JPH0676661B2 - Vertical toilet transport type sputter device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a sputtering apparatus for producing a thin film in vacuum. In particular, the present invention relates to the configuration and structure of a large-sized sputtering apparatus for processing a large area of a flat substrate in large quantities.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, as this type of apparatus, a tray-type in-line apparatus for producing a thin film while transporting a tray containing a substrate is known. Depending on the posture of the tray being transported, it can be classified into a horizontal tray transportation type and a vertical (vertical) tray transportation type. However, as the board area increases and the demand for productivity increases, a large vertical tray transportation type device It has come to be considered advantageous from the standpoint of floor area and prevention of damage caused by dust generation.

Inside the vacuum chamber of the vertical tray type in-line sputtering system, the tray transfer system, heater, cathode, deposition plate, gate valve, etc. are installed, and they require periodic maintenance such as cleaning and replacement. is there. In this case, conventionally, a general structure has been such that the side wall surface of each unit vacuum chamber is opened like a door and an operator approaches the internal mechanism to perform maintenance work.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a conventional apparatus configuration. A tray assembly 70 that accommodates a sputtering unit vacuum chamber 60 that constitutes a part of a vertical tray type in-line sputtering apparatus and a substrate 71 and that is transported while taking a substantially vertical posture. 1 shows a side wall plate 65 forming a side wall of a vacuum container, and a frame 68 on which they are fixed and placed as a whole.

The side wall plate 65 is indicated by an arrow by combining a bracket α provided on the upper and lower sides of the side surface of the vacuum container, a bracket β provided on the upper and lower sides of the side wall plate 65, and a shaft γ which is supported by both brackets and rotates. It can be opened and closed like a door in the direction indicated by B.

Such a side wall plate and its opening / closing mechanism are suitable for approaching maintenance from a wide area outside. However, in the case of maintenance work such as replacing or cleaning the cathode 6 or the like incorporated in the side wall plate which is the door, the larger the device is, the more vertical the side wall plate is installed. Moreover, the work of attaching and detaching those mechanisms is likely to be heavy labor.

In addition, since the chamber 60 and the position of the door are close to each other near the rotary shaft of the door, sufficient space cannot be secured, and workability may be poor.

[Object of the Invention] An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and to provide a novel side wall plate moving mechanism capable of easily and easily performing maintenance work in a large vertical tray transfer type sputtering apparatus. The purpose is to do.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention is a sputtering apparatus in which a plurality of vacuum chambers including a sputtering chamber for depositing a sputtered film on a surface of a substrate are subordinately connected through a gate valve, and a tray assembly. In a vertical tray transfer type sputtering apparatus in which a substrate is transferred to each vacuum chamber while taking a substantially vertical posture, at least one of the vacuum chambers is separable from other members constituting the vacuum chamber. Further, the vacuum chamber has a side flange arranged in a vacuum-sealed state, and the side flange has a horizontal movement mechanism for horizontally moving the side flange to the outside of the vacuum chamber and its movement. After that, rotate the side flange around the horizontal axis to rotate the flange surface to an angle that makes maintenance easier. The rolling mechanism is attached.

[Embodiment] Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the structure of a vertical tray carrying type sputtering apparatus to which the present invention is applied. In the figure, the entire apparatus is composed of 6 gate valves 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 8 vacuum chambers, ie, load lock chamber 21, sub load lock chamber 31, buffer chamber (1) 41, baking chamber 50. , Sputter chamber 60, buffer chamber (2) 42, sub unload lock chamber 32,
And unload lock chamber 22, and gate valves 11, 12, 13, 14 are provided between each vacuum chamber.
Are intervening and are subordinately connected.

The tray assembly 70 is pushed into the load lock chamber 21 from the atmosphere side in the direction indicated by the arrow A with the gate valve open, sequentially passing through the respective vacuum chambers, subjected to the substrate heating and the film forming treatment, and then to the unloading chamber. It is sent out from the load lock chamber 22 to the atmosphere side. Each vacuum chamber has a mechanical booster pump 3 via a valve 2
The oil rotary pump 4, the cryopump 5 or the like is connected to exhaust air.

The state in which the two trays of the tray assembly 70 are suspended in a pair is separated from the gist of the present invention, and a description thereof will be omitted. However, its detailed structure is described in a patent application filed at the same time as the present application. Has been.

Further, when the tray assembly 70 is in the buffer chamber (1) 41, the baking chamber 50, and the sputtering chamber 60, the heaters 8 and 9 heat the back surface and the front surface of the pair of substrates 71 housed in the tray assembly 70. .
In particular, Japanese Patent Application No. 61-28, for the mechanism and effect of heating the substrate by the heater 8 sandwiched between a pair of trays.
9610.

The sputtering chamber 60 is provided with two cathodes 6 on one side, and a sputtering film is attached to each surface of the substrates 71 accommodated in the tray assembly 70.

If the tray assembly 70 consisting of one set of trays has a short time interval (tact time) of about 3 minutes after being processed from the device, insert the tray assembly 70 in the load lock chamber 21 as shown in this figure. Valve 11 and 12 (15 and 16) are closed and then exhausted to a low vacuum, then the tray assembly 70 is transferred to the sub load lock chamber 31 and exhausted to a high vacuum or an ultra high vacuum, and the buffer chamber (1 ) Transfer to 41. However, if the takt time is sufficiently long and there is a sufficient exhaust time, it is not necessary to separately provide the load lock chamber 21 and the sub load lock chamber 31 as shown in this figure, and these can be shared by one chamber. be able to. Similarly, if the tact time is long enough and there is enough exhaust time, the unload lock chamber 22
The sub unload lock chamber 32 and the sub unload lock chamber 32 do not need to be separately provided, and they can be shared and can be formed in one chamber.

If the substrate is not heated, the sub load lock chamber 31 and the heater 8 of the sputter chamber 60 are unnecessary, and the baking chamber 50 is also unnecessary. It should be noted that gas, cooling water, and electricity must be supplied to operate this sputtering apparatus, but they are not shown.

The buffer chamber (1) 41 transfers the tray assembly 70 from the sub-load lock chamber 31 so that the tray assemblies 70 adjacent to each other in the baking chamber 50 and the sputter chamber 60 move continuously with almost no gap. It is necessary as a space for fast-forwarding to move. Similarly, the buffer chamber (2) 42 is necessary for fast-forwarding the tray assembly 70 after the sputtered film deposition process to the sub unload lock chamber 32.

2 is an external view of the sputtering chamber 60, FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view, and FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line I--I in FIG. The structure and operation of the wall unit of the vacuum chamber, which is a feature of the present invention, will be described below with reference to FIGS. 2, 3, and 4.

The sputter chamber 60 is arranged such that a pair of substrates 71 are arranged such that the surfaces on which thin films are to be formed face each other, and the substrates are suspended in a tray carrier 74 with the substrate surfaces substantially vertical.

A tray carrier is provided on the upper wall surface 61 of the sputter chamber 60.
A drive source 75 for transporting the tray 74 is provided, and the tray can be transported in combination with a support mechanism 77 for supporting the tray carrier 74.

A guide assembly 78 is provided on the bottom 61 ′ of the sputtering chamber to correct the posture of the tray assembly 70 during transportation. The sputter chamber 60 basically has an upper wall surface.
61, a lower wall surface 61 ', side wall surfaces 62 and 62' perpendicular to the advancing direction of the tray assembly 70, and two facing side wall surfaces parallel to the advancing direction of the tray assembly 70 (one is shown as 63 in FIG. 3). The other is a hexahedron composed of (not shown in FIG. 3).

On the side wall surfaces 62, 62 ′ perpendicular to the traveling direction of the tray assembly 70,
In order to prevent the tray assembly 70 from moving back and forth between the adjacent baking chamber 50 and buffer chamber (2) 42, a cutout 621 (the one provided on the side wall surface 62 'is omitted) is provided. There is. On the other hand, the side wall surface 63 parallel to the traveling direction of the tray assembly 70 is provided with a large cutout window 63 ', and in this portion, a side flange 65 which is slightly larger than the size of the cutout window 63' from the outside is provided. It is attached in a vacuum-sealed state via an O-ring 64.

The cathode 6 having a target is installed in the side surface flange 65 so as to face the surface of the substrate 71 housed in the tray assembly 70 inside. The atmosphere side of the cathode 6 is covered with an electrode cover 66. The side surface flange 65 constitutes the sputtering chamber 60 together with other members which are fixed to the side wall surface 63 in a vacuum sealed state when the inside of the sputtering chamber 60 is evacuated to a vacuum with the cathode 6 incorporated. Further, the side flange 65 is provided with a horizontal moving mechanism and a rotating mechanism as shown below, and when the sputter chamber 60 is opened to the atmosphere, the side flange 65 is separated from the sputter chamber 60 by these mechanisms. The posture can be changed to a desired one. That is, a pair of brackets 651 are welded and fixed to the side surface flange 65, and are connected to another bracket 671 fixed to the pedestal 674 of the side wall moving base 67 via the rotating shaft 652. On the other hand, the support plate protruding from above the bracket 651 of the side surface flange 65 is connected to the air cylinder 6 via the swing receiving bracket 653.
It is connected to the shaft 673 of 72. Air cylinder 672
Is a rocking bracket 6 that is different from the pedestal 674 of the side wall moving mount 67.
Tie at the other end through 70.

The sputter chamber 60 is mounted on and fixed to the frame 68 as a whole, but the side wall moving mount 67 includes a pedestal 674 and a linear motion bearing mechanism 675 as shown in the cross section in FIG.
The 676 allows it to rest on and move over the frame 68. That is, in this embodiment, the linear motion bearing mechanisms 675 and 676 form a horizontal movement mechanism.

In FIG. 3, the side surface flange 65 and the side wall moving mount 67 shown by solid lines are located at the substantially right end portion on the frame 68. In addition, it can be located at a considerable distance from the sputter chamber 60, as shown by the chain double-dashed line. When the air cylinder 672 is operated at the position indicated by the chain double-dashed line and the shaft 673 is pulled, a force in the direction indicated by the arrow C acts to rotate the side flange 65 about 90 ° around the horizontal axis and As shown in FIG. 2, the flange surface can be in a substantially horizontal posture. In this state, the deposition preventive plate constituting the cathode 6 is removed, and the target conversion work is performed. That is, in this embodiment, the air cylinder 672, the shaft 673, etc. form a rotating mechanism. It should be noted that "angle for easy maintenance"
Is 90 ° as in this embodiment, but is not strictly 90 °, and may be set to another angle close to 90 ° within a range that is easy to maintain.

Compared to the conventional operation of the device shown in Fig. 5 with the side doors almost vertical, the operation is simple and it is not necessary to receive heavy objects. Also, the target can be removed together with the backing plate from the upper side. Therefore, the risk of contaminating the inside of the chamber or the wall surface with water leakage due to the work can be extremely reduced.

After the target replacement work is completed and the cathode 6 is incorporated in the side surface flange 65, the air cylinder 672 is operated to extend the shaft 673 in the direction of the arrow C ′, and the air surface (the vacuum atmosphere of the side surface flange 65 is exposed). (Pointing to the surface on the side) becomes almost vertical again and the state shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 3 is obtained. Then, while sliding on the linear motion bearing mechanisms 675 and 676, the linear motion bearing mechanisms 675 and 676 can be moved in the direction of the arrow B ′ and brought into close contact with the side wall surface 63 of the sputtering chamber 60.

In the above description, one side wall surface of the sputtering chamber 60
Although the side flange 65 arranged on the 63 and the side wall moving mount 67 for moving the side flange 67 have been described, the other side wall face facing the side wall face 63 is also a combination of the side face flange and the mount that perform exactly the same structure and action. Can be configured.

Further, not only the sputter chamber 60, but also all the unit vacuum chambers shown in FIG. 1 can be provided with side surface flanges, side wall moving mounts, etc. on the side wall surfaces parallel to the advancing direction of the tray assembly 70. In that case, by incorporating the valve 2 and the cryopump 5 or the heater 9 in the side surface flange, the maintenance operation of each member incorporated in the side surface flange can be facilitated.

Further, instead of combining all the side wall surfaces parallel to the tray assembly traveling direction with the side surface flanges and the side wall moving pedestals, the parts having relatively few problems in the maintenance operation can be replaced by the conventional one as shown in FIG. It may have a door structure, which may be economically advantageous.

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a highly reliable sputtering apparatus for processing a large-sized substrate of a vertical tray transfer system and having an easy maintenance operation is provided.

The apparatus configuration of the vertical tray transfer method according to the present invention is not limited to the sputtering apparatus and is effective as an apparatus of another method for forming and processing a thin film in a vacuum.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a vertical tray carrying type sputtering device to which the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 is an external view of the sputter chamber 60 of FIG. FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional configuration diagram of the sputtering chamber 60. FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line I-I of FIG. FIG. 5 is an external view showing an example of a sputtering chamber of a conventional vertical tray transfer type sputtering apparatus. 2 ... Valve, 3 ... Mechanical booster pump, 4 ... Oil rotary pump, 5 ... Cryo pump 6 ... Cathode, 8,9 ... Heater, 11,12,13,14,15,16 ... Gate Valve, 21 …… Load lock chamber, 22 …… Unload lock chamber, 31 …… Sub load lock chamber, 32 …… Sub unload lock chamber, 41,42 …… Buffer chamber, 50 …… Baking chamber, 60… … Sputter chamber, 61 …… Sputter chamber upper wall surface, 61 ′ …… Sputter chamber lower wall surface, 62,62 ′ …… Sputter chamber side wall surface perpendicular to the tray assembly progress direction, 63 …… Tray assembly progress Side wall surface of the sputter chamber parallel to the direction, 65 …… side flange, 67 …… side wall moving mount, 68 …… frame. 70 …… Tray assembly, 71 …… Board, 74 …… Tray carrier,

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Yoshifumi Awara 5-8-1, Yotsuya, Fuchu-shi, Tokyo Nichiden Anerva Co., Ltd. (56) References -27925 (JP, Y1)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A sputtering apparatus in which a plurality of vacuum chambers including a sputtering chamber for depositing a sputtered film on a surface of a substrate are subordinately connected through a gate valve, and the substrate is placed in a substantially vertical posture by tray assembly. Meanwhile, in the vertical tray transfer type sputtering apparatus which is transferred to each vacuum chamber, at least one of the vacuum chambers is in a state of being separable from other members constituting the vacuum chamber and vacuuming the inside of the vacuum chamber. It has a side flange arranged in a sealed state, and this side flange has a horizontal movement mechanism for horizontally moving the side flange to the outside of the vacuum chamber, and after the movement, the side flange is attached to the horizontal axis. It is equipped with a rotating mechanism that rotates it to rotate the flange surface to an angle that facilitates maintenance. Vertical tray transporting type sputtering apparatus according to claim.