KR20090016626A - Apparatus for manufacturing flat panel display - Google Patents

Abstract

An apparatus for manufacturing the flat panel display is provided to maximize the production efficiency by processing readily the substrate according to the various processing conditions. The processing chamber(110) is for performing a plasma process on the substrate in vacuum atmosphere. The processing chamber can process the small area substrate of the multiple sheets at the same time. The processing chamber processes the large size of substrate of 1 sheet. A plurality of multi-channel electrodes is formed in the bottom electrode(112). The multi-channel electrode of 4 sheets is formed in one bottom electrode in order to process the substrate of 4 sheets as one process. The separate RF power is applied at the multi-channel electrode of 4 sheets. The lift pin is formed in each multi-channel electrode.

Description

Flat panel display device manufacturing device {APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING FLAT PANEL DISPLAY}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a flat panel display device manufacturing apparatus for generating a plasma in a vacuum state to perform a predetermined treatment on a substrate.

In general, a flat panel display device manufacturing apparatus used for manufacturing a flat panel display device such as a liquid crystal display (PDP) or a PDP is composed of a load lock chamber, a transfer chamber, and a process chamber.

As shown in FIG. 1, the load lock chamber, the transfer chamber, and the process chamber are connected in parallel in parallel and provided with a gate valve G for maintaining airtightness between the chambers. Keep your back independent.

At this time, the load lock chamber 10 is connected to the outside, and serves to bring in a new substrate to be processed from the outside, or to take out the processed substrate in the flat panel display device manufacturing apparatus to the outside, the inside of the vacuum It keeps in contact with the outside while repeatedly maintaining its state and atmospheric pressure. Therefore, a buffer 12 for loading a substrate is provided therein, and the buffer 12 allows one or more substrates to be stacked and stacked. The load lock chamber 10 is provided with a lift pin 18 for loading the substrate S on the buffer 12. As shown in FIG. 2A, the lift pin 18 lifts the substrate S carried by the loader from the outside of the load lock chamber 10 by a predetermined height, and then the loader retracts out of the load lock chamber. As shown in FIG. 6, the substrate S is lowered to load the buffer 12.

Outside the buffer 12, an aligner 16 for correcting the position of the substrate S loaded on the buffer 12 is provided, as shown in FIG. The aligner 16 corrects the position of the substrate by pushing the side surface of the substrate S loaded in the buffer in a diagonal direction. In addition, the load lock chamber 10 is also provided with an exhaust device (not shown) and a gas supply device (not shown) for changing the interior thereof into a vacuum atmosphere and an atmospheric atmosphere.

In addition, the transfer chamber 20 is connected to the load lock chamber 10 and the process chamber 30, the transfer robot 22 is provided therein, between the load lock chamber 10 and the process chamber 30 The substrate can be loaded or unloaded, and the transfer chamber itself serves as an intermediate passage in the process of loading and unloading the substrate. The interior of the transfer chamber 20 is always maintained in a vacuum atmosphere so that the vacuum atmosphere inside the process chamber 30 is not released even when the substrate in the process chamber 30 is taken out or brought into the process chamber 30. To be maintained. Of course, the conveying chamber is also provided with an exhaust device for maintaining the vacuum atmosphere inside the chamber.

In addition, the process chamber 30 is provided with a mounting table 32 on which a substrate can be mounted, and a processing apparatus (not shown in the drawing) capable of performing a predetermined treatment on the substrate. Etching, etc. The processing apparatus used herein includes a power supply unit for supplying RF power to a mounting table, a process gas supply section for introducing a process gas into a process chamber, an upper electrode provided to face the mounting table used as a lower electrode, and a substrate. Lift pins to assist in carrying in and out.

In addition, the flat panel display device manufacturing apparatus is further provided with a loader (40) for supplying a substrate to the load lock chamber 10, receives the substrate from the load lock chamber 10 to carry out the substrate. The loader 40 is disposed adjacent to the load lock chamber 10, receives a single substrate from the cassette C on which a plurality of substrates are loaded, carries it into the load lock chamber 10, and the substrate has been processed. It receives from the load lock chamber 10 serves to load in the cassette (C). Therefore, the loader 40 is disposed between the load lock chamber 10 and the cassette C, as shown in FIG. 1, and has a structure in which the robot arm can rotate and move horizontally for carrying in and out of the substrate.

However, in the flat panel display device manufacturing apparatus, the size of the substrate to be processed to increase the yield of the flat panel display device to be manufactured continues to expand. The increase in the size of the substrate is intended to increase the yield by producing a plurality of panels by one treatment process. In addition, it is inevitably required to efficiently produce large-area panels that are increasingly in demand.

However, as the size of the substrate is enlarged, it is difficult to perform uniform processing over the entire surface of the large area substrate. In other words, while treating a wide substrate at a time to increase the yield, a wide substrate is not uniformly processed, there is a problem that a defective product occurs, resulting in a low yield. On the other hand, if necessary, processing a large number of small-area substrates of appropriate size instead of one large-area substrate in a single process is a method of increasing yield.

Accordingly, there is a need for a new concept flat panel display device manufacturing apparatus capable of producing a large area substrate and simultaneously processing a large number of small area substrates as needed without special structural changes, thereby increasing yields and reducing defect rates.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a flat panel display device manufacturing apparatus that can process one large area substrate as needed, and can also process multiple small area substrates.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a process chamber of a flat panel display device manufacturing apparatus which generates a plasma inside a chamber and performs a predetermined treatment on a substrate, wherein the process chamber includes one large area substrate and a plurality of small substrates. Provided is a process chamber of a flat panel display device manufacturing apparatus, characterized in that the area substrate can be combined and processed.

In the process chamber according to the present invention, it is preferable that a lower electrode having a plurality of split electrodes formed below the inside of the process chamber is capable of uniformly treating not only one large area substrate but also a plurality of small area substrates. .

At this time, each split electrode is preferably provided with a structure that can be electrically intermittent with each other, it can be easily applied to a variety of processing methods.

In addition, the lower electrode according to the present invention is provided so that a plurality of lift pins can be lifted through the edge region of each of the divided electrodes,

Among the lift pins, the lift pins disposed in the center region of the lower electrode may be driven separately from the lift pins disposed in the edge region of the lower electrode, and thus may be easily applied to various processing methods.

On the other hand, the present invention is a flat panel display device manufacturing apparatus consisting of a process chamber, a transfer chamber and a load lock chamber to perform a predetermined process on the substrate, the load lock chamber, the transfer chamber and the process chamber is a plurality of small area substrate The present invention provides a flat panel display device manufacturing apparatus, which can perform a multi-processing mode for processing simultaneously and a single processing mode for processing one large area substrate. Here, the multi-processing mode refers to a processing method for uniformly processing a plurality of substrates in one process, and the single processing mode refers to a processing method for uniformly processing a single substrate.

In addition, an apparatus for manufacturing a flat panel display device according to the present invention includes an etching apparatus for etching a thin film on a substrate using a plasma, and a chemical vapor deposition apparatus for forming a predetermined thin film on a substrate using a chemical vapor deposition method. All are applicable. The etching apparatus may also apply two RF power sources having different frequencies to any one of a multi-type etching apparatus, an upper electrode, or a lower electrode, which simultaneously applies RF power to an upper electrode and a lower electrode. Various etching apparatuses such as a dual RF-type etching apparatus, a reactive ion etching type etching apparatus for applying RF power to the lower electrode, and a plasma enhanced type etching apparatus are all possible. .

According to the present invention, a plurality of small area substrates can be processed at the same time without changing the structure, and one large area substrate can be processed at the same time, thereby easily adapting to various processing conditions to maximize flat panel display device production efficiency, and market There is an advantage that can actively respond to this required standard.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail a specific embodiment of the present invention.

The flat panel display device manufacturing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment includes a process chamber 110, as shown in FIG. Conveyance chamber 120; Load lock chamber 130; The loader 140; is configured to include.

First, the process chamber 110 is a component that performs a predetermined process on a substrate by generating a plasma in a state in which the inside of the chamber is made in a vacuum atmosphere, similar to the conventional process chamber 30. However, the process chamber 110 according to the present embodiment may be provided with a combined process chamber capable of simultaneously processing a plurality of small-area substrates at a time and also processing one large-area substrate.

Therefore, in the process chamber 110 according to the present exemplary embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, a lower electrode 112 having a plurality of split electrodes 112a is provided. Herein, the divided electrode refers to a divided electrode in which a substrate is independently placed so that a plurality of substrates are placed on a large lower electrode so that each substrate can be processed. In this embodiment, four split electrodes 112a are formed on one lower electrode 112 to process four substrates in one process. RF power is separately applied to each of the divided electrodes 112a and driven separately. In addition, since the process chamber 110 according to the present invention may process one large area substrate, the entire lower electrode should be able to function as one electrode. Therefore, the split electrodes 112a are provided in a structure that can be electrically interrupted between the split electrodes. When processing a large number of small area substrates, each of the divided electrodes 112a is electrically cut off to process each substrate, and when processing one large area substrate, each of the divided electrodes 112a is electrically connected to form a large area substrate. It is processed uniformly.

Since each of the divided electrodes 112a is provided with one substrate, a lift pin 114 capable of receiving a separate substrate for each divided electrode is provided. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the lift pin 114 is provided to move up and down through the edge region of each split electrode 112a. The lift pins 114 support the edges of the substrates mounted on the respective split electrodes 112a to assist in the removal of the substrates.

When processing a plurality of small-area substrates using the process chamber according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4A, all the lift pins 114 provided at the edges of each of the split electrodes 112a are raised to raise the multiple sheets. Is received and placed on each split electrode 112a and lifted up.

In addition, when processing one large area substrate using the process chamber 110 according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4B, the lift pin 114 disposed in the center region of the lower electrode 112 may be formed. Instead of being driven, only the lift pins 114 disposed in the edge region of the lower electrode 112 are lifted up to receive one large area substrate, put it down on the lower electrode 112, and lift it up. Therefore, the lift pin 114 according to the present embodiment is a lift pin disposed in the edge region of the lower electrode 112 is coupled to one pin plate is driven up and down, the lift is disposed in the center region of the lower electrode 112 The pin is preferably coupled to another pin plate to be driven up and down. Therefore, it is preferable that two different pin plates are provided and driven in the process chamber 110 according to the present embodiment.

Of course, when processing one large area substrate, as shown in Fig. 4A, all lift pins may be raised to receive the substrate. In this case, the shape and structure of each substrate are to be closely connected to the lower electrode, so that the structure does not occur on the substrate.

Meanwhile, in the flat panel display device manufacturing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 2, one transfer chamber 120 is provided, and a plurality of process chambers 110 are disposed outside the transfer chamber 120. It is preferable that the substrate processing efficiency is increased by operating a plurality of process chambers using one transfer chamber.

Next, the transfer chamber 120 functions as a space for transferring the substrate between the process chamber 110 and the load lock chamber 130 like the conventional transfer chamber 20. However, the conveyance chamber 120 according to the present embodiment may be provided with a structure capable of conveying a large number of small area substrates in one operation, or conveying a large area substrate. Therefore, the transfer chamber 120 according to the present embodiment is provided with a transfer robot 122 provided with a robot arm having a structure capable of simultaneously transferring a plurality of substrates. That is, as shown in Figure 5, the robot arm 122b of the robot arm is provided in a long straight form, one or more four robot hand 122b is provided in parallel to one robot arm (122a) four substrates It can be moved at a time. And when conveying one large area board | substrate using the robot arm which concerns on a present Example, as shown in FIG. 6, four robot hands 122b support the lower part of one large area board | substrate, and convey a board | substrate. do.

Meanwhile, in the present embodiment, the robot arm is provided in a double arm structure as shown in FIG. 7 to smoothly exchange the processed substrate and the unprocessed substrate in the process chamber 110. That is, the robot hand 122b has a structure in which the robot hands 122b are vertically spaced apart from each other to be stacked on the substrate. Therefore, the upper robot hand is able to carry the unprocessed substrate into the process chamber while temporarily loading the processed substrate, thereby facilitating the replacement process of the substrate. Is a pad.)

Next, the load lock chamber 130 is a component which carries out a board | substrate into a flat panel display element manufacturing apparatus from the outside, communicating with the exterior of atmospheric pressure atmosphere, and carries out the processed board | substrate to the outside. Unlike the related art, the load lock chamber 130 according to the present exemplary embodiment may simultaneously import and export a plurality of substrates at the same time, and may have a combined structure capable of carrying out a single large area substrate. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 8, in the load lock chamber 130 according to the present exemplary embodiment, buffers 132 on which two substrates may be placed in a line are arranged in parallel. At this time, each buffer 132 is provided in parallel with the traveling direction of the substrate. Therefore, the buffer 132 may be received without further moving in the direction in which the substrate entered into the load lock chamber 130 enters. Of course, in the load lock chamber 130 according to the present embodiment, the lift pin 134 and the aligner 136 are provided. However, in the load lock chamber 130 according to the present embodiment, since a plurality of substrates are carried in and out, as shown in FIG. 8, two sets of lift pins 134 are provided to raise and lower the plurality of substrates. That is, two buffers on one side become a set, two adjacent buffers on the other side become a set, and each buffer is provided with a lift pin driven separately. Therefore, a separate substrate can be received in each pair of buffers.

Meanwhile, when one large area substrate is processed by the load lock chamber 130 according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, the lift pin 134 and the aligner 136 are lowered to the lower side. The large area substrate is supported and placed in contact with all the buffers 132. In the case of aligning the substrate, only the aligner located at the opposite edge of the large-area substrate is raised, and then the aligning operation is performed using the aligner.

In addition, the aligner 136 is separately provided at the position where each board | substrate is mounted so that 4 board | substrates can be aligned simultaneously. These aligners 136 are driven separately and correct the position of the substrate placed in the buffer 132. And the aligners 136 provided in the load lock chamber 130 according to this embodiment are driven separately in the vertical direction. Therefore, while the substrate S is placed on the buffer 132 and moved horizontally, the aligner 136 is lowered to prevent movement of the substrate, and after the substrate is completely moved, the substrate S is raised to proceed with the repositioning of the substrate. .

On the other hand, the load lock chamber 130 according to the present embodiment is preferably further provided with a substrate moving means (not shown in the figure) for moving the substrate placed on the buffer 132 in the horizontal direction. The substrate moving means is provided to move the substrate S horizontally on the buffer 132, and as shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B, the substrate placed at one end of the buffer 132 to the other end of the buffer 132 is provided. You can move it. Accordingly, when the substrate is loaded into the load lock chamber 130, when the substrate is placed at one end of the buffer 132, the substrate may be moved to another position on the buffer. When the substrate on the buffer 132 in the load lock chamber 130 can be easily moved in this way, the configuration of the loader 140 for loading and unloading the substrate into the load lock chamber from the outside of the load lock chamber 130 is very diverse. There is an advantage that can be changed.

In the present embodiment, a stacked load lock chamber may be employed to increase the efficiency of loading and unloading substrates into the flat panel display device manufacturing apparatus 100. In the stacked load lock chamber, load lock chambers having the same structure are stacked up and down, and each load lock chamber is connected to the transfer chamber. In the case of using the stacked load lock chamber as described above, there is an advantage that the loading and unloading of the substrate can be more efficiently performed by using one load lock chamber for carrying in and carrying out the other for carrying out.

Next, in the flat panel display device manufacturing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment, provided on the outside of the load lock chamber 130, the substrate is loaded into the load lock chamber 130, the inside of the load lock chamber 130 A loader 140 for further carrying out the substrate is further provided. The loader 140 according to the present embodiment may load a plurality of small-area substrates, or may load one large-area substrate. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 11, the loader 140 is preferably provided with a robot in which four robot hands 142 are arranged side by side. The robot hand 142 may be loaded with a plurality of small area substrates at the same time, or one large area substrate.

Of course, in order to simultaneously load a plurality of small-area substrates using the loader 140 of the above-described structure, the structure itself of the cassette on which the substrates are loaded must be different from the conventional one. That is, it should be provided as a cassette in which four substrates can be arranged in a rectangular shape in one layer. Then, the loader 140 receives four substrates stacked in one layer of the cassette in one operation, imports them into the load lock chamber, and loads them out.

On the other hand, a loader having a different structure may be used when processing a large number of small area substrates and a single large area substrate. In order to use a conventional cassette as it is, when processing a large number of small area board | substrates, the structure which arrange | positioned two loaders suitable for loading a small area board | substrate in parallel is used. In the case of processing a large-area substrate, loading and unloading is performed by arranging a separate loader for loading a large-area substrate.

1 is a conceptual diagram showing the configuration of a conventional flat panel display device manufacturing apparatus.

2 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a configuration of a flat panel display device manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a perspective view illustrating a structure of a lower electrode according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 4 is a perspective view showing the operation of the lower electrode according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a plan view of a carrier robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a plan view showing an operation example of a carrier robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a side view of a transport robot according to an embodiment of the invention.

8 is a cross-sectional view showing a structure of a load lock chamber according to an embodiment of the present invention.

9 is a view showing an operation example of a load lock chamber according to an embodiment of the present invention.

10 is a view for explaining another operation example of the load lock chamber according to an embodiment of the present invention.

11 is a view for explaining the structure of a loader according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Claims (6)

A process chamber in which a process is performed on the substrate; And A lower electrode disposed inside the process chamber and having the substrate disposed thereon, the lower electrode having a plurality of split electrodes generally parallel to the substrate; And the process chamber is a process chamber of a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) apparatus. The method of claim 1, The split electrodes have a single processing mode that is electrically interconnected and multiple processing modes that are electrically interconnected. And the split electrodes process the same substrate in the single processing mode, and process the substrates respectively positioned on the split electrodes in the multi processing mode. The method of claim 1, And the flat panel display device manufacturing apparatus further comprises a plurality of lift pins arranged along the edges of the split electrodes. The method of claim 3, The lift pins may include center lift pins disposed in a central region of the lower electrode and edge lift pins disposed along an edge of the lower electrode. And the center lift pins and the edge lift pins are driven separately. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, Flat panel display device manufacturing apparatus characterized in that the process is performed in a state in which two small-area substrate is placed side by side on the lower electrode. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, Flat panel display device manufacturing apparatus characterized in that the process is performed in a state in which four small-area substrates are placed side by side on the lower electrode.

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