KR101688842B1 - Substrate processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus comprising a substrate processing apparatus including a plurality of process chambers, at least one load lock chamber, and at least one transfer chamber, in which substrates are loaded and unloaded in a linear direction through a load lock chamber A processing apparatus comprising: a chamber provided with a predetermined space therein; a load lock chamber having a chamber body provided with loading and unloading gates for substrates at different positions on one side and the other side; And a lift portion provided below the support and lifting and lowering the support.

Description

[0001] Substrate processing apparatus [

Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus, and more particularly, to a substrate processing apparatus for processing a large area substrate.

Flat panel displays such as Liquid Crystal Display, Plasma Display Panel and Organic Light Emitting Diodes are manufactured using a semiconductor manufacturing process. Flat panel displays have been implemented on large area substrates in response to user needs and development of manufacturing technology. In addition, flat panel display devices as well as solar cells are being implemented on large-area substrates using semiconductor manufacturing processes.

Semiconductor manufacturing processes include processes such as deposition, photography and etching, and such processes are repeated a plurality of times to manufacture flat panel display devices or solar cells. Each process is performed in a process chamber in which the optimal environment for the progress of the process is established. In particular, in recent years, in-line equipment having a plurality of process chambers continuously arranged at regular intervals so as to process a large number of substrates in a short time has been used.

The inline equipment includes a plurality of process chambers for carrying out a predetermined process, a load lock chamber for creating an environment for bringing the substrate into the process chamber before the substrate is carried into the process chamber, And a transfer chamber in which a robot arm for transferring the substrate in the load lock chamber to the corresponding process chamber or transferring the substrate in the process chamber to the load lock chamber is connected to the load lock chamber.

Further, at least one end of the load lock chamber, for example, a rear end thereof, is provided with a transfer means for transferring the substrate. However, the carry-out gate of the load lock chamber on which the substrate is carried out differs in position from the conveying means, and accordingly elevating means for adjusting the position between them is provided. Therefore, the substrate carried out from the load lock chamber is conveyed by the conveying means after the position of the substrate is adjusted by the elevating means. The elevating means and the conveying means may be provided in the transfer chamber or may be provided between the load lock chamber and the transfer chamber. Further, the conveying means and the elevating means may be provided at the front end of the load lock chamber.

In such a conventional inline substrate processing apparatus, the load lock chamber and the elevating means are separately constructed. However, when the load lock chamber and the elevating means are separately formed, the area and the volume of the in-line substrate processing apparatus are increased. That is, since the elevating means supports the entire area of the substrate, the portion where the substrate is supported must have an area larger than the area of the substrate. As the size of the substrate increases, the area and volume occupied by the elevating means also increases. The area and volume of the apparatus are increased. Therefore, a large space for installing the substrate processing apparatus is required. Further, since the transfer distance of the substrate is increased as the elevating means is included, the particle source is increased. The particles may fall on the substrate and cause problems in operation of the flat panel display device or the like formed on the substrate.

The present invention provides a substrate processing apparatus capable of reducing an area and a volume, and reducing a transfer distance of the substrate.

The present invention provides a substrate processing apparatus in which a load lock chamber and an elevating means are integrally formed.

The present invention provides a substrate processing apparatus capable of adjusting the position of a substrate in a load lock chamber by providing a lifting means below a support for supporting the substrate in the load lock chamber.

A substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a chamber body having a predetermined space therein and provided with a substrate carry-in and carry-out gate at different positions on one side and the other side opposite to each other in a linear direction; A support table provided in the chamber body for supporting the substrate to be loaded; And a lift portion provided below the support and elevating and lowering the support.

At least two of the supports are stacked.

The support is provided with a roller on the upper part to move the substrate.

The support base includes a plate-shaped support plate; At least two guide blocks provided on the support plate; And a plurality of roller shafts provided between the guide blocks and equipped with the rollers.

And a stopper provided at an end of the support in a direction in which the substrate enters.

A substrate processing apparatus according to another aspect of the present invention includes a plurality of process chambers, at least one load lock chamber, and at least one transfer chamber, through which the loading and unloading of substrates is performed in a linear direction A chamber body in which a predetermined space is provided in the inside of the load lock chamber and in which a substrate loading and unloading gate is provided on one side and the other side opposite to each other in a linear direction; A support table provided in the chamber body for supporting the substrate to be loaded; And a lift portion provided below the support and elevating and lowering the support.

And transfer means provided at the front end and the rear end of the load lock chamber.

The conveying means are provided at different heights corresponding to the carry-in and carry-out gates.

The present invention provides an inline substrate processing apparatus provided with a support base for supporting and transporting a substrate in a load lock chamber and a lift portion for lifting and lowering the support base. Therefore, the position of the substrate in the load lock chamber can be adjusted to the height of the conveying means at the front end and the rear end, so that the elevating means need not be separately provided at the rear end of the load lock chamber. Since the elevating means is not provided at the rear end of the load lock chamber, the area and volume of the substrate processing apparatus can be reduced and the particle source can be reduced.

1 is a schematic diagram of an in-line substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;
Figures 2 and 3 are longitudinal and transverse cross-sectional views of a load lock chamber in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a perspective view of a support of a load lock chamber in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
5 to 7 are longitudinal cross-sectional views of a load lock chamber shown in the order of steps for explaining a method of driving a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
8 is a longitudinal section of a load lock chamber according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but is capable of other various forms of implementation, and that these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, It is provided to let you know completely.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an inline substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are a longitudinal sectional view and a cross sectional view of a load lock chamber according to an embodiment of the present invention. 4 is a perspective view of a support of a load lock chamber in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

1, 2 and 3, a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a plurality of process chambers 100, a load lock chamber 200, and a transfer chamber 300, And each of them is arranged in an inline form, and the carrying-in and carrying-out of the substrate are also carried out in an in-line form.

The process chamber 100 performs processes such as vapor deposition, etching, and the like on the substrate at a predetermined temperature and pressure, for example, high temperature and low pressure. At this time, since it is difficult to bring the substrate at atmospheric pressure directly into the high-temperature and low-pressure process chamber 100, it is necessary to provide the same environment as the process chamber 100 before transferring the substrate to the process chamber 100. The load lock chamber 200 is responsible. That is, the load lock chamber 200 may be substantially parallel to the environment of the process chamber 100 or to the external environment before the substrate is brought into the process chamber 100 from the outside or before the substrate is taken out of the process chamber 100 And the substrate is received in the same state. Accordingly, the load lock chamber 200 is repeatedly maintained at the atmospheric pressure or the vacuum state. The transfer chamber 300 is provided between the load lock chamber 200 and the process chamber 100 and connects the transfer chamber 300 and the transfer chamber 300. A transfer robot is provided inside the transfer chamber 300 to transfer the substrate between the load lock chamber 200 and the process chamber 100 Or the like. The transfer chamber 300 is always kept in a vacuum atmosphere to allow the atmosphere inside the process chamber 100 to be maintained in a vacuum atmosphere even when the substrate in the process chamber 100 is taken out or the substrate is brought into the process chamber 100 . The substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will focus on the structure and function of the load lock chamber 200 without substantially changing the structure of the process chamber 100 and the transfer chamber 300. [

The load lock chamber 200 includes a chamber body 210 having a predetermined space therein, a support 220 provided below the chamber body 210 to support the substrate S, And a lifting unit 230 provided on the support table 220 to lift the support table 220.

The chamber body 210 includes a generally planar top surface 212 and a side surface 214 extending downwardly from the top surface 212. A lower surface 218 opposed to the upper surface 212 may be provided on the lower side of the side surface 214 to form the chamber body 210 in a sealed shape. However, the lower surface 218 is not provided, and the chamber body 210 may have a predetermined space inside and a lower side thereof may be opened. The upper surface 212 may be provided in a substantially rectangular plate shape and is provided to be larger than the substrate S in order to provide an internal space wider than the substrate S. Further, the side surface 214 is provided extending from the outer side of the upper surface 212 downward. The height of the chamber body 210 is determined by the side surface 214 so that the side surface 214 is supported by the support 220 in order to provide sufficient space for the substrate S to be carried in and to lift and support the support 220 It is made higher than the elevating height. In addition, the two side faces 214 facing each other in the direction in which the substrate S moves may be provided with carry-in and carry-out gates 216a and 216b. The substrate S is carried into and out of the space inside the chamber body 210 through the carry-in and carry-out gates 216a and 216b and these can be provided at different positions depending on the carry-in and carry-out positions of the substrate S . That is, the carry height of the substrate S may be different from the carry height. In this embodiment, the carry height is higher than the carry-out height, and the carry-in gate 216a is provided at a position higher than the carry-out gate 216b. At least one exhaust pipe (not shown) and a supply pipe (not shown) are provided on at least one of the upper surface 212 and the side surface 214 of the chamber body 210. The exhaust pipe may be connected to a vacuum pump (not shown) to regulate the pressure of the load lock chamber 200. In addition, a feed line may be connected to a gas source (not shown) to provide an atmosphere gas within the load lock chamber 200. At this time, an inert gas may be used as the atmospheric gas, for example, nitrogen (N ₂ ) gas may be used.

The support base 220 includes a substantially plate-like support plate 221, a guide block 222 provided on the support plate 221, a plurality of roller shafts 223 provided between the guide blocks 222, a roller shaft 223 A plurality of rollers 224 mounted on the support base 220 and a stopper 225 provided at the end of the support base 220. The support plate 221 is provided in a substantially rectangular shape having a predetermined thickness and is sized to correspond to an inner space of the chamber body 210, that is, a space between the side surfaces 214. The support plate 221 vertically moves the inside of the chamber body 210 upward and downward. In addition, a hermetic member (not shown) may be provided on the side surface of the support plate 221. The hermetic member is provided to maintain the airtightness inside the chamber body 210 on the upper side of the support plate 221 or to prevent the generation of particles due to the friction between the side surface 224 and the support plate 221. Of course, the hermetic member may be partially provided on the side surface of the support plate 221 when the chamber body 210 is manufactured in a closed form without opening the lower side. On the upper side of the support plate 221, at least two guide blocks 222 are provided in parallel to each other in the traveling direction of the substrate S. That is, the first and second guide blocks 222 may be provided in parallel with a width wider than the width of the substrate S, and a third guide block 222 may be provided between the first and second guide blocks 222 . At least two guide blocks 222 parallel to each other are provided with a plurality of roller shafts 223 at predetermined intervals along the direction in which the guide blocks 222 intersect, A plurality of rollers 224 are mounted on the roller shaft 223, and driving means (not shown) is further provided on the outside in order to rotate the roller shaft 223. The roller shaft 223 is rotated by the driving means so that the roller 224 is rotated so that the substrate S to be carried from the outside is advanced on the roller 224 and stays on the support table 220 . At this time, the surface height of the roller 224 may be higher than the guide block 222. This is because if the height of the guide block 222 is higher than the height of the roller 224, the substrate S may collide with the guide block 222 during loading or unloading, and the substrate S may be damaged. Of course, the guide block 222 may be equal to or higher than the surface height of the roller 224. In this case, at least one guide (not shown) for adjusting the carry- May be provided. That is, the guide is provided with a pivoting member inside the guide block 222 on which the substrate S moves, and a soft contact member may be provided at the end of the pivoting member. The tiltable member can rotate toward the substrate S side or the guide block 222 side in accordance with the movement of the substrate S and the contact member is configured to be rotatable at the end of the tiltable member, A groove may be formed in the substrate. The turning position of the substrate S can be adjusted by rotating the turning member, and the substrate S advances along the rotating contact member. Of course, such a guide may be provided on the upper side of the guide block 222 even when the guide block 222 is provided lower than the surface height of the roller 224. On the other hand, a stopper 225 is provided at the end of the support table 220 in the direction in which the substrate S advances. The stopper 225 functions to limit the position of the substrate S and can be made of a soft material such as rubber or silicon so as not to damage the substrate S by the impact of the substrate S. The stopper 225 may be provided in an ascending and descending manner and may be provided between the two roller shafts 223 at the end of the support table 220 and may be provided in a substantially & have. That is, the stopper 225 is provided in the "? "Shape so that the edges of the substrate S can be matched. The stopper 225 ascends to a position higher than the carrying height of the substrate S when the substrate S is carried therein to limit the position of the substrate S and the position of the substrate S when the substrate S is carried out, The height of the substrate S is lowered to a position lower than the carry-out height of the substrate S so as not to interfere with the progress of the substrate S. The driving means of the stopper 225 and the roller shaft 223 and the driving means of the front end and the rear end of the load lock chamber 200 can be controlled to each other. That is, when the substrate S contacts the stopper 225, the movement of the driving means of the roller shaft 223 and the transfer means 310 and 320 of the front end of the load lock chamber 200 are stopped, It is possible to prevent the movement of the substrate S and to prevent the substrate S from being damaged due to the collision of the substrate S. When the stopper 225 is moved downward and the contact with the substrate S is released, the driving means of the roller shaft 223 and the transfer means 310 and 320 at the front end and the rear end of the load lock chamber 200 are operated do. The stopper 225 may be a lever type moving in the horizontal direction at the distal end of the support table 220.

And is provided on the lower side of the supporting table 220 of the elevating part 230 to move up and down the supporting table 220. The lift portion 230 includes at least one lift pin for supporting the lower side of the support table 220 and vertical drive means (not shown) for driving the lift pin. The lift pins support a center portion of the lower side of the support table 220 or a plurality of areas below the support table 220. Accordingly, the lift pin is vertically moved upward or downward by the driving force of the driving means, thereby moving the support table 220 on the lift pin.

The transfer means 310 and 320 may be provided at the front end and the rear end of the load lock chamber 200, respectively. Here, each of the conveying means 310 and 320 may be provided at the height of the carry-in and carry-out gates 216a and 216b of the load lock chamber 200. That is, the conveying unit 310 at the front end may be configured to have a different height from the conveying unit 320 at the rear end. The conveying means 310 and 320 may be configured in the same manner as the support 220 of the load lock chamber 200. That is, the conveying means 310 and 320 include substantially plate-like support plates 311 and 321, guide blocks 312 and 322 provided on the support plates 311 and 321, guide blocks 312 and 322 provided between the guide blocks 312 and 322, A plurality of roller shafts 313 and 323 and a plurality of rollers 314 and 324 mounted on the roller shafts 313 and 323. Therefore, the advancement of the substrate S through the transfer means 310 at the front end, the load lock chamber 200, and the transfer means 320 at the rear end can be continuously performed. The transfer means 310 and 320 may be provided in the transfer chamber 300 or may be provided between the transfer chamber 300 and the load lock chamber 200. That is, one of the conveying means 310 and 320 is under atmospheric pressure and the other is in a vacuum atmosphere, and the load lock chamber 200 is positioned therebetween.

As described above, the substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a support table 220 for supporting and transferring the substrate S in the load lock chamber 200, a lift part 230 for lifting and lowering the support table 220, . Accordingly, the position of the substrate S in the load lock chamber 200 can be adjusted to the height of the conveying means 310, 320 at the front end and the rear end, so that the elevating means is separately provided at the rear end of the load lock chamber 200 You do not have to do. Since the elevating means is not provided at the rear end of the load lock chamber 200, the area and volume of the substrate processing apparatus can be reduced and the particle source can be reduced.

A driving method of the substrate processing apparatus including the above-described load lock chamber having the ascending / descend function will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 7. FIG.

Referring to FIG. 5, the load lock chamber 200 is initially located at the loading position of the substrate S. That is, the support table 220 is positioned at the height of the carry-in gate 216a. Here, the carry-in gate 216a is provided at the height of the transfer means 310 at the front end, and the carry-out gate 216b is provided at the height of the transfer means 320 at the rear end. The conveying means 310 and 320 are provided at different heights. The conveying means 310 at the front end may be provided at a position higher than the conveying means 320 at the rear end. Therefore, the support table 220 is moved upward by the lifting unit 230 and is positioned at the initial position. On the other hand, the load lock chamber 200 maintains the same pressure as the pressure of the area in which the substrate S is initially loaded. That is, the load lock chamber 200 maintains atmospheric pressure or vacuum atmosphere the same as the area in which the substrate S is carried. Then, when the carry-in gate 216a is opened and the substrate S is loaded through the transfer means 310 at the front end, the roller 224 on the support table 220 rotates so that the substrate S is placed on the support table 220 . At this time, a stopper 225 is provided on the support table 220 to restrict the position of the substrate S to be loaded. When the position of the substrate S is restricted by the stopper 225, the rotation of the roller 224 is stopped . Thus, the substrate S carried into the load lock chamber 200 is rested on the support table 220.

Referring to FIG. 6, the pressure inside the load lock chamber 200 is adjusted to the pressure of the region where the substrate S is carried out, and the pressure can be controlled in a normal pressure atmosphere or a vacuum atmosphere. For example, it is possible to initially maintain the atmospheric pressure atmosphere and then maintain the vacuum atmosphere, and conversely, maintain the vacuum atmosphere at the initial stage and then maintain the atmospheric pressure atmosphere. After the pressure of the load lock chamber 200 is adjusted, The supporting table 220 is moved to the unloading position by the driving of the driving motor 230. For example, the support table 220 moves downward and is positioned at the take-out position, that is, the height of the take-out gate 216b. The lift part 230 includes a lift pin for supporting at least one area below the support table 220. The lift pin is driven by the driving force of the drive device to lower the support table 220. [

7, after the stopper 225 is moved downward and removed, the take-out gate 216b is opened and the roller 223 is driven so that the substrate S is conveyed through the take-out gate 216b, (320).

Although one support rod 220 is provided in the load lock chamber 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 8, the support rod 220 may have a plurality of support rods 220. That is, the first and second support rods 220a and 220b may be vertically stacked. The elevation portion 230 is provided below the first support rods 220a. And a frame 228 supporting the second support table 220b is provided on the outer side. That is, the frame 228 should be provided in the outer region of the support plate 221a of the first support table 220a so as not to affect the carry-in of the substrate S. For example, when the guide block 222 is disposed on the outer support plate 221a. Accordingly, the first and second support rods 220a and 220b are raised and lowered by the lift portion 230, and the first and second support rods 220a and 220b are positioned at the height of the carry-in gate 216a, respectively. That is, after the substrate S is loaded by placing the second support table 220b at the height of the transfer gate 216a by using the ascending and descending part 230, the first support table 220a, Is positioned at the height of the carry-in gate 216a to allow the substrate S to be carried. Subsequently, after the pressure of the load lock chamber 200 is adjusted, the first and second support rods 220a and 220b are positioned at the height of the release gate 216b using the elevator 230, The substrate S placed on the second support rods 220a and 220b is taken out through the take-out gate 216b. The processing time of the substrate S can be reduced by controlling the pressure after bringing the plurality of substrates S into the load lock chamber 200 in this way.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

100: process chamber 200: load lock chamber
300: transfer chamber 210: chamber body
220: support member 230:

Claims (9)

A chamber body provided with a predetermined space therein and provided with loading and unloading gates for substrates at different positions on one side and the other side opposite to each other in a linear direction;
A support table provided in the chamber body for supporting the substrate to be loaded; And
And a lift portion provided below the support and elevating and lowering the support,
The support base includes a plate-like support plate, at least two guide blocks provided on the support plate, a plurality of roller shafts provided between the guide blocks, a plurality of rollers mounted on the roller shaft, And a stopper provided at an end of the support.
The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising first and second transfer means provided at the front end and the rear end of the chamber body, respectively, and having different heights corresponding to the carry-in and carry-out gates, respectively.
3. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein at least two of the supports are laminated.
delete delete delete A substrate processing apparatus comprising a plurality of process chambers, at least one load lock chamber, and at least one transfer chamber, in which the loading and unloading of the substrate is performed in a linear direction through the load lock chamber,
Wherein the load lock chamber is provided with a predetermined space therein, the chamber having a loading and unloading gate for the substrate at different positions on one side and the other side opposite to each other in a linear direction;
A support table provided in the chamber body for supporting the substrate to be loaded; And
And a lift portion provided below the support and elevating and lowering the support,
The support base includes a plate-like support plate, at least two guide blocks provided on the support plate, a plurality of roller shafts provided between the guide blocks, a plurality of rollers mounted on the roller shaft, And a stopper provided at an end of the support. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising first and second transfer means provided respectively at the front end and the rear end of the load lock chamber.
The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the first and second transfer means are provided with different heights corresponding to the carry-in and carry-out gates, respectively.

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