JPH08124916A - Multi-chamber vacuum heat treatment system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To shorten the time required for heat treatment and to enhance the productivity by stacking a plurality of substrate conveying cases vertically in multistage in a load-lock chamber thereby decreasing the number of times for changing the inside of the load-lock chamber from atmospheric state to vacuum state or vice versa. CONSTITUTION: A plurality of substrate processing chambers 2 and load-lock chambers 4 are disposed around a chamber 1 for conveying a substrate to or from each substrate processing chamber 2 through gate valves 6'. In such system, a plurality of substrate conveying cases 8 are stacked in multistage movably up and down in the load-lock chamber 4. For example, a cassette stage 12 is mounted on a vacuum bellows 11 formed movably up and down in the load-lock chamber 4 and the substrate conveying cases 8 are mounted in two stage on the top and bottom faces of the cassette stage 12. The cassette stage 12 can be driven up and down even in the vacuum by expanding and contracting the bellows 11.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a semiconductor or liquid crystal display manufacturing apparatus. More specifically, the number of times a load lock chamber, which is a front chamber of a processing apparatus, is changed from atmospheric pressure to vacuum and from vacuum to atmospheric pressure. The present invention relates to a multi-chamber heat treatment apparatus in which the productivity is reduced by reducing the amount of heat.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 4, a load lock chamber 4, which is a front chamber of a vacuum process apparatus of this type, is installed in a substrate transfer chamber 1 through a gate valve 6 ', A cassette table 12 is provided in the drock chamber 4.
On top of that, only one case (cassette) 8 for transporting the substrate can be vertically moved so that only one case can be stored. Therefore,
Every time the number of substrates that can be stored in one board transport case was processed, the atmospheric pressure → vacuum and vacuum → atmospheric pressure operations had to be performed, but if this operation is accumulated, it will take a considerably long time. Therefore, there was a problem that productivity did not increase.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention reduces the number of times the load lock chamber is changed from atmospheric pressure to vacuum and vacuum to atmospheric pressure, thereby significantly shortening the time required and improving the productivity. The purpose is to provide a device.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The structure of the present invention, which meets the above-mentioned object, has a plurality of substrate processing chambers and a load lock chamber via a gate valve around a substrate transfer chamber for loading and unloading substrates into and from each substrate processing chamber. In a multi-chamber vacuum heat treatment apparatus provided with a plurality of substrates, a plurality of cases for transporting substrates are installed in a vertical direction in multiple stages in the load lock chamber.

[0005]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the present invention. The substrate transfer chamber 1 is always kept in a vacuum state during the transfer operation, and the processed substrate 7 is loaded by the substrate transfer robot 3 into a load lock chamber 4 and a substrate processing chamber 2.
It is designed to be transported between 2 '. The gate valve 6 is closed during the processing of the processing substrate 7.

As shown in FIG. 2, the substrate transfer chamber 1
In the load lock chamber 4 connected through the gate valve 6 ', the cassette table 12 is mounted on the vacuum bellows 11 which is vertically movable. On the bottom surface and the top surface, two cases of substrate transport cases 8 and 8'are placed. The cassette stand 12 is
By expanding and contracting the vacuum bellows 11, it can be driven up and down even in a vacuum. In the load lock chamber 4, there are cases 8 and 8'for carrying the substrate.
Is formed in and out of the load lock chamber 4, and the hatch 5 is raised to close the opening, and the hatch 5 is lowered to open the opening.

An exhaust port 9 is connected to the lower end of the load lock chamber 4, and the exhaust port 9 is connected to a pump (not shown) so that the inside of the load lock chamber 4 can be maintained in a vacuum state. It has become. In the figure, 13 is a gas filter.
When the pressure inside the load lock chamber 4 is returned to normal pressure, an inert gas such as nitrogen is filtered and introduced into the load lock chamber 4. Cassette stand 1
2 is 4 at equal intervals on the outer periphery between the upper and lower plates 14, 14 '.
The structure is such that a book rod 15 is erected, and the plate body 1
It is adapted to support a substrate carrying case 8, 8'on 4, 14 '. The cassette table 12 is moved up and down to transfer the substrates 8 and 8'for transferring the substrates into the load lock chamber 4, and the substrates in the cases 8 and 8'for transferring the substrates are transferred to the substrate transfer chamber 1. It can be transported. In addition, when stacking the cases for transporting the substrate in three layers, the cassette base 12
May have a structure in which three plate bodies are used and rods are erected between them.

As shown in FIG. 3, a rod 17 connected to a rod 16 is rotatably connected to the lower end of the bellows 11, and the rod 17 uses a linear guide 10 such as an L-M guide. The motor 22 is adapted to move up and down. That is, as shown in FIG.
The base 18 at the tip of the rod 17 connected horizontally to the rail 19 is moved up and down on the rail 19 by a ball screw 21 rotated by a motor 22 via a belt 23 and a pulley 24. There is. If the rod 17 can be moved up and down, for example, another mechanism using an air cylinder instead of the ball screw 21 may be used, but as described above, a linear mechanism for rotating the ball screw is used. By doing so, it is possible to achieve accurate vertical movement.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the vacuum bellows 11 in the load lock chamber 4 can move not only up and down but also by a fixed angle. This is because the cassette table 12 is changed from the state parallel to the hatch 5 to the side 20 of the hexagonal substrate transfer chamber 1 as shown in FIG. 1, and the robot 3 smoothly moves the substrate. This is for transfer. As shown in FIG.
The rod 16 connected to the lower end of the air cylinder 21
As a result, as shown by the arrow, it can rotate in both directions by a certain angle.

[0010]

According to the present invention, since a plurality of substrate carrying cases are vertically arranged in the load lock chamber, a large number of substrates can be accommodated. It is possible to greatly reduce the number of times that atmospheric pressure → vacuum and vacuum → atmospheric pressure are repeated each time each piece is used.

[0011]

According to the present invention, it is possible to significantly reduce the number of repetitions of atmospheric pressure → vacuum and vacuum → atmospheric pressure each time one case for transporting one substrate is used. Since the working time can be shortened, the working time can be drastically shortened.
The productivity can be greatly increased.

[0012]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a partially broken AA ′ arrow view of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional load lock chamber.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Substrate Transfer Chamber 2, 2'Substrate Processing Chamber 3 Substrate Transfer Robot 4 Load Lock Chamber 6, 6'Gate Valve 7 Processed Substrate 8, 8'Substrate Transfer Case 11 Vacuum Bellows

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A multi-chamber vacuum heat treatment apparatus in which a plurality of substrate processing chambers and a load lock chamber are provided around a substrate transfer chamber for loading and unloading a substrate into and from each substrate processing chamber through a gate valve. A multi-chamber heat treatment apparatus in which a plurality of substrate transport cases are installed in a vertical direction in multiple stages in a vertical direction in a drock chamber. 2. The multi-chamber heat treatment according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of substrate carrying cases are installed in multiple stages via a cassette table on a vacuum bevel which is vertically movable. apparatus. 3. The multi-chamber heat treatment apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the cassette base is constructed such that a rod is erected between plate bodies on which a case for transporting a substrate is placed. 4. A multi-chamber heat treatment apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said vacuum bellows is moved up and down by a linear mechanism by rotating a ball screw by a motor. 5. The multi-chamber heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the vacuum bellows are formed so as to be rotatable by a predetermined angle in both directions.