JPS6273718A - Vacuum processing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the adverse effect of conveying gas by providing a shutter in the intermediate of a conveying passage of gas conveying means for conveying a sample to a sample tray in a processing chamber, and evacuating to reduce the pressure of a part of the passage containing the tray. CONSTITUTION:A buffer chamber 10 is evacuated to be reduced under pressure in the state that a cylinder 21 rises to shut off the chamber 10 and a conveying passage 60 by a shutter plate 82. A semiconductor element substrate is removed, and fed into a conveying passage 60, and conveyed to a position corresponding to a sample electrode 60 through opened interrupting means. Thereafter, the interrupting means is closed, a part of the passage 60 which includes a sample electrode 50 on which a substrate 90 is placed, is airtightly shut off, evacuated to be reduced under pressure to the pressure of the same degree as the pressure in the chamber 10, a shaft 85 is raised, rotated and lowered by the operation of a driver 84. Thus, a communication plate 83 is moved to the position corresponding to the cylinder 21, and a part of the passage 60 becomes communicated with the chamber 10. Thereafter, the cylinder 21 is lowered, and contacted with the plate 83 to form a processing chamber 20. Thus, the substrate can be conveyed directly to the processing chamber without adverse effect of conveying gas.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Application of the Invention] The present invention relates to a vacuum processing apparatus, and in particular to a vacuum processing apparatus N suitable for etching or film forming a sample under reduced pressure.
It's related to h.

[FjI scene of invention]

In a vacuum processing apparatus that etches or forms a film on a sample under reduced pressure, a special transport means is used to transport the sample.

For example, one example is a gas conveying means described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 58-79733 which levitates a wafer by the pressure of compressed gas and conveys the wafer in this state.

However, due to the nature of such gas transport means, the application is limited to transporting the sample in the atmosphere or within a range unrelated to processing; They are not aware of using a gas transport means to directly transport the sample to the processing chamber where the film is formed.

[Purpose of the invention]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum processing apparatus in which a sample can be directly transported to a processing chamber by a gas transporting means without adversely affecting the processing of the sample in the processing chamber.

[Summary of the invention]

The present invention provides a processing chamber, a sample stage that is removably inserted into the processing chamber, a gas transport means for transporting a sample to the sample stage, and communication between a transport path of the gas transport means and the processing chamber. a shutter means for opening and closing, and a blocking means for airtightly blocking a part of the transport path including the sample stage from other parts of the transport path;
It is characterized by comprising an exhaust means for decompressing and evacuating a part of the transport path that is airtightly blocked, so that the gas transport means can be used without adversely affecting the processing of the sample in the processing chamber. This was an attempt to transport the sample directly to the processing chamber.

[Embodiments of the invention]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

In FIG. 1, a cylindrical body n forming a processing chamber is installed in the buffer chamber 10 so as to be movable up and down. Inside the cylindrical body n, the opposing poles 1 are provided substantially horizontally. ,
iw source 5, for example, high frequency WLR4o, buffer chamber l
It is installed outside O. In this case, to turn off the high frequency power,
Opposing 1! Pole I is connected.

The buffer chamber 10 and the counter electrode (material) are electrically insulated. The sample stage, in this case, between the sample electrodes is a facing type [j
30 and is provided substantially horizontally so as to be movable up and down.

The transport path of the gas transport means is capable of accommodating 44 vacuum tubes. The processing chamber and the transport path ω can communicate with each other at a position corresponding to the sample electrode gap. The drive device 70 is installed on the conveyance path (A) and outside the buffer chamber 10.

Kakeru! A sample 'lL polar temperature is disposed on an axis n which is moved up and down by the pH device 70.

When the shaft 71 moves up and down and when it stops E, the airtightness between the conveyance path and the outside is well maintained by the bellows n. , the sample electrodes are grounded via the axis n, and the buffer chamber 1 ( ) is also grounded. In this case, the space between the shutter means is composed of the arm 81, the shutter plate, the communicating root blade, the driving device, and the glaze blade. The shirt flap plate 82 and the communication plate portion are connected to the arm 81.
are provided approximately horizontally at both ends. The driving device audience is installed outside the buffer chamber 10. An arm 81 is provided on the shaft that is moved up and down and rotated by the drive unit Wt84. The axis δ has an axis passing through the midpoint of a line connecting the centers of the shutter plate and the communication plate &.

The filter plate 82 has a function of effectively blocking communication between the processing chamber and the conveyance path. On the circumferential edge of the communication plate] m,
As the cylindrical body descends, its lower end comes into contact with the cylindrical body, thereby forming a processing chamber airtightly isolated from the buffer chamber 10. The communicating root has an opening percentage through which the sample IE pole can pass. The airtightness between the buffer chamber 10 and the outside is well maintained by bellows etc. when the shaft moves up and down, rotates, and stops. A gate valve (not shown) is used between the transport path including the sample IE pole. ) etc., it is possible to airtightly isolate the transport path from other parts.The part of the transport path that is airtightly isolated by the isolation means, including the area between the sample electrodes, is covered by a vacuum pump (not shown), etc. The buffer chamber 10 is provided with an exhaust port 11.n, and each exhaust port 11.22 is connected to an exhaust means (not shown). Exhaust port 11
communicates with the buffer chamber lO excluding the processing chamber (sub) in a state in which a "processing chamber" is formed, and the exhaust port n communicates with the inside of the processing chamber I. The processing gas can be supplied from a gas supply means (not shown) to the space between the sample i electrodes in the processing chamber whitening formed through the opposing IK h 30.

In Figures 1 and 2, first, the state shown in Figure @1, that is,
With the cylindrical body 10 raised and communication between the buffer chamber H) and the conveyance path ω cut off by the shaft blades, the inside of the buffer chamber 10 is evacuated to a predetermined pressure by the exhaust means. On the other hand, for example, one sample, for example, a semiconductor element substrate (hereinafter abbreviated as "substrate") stored in a cassette (not shown) is taken out and placed between the transport paths. As is well known, the space between the substrates is floated by the pressure of compressed gas, and is conveyed to a position lη'' corresponding to the sample layer #3 through the open blocking means.

When the substrates are transferred to a position corresponding to the distance between the sample electrodes, the ejection of compressed gas is stopped, so that the substrates are placed between the sample electrodes with the surface to be processed facing upward. Thereafter, the blocking means is closed IL, thereby causing the sample mold W on which the substrate % is placed! A part of the conveyance path ω including (capital) is hermetically blocked. A part of the space between the airtightly sealed transport paths is evacuated to a pressure comparable to the pressure inside the buffer chamber 10 by an exhaust means. After the completion of the second exhaust, the shaft is raised, rotated 180 degrees, and lowered by the operation of drive devices 1&4. As a result, the space between the communication plates is moved to a position corresponding to the cylindrical body 21, and a portion of the conveyance path ω is brought into communication with the buffer chamber IO. Thereafter, the cylindrical body 21 is lowered and the lower end of the cylindrical body 21 is brought into contact with the upper surface of the circumferential end of the communicating root blade, thereby forming a beautiful processing chamber. Further, the distance between the sample electrodes is raised by -E by the drive device 70, and the TrL pole distance between the opposing i-poles and the wiper electrode Mfi is set to a predetermined electrode distance.

Thereafter, a predetermined processing gas is supplied into the processing chamber y by the gas supply means, and at the same time, the pressure in the west side of the processing chamber is adjusted to a predetermined processing pressure by the exhaust means. In this state,
By applying a predetermined high frequency power to the opposing IE electrode (9) by turning off the high frequency power supply, a discharge occurs between the opposing electrodes and the sample electrode (material). The processing gas for whitening the processing chamber is turned into plasma by this discharge, and using this plasma, the surface to be processed at the top of the substrate is subjected to predetermined processing such as etching and film formation. When such processing is completed, the application of high frequency power to the opposing side 1 [30 and the supply of processing gas to the processing chamber are stopped. Thereafter, the cylindrical body 21 is raised to the position 1z shown in FIG. 1, and then the space between the sample electrodes is lowered to the position shown in FIG. After that, drive #l device z
84, the shaft is raised, rotated 180 degrees, and lowered, whereby communication between the buffer chamber 10 and a portion of the conveyance path ω is hermetically blocked by the shutter plate 82, as shown in FIG. Thereafter, the blocking means is opened, and the processed base circle is removed from between the sample electrodes by the pressure of the compressed gas and transported to a position corresponding to another cassette (not shown). Thereafter, the processed substrates are collected into another cassette.

In this embodiment, the following effects are obtained.

(1) The substrate can be directly transported to the processing chamber by the gas transporting means without any adverse effects of the transport gas on the processing of the substrate in the processing chamber.

(2) The gas conveyance means has a simpler mechanism and higher reliability than conveyance means using a belt or a conveyance means using an arm that moves linearly and reciprocates once, so the structure of the entire device can be simplified. At the same time, reliability can be improved.

Although this embodiment has been described using an example of an apparatus that processes a sample using plasma, the present invention is not particularly limited to this, and may be applied to, for example, a low pressure CVD apparatus, an MB
This also applies to equipment that processes samples under vacuum, such as E equipment.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the present invention provides a vacuum processing chamber in which a sample can be directly transported to a processing chamber by means of a hot gas transporting means without any adverse effects of the transporting gas on the processing of the sample in the processing chamber. There is an effect that can be provided.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure m1 is a cross-sectional view of the conveyance path showing one embodiment of the vacuum processing apparatus according to the present invention, and Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of A--A in Figure 1.
FIG. Add...Processing chamber, Father...Sample electrode, ω.
... Conveyance path, 70.84 ... Drive device, 7
1. &'l...Axis, 81...Ao l
圀20-, Saraji, 50--Ef[electrode, 90--
One circulation path 42 diagram

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A processing chamber, a sample stage that is removably inserted into the processing chamber, a gas transport means for transporting the sample to the sample stage, and opening and closing communication between a transport path of the gas transport means and the processing chamber. a shutter means for airtightly blocking a part of the transport path including the sample stage from other parts of the transport path, and an exhaust means for depressurizing and exhausting the part of the transport path airtightly blocked. A vacuum processing apparatus characterized by comprising: