KR101196197B1 - Substrate supporting Member, Deposition Apparatus Having the Member and Method of Transferring Substrate Using the Same - Google Patents

Abstract

According to the present invention, the substrate is mounted on the upper surface of the susceptor installed inside the process chamber, or the upper surface of the susceptor is supported to support the bottom of the substrate until the substrate seated on the upper surface of the susceptor is transferred to the outside of the process chamber. Provided are a substrate support member including a wire formed across the interior, a deposition apparatus including the same, and a substrate transfer method using the substrate support member.

Compared with the lift pins used to support the substrate inside the process chamber, the defect rate of the product caused by the thermal damage of the lift pin can be greatly reduced, and the uniformity of the deposition can be improved throughout the substrate. have.

Description

Substrate supporting member, Deposition Apparatus Having the Member and Method of Transferring Substrate Using the Same}             

1 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a deposition apparatus for a conventional liquid crystal display device;

2A to 2C are cross-sectional views illustrating a process of mounting a substrate onto an upper surface of a susceptor using lift pins in a conventional deposition apparatus, respectively;

3 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a deposition apparatus for a liquid crystal display according to an embodiment of the present invention;

4A and 4B are a plan view and a perspective view, respectively, illustrating the positional relationship between the substrate support member and the other components according to an embodiment of the present invention;

5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a plane taken along the line VV ′ of FIG. 4A;

6A to 6F are perspective views each showing a process until a substrate is introduced into a process chamber and a substantial deposition process is performed according to one embodiment of the present invention;

7A through 7F are cross-sectional views illustrating the positional relationship between process chamber components until a substrate is introduced into a process chamber and a substantial deposition process is performed according to an embodiment of the present invention, respectively;

8 is a perspective view showing a substrate support member according to another embodiment of the present invention;

9A to 9B are perspective views each showing a retracting state of the substrate and a conveyance state of the robot arm through the substrate supporting member according to another embodiment of the present invention;

10 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a deposition apparatus for a liquid crystal display device according to another embodiment of the present invention;

11 is a perspective view schematically showing the positional relationship between the substrate support member and the susceptor shown in FIG. 10;

12A to 12D are cross-sectional views illustrating a process of entering a process chamber of a substrate and performing a deposition process in the deposition apparatus for a liquid crystal display shown in FIG. 10, respectively;

13 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a deposition apparatus for a liquid crystal display device according to another embodiment of the present invention;

14A and 14B are cross-sectional and perspective views each showing a positional relationship between different components about a substrate support member according to another embodiment of the present invention;

15A and 15B are cross-sectional and perspective views each showing a positional relationship between different components about a substrate support member according to another embodiment of the present invention;

16A and 16B are respectively a perspective view and a plan view showing the positional relationship between the different components with respect to the substrate support member according to another embodiment of the present invention;

17A to 17F respectively illustrate a process until a substrate is introduced into a process chamber and a substantial deposition process is performed according to another embodiment of the present invention;

18 is a cross sectional view showing a main portion of a process chamber including a substrate support member according to another embodiment of the present invention;

19 is a plan view for showing a positional relationship between components supporting a substrate according to another embodiment of the present invention;

20A to 20F respectively illustrate a process until a substrate is introduced into a process chamber and a substantial deposition process is performed according to another embodiment of the present invention;

21A is a cross-sectional view of a susceptor and a substrate disposed in a deposition apparatus for a liquid crystal display according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 21B is a graph schematically showing the thickness of each thin film formed on the substrate of FIG. 21A;

22 and 23 are plan views illustrating a susceptor of a deposition apparatus for a liquid crystal display according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

24A is a cross-sectional view of a susceptor and a substrate disposed inside a deposition apparatus for a liquid crystal display according to another embodiment of the present invention;

24B is a graph schematically showing the thickness of each thin film formed on the substrate of FIG. 24A;

25A and 25B are cross-sectional views illustrating a susceptor of a deposition apparatus for a liquid crystal display according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

300, 800: process chamber 330, 830: susceptor

332, 832: wire grooves 334, 834: susceptor supports

344, 844: elevation assembly 346, 846: slot valve

350, 850: substrate support member 352, 852: wire

354, 356, and 357: support frame 358: opening

359, 856, 857: fixed end 362: edge frame

854: wire direction changing means 859: wire tension driving means

400, 900: lift pins

The present invention relates to a deposition apparatus, and more particularly, to a member for supporting a substrate introduced into the process chamber, a deposition apparatus including the same, and a method for supporting a substrate introduced into the process chamber using the same.

Recently, as the society advances into the information age, the necessity of a flat panel display device having low power consumption, light weight, and portability has emerged. The double liquid crystal display device is excellent in resolution, color display, image quality, and the like. It is widely applied to monitors and mobile phones.

In general, a liquid crystal display device refers to a non-light emitting device in which a liquid crystal is injected between an array substrate and a color filter substrate to obtain an image effect by the characteristics of the liquid crystal. Such an array substrate and a color filter substrate are manufactured through a plurality of deposition, patterning, and etching processes of a thin film on a transparent substrate made of a material such as glass through a deposition and etching apparatus installed separately. Recently, a process of depositing a source gas onto an upper surface of a substrate is performed through a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) apparatus, which will be briefly described.

1 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a conventional PECVD deposition apparatus for a liquid crystal display device. The process chamber 100 in which a deposition process is performed separately from an external region is performed by a lid 112 at an upper portion and a chamber body 114 at a lower portion thereof. Are largely divided into

A backing in which a gas inlet pipe 122 is installed at the center of the upper end of the lid 112 to traverse the center of the lid 112 and the sidewalls of the lid 112 from a source gas supplied from an external gas supply source (not shown). Installed through the backing plate (not shown) to inject the source gas into the lower portion of the backing plate. The gas introduced in this way is dispersed in the upper part of the susceptor 130 of the process chamber 100 through a plurality of through holes (not shown) formed in the shower head 120 installed below the backing plate. In addition, the gas dispersing unit including the showerhead 120 and the backing plate is electrically connected to the high frequency RF power source 124 to activate the introduced source gas in a plasma state. Therefore, the shower head 120 of the gas dispersion part also functions as an upper electrode.

On the other hand, a susceptor 130 as a mounting table on which the substrate S drawn into the process chamber is mounted is installed inside the chamber body 114. A heater (not shown) is installed in the susceptor 130 to raise the substrate S to an appropriate temperature during the deposition process. In this case, the heater is electrically connected to an external power source (bias power source). It is connected. Therefore, the susceptor 130 corresponds to the shower head 120 to function as a lower electrode. In addition, the center bottom of the susceptor 130 is provided with a susceptor support 134 in the vertical direction, the elevating is connected to the drive means (not shown) such as a motor on the outside of the susceptor support 134. As the assembly 144 is coupled, the susceptor 130 is raised or lowered as the process proceeds. Meanwhile, in order to remove gas or particles remaining in the process chamber 100 after the deposition process is completed, a gas exhaust pipe 142 connected to a pump (not shown) is disposed on the bottom surface of the chamber body 114. Is installed.

In particular, the substrate S inserted through the slot valve 146 provided on the sidewall of the chamber body 114 is placed on the upper surface of the susceptor 130, or is placed on the upper surface of the susceptor 130. A plurality of lift pins 150 are vertically penetrated through the susceptor 130 in order to support the substrate S until S is transferred to the outside of the process chamber 100.

Therefore, as described above, the susceptor 130 is repeatedly raised and lowered by the driving of the elevating assembly 144 in the process of transferring the substrate S into or out of the process chamber 100. Accordingly, the lift pin 150 also supports the substrate S from the bottom surface by repeating the process of protruding to the top surface of the susceptor 130 or entering the inside of the susceptor 130. As described above, a method of supporting the substrate S introduced into the process chamber 100 by the plurality of lift pins 150 is as follows.

2A to 2C are diagrams illustrating a process until a substrate is seated on an upper surface of a susceptor using a lift pin in a deposition apparatus for a conventional liquid crystal display. First, as shown in FIG. 2A, the substrate S preheated in an external heating chamber (not shown) is transferred while the robot arm 160 is supported on the bottom thereof, and a slot valve installed on the side wall of the process chamber. After loading / retracting into the process chamber (146, see FIG. 1), it is advanced across the center of the process chamber, ie opposite the side wall on which the slot valve is installed. Accordingly, the substrate S introduced into the process chamber is positioned at the top of the susceptor 130 while still being supported by the robot arm 160 at the bottom thereof, and the plurality of lift pins 152 and 154 are disposed on the substrate. In a state spaced apart from the bottom surface of the susceptor 130, penetrates through the lift pin hole 136 protrudes on the upper surface of the susceptor 130. Subsequently, the robot arm 160 is lowered by a predetermined distance to support the substrate S at the upper portion of the plurality of lift pins 152 and 154.

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 2B, the robot arm 160, which has been supported at the bottom of the substrate S, is transferred to the outside of the process chamber through the slot valve, whereby the bottom of the substrate S is provided with a plurality of lift pins ( 152, 154. Even in this case, the plurality of lift pins 152 and 154 maintain the protruding state on the upper surface of the susceptor 130. As shown in FIG. 2C, as the susceptor 130 is raised by the operation of the driving means connected to the elevating assembly (134 of FIG. 1), the lift supporting the bottom surface of the substrate S is lifted. The pins 152 and 154 move downward through the lift pin holes 136 formed in the susceptor 130 and maintain the substrate S seated on the upper surface of the susceptor 130. At this time, in order to prevent the lift pin 150 from being completely separated from the lift pin hole 136 formed in the susceptor, the upper end 150a of the lift pin 150 generally has a larger diameter than other areas. The upper end 136a of the lift pin hole 136 also has a shape corresponding thereto.

As such, when the susceptor 130 is raised and the substrate S is seated on the upper part of the susceptor, a thin film is deposited on the upper surface of the substrate by applying source gas, RF voltage and heat to the upper surface of the substrate. As the susceptor 130 is lowered to its original position after completion, the substrate is supported by the lift pins 152 and 154 protruding upward from the susceptor, and then the robot arm is again the substrate S and the lift pins 152 and 154. And the substrate is conveyed to the outside of the process chamber.

However, as described above, the lift pin used to support the substrate introduced into the process chamber is generated from the heater heated to a high temperature during the deposition process because it is disposed through the susceptor having a heater therein. It is easy to be damaged by the heat shock. In particular, a plurality of lift pins penetrating the central region of the susceptor in which a heater heated to a high temperature in the deposition process is embedded therein tend to be damaged due to high temperature.

In addition, the glass substrate is damaged because the substrate is not accurately seated on the lift pin in the process of being separated from the lift pin. In order to solve such a problem, Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-0058711 discloses that the substrate can be prevented from slipping in one direction of the lift pin by adopting a lift pin having an inclined surface at a predetermined angle from the outer circumference to the inner circumference. It is.

However, the above-described prior art also employs a lift pin as a means for supporting the substrate, and thus it is not possible to prevent breakage of the lift pin due to thermal shock from the heater. In particular, as the size of the substrate gradually increases in size, a plurality of lift pins for supporting the substrate are formed on the upper surface of the center and the periphery of the susceptor, in particular, when the lift pin installed through the susceptor center region is damaged. The central area of the substrate cannot be supported accurately, which can be bent downwards or in severe cases break, leading to product defects and significantly reducing productivity.

In addition, a plurality of lift pin holes through which the lift pin can be inserted / penetrated must be formed in the susceptor to penetrate the plurality of lift pins. Due to the plurality of lift pin holes formed inside the susceptor, the heat transferred from the heater installed inside the susceptor is not sufficiently transferred to the bottom of the substrate but is discharged to the outside through the lift pin holes, so that the source gas is properly deposited on the upper surface of the substrate. I can't. In particular, in a deposition apparatus for a liquid crystal display device in which a source gas is deposited on an upper surface of a substrate by a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition method, the thickness of a thin film formed due to a difference in plasma density generated in a substrate region around a lift pin hole and another region of the substrate. Since a difference occurs, there is a problem that the quality of the thin film is greatly reduced.

The present invention has been proposed to solve the above problems, and the main object of the present invention is to support the bottom surface of a conventional lift pin, in particular, the center area of the substrate in the process of transferring the substrate into and out of the process chamber. It is to provide a substrate support member that can replace a plurality of lift pins, a deposition apparatus including the same, and a substrate transfer method using the same.

Another object of the present invention is to replace a lift pin that is easily broken in the deposition process, and to provide a substrate support member and a substrate transfer method capable of uniformly transferring heat transferred from the heater in the deposition process to the substrate.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a substrate support member and a substrate transfer method using the same, which can reduce breakage of a substrate introduced into a process chamber and greatly improve uniformity of a thin film.

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According to one aspect of the invention, the susceptor; A support frame above the susceptor; It provides a substrate support member comprising at least one wire connected to the support frame.
The substrate support member may further include a support frame fixing end for supporting the support frame, and the support frame may include an opening or a recess.
The at least one wire may include a plurality of wires including a first wire parallel to a long side of the substrate and a second wire parallel to a short side of the substrate, wherein the susceptor has at least one wire groove on an upper surface thereof. It may include. In this case, the at least one wire groove may be substantially the same number as the at least one wire, or the number of the at least one wire groove may be greater than the number of the at least one wire. Here, the at least one wire groove may be a plurality of wire grooves spaced apart from each other by substantially the same distance and disposed in front of the susceptor.
The at least one wire groove may be one of rectangular, trapezoidal, and triangular cross sections, and the at least one wire is stainless steel, one of Inconel alloy, Monel alloy, Hastelelli alloy, and piano steel including one of chromium and nickel. It can be made of one of high carbon piano steel.
According to another aspect of the invention, the process chamber for processing a substrate; A susceptor inside the process chamber; A support frame above the susceptor; At least one wire connected to the support frame
It provides a device comprising a.
The apparatus may further include a support frame fixing end formed on the sidewall of the process chamber, on which the support frame is placed, and the support frame may include an opening or a recess.
The susceptor may include at least one wire groove on an upper surface thereof, and the number of the at least one wire groove may be configured to be greater than the number of the at least one wire.
The at least one wire groove may be formed of a plurality of wire grooves spaced apart from each other by substantially the same distance and disposed in front of the susceptor, wherein the at least one wire groove has a rectangular, trapezoidal, triangular cross section. It can be one.
In this case, the apparatus may further include a plurality of lift pins penetrating the edge of the susceptor.
On the other hand, according to another aspect of the invention, the process chamber for processing the substrate; A susceptor inside the process chamber; A plurality of wires disposed above the susceptor and connected to one of sidewalls and bottom surfaces of the process chamber; It provides an apparatus including a tension control unit connected to one end of each wire.
The susceptor includes a plurality of wire grooves on an upper surface thereof, and the number of the plurality of wire grooves may be configured to be larger than the number of the plurality of wires, and the plurality of wire grooves are substantially equal to each other by the same distance. There may be a plurality of wire grooves spaced apart and disposed in front of the susceptor.
The susceptor includes a plurality of wire grooves on an upper surface thereof, and the plurality of wire grooves may have one of rectangular, trapezoidal, and triangular cross sections.
On the other hand, according to another aspect of the present invention, a) a robot arm having a substrate on its upper surface is a support frame inside the process chamber of the device, a plurality of wires connected to the support frame and a susceptor below the support frame Moving the robot arm to the process chamber so as to be disposed thereon; b) lowering the robot arm such that the plurality of wires support a substrate; c) removing the robot arm from the process chamber; d) raising the susceptor to raise the susceptor to support the substrate.
The substrate transfer method may further include the step of raising the susceptor having a substrate on its upper surface such that the edge frame covers the edge of the substrate, in the step e) at the same time as the rise of the susceptor The support frame can be raised.
Meanwhile, according to another aspect of the present invention, a substrate supporting member including a susceptor having a plurality of grooves formed on an upper surface thereof is provided.
The plurality of grooves may be formed in one direction or two directions perpendicular to each other, and the plurality of grooves may be spaced apart from each other at the same interval.
The susceptor supports a substrate in the process chamber, and the cross-sections of the plurality of grooves may be formed in one of rectangular, trapezoidal, and triangular shapes, and side surfaces of each of the plurality of grooves may be formed on the bottom surface of the susceptor. It may be configured to be inclined relative to.
According to a preferred embodiment, the substrate drawn into the process chamber may be supported by its central portion by the wire traversing the process chamber and by a plurality of lift pins through the susceptor to the edge region of the substrate. .

In particular, the wires constituting the substrate support member for supporting the bottom surface of the substrate introduced into the process chamber in connection with the present invention are not limited to simply metallic materials throughout the specification and the appended claims, and have a constant tension. It should be noted that it includes all the strings or strings configured across the process chamber at the top of the susceptor to support the bottom of the substrate with.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail.

3 is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating a deposition apparatus for a liquid crystal display according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The process chamber 300 according to the present exemplary embodiment includes a lid 312 at an upper portion and a chamber body 314 at a lower portion thereof. Separated by.

In the deposition apparatus illustrated in FIG. 3, a source gas is supplied into the process chamber by a so-called shower head method, and a gas inlet pipe 322 is provided at an upper center of the lid 312 to an external gas supply source (not shown). The source gas supplied from the through) passes through a backing plate (not shown) installed across the center of the lid 312 and the sidewall of the lid 312 to inject the source gas into the lower portion of the backing plate. The gas introduced in this way is dispersed in the upper part of the susceptor 330 of the process chamber 300 through a plurality of through holes (not shown) formed in the shower head 320 installed below the backing plate. In addition, the gas dispersing unit including the showerhead 320 and the backing plate is electrically connected to the high frequency RF power source 324 to activate the introduced source gas in a plasma state.

Of course, when the source gas is supplied into the process chamber 300 through the side wall of the process chamber 300, not the shower head method as shown in FIG. 3, the gas inlet pipe and the gas dispersing unit are respectively the process chamber 300. It may be formed along the side wall of the), in particular, the gas dispersing portion may be installed on the outer upper end of the susceptor 330 in the form of an injector (injector).

Meanwhile, the shower head includes a susceptor 330 in which the substrate S drawn into the process chamber 300 is seated through a slot valve 346 installed on the sidewall of the process chamber 300. It is installed spaced apart from the 320 and a predetermined interval. Although not shown, a heater connected to an external power source is installed inside the susceptor 330 to raise the substrate S mounted on the upper portion of the susceptor 330 to a predetermined temperature. In particular, the susceptor support 334 is coupled to the lower end assembly 344 connected to the drive means (not shown) such as a motor to the outside of the susceptor 330 in the vertical direction. On the other hand, a gas exhaust pipe 342 is provided on the bottom of the chamber body 314 to discharge substances such as gas and impurities remaining in the process chamber 300 to the outside.

In particular, in the present exemplary embodiment, a substrate supporting member including a wire 352 (see FIG. 4A) crossing the inside of the process chamber 300 to support the bottom surface of the substrate S on the upper surface of the susceptor 330 ( 350 is provided, which will be described below.

4A and 4B are a plan view and a perspective view illustrating a positional relationship between a substrate support member and other components according to an embodiment of the present invention, respectively. As shown, the substrate support member 350 according to the present embodiment is Process the wires 352 and 353 on which the bottom surface of the substrate is substantially seated, the support frames 354, 356 and 357 to which both ends of the wires 352 are connected, and the support frames 354, 356 and 357. A fixed end 359 is fixed to the inner wall of the chamber.

The wires 352 and 353 may be formed until the substrate S drawn into the process chamber 300 is seated on the upper surface of the susceptor 330, or the substrate S seated on the susceptor upper surface is outside the process chamber. As a portion for supporting the substrate by substantially contacting the bottom surface of the substrate S until it is conveyed to, it may be formed at least two in parallel with the direction in which the substrate is drawn along the peripheral region of the substrate (352), More preferably, it may further include one or more second wires 353 in a form orthogonal to the first wire 352 configured to be parallel to the direction in which the substrate is drawn, in which case the second wires 353 Is preferably formed on the side facing the slot valve 346 is the substrate (S) is introduced.

In relation to the first wire 352 provided in parallel with the direction in which the substrate is inserted, the substrate may be composed of only one wire crossing the upper center of the susceptor 330, but the bottom surface of the substrate S may be a wire ( It is particularly preferable that two or more wires are symmetrically configured with each other as shown, since the substrate may be inclined laterally in the process of being seated in contact with the upper surface of the 352.

In addition, the support frames 354 and 356 which fix both ends of the wire 352 in this embodiment so as to maintain a constant tension on the wires 352 and 353 to accurately support the substrate S. , 357 is provided. The support frames 354, 356, and 358 may have a rectangular shape so as to correspond to the shape of the substrate S drawn through the slot valve 346 (see FIG. 3) installed on the sidewall of the process chamber. That is, as shown, the support frame 354, 356, 357 constituting the substrate support member 350 according to the present embodiment has a long side 354 and a short side (356, 357) configured in parallel, respectively Can be. Of course, the support frame according to the present embodiment does not necessarily have to have a rectangular shape, and the shape of the support frame may vary depending on the shape of the substrate S introduced into the process chamber 300.

When the support frames 354, 356, and 357 are formed in this way, the wire 352 is formed in one or more, preferably two or more, in the same direction as the direction in which the substrate S is inserted. That is, as shown in the drawings, both ends of the wire 352 are both ends on the short side 357 and the short side 356 formed on the surface adjacent to the slot valve 346 into which the substrate S is drawn, respectively. Is connected.

Particularly, one surface of the support frame 354, 356, 357 constituting the substrate support member 350 according to the present embodiment may have an opening 358 formed therein so that the substrate S is inserted through the slot valve. The robot arm 360 (see FIG. 6A) is configured to freely move forward and backward on the upper surface of the susceptor 330. The opening 358 is preferably provided at the side where the slot valve 346 through which the substrate S and the robot arm 360 are introduced into the process chamber is formed. For example, as shown in the drawing, an opening 358 may be formed in the center of the short side 357 into which the substrate S is inserted, out of two short sides constituting the support frame.

On the other hand, the chamber body 314 and the support frame may be directly coupled to the outer periphery of the support frame 354, 356, 357 through a fastening means such as bolts / screws, but preferably the support frame ( By forming the fixed end 359 to the outer periphery of the 354, 356, 357, the support frame 354, 356, 357 is connected to the inner wall of the chamber body 314 through the fixed end 359 in a predetermined position It may be configured to be fixed. At this time, the fixed end 359 is preferably formed on the surface except the surface through which the substrate (S) and the robot arm 360 is drawn through the slot valve 346 to stably support the chamber frame 314. It can be fixed to the inner wall of). For example, as shown in the figure, the fixed end 359 is formed symmetrically on the outer periphery of the long side 354 of the support frame, respectively, and the outer periphery of the short side 356 where the opening 358 is not formed. Can be formed on.

On the other hand, the support frame 354, 356, 357 constituting the substrate support member 350 according to the present embodiment has a predetermined height, the wire connected to the inner surface of the support frame (354, 356, 357) ( The 352 may be connected to any one of the top, center, and bottom of the support frames 354, 356, and 357, and particularly preferably, the wire 352 may be connected to the bottom of the inner surface of the support frame.

The positional relationship between the substrate support member 350 and other components in the process chamber 300 according to the present embodiment described above will be briefly described below. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a plane taken along the line VV ′ of FIG. 4A, and the wires 352 and 353 crossing the process chamber are disposed on an upper surface of the susceptor 330 formed inside the chamber body 314. The long side 354 of the support frame to which the ends of the wires 352 and 353 are connected is provided on the upper part of the susceptor 330. In addition, a part of the bottom surface of the long side 354 contacts the upper end of the fixed end 359 fixed to the inner wall of the chamber body 314. On the other hand, the upper edge of the wire 352, 353 and the long side 354 is the edge frame 362 covering the edge region of the substrate introduced into the process chamber through the edge frame fixing end 364 chamber body 314 Connected to the inner wall.

In particular, the inner periphery of the support frame (354, 356, 357) including the long side 354 constituting the substrate support member 350 in accordance with the present embodiment is located on the outer upper side of the susceptor 330, the substrate ( When S) is seated on the upper surface of the susceptor 330, the support frame may be configured to be located outside the susceptor, as shown, of the support frame including the long side 354 according to the present embodiment The inner circumference and the outer circumference of the susceptor 330 are overlapped to some extent, and as the susceptor 330 rises, the outer circumference of the susceptor 330 and the inner circumference of the support frame may contact each other. As will be described later, as the susceptor 330 continues to rise, the substrate support frame may be configured to also rise along with the wires 352 and 353 supporting the substrate. When the substrate support member is configured as described above, the fixed end 359 does not merely serve to connect or attach the support frame 354 to the chamber body 314, but the deposition process is completed to susceptor ( When the 330 is lowered, it is possible to prevent the supporting frame 354 that descends from continuing to descend below a predetermined height.

On the other hand, when the susceptor 330 rises as the process proceeds, as described below, the bottom surface of the substrate S should be seated exactly horizontally on the upper surface of the susceptor 330. If the substrate S is not horizontally seated, heat generated by the heater disposed inside the susceptor 330 may not be accurately transmitted to the substrate S, and deposition of source gas onto the upper surface of the substrate may occur unevenly. have. To this end, it is preferable that a wire groove 332 through which the wire 352 can be inserted is provided on the upper surface of the peripheral portion of the susceptor 330.

The transfer method including the loading / unloading of the substrate in the process chamber 300 including the substrate support member 350 according to the present embodiment configured as described above may be performed by a transfer method of a substrate using a conventional lift pin. There is a big difference. 6A to 6F are perspective views illustrating a process in which a substrate is introduced into a process chamber and a substantial deposition process is performed according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 7A to 7F are FIGS. 6A to 6F. It is a sectional view for showing the positional relationship between each shown component correctly.

First, as illustrated in FIGS. 6A and 7A, the substrate S preheated in the external heating chamber (not shown) is transferred to the process chamber with the bottom surface supported by the robot arm 360, and the chamber body ( 314 is prepared to be introduced into the process chamber through the slot valve 346 (see FIG. 3) provided on one side wall. In this case, an edge frame 362, support frames 354, 356, 357, and susceptor 330 are formed in the chamber body 314, respectively, from an upper end thereof. In particular, the edge frame 362 and the support frame ( The 354, 356, and 357 are connected to the inner wall of the chamber body 314 by the edge frame fixing end 364 and the fixing end 359, respectively.

Subsequently, as shown in FIGS. 6B and 7B, the robot arm 360 that supports the substrate S, which is inserted through the slot valve 346 provided on the sidewall of the chamber body 314, passes through the slot valve. In one state, the substrate S is further advanced toward the opposite side wall so that the center of the substrate S is located at the center of the inside of the process chamber. That is, the substrate S drawn into the process chamber and the robot arm 360 at the bottom thereof are positioned above the susceptor 330 installed at the bottom of the process chamber as shown in FIG. 6B. In particular, in the present embodiment, a certain amount of tension is applied by the support frames 354, 356, and 357 formed on the outer top of the susceptor 330 in place of the plurality of lift pins used to support the substrate. A substrate support member comprising a wire 352 is used, as shown in FIG. 7B, at this point the wire 352 and the support frame 354 are at the bottom of the robot arm 360 and the susceptor 330. All of them are spaced apart from the top.

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 6C, when the robot arm 360 descends downward by a predetermined height along the slot valve formed on the sidewall of the chamber body, the substrate S supported by the robot arm 360 is also lowered. As the robot arm 360 descends, the robot arm 360 descends downward. Accordingly, the substrate S introduced into the process chamber and the robot arm 360 at the bottom thereof are positioned inside the support frames 354, 356, and 357. At this time, the robot arm 360 is preferably configured not to contact the wire 352 constituting the substrate support member 350 according to the present embodiment, as shown in Figure 7c, the robot arm 360 ) Is lowered to the lower end of the support frame 354, so that the bottom surface of the substrate (S) is in contact with the upper surface of the wire 352 is supported by the wire 352.

Subsequently, as shown in FIGS. 6D and 7D, the robot arm 360 supporting the bottom surface of the substrate S is conveyed to the outside of the process chamber via the lower end of the slot valve formed in the chamber body, as described above. Since the center of the support frame 357 of the support frame 354, 356, 357 constituting the substrate support member according to the present embodiment is preferably an opening 358, the robot arm 360 is formed. After passing through the opening 358 of the support frame, it is conveyed to the outside of the process chamber through the slot valve on the side wall of the chamber body as in the case of entering the process chamber. Accordingly, the bottom surface of the substrate S is fully supported by wires 352 having both ends fixed to inner walls of the support frames 354, 356, and 357 connected to the side walls of the chamber body 314. to be.

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 6E, when the susceptor 330 is raised by a driving means such as a motor for the deposition process, the wire 352 of the substrate support member 350 spaced a predetermined distance from the upper surface of the susceptor 330. ) Is in contact with the upper surface of the susceptor 330. In particular, since the wire 352 constituting the substrate supporting member 350 according to the present embodiment does not support the entire bottom surface of the substrate S, the substrate region not supported by the wire 352 is susceptor ( While in contact with the top surface of 330, the area of the substrate supported by the wire may not be in contact with the top surface of susceptor 330. As a result, heat generated from a heater disposed inside the susceptor 330 may not be properly transferred to the substrate region supported by the wire, and thus deposition may not occur uniformly on the upper surface of the substrate in the deposition process. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7E, when the susceptor 330 is raised and the bottom surface of the substrate S is seated on the upper surface of the susceptor 330, the wires are formed on the peripheral surface of the susceptor 330. By providing the wire groove 332 corresponding to the 352, the wire 352 on which the bottom surface of the substrate S is seated may be configured to be inserted into the wire groove 332.

In particular, the inner periphery of the support frame 354, 356, 357 for fixing both ends of the wire 352 of the substrate support member 350 is located at the outer top of the outer periphery of the susceptor 330 in connection with the present embodiment When the susceptor 330 and the support frame 350 are configured not to contact despite the rise of the susceptor 330, the susceptor 330 is embedded in the susceptor 330 according to the continued rise of the susceptor 330. It may be difficult to maintain the tension of the wire 352 at a predetermined level. Thus, as shown in Figure 7e, the outer periphery of the support frame (354, 356, 357 for fixing both ends of the wire 352 is in contact with the upper end of the fixed end (359), the inner periphery In order to correspond to the outer periphery of the acceptor 330, the upper surface of the outer periphery of the susceptor may be configured to contact the bottom of the inner periphery of the support frame 354 as the susceptor 330 rises.

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 6F, when the susceptor 330 is further raised for the deposition process, the edge frame 362 fixed to the upper sidewall of the susceptor is separated from the peripheral region of the susceptor 330. The peripheral region of the substrate S seated on the upper surface of the susceptor 330 is covered on the upper surface so that source gas does not leak through the peripheral region of the substrate S and the susceptor 330. At this time, as shown in Figure 7f, the inner periphery of the support frame 354 according to the present embodiment is placed on the upper surface of the outer periphery of the susceptor 330, as the susceptor 330 rises The substrate S mounted on the upper surface of the central portion of the susceptor 330 is fixed to the upper end of the susceptor while being fixed by the support frame 354 and the support frame 354 seated on the outer peripheral upper surface of the susceptor 330. The wire 352 embedded in the wire groove 332 also rises together. That is, according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the support frame 354, 356, 358 for fixing both ends of the wire 352 in substantially contact with the bottom surface of the substrate (S) is the chamber by the fixed end (359) It is not completely fixed to the inner wall of the body 314, but at least its inner periphery can be brought into contact with the outer periphery of the susceptor 330 so as to be moved up and down in conjunction with the elevation of the susceptor 330. It has a configuration to project toward.

In this way, the source gas dispersed through the gas inlet pipe and the shower head in the raised state of the susceptor is excited in the plasma state and deposited until the desired thickness is reached on the upper surface of the substrate (S). After the deposition process is completed, the substrate S on which the thin film is deposited is conveyed to the outside of the process chamber in the reverse order to that described above. That is, when the deposition process is completed, the susceptor 330 and the support frame 354 placed on the upper surface of the outer periphery of the susceptor 330 are lowered to their original positions, and thus are embedded in the wire grooves 332. The wires 352 and the support frames 354, 356, and 357, to which both ends of the wires 352 are connected, protrude upward from the susceptor 330 to support the bottom surface of the substrate S. Subsequently, the robot arm introduced into the chamber through the slot valve on the side wall of the process chamber is advanced through the opening 358 formed in one surface of the support frame, and is advanced between the upper end of the wire 352 and the bottom surface of the substrate S and then the substrate. Support the bottom of (S). Subsequently, the robot arm 360 and the substrate S on which the thin film is deposited are transferred to the outside of the process chamber via the opening 358 and the slot valve.

As such, in the present embodiment, since the substrate can be sufficiently supported in the process chamber without using the lift pins, the number of which must increase in proportion to the increase in the size of the substrate, it may be caused by the use of a plurality of lift pins. The problem can be solved.

In particular, as described above, the wires 352 and 353 according to the present invention not only support the substrate S from the bottom thereof, but also the top surface of the susceptor 330 is raised as the susceptor 330 rises. When supporting the bottom surface (S), a heater (not shown) that is heated to a high temperature in the deposition process is inserted into the wire groove 332 formed on the upper surface of the susceptor 330 is embedded. In addition, after the deposition process is completed, the cleaning gas containing fluorine is generally supplied into the process chamber 300 to remove the process gas remaining in the process chamber 300 and remaining in the form of a polymer. A spraying cleaning process is performed. Accordingly, the wires 352 and 353 constituting the substrate supporting member 350 according to the present invention not only have a high tension to sufficiently support the substrate S at the bottom, but also after the deposition process. It is preferable that the metals have corrosion resistance and heat resistance so as not to be etched with respect to halogen active species gas containing fluorine (F), chlorine (Cl), and the like, which are commonly used as cleaning gases supplied into the process chamber 100. . More specifically, heat resistance of stainless steel, inconel-based alloy, monel-based alloy, hastelloy-based alloy or steel used for piano wire, high carbon steel, etc. It is a metal excellent in mechanical properties such as corrosion resistance.

As described above, the center of one side of the support frame for fixing the wire may be opened so that the robot arm supporting the substrate loaded into the process chamber may be transported to the outside, but may have another shape. 8 is a perspective view illustrating a substrate support member 350 according to another embodiment of the present invention, and the same reference numerals are assigned to the same components as those described above with reference to FIGS. 4A to 4B, and detailed description thereof will be omitted. Let's do it.

As shown in FIG. 8, one side of the support frames 354 and 356 for fixing the wire 352 in the substrate support member 350 according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention has an uneven shape. Preferably, between the center and the edge area of the side of the side where the substrate and the robot arm are introduced / conveyed among the short sides 356 of the support frame fixing the plurality of wires 352a and 352b across the upper portion of the susceptor formed inside the process chamber. A recess 359 extending downward is formed. That is, a recess 359 having a downwardly curved surface 359a is provided between the central portion 355a and both side portions 355b of one side of the support frame according to the present embodiment. In addition, it can be seen that the wires fixed to the substrate support member 350 are respectively fixed to the inner side surfaces of the central portion 355a and the side portions 355b of the substrate support member 350.

In the substrate support member 350 configured as described above, the introduction of the substrate and the transfer process of the robot arm will be described briefly as follows. FIG. 9A is a perspective view illustrating a process in which the substrate S supported by the robot arm 360 is inserted into a process chamber including the substrate supporting member 350 illustrated in FIG. 8. As described above with reference to FIGS. 6A to 6F, the substrate S prepared for the deposition process is supported by the robot arm 360 and is led into the process chamber through an upper end of a slot valve installed on the side wall of the process chamber. do. The retracted substrate S and the robot arm 360 on the bottom thereof are positioned above the substrate support member 350 on which the wires 352a and 352b are fixed. Subsequently, the robot S 360 is lowered and the substrate S, which was supported by the robot arm 360, is supported while contacting the upper ends of the plurality of wires 352a and 352b that cross the substrate support member 350. At this time, since one side of the substrate support member 350, more specifically, the recess 359 is bent downward as described above between the center and the edge of the side in the direction in which the substrate S is inserted, When the robot arm 360 descends such that the substrate S contacts the upper ends of the wires 352a and 352b, the robot arm 360 may be inserted into the internal space of the recess 359 having a recessed shape. The robot arm 360 embedded in the recess 359 can be conveyed to the outside through the lower end of the slot valve (FIG. 9B). In the drawing, the concave portion 359 according to the present embodiment is configured to be bent downward, but as described above, as long as the robot arm can provide a space in which the robot arm can descend, it is not limited to being bent downward. It may take any form extending downwards.

On the other hand, when the substrate is to be supported only by the wire fixed to the substrate support member as described above, the susceptor is thermally expanded due to the heat transferred from the heater in which the susceptor is built, and thus the wire constituting the substrate support member. May not be embedded in the wire groove provided on the susceptor upper surface. Therefore, preferably, other substrate supporting means can be used simultaneously with the wire as described above.

10 is a cross-sectional view of a deposition apparatus for a liquid crystal display including a lift pin together with a substrate support member on which a wire is fixed, and FIG. 11 is a perspective view illustrating a susceptor through which the substrate support member and the lift pin pass. According to the present exemplary embodiment, the substrate S introduced into the process chamber 300 includes a plurality of lift pins installed through the wire 352 passing through the substrate support member 350 and the periphery of the susceptor 330. 400). That is, according to the present exemplary embodiment, the center portion of the substrate S introduced into the process chamber 300 may be disposed at the center wire 352 configured to cross the center along the long side 354 of the substrate support member 350. The peripheral portion of the substrate S may be supported by a plurality of lift pins 400 disposed at predetermined intervals along the peripheral portion of the susceptor 330. The wire 352 is fixed to the inner surface of one side center 355 of the substrate support member 350 according to the present embodiment, and the substrate support member 350 extends downward between the side center 355 and both side portions 355b. And a recess 359 in which the robot arm drawn into the process chamber can descend.

12A to 12D, the process of the substrate S is introduced into the process chamber and the actual deposition process is performed according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 12A, before the substrate S is introduced into the process chamber, a wire 352 that crosses the center of the support frame fixed by the support frame fixing end 359 is provided inside the chamber body 314. A plurality of lift pins 400 protrude upward from the upper surface of the peripheral portion of the susceptor 330.

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 12B, the robot arm 360, which supports the substrate S drawn from the bottom through the upper end of the slot valve installed on the side wall of the chamber body 314, is further advanced toward the opposite side wall. (S) and the robot arm 360 of the bottom thereof are positioned above them while being spaced apart from the susceptor 330, the lift pin 400, and the wire 352.

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 12C, when the robot arm 360 is lowered by a predetermined height, the substrate S and the robot arm 360 are surrounded by the support frame, as described above. Since the center portion and the side portion of the side extends downward, the robot arm 360 may be lowered more than the upper end of the wire 352 and the lift pin 400. Therefore, at this point, the center of the bottom surface of the substrate S is in contact with the top of the wire 352, the periphery is in contact with the top of the lift pin 400, and the robot arm 360 is spaced apart from the bottom of the substrate. As such, the robot arm 360 spaced apart from the bottom surface of the substrate is transferred to the outside through the lower end of the slot valve of the chamber body 314.

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 12D, when the susceptor 330 rises through the driving means for the deposition process, the wire 352 spaced apart from the top surface of the susceptor 330 moves to the center of the susceptor 330. The lift pin 400 which is inserted into the wire groove 332 provided across and protrudes on the upper end of the susceptor 330 is also inserted into the lift pin hole 336 formed in the susceptor 330. In particular, the upper end 402 of the lift pin is different so that the lift pin 400, which is introduced into the lift pin hole 336, can be completely prevented from the susceptor 330 through the lift pin hole 336. The diameter is larger than that of the portion, and the upper end of the lift pin hole 336 also has a configuration corresponding thereto.

Subsequently, the susceptor 330 is further raised to perform the deposition process. After the deposition process is completed, the process proceeds in the reverse order as described above, and the substrate S on which the thin film deposition is completed is transferred to the outside of the process chamber.

Meanwhile, according to another embodiment of the present invention, another aspect of the substrate support member including the wire for supporting the substrate is also possible, and FIG. 13 schematically shows a deposition apparatus for a liquid crystal display device according to another embodiment of the present invention. 14A and 14B are cross-sectional views and perspective views showing positional relations between different components with respect to a substrate supporting member according to another embodiment of the present invention, respectively. Some of the reference numerals described in the drawings are the same as those described in detail above, and only different reference numerals will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 13, the process chamber 800 according to another embodiment of the present invention is also divided into an upper lid 812 and a lower chamber body 814, and the lead 812 has a gas inlet. A gas dispersing unit including a tube 822, a backing plate and a showerhead 820, and an RF power source 824 connected to the gas dispersing unit and grounded therein, and a susceptor inside the chamber body 814. 830, the susceptor support 834, the elevating assembly 844, the slot valve 846, the gas exhaust pipe 846, and the like, and in particular, the upper surface of the susceptor 830 and the inside of the process chamber 800. It can be seen that a substrate supporting member 850 including a wire 852 crossing the process chamber 800 is provided between the bottom surfaces of the substrate S introduced into the process chamber 800.

In particular, the substrate support member 850 configured according to the present embodiment has a significantly different configuration compared to the substrate support member 350 as described above. Referring to FIGS. 14A and 14B, the present embodiment Substrate support member 850 according to the at least one, preferably two or more wires 852, which are formed in a vertical direction on the outside of the susceptor 830, while crossing the upper surface of the susceptor 830, The wire direction changing means 854 and the both ends of the wire 852 may change the extension direction of the wire 852 from the horizontal direction to the vertical direction or from the vertical direction to the horizontal direction, respectively. Fixing ends 856 and 857 connected to both ends of the wire 852 to be fixed to the side wall and the bottom of the process chamber 800. In particular, the fixed end 857 installed below the process chamber 800 of the fixed end may be configured to simultaneously fix the wire direction changing means 854 as well as the wire 852. On the other hand, in the case of the wire 852 constituting the substrate support member 850 according to the present embodiment is not supported by the support frame, unlike in the first embodiment, the wire 852 as the susceptor 830 is raised It may be difficult to maintain the tension () of the substrate enough to sufficiently support the substrate (S). Therefore, driving means 859 for properly maintaining the tension to the wire 852 as the wire 852 rises to one end connected to the bottom surface of the process chamber 800 among both ends of the wire 852. ) May be provided. The wire tension drive means 859 may be configured, for example, in a bellows type, and may be configured to operate independently of a drive means (not shown) connected to the susceptor support 834. That is, the wire tension driving means 859 according to the present embodiment needs to change the tension of the wire 852 according to the rise of the susceptor 830 by raising or lowering independently of the raising and lowering of the susceptor 630. If present, it can shrink / expand accordingly to maintain the tension of the wire.

As a result, in the present embodiment, a substrate support capable of easily supporting the bottom surface of the substrate introduced into the process chamber 800 without including the support frame as described in the first embodiment as a component of the substrate support member. Member 850 is described. Wire 852 according to the present embodiment is also preferably provided with a plurality of parallel to each other along the inlet direction of the substrate, as shown in the symmetrical on the upper surface of the central region and both edge regions of the susceptor 830 It can be formed as. In addition, in this embodiment, since both ends of the wire 852 are fixed to the chamber side walls and the bottom, respectively, without using a support frame, some regions of the wire 852 cross the top of the susceptor 830. The remaining partial regions extend in the vertical direction from the outside of the susceptor 830. Therefore, a wire direction changing means 854 is included to change the direction of extension of the wire between the portion of the wire extending in the horizontal direction and the portion of the wire extending in the vertical direction. The wire direction changing means 854 according to the present embodiment is an extension direction of the wires so that the wires 852 fixed to the side walls and the bottom of the process chamber 800 maintain the constant tension to support the substrate S, respectively. It can take a variety of configurations that can change from vertical to horizontal, or horizontal to vertical, preferably a pulley can be used.

In particular, as shown, the wire 852 preferably crosses the inner wall of the chamber body 814 on which the slot valve 846 is formed and the opposite side wall thereof, that is, in the same direction as the direction in which the substrate S is drawn. It is formed so as to extend in the vertical direction, it is extended in the vertical direction by the wire direction changing means 854 formed on the outer upper end of the susceptor 830 to the bottom surface of the process chamber 800 or preferably the process chamber ( It is preferably configured to be connected to the wire tension driving means 859 parallel to the 800. In other words, the wire direction changing means 854 forming the substrate support member 850 according to the present embodiment is installed in a direction adjacent to the inner wall of the chamber body 814 in which the slot valve 846 is provided. Is formed at the top of one outer region of the susceptor 830. Accordingly, the fixed end fixing the wire 852 is provided on the opposite inner wall 856 of the chamber body 814 on which the slot valve 846 is installed and on the bottom 857 of the process chamber 800 near the slot valve. It is preferable to form each. As a result, since the substrate support member 850 according to the present embodiment does not constitute a support frame as described above to support the wire, the substrate S and the robot arm 860 introduced into the process chamber 800 are described. ) Can move forward and backward freely. In the present embodiment, the wire 852 may be embedded in the upper end of the susceptor 830 so that the susceptor 830 may be raised to uniformly contact the bottom surface of the substrate S as described later. Wire grooves 832 can be formed.

Meanwhile, according to another embodiment of the present invention, a substrate supporting member including a wire fixed through the bottom surface of the process chamber is possible. 15A and 15B are cross-sectional views and perspective views, respectively, of a process chamber showing a substrate support member according to another embodiment of the present invention. As shown, in the substrate supporting member 850 according to the present embodiment, both ends of the wire 852 supporting the substrate S are both bottom surfaces of the process chamber, as compared with those shown in FIGS. 14A and 14B. It is symmetrically connected to the floor. That is, one end of the wire 852 constituting the substrate support member 850 according to the present exemplary embodiment is connected to the bottom surface of the process chamber and extends in the vertical direction, and the susceptor 830 is disposed at the upper end of the susceptor 830. After the expansion direction is changed to cross the upper surface of the), the other end of the susceptor 830 is extended in the vertical downward direction again, so that the other end is configured to be connected to the other bottom of the process chamber. Therefore, in this embodiment, a pair is provided so that the position change means 854 and 856 which can change the extension direction of the wire 852 can correspond with each other on the outer side of the susceptor 830. FIG. In addition, as the susceptor 830 rises, the wire 852 embedded in the wire groove 832 formed at the top thereof also rises. When both ends of the wire 852 are completely fixed, the susceptor 830 rises. Due to the change in tension to the wire 852 formed across the process chamber, there is a problem that can not properly support the substrate.

Therefore, in this embodiment, in addition to the wire fixing end 857 formed on the bottom of the process chamber, wire tension driving means 859 to which both ends of the wire 852 can be connected symmetrically formed on the bottom of the process chamber, respectively. . The wire tension driving means 859 may take the same configuration as described with reference to FIGS. 14A and 14B, when the wire 852 embedded in the wire groove 832 formed on the susceptor 830 is raised. When the wire 852 descends as the susceptor 830 descends, it may be in a bellows shape that may expand in the vertical downward direction. In particular, the wire tension driving means 859 according to the present embodiment is connected to the elevating assembly 844 formed on the outside of the susceptor support 834 connected to the driving means (not shown) such as a motor, unlike the above. It can be configured to interlock through the axis 845 or the like. That is, when the susceptor 830 rises in the vertical direction by the operation of the elevating assembly 844, the wire tension driving means 859 connected with the elevating assembly 844 also contracts to a predetermined height. By raising, the tension of the wire 852 can be maintained. A connection table 859a may be provided at a lower end of the wire tension driving means 859 for connection with the elevating assembly 844.

On the other hand, according to another embodiment of the present invention, the wire for supporting the substrate introduced into the process chamber can be fixed to the inner wall of the process chamber, it will be described with reference to the drawings. 16A and 16B are respectively a perspective view and a plan view showing the positional relationship between different components of the deposition apparatus around the substrate support member 850 according to another embodiment of the present invention. As shown, the substrate support member 850 is fixed to both ends of the inner wall 847 is provided with the slot valve 846 of the chamber body 814 and the inner wall facing the slot valve 846, respectively, A plurality of first wires 852 provided in parallel with the direction in which the substrate is inserted and one or more second wires 853 orthogonal to the first wires 852 are provided. In this case, the second wire 853 is preferably installed near the inner wall facing the slot valve 846.

On the other hand, the slot valve 846 according to the present embodiment can be seen that the width of the upper end 848a and the lower end 848b are different. That is, as shown, by bending downward toward the center of the slot valve 846 near the center of both sides of the slot valve 846 (847a, 847b), the lower end 848b of the slot valve is compared with the upper end (848a) The width is reduced. This is an area where the substrate S and the robot arm 860 are simultaneously introduced / conveyed to the upper end 848a area around the bent surface 847a of the slot valve 846 as described later. It is to have a width sufficient to accommodate the width of (), and only the robot arm 860 is to be introduced / transported to the lower end (848b) to accommodate the width of the robot arm 860 narrower than the width of the substrate (S) This is because it has to be wide enough to do so. Therefore, in addition to having a step bent downward in the central portion of the side of the slot valve 846, it may be one method to form a slope toward the center from the top to the bottom.

In addition, preferably the first wire 852 according to the present embodiment is connected to one end of the inner wall 847 of the chamber body 814 generated by the bent portion (847a, 847b), the height of the wire 852 And height of the slot valve 846 can be naturally adjusted.

Since the substrate support member 850 shown in FIGS. 14A and 14B, 15A and 15B, and 16A and 16B, respectively, does not include a support frame connecting both ends of the wire, the interior of the process chamber 800 The transfer process of the substrate, including the process of loading the furnace substrate or unloading the substrate to the outside of the process chamber 800, is different, which will be described with reference to FIGS. 17A to 17F.

First, as illustrated in FIG. 17A, the substrate S preheated in the external heating chamber is transferred to the process chamber with the robot arm 860 supported from the bottom thereof, and the slot valve 846 installed on the side wall of the process chamber. It is introduced into the process chamber through the upper end 848a of the slot valve with respect to the bent surface 847 (see FIG. 16A).

As the robot arm 860 introduced into the process chamber is further advanced, the substrate S is formed at the center of the process chamber, that is, the wire forming the susceptor 830 and the substrate supporting member 850 according to the present embodiment. 852 is located on top (FIG. 17B). However, at this point, as shown in the drawing, the wire 852 according to the present embodiment is spaced apart from the substrate S, the bottom of the robot arm 860, and the top surface of the susceptor 830.

Subsequently, when the robot arm 860 is lowered by a predetermined height, the substrate S is also lowered as shown in FIG. 17C, and the upper surface of the wire 852 is formed of the robot arm 860 and the substrate S. It is very close to the bottom. Subsequently, if the robot arm 860 is further lowered along the area between the wires 852 formed at the upper part of the susceptor, that is, the lower part and the susceptor of the wires 852 having a large number of robot arms 860 formed thereon. When descending to the upper end of the 830, the substrate (S) was supported by the robot arm 860 is supported by a wire 852 formed across the process chamber at the upper portion than the robot arm 860.

Then, as shown in FIG. 17D, when the robot arm 860 is transported out of the process chamber through the lower end 848b of the slot valve 846, the bottom surface of the substrate S is removed from the top of the susceptor 830. It is supported while being in contact with the upper end of a plurality of wires 852 formed across the regular chamber.

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 17E, when the susceptor 830 is raised for the deposition process, the wire 852 spaced apart from the top surface of the susceptor 830 by a predetermined distance may contact the top surface of the susceptor 830. At this time, the heat transferred to the substrate is different by the wire 852 formed between the bottom surface of the substrate S and the top surface of the susceptor 830, so that the source gas cannot be uniformly deposited on the top surface of the substrate. As described above, the wire 852 may be configured to be inserted into the wire groove 632 on the upper surface of the susceptor 830 so as to be prevented. In particular, up to this step, the wire tension driving means 859 in which one end of the wire 852 is connected to the bottom of the process chamber is not contracted or raised regardless of the slight rise of the susceptor. This is because the wire 852 is simply seated in the wire groove 832 on the top of the susceptor 830 in this step, the tension applied to the wire 852 must be maintained the same as the previous step.

Subsequently, when the susceptor 830 is further raised to deposit the source gas on the upper surface of the substrate S as shown in FIG. 17F, the wire 852 embedded in the wire groove 832 on the upper end of the susceptor. It must also be raised, as in the previous step, if the wire 852 simply extends in the vertical-horizontal direction, it is difficult to change the tension applied to the wire 852, resulting in the rise of the susceptor 830. Otherwise, the 852 may be cut off, or the bottom surface of the substrate S may be damaged. Therefore, when the susceptor 830 rises out of a predetermined range, it is necessary to adjust the magnitude of the tension applied to the wire 852 embedded at the upper end thereof. To this end, the wire tension driving means 859, one end of the wire 852 is connected to the bottom of the process chamber is contracted / raised upward in accordance with the rise of the susceptor, and thus the wire entering the inside of the process chamber ( 852 is increased in length. Therefore, as the susceptor 830 rises, the tension applied to the wire 852 can be adjusted. As shown, the wire 852 is simply outside the susceptor 830 in addition to the vertical direction-horizontal direction. It extends in the direction inclined upward toward its center. Of course, the drawing shows the state in which the wire driving means 859 operates independently of the rise of the susceptor 830, but as described in FIGS. 20A and 20B, the wire driving means 859 and It is also possible to configure the linkage of the susceptor 830 up and down.

In this way, the source gas dispersed through the gas inlet pipe and the gas dispersing unit in the state where the susceptor 830 is raised to the highest height is excited in a plasma state and deposited until the desired thickness is reached on the upper surface of the substrate S. After the deposition process is completed, the substrate S on which the thin film is deposited is conveyed to the outside of the process chamber in the reverse order to that described above. That is, when the deposition process is completed, the susceptor 830 is lowered to its original position, and one end of the wire 852 is connected with the lowering of the susceptor 830, and the wire driving means installed at the bottom of the process chamber ( 859 also expands downward to adjust the tension on wire 852. Accordingly, the wire 852 embedded in the wire groove 832 supports the bottom surface of the substrate S in a state in which the wire 852 protrudes to the upper portion of the susceptor 830. Subsequently, the robot arm 860 introduced into the process chamber through the lower end 848b of the slot valve on the side wall of the process chamber is advanced between the bottom surface of the substrate S and the top of the wire 852 so that the robot arm 860 again returns to the substrate ( Support S). Subsequently, the robot arm 860 and the substrate S on which the thin film is deposited are transferred to the outside of the process chamber via the upper end 848a of the slot valve 846.

As described above, the substrate can be easily supported by simply entering the inside of the process chamber or conveyed to the outside of the process chamber by means of simply changing the extension direction of the wire without having the support frame included in the first embodiment.

18 and 19 are cross-sectional views and a plan view, respectively, showing main parts of a process chamber including a substrate supporting member according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the drawing, as a means for supporting the bottom surface of the substrate according to the present embodiment, the long side 830a of the susceptor 830, that is, the direction along which the substrate S is drawn into the process chamber, is shown. A predetermined distance along a substrate support member 850 including a wire 852 crossing the center of the upper surface of the acceptor 830, and a peripheral region including the long sides 830a and the short sides 830b of the susceptor 830. It includes a plurality of lift pins 900 are arranged. Since the structure of the substrate support member 850 is the same as that described with reference to FIGS. 19A to 19B except for the wire 852 configured to cross the center region of the susceptor 830, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

That is, the wire 852 constituting the substrate support member 850 according to the present embodiment is supported by the wire 852 a portion crossing the central portion of the substrate S introduced into the process chamber, the substrate (S) Periphery of the (periphery) is configured to be supported by a plurality of lift pins 900 disposed through the periphery of the susceptor 830. The plurality of lift pins 900 according to the present embodiment are made of a stainless steel material having excellent ceramic or heat resistance. Looking at the substrate support method according to the substrate support member 850 and the plurality of lift pins 900 including the wire 852 according to the embodiment as follows.

First, as shown in FIG. 20A, the substrate S whose bottom surface is supported by the robot arm 660 is transferred to the process chamber, and through the upper end 848a of the slot valve 846 installed on the side wall, It is drawn inside. As the robot arm 860 introduced into the process chamber is further advanced, the substrate S penetrates the periphery of the wire 852 and the susceptor 830 constituting the substrate supporting member 850 according to the present embodiment. In order to be positioned above the plurality of lift pins 900 protruding to the upper surface of the susceptor 830 (Fig. 20b).

Subsequently, when the robot arm 860 descends into the space between the wire 830 traversing the central upper surface of the susceptor 830 and the plurality of lift pins 900 protruding on the upper surface of the periphery of the susceptor 830, The substrate S, which was supported by the robot arm 860, is formed by a wire 852 formed across the upper surface of the susceptor 830 along the long axis of the susceptor 830 above the robot arm 860. The central region is supported, and the periphery of the substrate S is supported by a plurality of lift pins 900 (FIG. 20C). That is, the upper surface of the wire 852 and the upper surface of the plurality of lift pins 900 are substantially the same height to support the substrate (S) stably.

Then, as shown in FIG. 20D, when the robot arm 860 is transported out of the process chamber through the lower end 848b of the slot valve 846, the bottom surface of the substrate S is lifted by the wire 852 and the plurality of lifts. Each contact is supported by the pins 900.

Subsequently, when the susceptor 830 is raised for the deposition process, the wire 852, which is spaced apart from the upper surface of the susceptor 830 by a predetermined distance, comes into contact with the upper surface of the susceptor 830 and then the long side 830a of the susceptor. 18 is inserted into the wire groove 832 which is installed to cross the central upper surface of the susceptor 830. On the other hand, a plurality of lift pins 900 protruding to the upper surface of the peripheral portion of the susceptor 830 also enters into the lift pin hole (not shown) formed in the susceptor 830 as the susceptor 830 rises. As a result, the bottom surface of the substrate S is seated on the top surface of the susceptor 830 (FIG. 20E).

Subsequently, when the susceptor 830 is further raised to deposit the source gas on the upper surface of the substrate S as shown in FIG. 20F, the wire 852 embedded in the wire groove 832 on the upper end of the susceptor. ) Also rises. Accordingly, the wire tension driving means 859 to which one end of the wire 852 is connected is contracted / raised upward. Meanwhile, the plurality of lift pins 900 completely embedded in the lift pin holes formed at the periphery of the susceptor 830 are raised together with the susceptor 830 and deposition is performed.

When the deposition is completed, the susceptor 830 is lowered in the reverse order of the above-described process, and the substrate S on which deposition is completed is unloaded to the outside of the process chamber through the robot arm.

Meanwhile, the deposition apparatus for a liquid crystal display device according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a wire and a susceptor for supporting a substrate, and a wire groove for inserting a wire is formed at an upper end of the susceptor, the wire groove being the same as the wire. It is formed in numbers. However, since the wire is made of an appropriate number necessary to stably support the substrate, and the wire grooves are also formed in the same number, the wire grooves are formed only in a part of the upper surface of the susceptor. In this case, a problem may occur in the uniformity of the thickness of the thin film formed on the substrate by the wire groove formed in a portion of the upper surface of the susceptor, which will be described with reference to FIGS. 21A and 21B.

FIG. 21A is a cross-sectional view of a susceptor and a substrate disposed in a deposition apparatus for a liquid crystal display according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 21B is a graph schematically showing the thickness of each thin film formed on the substrate of FIG. 21A. to be.

As shown in FIG. 21A, since the substrate S is seated on an upper part of the susceptor 830 having a wire groove 832 on its upper surface, the substrate S is formed at a portion where the wire groove 832 is formed. The susceptor 830 is spaced apart from each other without contact. In the susceptor 830, a heater (not shown) is embedded to serve to heat the substrate S. In the portion in which the wire groove 832 is formed, the substrate S and the susceptor 830 are spaced apart from each other. Heat transfer of the heater may be different from the other parts.

In addition, the susceptor 830 acts as an electrode to form a plasma in pairs with an upper gas dispersing portion (not shown). In general, since the equipotential lines are positioned at the same distance from the surface of the electrode, a wire groove ( The susceptor 830 in which the 832 is formed makes an equipotential line having irregularities similar to the shape of the upper surface. This means that the electric field forming the plasma is not uniform and the plasma thus formed also has a different density than other portions near the portion where the wire groove 832 is formed.

The difference between the temperature of the substrate S and the plasma density is represented by a difference in the thickness of the thin film F ₁ formed on the substrate S, which corresponds to the wire groove 832 of FIG. 21A, as shown in FIG. 21B. The thickness of the thin film of the part has a difference of Δt ₁ from other parts and may be formed thinner. In this case, when the average of the thicknesses of the entire thin films is t _avg1 , the uniformity of the thin film F ₁ may be represented by U (%) = (Δt _1/2 / t t _avg1 ) × 100.

Another embodiment of the present invention proposes a susceptor capable of improving the thickness uniformity of such a thin film.

22 and 23 are plan views illustrating a susceptor of a deposition apparatus for a liquid crystal display according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

22 and 23, a plurality of wire grooves 932, 932a, and 932b are formed on the upper surface of the susceptor 930, and wires (not shown) are embedded in some wire grooves. In this case, the wire grooves 932, 932a, and 932b are uniformly formed on the entire upper surface of the susceptor 930 independently of the number of wires. That is, the wire grooves 932, 932a and 932b may be formed in a greater number than the wires, and the wire grooves 932, 932a and 932b may be spaced apart from each other at substantially the same interval.

In FIG. 22, the wire grooves 932 and the wires (not shown) are formed in one direction. In FIG. 23, the wire grooves 932a and 932b and the wires (not shown) are formed in two directions perpendicular to each other.

When the wire groove is uniformly formed on the entire upper surface of the susceptor, the thickness uniformity of the thin film formed on the substrate will be described with reference to the drawings.

24A is a cross-sectional view of a susceptor and a substrate disposed in a deposition apparatus for a liquid crystal display according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 24B schematically illustrates positions of thicknesses of a thin film formed on the substrate of FIG. 24A. It is a graph.

As shown in FIG. 24A, a plurality of wire grooves 932 are formed on an upper surface of the susceptor 930, and wire 952 is embedded in only some of the wire grooves 932. There may also be a wire groove 932 that is not. The substrate S is disposed on the susceptor 930, where the substrate S is not contacted with the susceptor 930 and is spaced apart from the susceptor 930 by a portion where the plurality of wire grooves 932 are formed. In the substrate S, the substrate S contacts the susceptor 930.

The thin film deposition process is performed while the substrate S is disposed on the susceptor 930. In this case, a plurality of wire grooves 932 are uniformly formed on the entire upper surface of the susceptor 930 so that the thin film F ₂ ) thickness uniformity is improved.

In detail, as shown in FIG. 24B, a thin film F _{2 is} formed with one concave portion wider than the width of the wire groove 932 corresponding to one wire groove 932. 932 is a thin film (F ₂₎ adjacent to the concave portion are spaced apart from each other enough to be overlapped with each other in the thin film (F ₂₎ thin-film (F ₁₎ the thickness of the maximum thickness in Fig. 21b difference △ t described _divalent ahead of the minimum thickness of the It decreases than the difference △ t _1. Therefore, the thickness uniformity U (%) = (Δt ₂ / 2t _avg2 ) × 100 of the thin film F ₂ is improved.

Therefore, when the wire grooves 932 are formed to be spaced apart from each other so that the concave portions of the thin film can be properly overlapped, an effect of improving thickness uniformity can be obtained. For example, the distance between the wire grooves 932 can be 1 mm to 2 mm. .

Meanwhile, the wire groove 932 into which the wire 952 is inserted is manufactured to be formed at a position corresponding to the wire 952, but the position may move somewhat due to thermal expansion or thermal contraction of the susceptor 930. Problems may arise in the indentation of the wire 952.

The problem of embedding of the wire 952 may be solved by changing the cross-sectional shape of the wire groove 932, which will be described with reference to the drawings.

25A and 25B are cross-sectional views illustrating a susceptor of a deposition apparatus for a liquid crystal display according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

As illustrated in FIGS. 25A and 25B, a plurality of wire grooves 932 are formed on an upper surface of the susceptor 930, and the wire grooves 932 have a trapezoidal or triangular shape instead of a rectangular shape. That is, when the side of the wire groove 932 forms an inclined surface inclined at an angle not perpendicular to the bottom surface of the susceptor 930, when the wire 952 is disposed on the top center of the wire groove 932 Even when it is not, the wire 932 having elasticity slips into the wire groove 932 and is embedded therein. Accordingly, misalignment of the wires 952 and the wire grooves 932 due to thermal expansion or thermal contraction of the susceptor 930, and therefore, poor insertion of the wires 952 can be improved.

In the above, but described with respect to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, which is only the embodiment to the last and various modifications and changes are possible. In addition, the fact that such modifications and variations fall within the scope of the present invention without departing from the spirit of the present invention will become more apparent through the appended claims.

As described above, the present invention is a process chamber without the use of lift pins that require a larger number in proportion as the size of the substrate is gradually increased, or in particular without using a lift pin for supporting the center bottom of the substrate The board | substrate drawn in inside can be supported stably.

Thus, it is possible to solve the conventional problem that may be caused by the use of a plurality of lift pins. That is, the problem of substrate damage due to breakage of the lift pins and the problem of uneven heat transfer to the substrate caused by a plurality of lift pin holes can be solved, and more uniform thin film deposition can be performed throughout the substrate.

Claims (40)

Susceptor; A support frame above the susceptor; At least one wire connected to the support frame Including, The support frame includes a substrate support member including an opening or a recess. The method of claim 1, And a support frame fixing end for supporting the support frame. delete delete The method of claim 1, And the at least one wire is a plurality of wires including a first wire parallel to the long side of the substrate and a second wire parallel to the short side of the substrate. The method of claim 1, And the susceptor includes at least one wire groove on an upper surface thereof. The method according to claim 6, And the at least one wire groove is substantially the same number as the at least one wire. The method of claim 6, And the number of the at least one wire groove is greater than the number of the at least one wire. 9. The method of claim 8, And the at least one wire groove is a plurality of wire grooves spaced apart from each other by substantially equal distances and disposed in front of the susceptor. The method of claim 6, And the at least one wire groove has a cross section of one of a rectangle, a trapezoid, and a triangle. The method of claim 1, The at least one wire is a substrate supporting member consisting of one of stainless steel, inconel alloy, monel alloy, hastelly alloy, piano steel, high carbon piano steel including one of chromium and nickel. A process chamber for processing the substrate; A susceptor inside the process chamber; A support frame above the susceptor; At least one wire connected to the support frame Including, The support frame includes an opening or a recess. 13. The method of claim 12, And a support frame fixing end formed on the sidewall of the process chamber and on which the support frame is placed. delete delete 13. The method of claim 12, And the susceptor includes at least one wire groove on its top surface. 17. The method of claim 16, And the number of the at least one wire groove is greater than the number of the at least one wire. The method of claim 17, The at least one wire groove is a plurality of wire grooves spaced apart from each other by substantially equal distances and disposed in front of the susceptor. 17. The method of claim 16, Said at least one wire groove having a cross section of one of a rectangle, a trapezoid, and a triangle. 13. The method of claim 12, And a plurality of lift pins penetrating the edge of the susceptor. delete delete delete delete a) the robot arm on which the substrate is loaded is disposed inside the process chamber of the apparatus and includes a support frame including an opening or a recess, a plurality of wires connected to the support frame, and a susceptor above the support frame; Moving an arm to the process chamber; b) lowering the robot arm such that the plurality of wires support a substrate; c) removing the robot arm from the process chamber; d) raising the susceptor so that the susceptor supports the substrate In-device substrate transfer method comprising a. 26. The method of claim 25, e) raising the susceptor with the substrate on its top surface such that an edge frame covers the edge of the substrate. 27. The method of claim 26, And in step e), lifting the support frame at the same time as raising the susceptor. delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete

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