose of removing the remaining gas or reaction gas with the glass substrate g into the transfer chamber 20 when the glass substrate G that has been subjected to the etching treatment in the processing chamber 10 is carried out, and is replaced with an inert gas. The inert gas 12 V. Description of the invention (10) Supply, 卩 α 卩 5 7 is provided with a surface-side inert gas supply port 58 for supplying an inert gas to the surface side of the glass substrate G, and a supply for the surface side of the glass substrate G The inert gas supply port 59 on the back side of the inert gas. As shown in FIG. 5, the inert gas discharged from the inert gas supply port 58 on the front side and the inert gas supply port 59 on the back side passes through the front side and the back side of the glass substrate G from the ends of the load-locking vacuum chamber 30 side, respectively. It reaches the end of the etching processing chamber 10 side. At this time, the inert gas system leads the residual gas and reaction gas around the glass substrate G through the openings 20a, 22b to the vacuum gate chamber 22, and is exhausted to the outside through the exhaust ports 23 on both sides. Then, the aforementioned loading interlocking vacuum The cavity 30 is exhausted by the vacuum pump 43 through the exhaust port 33 and is maintained in a predetermined reduced-pressure atmosphere. In the loading interlocking vacuum chamber 30, two sets of buffer devices 60a and 60b (refer to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4) for temporarily holding the glass substrate ^ are provided for positioning the glass substrate G. The device 70 and the inert gas supply unit 90. As shown in FIG. 4, the buffer devices 60 a and 60 b are arranged on the sides of the two wall portions 30 c and 30 d in the load-locking vacuum chamber 30, and are lifted by the cylinders 61 a and 61 b. The function is to temporarily hold the glass substrate G transported from the substrate support plate 54 by pushing it upward from the lower surface of both ends on the way. In addition, this lifting operation is not only used to connect the glass substrate 0, but also moves the glass substrate G to a positioning position of a positioning device 7Q described later. As shown in FIG. 2, the positioning device 70 is located inside the side wall portions 30 c and 30 d of the loading interlocking vacuum chamber 30, and is provided with two each, a total of four five. Description of the invention (11) The member 71 ′ and On the inner side of the wall portions 30e and 30f on the sides of the openings 30a and 30b, two pressing members 72 each are provided, for a total of four. These pressing members 71 and 72 are provided above the openings 30a and 30b, as shown in Fig. 3, that is, above the glass substrate carrying-in path. FIG. 6 shows representative pressing members 71 and 72 of the wall portions 30d and 30f provided in the positioning device 70. These pressing members 71, 72 are provided with: a frame 80;-the pressing member 8 is used to press the glass substrate a guide portion 83, which is used to slide the base end portion of the pressing member 81 into it; An air cylinder 82 is arranged in the frame 80; a transmission member 89 is used to communicate the movement of the air cylinder 82 to the pressing element 81; a vacuum sealing element 84 is used to prevent the atmosphere from being pressed by the pressing element A gap between 81 and the frame body 80 leaks out; and a sealing element 85 is used to seal the frame body 80 and the side wall portion of the load-locking vacuum chamber 30. Then, the induction cable 86 and the driving air are supplied from the side wall portion of the interlocking vacuum chamber 30 and the hole portion 80a on the back wall of the housing 80. In addition, the pressing member 72 of the positioning device 70 is the same as the pressing member 71 and includes a frame 80, a pressing element 81, a guide 83, an air cylinder, a transmitting member 89, and a vacuum sealing element 84. On the one hand, On the side wall of the frame 80 of the pressing member 72, a tubular member having a flange portion 88 is continued, and the tubular member 87 is a side wall portion penetrating the load-locking vacuum chamber 30. The side wall portion of the load-locking vacuum chamber 30 It is sealed with the flange 88 by a sealing element 88a. Then, the tubular member 87 is pressed to supply the induction cable 86 and driving air. Most of the frame 80 of the pressing members 7 and 72 are covered by Contained in the recess of the wall of the loading interlocking vacuum core 0, almost 514972 V. Description of the invention (l2) Only the pressing element 81 advances and retreats in the loading interlocking vacuum chamber 30. Therefore, in the loading interlocking vacuum chamber 30, The space required by the positioning device 70 can be small. For example, if the pressing members 7 and 72 are completely contained in the recess of the wall portion, because only the front end of the pressing element 81 advances and retreats within the loading interlocking vacuum chamber 30, the positioning device The necessary space of 70 can be smaller.
前述惰性氣體供給部90,係用以供給氮氣等惰性氣體 者，主要用以將加載互鎖真空腔30伴隨著閘閥35的開閉 等，將内部的真空狀態返回大氣壓力，如第2圖及第3圖 所示，係被設置於加載互鎖真空腔30之大氣閘閥35側之 壁部30f之中央。此惰性氣體供給部9〇係具有一用以供給 惰性氣體至玻璃基板G之表面側之表面側惰性氣體供給口 91及一用以供給惰性氣體至玻璃基板〇之裏面側之裏面 側惰性氣體供給口 92，而該表面側惰性氣體供給口 91及 該裏面側惰性氣體供給口 92則係以挾著開口 30b的方式， 設於上下各一處。The inert gas supply unit 90 is used to supply inert gas such as nitrogen, and is mainly used to return the internal vacuum state to atmospheric pressure with the opening and closing of the load interlocking vacuum chamber 30 and the gate valve 35, as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, it is provided in the center of the wall portion 30f on the atmospheric gate valve 35 side of the load-locking vacuum chamber 30. The inert gas supply unit 90 has a surface-side inert gas supply port 91 for supplying an inert gas to the surface side of the glass substrate G and a back-side inert gas supply for supplying an inert gas to the inner side of the glass substrate G. The port 92 is provided on the front-side inert gas supply port 91 and the back-side inert gas supply port 92 so as to pinch the opening 30b.
這些由表面側惰性氣體供給口 91及裏面側惰性氣體 供給口 92吐出之惰性氣體，係與搬送腔2〇相同地，由大 氣侧（閘閥35側）之端部通過玻璃基板g之表面侧及裏 面側之全面，到達搬送腔20側之端部。此時，惰性氣體係 帶領著玻璃基板G周圍之粒子、殘留氣體及反應氣體等， 經開口 30a、32b至真空閘腔32，由其兩側之排氣口 33朝 外部排出。 以下，係說明蝕刻處理裝置之動作。 首先，打開閘閥35，藉著大氣側之移送機構（圖中未 15 514972 五、發明說明（π) 示），由設於加載互鎖真空腔30之大氣側之基板站（圖中 未示）之卡匣將處理前之玻璃基板G朝加載互鎖真空腔30 搬入，將玻璃基板G載置於上側之緩衝裝置60a。 然後，關閉閘閥35，以真空幫浦43將加載互鎖真空 腔30内排氣，使内部至預定之真空度。之後，載置於緩衝 裝置60a之玻璃基板G係藉著汽缸61a而與緩衝裝置60a 共同上昇至定位裝置70之押壓構件7卜72之位置。然後， 在該位置，以載置於緩衝裝置60a下，使押壓空氣汽缸82 之押壓元件81突出，進行玻璃基板G之定位。 之後，搬送腔20及加載互鎖真空腔30間之閘腔32 之閘閥31打開，將玻璃基板G交接至搬送機構50之基板 支持板54,朝搬送腔20内搬入，且於玻璃基板G被搬入 至搬送腔20的同時，閘閥31就關閉。 之後，打開閘閥21，將支持於基板支持板54之玻璃 基板G搬入蝕刻處理腔10。然後，使第2支持梢13突出 至載置台上方，將玻璃基板G支持於第2支持梢13上， 再藉著第2支持梢13之下降，載置於載置台11。之後， 基板支持板54由蝕刻處理腔10退出。 之後，於蝕刻處理腔10中進行蝕刻處理。於處理後， 閘閥21打開，用以保持玻璃基板G之基板支持板54進入， 將玻璃基板G支持於第2支持梢13上，以進行下一處理。 之後，一度基板支持板54退出。然後，經處理之玻璃基板 G’，藉著第1支持梢12昇起至處理前之玻璃基板G之下 方，朝再度進入至蝕刻處理腔10之基板支持板54交接。 16 五、發明說明（l4) 然後，基板支持板54朝搬送腔20退避，關閉閘閥21。此 時，於蝕刻處理腔10中，第1支持梢12突出，支持處理 前之玻璃基板G，第2支持梢13旋轉後，第1支持梢12 降下，將處理前之玻璃基板G載置至載置台11上，進行 預定之蝕刻處理。 然後，經搬入處理後之玻璃基板G’之搬送腔20中， 係由惰性氣體供給部57供給諸如氮氣等惰性氣體作為置 換氣體，同時以真空幫浦42將搬送腔20排氣。 藉著作為該置換氣體供給之惰性氣體，則可將伴隨著 處理後之玻璃基板G，而被帶至搬送腔20内之殘留氣體或 反應氣體置換。於該置換後，打開閘閥31，藉著搬送機構 50將處理後之玻璃基板G，載置於加載互鎖真空腔30下側 之緩衝裝置60b。然後，將閘閥31關閉，由惰性氣體供給 部90供給惰性氣體氮氣，使加載互鎖真空腔3〇内之壓力 回復至大氣壓。之後，打開閘閥35，藉著大氣側之移送機 構，將處理後之玻璃基板G，由下側之緩衝裝置60b收納至 基板站之卡匣。收納後，再藉著移送機構由卡匣將處理前 之玻璃基板G取出，移載至上側之緩衝裝置60a。這樣之 處理動作，會反覆進行至裝填於卡匣之全部玻璃基板都經 處理。 如前所述，搬送腔20内之壓力與蝕刻處理腔1〇内之 壓力幾乎相等真空度時，用以氣體置換之惰性氣體之流量 就無法變大。最後，如習知般，用以供給惰性氣體之惰性 氣體供給口僅於腔室底部時，搬送腔2〇内之空間一變小， 五、發明說明（15 ) 惰性氣體就變的難以遍佈腔室内，進而，產生無法有效的 進行處理後之玻璃基板G，之全面上之氣體置換的問題。 相對於此，本實施形態之惰性氣體供給部57，由於具 有表面側惰性氣體供給口 58及裏面側惰性氣體供給口 59，故玻璃基板大型化時，即使搬送腔2〇之空間狹小（玻 璃基板G之外周與搬送腔20之側壁之間之間隙小），由這 些供給口吐出之惰性氣體，亦可由加載互鎖真空腔側之 端部通過處理後之玻璃基板G，之表面側及裏面側之全面 上，引導至蝕刻處理腔10側之端部。 因此，可將處理後之玻璃基板G，周圍之殘留氣體或反 應氣體於短時間内確實的朝排氣口 23引導，朝外部排出。 又’由於是將排氣口 23設於真空閘腔22之下方，故於閘 閥21之可動部發生之粒子，不會朝搬送腔2〇進入，可由 排氣口 23排出。 同樣地，於加載互鎖真空腔30中，亦由於惰性氣體供 給部90具有表面側惰性氣體供給口 91及裏面側惰性氣體 供給口 92,故可沿著處理後之玻璃基板G，之表面側及裏 面側，於全面上供給惰性氣體。 又加載互鎖真空腔30及搬送腔20中，即使於惰性 氣體供給時，有存在於腔室内之粒子飛揚於玻璃基板g (G’）之上面或下面，亦可藉著流動於玻璃基板之表面側 或裏面側之惰性氣體氣流，將粒子朝外部排出。又，藉著 於玻璃基板之表面側或裏面側流動之常溫惰性氣體，亦具 有將處理後之玻璃基板G，之兩面溫度由蝕刻處理後之高These inert gases discharged from the front-side inert gas supply port 91 and the back-side inert gas supply port 92 are the same as those of the transfer chamber 20, and the end of the atmosphere side (gate valve 35 side) passes through the surface side of the glass substrate g and The entire back side reaches the end of the transport chamber 20 side. At this time, the inert gas system leads the particles, residual gas, reaction gas, etc. around the glass substrate G through the openings 30a, 32b to the vacuum gate cavity 32, and is discharged to the outside through the exhaust ports 33 on both sides thereof. The operation of the etching processing device will be described below. First, the gate valve 35 is opened, and a substrate station (not shown in the figure) provided on the atmospheric side of the loading interlocking vacuum chamber 30 is provided by an atmospheric-side transfer mechanism (not shown in FIG. 15 514972). The cassette carries the glass substrate G before processing toward the loading interlocking vacuum chamber 30, and places the glass substrate G on the upper buffer device 60a. Then, the gate valve 35 is closed, and the inside of the load-locking vacuum chamber 30 is evacuated by the vacuum pump 43 to make the inside to a predetermined vacuum degree. Thereafter, the glass substrate G placed on the buffer device 60a is lifted together with the buffer device 60a to the position of the pressing member 7b 72 of the positioning device 70 through the cylinder 61a. Then, at this position, the glass substrate G is positioned so that the pressing element 81 of the pressing air cylinder 82 is projected under the buffer device 60a. After that, the gate valve 31 of the transfer chamber 20 and the gate chamber 32 between the load-locking vacuum chamber 30 is opened, and the glass substrate G is transferred to the substrate support plate 54 of the transfer mechanism 50, and is moved into the transfer chamber 20, and the glass substrate G is The gate valve 31 is closed while being carried into the transfer chamber 20. After that, the gate valve 21 is opened, and the glass substrate G supported by the substrate support plate 54 is carried into the etching processing chamber 10. Then, the second support tip 13 is protruded above the mounting table, and the glass substrate G is supported on the second support tip 13. Then, the second support tip 13 is lowered and placed on the mounting table 11. After that, the substrate support plate 54 is withdrawn from the etching processing chamber 10. Thereafter, an etching process is performed in the etching process chamber 10. After the processing, the gate valve 21 is opened, and the substrate supporting plate 54 for holding the glass substrate G is entered, and the glass substrate G is supported on the second supporting tip 13 for the next processing. After that, the substrate supporting plate 54 was withdrawn once. Then, the processed glass substrate G 'is raised below the glass substrate G before processing by the first support tip 12 and is handed over to the substrate support plate 54 which has entered the etching processing chamber 10 again. 16 V. Description of the Invention (14) Then, the substrate support plate 54 retracts toward the transfer chamber 20, and closes the gate valve 21. At this time, in the etching processing chamber 10, the first support pin 12 protrudes to support the glass substrate G before processing, and after the second support pin 13 rotates, the first support pin 12 is lowered, and the glass substrate G before processing is placed on A predetermined etching process is performed on the mounting table 11. Then, in the transfer chamber 20 of the processed glass substrate G ', the inert gas such as nitrogen is supplied by the inert gas supply unit 57 as a replacement gas, and the transfer chamber 20 is exhausted by a vacuum pump 42 at the same time. The inert gas supplied for the replacement gas can be replaced by the residual gas or the reaction gas brought into the transfer chamber 20 along with the processed glass substrate G. After the replacement, the gate valve 31 is opened, and the processed glass substrate G is placed on the buffer device 60b on the lower side of the load-locking vacuum chamber 30 by the transfer mechanism 50. Then, the gate valve 31 is closed, and an inert gas nitrogen is supplied from the inert gas supply unit 90 to return the pressure in the load-locking vacuum chamber 30 to atmospheric pressure. After that, the gate valve 35 is opened, and the processed glass substrate G is stored in the cassette of the substrate station by the buffer device 60b on the lower side by the transfer mechanism on the atmospheric side. After storage, the glass substrate G before processing is taken out from the cassette by the transfer mechanism, and is transferred to the upper buffer device 60a. This processing operation is repeated until all the glass substrates loaded in the cassette are processed. As described above, when the pressure in the transfer chamber 20 and the pressure in the etching processing chamber 10 are almost equal to the degree of vacuum, the flow rate of the inert gas for gas replacement cannot be increased. Finally, as is conventionally known, when the inert gas supply port for supplying the inert gas is only at the bottom of the chamber, the space in the transport chamber 20 becomes smaller. V. Description of the invention (15) The inert gas becomes difficult to spread throughout the chamber. In the room, further, there is a problem that the glass substrate G after the processing cannot be effectively replaced with the entire gas. In contrast, the inert gas supply unit 57 of this embodiment has a front-side inert gas supply port 58 and a back-side inert gas supply port 59. Therefore, even when the glass substrate is enlarged, the space of the transfer chamber 20 is narrow (glass substrate The gap between the outer periphery of G and the side wall of the transfer chamber 20 is small). The inert gas discharged from these supply ports can also pass through the processed glass substrate G from the end of the load-locking vacuum chamber side to the front and back sides. On the whole, it is guided to the end portion on the side of the etching processing chamber 10. Therefore, the processed glass substrate G and the surrounding residual gas or reaction gas can be surely guided to the exhaust port 23 in a short time and discharged to the outside. Since the exhaust port 23 is provided below the vacuum gate chamber 22, particles generated in the movable portion of the gate valve 21 do not enter the transport chamber 20 and can be discharged through the exhaust port 23. Similarly, in the load-locking vacuum chamber 30, the inert gas supply unit 90 also has a front-side inert gas supply port 91 and a back-side inert gas supply port 92, so that it can follow the surface side of the processed glass substrate G. And the back side, inert gas is supplied on all sides. In the interlocking vacuum chamber 30 and the transfer chamber 20, even when the inert gas is supplied, particles existing in the chamber fly above or below the glass substrate g (G '), and can be flowed through the glass substrate. The inert gas flow on the surface side or the inside side exhausts the particles to the outside. In addition, the normal temperature inert gas flowing on the front or back side of the glass substrate also has the processed glass substrate G, and the temperature of both sides of the glass substrate G is increased by the temperature after the etching treatment.
18 514972 五、發明說明（l6) 溫下降之效果。 又，加載互鎖真空腔30内之定位裝置70之押壓構件 71、72係設置於玻璃基板G之搬入位置上方，於定位時， 則使玻璃基板G移動至其上方位置。因此，由於定位用之 部位係不設於搬送路徑上，故不會妨礙玻璃基板G之搬送。 藉此’就不需要如習知般’於玻璃基板搬送之際，使 押壓構件待機於搬送路徑上，即不需要待機空間，故即使 加載互鎖真空腔30之空間非常小，亦可充份地進行玻璃基 板G之定位。 又，本發明不限定於前述之實施形態，係可於本發明 之思想範圍内做種種之變形。諸如，於前述實施形態中， 係揭示使用搬送腔20及加載互鎖真空腔30二者作為真空 予備腔之情形，但由簡易的構造觀點來看，省略搬送腔， 真空予備腔僅由一個構成亦可。 又，係揭示主要使用氮氣作為惰性氣體之情形，但並 不限定於此，亦可適用氬氣、氦氣等其他惰性氣體。進而， 於前述實施形態中，係舉搬送腔20及加載互鎖真空腔3〇 分別經由真空閘腔22及32進行排氣為例，但於搬送腔2〇 及加載互鎖真空腔30設置排氣口亦可。 又，於前述實施形態中，係揭示一種蝕刻裝置，但並 不限定於此，亦可適用於去灰裝置（ashing)或成膜裝置 等其他真空處理裝置。 如上所示，依本發明，由於係由用以供給惰性氣體至 被處理基板之表面側之表面側惰性氣體供給口及用以供給18 514972 V. Description of the invention (l6) Effect of temperature drop. In addition, the pressing members 71 and 72 of the positioning device 70 in the loading interlocking vacuum chamber 30 are disposed above the carrying position of the glass substrate G, and during positioning, the glass substrate G is moved to the upper position. Therefore, since the position for positioning is not provided on the transport path, the transport of the glass substrate G is not hindered. By doing this, it is not necessary to make the pressing member wait on the transport path when the glass substrate is transported, that is, there is no need for a waiting space, so even if the space for loading the interlocking vacuum chamber 30 is very small, it can be charged. Positioning of the glass substrate G is performed in portions. In addition, the present invention is not limited to the aforementioned embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the idea of the present invention. For example, in the foregoing embodiment, the case of using both the transfer chamber 20 and the load-locking vacuum chamber 30 as the vacuum preparation chamber is disclosed. However, from the viewpoint of simple structure, the transfer chamber is omitted, and the vacuum preparation chamber is composed of only one Yes. In addition, although the case where nitrogen is mainly used as the inert gas is disclosed, it is not limited to this, and other inert gases such as argon and helium may be applied. Furthermore, in the foregoing embodiment, the conveying chamber 20 and the loading interlocking vacuum chamber 30 are respectively evacuated through the vacuum lock chambers 22 and 32 as an example. Gas ports are also available. In the foregoing embodiment, an etching apparatus is disclosed, but the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to other vacuum processing apparatuses such as an ashing apparatus and a film forming apparatus. As shown above, according to the present invention, since the inert gas supply port for supplying inert gas to the surface side of the substrate to be processed
19 514972 五、發明說明（η) 惰性氣體至被處理基板之裏面側之裏面側惰性氣體供給口 供給惰性氣體，故即使真空予備腔之空間狹小，亦可確實 的將惰性氣體供給至被處理基板之表面及裏面，即，可對 被處理基板全面上供給惰性氣體。因此，伴隨被處理基板 之殘留氣體或反應氣體可藉著惰性氣體於短時間内確實的 置換。 又，由於真空予備腔内之定位機構之押壓構件係設於 真空予備腔中之被處理基板之搬入位置之上方，可將經搬 入真空予備腔内之被處理基板以昇降機構上昇至對應押壓 構件之高度位置後，於該位置再以押壓構件進行被處理基 板之定位，故押壓構件不會妨礙被處理基板之搬送。因此， 於被處理基板搬送之際，押壓構件不需要待機，可使真空 予備腔之空間減小，即，可以較小的空間進行被處理基板 之定位。 元件標號說明 10···處理腔 100…蝕刻裝置 10a...開口部 11.. .載置台 12…第1支持梢 13…第2支持梢 20.. .搬送腔 20a...開口部 20b···開口部 20 51497219 514972 V. Description of the invention (η) Inert gas is supplied to the inert gas supply port on the inner side of the substrate to be processed. Therefore, even if the space in the vacuum preparation chamber is narrow, the inert gas can be reliably supplied to the substrate to be processed. The surface and the inside, that is, the inert gas can be completely supplied to the substrate to be processed. Therefore, the residual gas or reaction gas accompanying the substrate to be processed can be reliably replaced in a short time by the inert gas. In addition, since the pressing member of the positioning mechanism in the vacuum preparation chamber is located above the carrying position of the substrate to be processed in the vacuum preparation chamber, the substrate to be processed that has been moved into the vacuum preparation chamber can be raised to the corresponding pressure by the lifting mechanism. After the height position of the pressing member, the pressed substrate is used to position the substrate to be processed at the position, so the pressed member does not hinder the transportation of the processed substrate. Therefore, when the substrate to be processed is conveyed, the pressing member does not need to wait, and the space of the vacuum preparation chamber can be reduced, that is, the positioning of the substrate to be processed can be performed in a smaller space. Explanation of reference numerals 10 ... Processing chamber 100 ... Etching device 10a ... Opening section 11 ... Mounting table 12 ... First support tip 13 ... Second support tip 20 ... Transfer chamber 20a ... Opening section 20b ··· Opening 20 514972
五、發明說明（is) 21…閘闊 21 a…汽缸 22…閘腔 22a...開口部 22b...開口部 23…排氣口 30.··加載互鎖真空腔 3 0 a...開口部 30b...開口部 30c、30b···加載互鎖真空腔30内之兩壁部 30d、30f···定位裝置70中之壁部 31.. .閘閥 31 a…汽缸 32…閘腔 32a...開口部 32b...開口部 33···排氣口 35…閘閥 35a·"汽缸 41…真空幫浦 42…真空幫浦 43…真空幫浦 44…處理氣體供給源 45.. .惰性氣體供給源 21 514972 五、發明說明（l9) 48…踏台 50.. .搬送機構 51.. .驅動部 52.. .第1臂 53.. .第2臂 54.. .基板支持板 55.. .緩衝裝置 56.. .汽缸 57.. .惰性氣體供給部 58…表面側惰性氣體供給口 59…裏面側惰性氣體供給口 60a...緩衝裝置 60b...緩衝裝置 61 a…汽缸 61b.··汽缸 70··.定位裝置 71.. .押壓構件 72.. .押壓構件 80…框體 80a··.孑 L 告P 81…押壓元件 82.. .空氣汽缸 83.. .引導部 84···真空密封元件 22 514972V. Description of the invention (is) 21 ... Brake width 21 a ... Cylinder 22 ... Block cavity 22a ... Opening portion 22b ... Opening portion 23 ... Exhaust port 30. ·· Loading interlocking vacuum chamber 3 0 a .. Openings 30b ... Openings 30c, 30b ... The two wall portions 30d, 30f in the load-locking vacuum chamber 30 ... The wall portion 31 in the positioning device 70 ... The gate valve 31 a ... the cylinder 32 ... Gate cavity 32a ... Opening section 32b ... Opening section 33 ... Exhaust port 35 ... Gate valve 35a " Cylinder 41 ... Vacuum pump 42 ... Vacuum pump 43 ... Vacuum pump 44 ... Process gas supply source 45 .. Inert gas supply source 21 514972 V. Description of the invention (l9) 48… Stepper 50 .. Transport mechanism 51 .. Drive unit 52 .. 1st arm 53 .. 2nd arm 54 .. Substrate support plate 55 .. Buffer device 56 .. Cylinder 57 .. Inert gas supply unit 58 ... Inert gas supply port 59 on the surface side ... Inert gas supply port 60a on the back side ... Buffer device 60b ... Buffer device 61 a ... Cylinder 61b ... Cylinder 70 ... Positioning device 71 ... Pressing member 72 ... Pressing member 80 ... Frame 80a ......... L 81 P ... Pressing element 82 ... Air Cylinder 83 ... Guide 84 ... Vacuum Sealing Element 22 514972
五、發明說明（2〇) 85…密封構件 8 6...感應電、纜 87…管狀構件 8 8…凸、緣 8 8 a...密封構件 89…傳達構件 90…惰性氣體供給部 91…表面側惰性氣體供給口 92...裏面側惰性氣體供給口 G’·.·處理後之玻璃基板 G.··處理前之玻璃基板 23V. Description of the invention (20) 85 ... sealing member 8 6 ... induction, cable 87 ... tubular member 8 8 ... convex, edge 8 8 a ... sealing member 89 ... transmission member 90 ... inert gas supply unit 91 ... the inert gas supply port 92 on the front side ... the inert gas supply port G 'on the back side ... Glass substrate G after processing ... Glass substrate 23 before processing