JPH07166352A - Dustproof carrying-in method of substrate for vacuum treatment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To form a thin films without contaminating the substrate with outdoor air by placing the cleaned substrate for thin film formation into a separating case and evacuating the inside of the case, then connecting the case to a load locking chamber and evacuating the load locking chamber. CONSTITUTION:The surface of the disk-shaped substrate 21 for thin film formation is ultrasonically washed and the substrate is mounted on a supporting member 13 in the separating case 15. The case is then placed on a driving plate 33 in a vacuum sealing chamber 31. Next, the inside of the vacuum sealing chamber 31 and the inside of the separating case 15 connecting to the chamber are evacuated to a vacuum and thereafter, an operating plate 33 is risen to press the supporting member 13 and the separating case 15 to each other. After the atm. pressure is restored in the vacuum sealing chamber 31, the separating case 15 is taken out of the vacuum sealing chamber 31 and while the substrate 21 is held put in the separating case 15 of a vacuum state, the substrate is pressed to a load locking chamber and the inside thereof is evacuated to a vacuum; thereafter, the substrate 21 in the separating case 15 is transferred into the load locking chamber. The adhesion of dust on the substrate 21 is completely prevented without exposing the substrate to the outdoor air and the occurrence of defects, such as pinholes on the thin film on the substrate is prevented.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of handling a cleaned substrate under dust protection and carrying it into a vacuum processing apparatus when performing vacuum processing such as thin film formation by vacuum deposition or sputtering.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Vacuum deposition equipment, sputtering equipment, C
In a vacuum processing apparatus such as a thin film forming apparatus such as a VD apparatus or a dry etching apparatus, a substrate to be processed is cleaned by an ultrasonic cleaning machine or the like, and then carried into the processing apparatus.
Required processing is performed.

In order to realize high product quality, the substrate needs to be highly cleaned, and if dust adheres to the substrate after cleaning, it may cause pinholes and the like, so dustproof measures are required. Further, robotization is being advanced in handling such as transfer of substrates after cleaning and loading into substrates. Further, the vacuum processing apparatus is also being made into a continuous apparatus, in which each chamber such as an introduction chamber, a pretreatment chamber, a processing chamber, and an ejection chamber is continuously provided, and continuous processing is performed while transferring a substrate between the chambers. ing.

Therefore, as a dust-proof measure, the process from the take-out side of the ultrasonic cleaning machine to the introduction chamber of the vacuum processing apparatus is made into a clean room, and a system which can be easily robotized is desired. .

[0005]

However, a wide clean room is required for the above dustproof measures,
Also, it is necessary to manage the degree of cleanliness highly.
The present invention has been made in order to solve this problem, and provides a method for handling a clean substrate, which is easy to take dust-proof measures, does not necessarily require a sophisticated clean room, and can be systematized.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided a dust-proof carrying-in method for a vacuum processing substrate, wherein a substrate supporting member for supporting the vacuum processing substrate and a vacuum sealing structure are formed by being brought into contact with the substrate supporting member. After cleaning the vacuum processing substrate by using a substrate case composed of an encapsulating member that forms a substrate storage chamber capable of vacuum exhaust in a space between the substrate supporting member and the substrate supporting member, support the substrate on the substrate supporting member. And a housing step of evacuating the inside of the board case,

By transferring the substrate case accommodating the vacuum processing substrate to the vacuum processing apparatus and releasing the vacuum seal structure of the substrate case, the substrate processing apparatus is evacuated to the vacuum chamber. The substrate case is opened, the substrate for vacuum processing is taken out from the substrate case, and is carried into the introduction vacuum chamber.

[0008]

1 (A) and 1 (B) are explanatory views showing an embodiment of a board case used in the present invention and a method of using the same.

The substrate case 11 includes an under tray 13
(Substrate support member) and a separate case 15 (encapsulation member) which is separate from the substrate support member. Under tray 1
3, the plate support 13b is provided on a plate-shaped tray body 13a made of a rigid plate such as a metal plate such as an aluminum plate. The substrate support 13b is preferably made of a material having poor thermal conductivity so that the disc-shaped substrate 21 is not unevenly heated.

The separate case 15 is made of a rigid plate such as a metal plate such as an aluminum plate and has a closed upper end, and has a flange surface 15a at the lower end. The flange surface 15a has a packing 17 for forming a vacuum seal structure with the under tray (FIG. 2 (B)).
reference).

First, as shown in FIG. 1A, after ultrasonic cleaning, the disk-shaped substrate 21 is supported on the substrate support 13b of the under tray 13. Then, as shown in FIG. 1B, the under tray 13 is placed on the drive plate 33 of the vacuum sealing chamber 31, and the flange surface 15a of the separate case 15 and the end surface of the vacuum sealing chamber main body 31 are opposed to each other. As shown in detail in FIG. 2B, the vacuum sealing chamber main body 3
A vacuum seal structure is formed by the packing 35 provided on one end surface and the flange surface 15a contacting the packing 35.

Then, as shown in FIG. 1B, the leak valve 41 is closed, the exhaust valve 39 is opened, and the exhaust pump 37 evacuates the inside of the vacuum sealing chamber main body 31. At this time, since the separate case 15 and the under tray 13 are separated from each other, the inside of the substrate storage chamber 19 that is surrounded by these and stores the substrate 21 is evacuated.

As shown in FIG. 2A, after the evacuation is completed, the drive plate 33 is raised by a hydraulic cylinder or the like, and the under tray 13 and the separate case 15 are brought into contact with each other via the packing 17, and a space between them is provided. Form a vacuum seal structure.

Then, the exhaust valve 39 is closed and the leak valve is opened to open the inside of the vacuum sealing chamber 31 to the atmosphere, and the substrate case 11 is removed from the vacuum sealing chamber 31 (FIG. 3).

Since the inside of the substrate storage chamber 19 is evacuated and the pressure is sufficiently smaller than the atmospheric pressure, the substrate case 11 is pushed from the surrounding by the atmospheric pressure, and the under tray 13 and the separate case 15 are firmly integrated. It does not separate. Therefore, the substrate case 11 can be hung and handled, or can be handled in a situation where a shock is applied. Also, the under tray 13 and the separate case 1
There is no need for engaging means with 5, and there is no need for an attaching / detaching operation or a lock mechanism.

Further, since it can be handled as a unit of the substrate case 11, it can be viewed as the same regardless of the shape and size of the substrate 21, and the transfer means and various actuators can be designed according to the substrate case 11. It is easy to convert.

The substrate case 11 accommodating the substrate 21 is then transferred and set in the vapor deposition machine load lock chamber 51 (introduction vacuum chamber of the vacuum processing apparatus) as shown in FIG. 4 (A). At the opening 53 of the load lock chamber 51 of the vapor deposition machine, the packing (not shown) provided on the flange surface of the load lock chamber 51 and the flange surface 15a of the separate case 15 of the substrate case 11 come into contact with each other to form a vacuum seal structure. To form. Next, the load lock chamber 51 is evacuated to a vacuum, and when the pressure in the storage chamber 19 of the substrate case 11 and the pressure in the load lock chamber 51 become close to the same pressure, the holding force between the separate case 15 and the under tray 13 automatically disappears. Then, Fig. 4
As shown in (B), the drive plate 55 is lowered to introduce the substrate 21 into the load lock chamber 51. Then, the substrate 21 is transferred from the load lock chamber 51 to another processing chamber, the load lock chamber 51 is opened to the atmosphere, and the separate case 15 is recovered.

The substrate 21 that has been ultrasonically cleaned is accommodated in the substrate case 11 that has been evacuated, handled, transferred, and carried into the load lock chamber 51.
Is not exposed to the atmosphere, and dust adhesion can be completely prevented. Therefore, a vapor-deposited thin film without pinholes or film defects can be obtained on the substrate 21.

The invention of the present application can be modified in various ways other than the above-mentioned embodiment, and one example thereof is as follows.

(1) As the substrate 21, a relatively large-sized substrate for a laser disk or the like is stored in the substrate case 11 for handling, but a plurality of substrates are handled in the substrate case 11. It can also be stored in.

(2) It is also possible to directly evacuate the inside of the substrate case 11 with the under tray 13 and the separate case 15 in contact with each other without using the vacuum sealing chamber 31.

(3) After the substrate 21 is housed in the substrate case 11 and the inside of the substrate case 11 is evacuated, the substrate 21
Before loading the wafer into the load lock chamber 51, the substrate case 11
The substrates housed therein can be heat treated. In this case, a heating source such as a heater may be provided inside the substrate case 11, or may be heated from the outside through the substrate case 11.

(4) Opening 53 of the load lock chamber 51
Is provided with a valve member such as a gate valve, and after the substrate 21 is introduced into the load lock chamber 51, the load lock chamber 51 and the separate case 15 are vacuum-separated by the valve member to open the inside of the load lock chamber 51 to the atmosphere. Instead, only the inside of the separate case 15 is opened to the atmosphere and collected.

An example of this is shown in FIGS.
The load lock chamber 51 is in a vacuum state with its opening 53 closed by a drive plate 55 (the exhaust system is not shown). An exhaust pipe 57 is formed in the drive plate 55, and an upper exhaust gas pump 37, an exhaust valve 39, and a leak valve 41 form an exhaust system so that the upper surface of the drive plate 55 can be vacuum-exhausted.

When the substrate case 11 is placed on the load lock chamber 51 from the state shown in FIG. 5A as shown in FIG. 5B, the small space 59 on the drive plate 55 is evacuated. It is evacuated by the pump 37. As a result, the pressure inside the substrate case 11 and the pressure inside the small space 59 become substantially equal, and the under tray 13 on which the substrate 21 is mounted moves down onto the drive plate. From this state, as shown in FIG. 5C, the drive plate 55 is lowered and the substrate 21 is introduced into the load lock chamber 51. The substrate 21 loaded into the load lock chamber 51 may be transferred to the next-stage processing chamber (sputtering chamber, vacuum deposition chamber, etc.), or the load lock chamber 51 itself may be used as the processing chamber.

After this, the drive plate 51 again rises to close the opening 53 (FIG. 5D), and the leak valve 41
As a result, the upper portion of the drive plate 55 is opened to the atmosphere, and the separate case 15 is recovered.

(5) The vacuum processing apparatus applied is not particularly limited, and a sputtering apparatus other than the vacuum vapor deposition apparatus, C
It can be applied to other thin film forming devices such as VD devices and dry etching devices.

[0028]

According to the invention described in claim 1 of the present application, a perfect dustproof measure is taken by accommodating the cleaned vacuum processing substrate in the vacuum-exhausted substrate case and handling it together with the substrate case. Can and does not need a clean room. Therefore, the capital investment amount in the vacuum processing can be significantly reduced.

Further, since the substrate cape is handled, transferred and carried in as a unit, the entire production line can be standardized by the size and shape of the substrate case, and robotization and systemization are easy. Further, according to the invention as set forth in claim 2 or 3, it is possible to easily close and open the substrate case by utilizing the pressure difference, and a troublesome attachment / detachment mechanism or operation is unnecessary, thereby improving productivity. And robotization becomes easy.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the substrate can be preheated by utilizing the transfer time to the vacuum processing apparatus and the like, and the heat treatment in the post process can be simplified accordingly.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing an embodiment of the present invention, and (B) is an enlarged view of an A part of (A).

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 substrate case 13 under tray 15 separate case 17 packing 19 storage chamber 21 substrate 31 vacuum sealing chamber body 33 drive plate 35 packing 37 vacuum exhaust pump 39 exhaust valve 41 leak valve 51 load lock chamber 53 opening 55 drive plate 57 exhaust pipe 59 Small space

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A substrate supporting member for supporting a vacuum processing substrate, and a substrate accommodating chamber capable of being evacuated to a space between the substrate supporting member and the substrate supporting member to form a vacuum seal structure. After the substrate for vacuum processing is cleaned using the substrate case consisting of the encapsulating material to be formed, the substrate is supported by the substrate support member and stored in the substrate case, and the substrate case is evacuated. The process, the transfer process of transferring the substrate case containing this vacuum processing substrate to the vacuum processing apparatus, and the release of the vacuum sealing structure of the substrate case to the vacuumed introduction vacuum chamber of the substrate processing apparatus. And the substrate case is opened, and the vacuum processing substrate is taken out from the substrate case and carried into the introduction vacuum chamber. 2. In the storing step, a vacuum sealing chamber is formed by the encapsulating member and the sealing chamber main body, and in the vacuum sealing chamber,
The substrate support member supporting the vacuum processing substrate is separated from the encapsulation case and stored under atmospheric pressure, the vacuum sealing chamber is evacuated, and the substrate support member is brought into contact with the encapsulation member to create a vacuum between the two. The substrate for vacuum processing according to claim 1, wherein after forming the seal structure, the inside of the vacuum sealing chamber outside the substrate support member is opened to the atmosphere to store the substrate in the substrate case and to evacuate the inside of the substrate case. Dustproof carry-in method. 3. In the carrying-in step, the introduction opening of the introduction vacuum chamber is closed with a covering member, the introduction vacuum chamber is evacuated to a pressure lower than that in the substrate case, and then the substrate for vacuum processing is The dust-proof carrying-in method of a vacuum processing substrate according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the substrate is carried into the introduction vacuum chamber while being supported by the substrate supporting member. 4. The method for carrying in a dust-proof substrate for vacuum processing according to claim 1, wherein the vacuum processing substrate is heat-treated while being housed in a substrate case.