JP3080688B2 - Vacuum deposition equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vacuum film forming apparatus for manufacturing, for example, an amorphous silicon thin film transistor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for manufacturing an amorphous silicon thin film transistor used for an active matrix type liquid crystal display, for example, an in-line type vacuum film forming apparatus for forming a thin film on a substrate has been used. As shown in FIG. 3, this vacuum film forming apparatus includes a loading chamber 1, a reaction chamber 2,
3 and an apparatus main body 5 composed of a vacuum chamber such as an unloading chamber 4, and a tray T on which a substrate to be a film-forming object is attached and transported in the atmosphere between the unloading chamber 4 and the loading chamber 1 of the apparatus main body 5. Is provided. The tray transport section 6 was also cleaned with a substrate attaching / detaching section 7 for attaching / detaching a substrate to / from the tray T, a tray direction changing section 8 for changing the direction of the tray T, and a tray T on which a film as dust was deposited. A tray exchanging unit 10 for exchanging the tray T with the tray transport trolley 9 is provided.

Then, the substrate is mounted on the tray T by the substrate attaching / detaching portion 7, and in the loading room 1 of the apparatus main body 5, the inside of the room is set to a low pressure, the tray T is heated to a predetermined temperature and transported to the reaction chambers 2 and 3 sequentially. Further, the reaction chambers 2 and 3 are preliminarily heated in a vacuum, and when the tray T is transported, a reaction gas is introduced into the chamber, a thin film is formed on the substrate by plasma discharge, and after the discharge for a predetermined time, , To the unloading chamber 4. Then, the tray T is carried into the carry-out chamber 4 in a vacuum state, and after changing the room pressure to the atmospheric pressure state, the tray T is carried out to the tray transport section 6. The unloaded tray T is again placed in the substrate attaching / detaching portion 7.
And the substrate is removed.

[0004] When forming a film in the reaction chambers 2 and 3, a film is formed also on the surface of the tray T. When the accumulated film thickness adhered to the tray T or the reaction chambers 2 and 3 exceeds a predetermined amount, the dust level in the apparatus main body 5 sharply increases, and the amount of dust attached to the substrate abnormally increases. For this reason, when the amount of the adhered film on the tray T reaches a predetermined amount, the tray transport trolley 9 is attached to the tray exchanging unit 10, and the tray T on which the film is adhered is exchanged for the washed tray T. Then, instead of the tray T to which dust is attached, the cleaned tray T is supplied to the tray transport unit 6. In the reaction chambers 2 and 3, cleaning is performed when the accumulated film thickness is controlled and reaches a predetermined amount.

[0005]

However, in the configuration of the above-mentioned conventional vacuum film forming apparatus, in order to maintain the yield of the substrate as a film-forming object at a certain level or more, the film deposited on the tray T must be less than a predetermined value. In this state, it is necessary to change the tray T frequently and manage the accumulated film thickness of the reaction chamber. However, there is a problem that a large amount of time is spent for replacing the tray T, and the operation rate of the apparatus is greatly reduced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide a vacuum film forming apparatus capable of suppressing a decrease in yield, improving the operation rate of the apparatus, and minimizing human work.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vacuum film forming apparatus provided with a plurality of vacuum chambers including a carry-in chamber, a reaction chamber, and a carry-out chamber, and between the vacuum chambers, outside the vacuum chambers. A tray transport unit, and a tray that attaches and moves the object to be coated with the tray transport unit, the tray transport unit includes a tray transport lane that transports the tray, and a plurality of trays. A tray stock lane that can be stored, and a tray exchange unit that transfers the tray between the tray transport lane and the tray stock lane.

[0008] The vacuum film forming apparatus according to the second aspect is the first aspect.
In the vacuum film forming apparatus described above, the tray replacement section automatically replaces the tray when the cumulative thickness of the film deposited on the tray becomes equal to or more than a predetermined value.

[0009] The vacuum film forming apparatus according to the third aspect is the first aspect of the invention.
In the vacuum film forming apparatus described above, the tray replacing section automatically replaces the tray when the number of times the tray has been used becomes a predetermined number or more.

[0010] The vacuum film forming apparatus according to the fourth aspect is the first aspect of the invention.
In the vacuum film forming apparatus described above, the reaction chamber automatically requests a reaction chamber cleaning when the accumulated film thickness of the reaction chamber becomes a predetermined value or more.

[0011]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, in the vacuum film forming apparatus, a tray transport unit provided outside the vacuum chamber and transporting a tray is provided between a plurality of vacuum chambers including a loading chamber, a reaction chamber, and a loading chamber.
The tray transport lane transports the trays, the tray stock lane stores multiple trays, and the tray exchange section transfers the trays between the tray transport lane and the tray stock lane, so that the cleaned trays can be stored in the tray stock lane in advance. When the tray is used, the used and contaminated trays and the washed trays can be exchanged between the tray transport lane and the tray stock lane by the tray exchange section, so that the exchange time can be saved and the apparatus can be replaced. The operation rate of the tray can be improved, and the space for storing the tray in a place other than the apparatus is not required.

[0012] The vacuum film forming apparatus according to the second aspect is the first aspect.
In the vacuum film forming apparatus described above, the tray replacing unit automatically replaces the tray when the accumulated film thickness on the tray becomes equal to or more than a predetermined value, thereby preventing the use of the polluted tray and preventing the object to be coated. The yield can be improved.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vacuum film forming apparatus.
In the vacuum film forming apparatus described above, the tray replacement unit automatically replaces the tray when the number of times of use of the tray becomes equal to or more than a predetermined number, thereby preventing the use of the polluted tray and improving the yield of the film-forming object. I can do it.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vacuum film forming apparatus.
In the vacuum film forming apparatus described above, when the cumulative film thickness of the reaction chamber becomes equal to or more than the predetermined value, the cleaning request alarm is automatically activated to prevent the use of the reaction chamber in a polluted state.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to an in-line type plasma CVD for manufacturing an amorphous silicon thin film transistor for an active matrix liquid crystal display.
This will be described with reference to the drawings using the apparatus.

The parts corresponding to those in the conventional example shown in FIG. 1 will be described with the same reference numerals.

As shown in FIG. 1, the plasma CVD apparatus has an apparatus main body 5 composed of a vacuum chamber such as a loading chamber 1, reaction chambers 2, 3 and an unloading chamber 4, and an unloading chamber 4 of the apparatus main body 5. Further, a tray transport unit 6 that transports a tray T on which a substrate to be a film-forming object is mounted and transported is provided in the atmosphere between the loading chambers 1. Also, the tray transport unit 6
A tray attaching / detaching portion 7 for attaching / detaching a substrate to / from the tray T, a tray direction changing portion 8 for changing the direction of the tray T, a film-attached tray T on which a film as garbage is deposited, and a washed tray T And a tray exchanging unit 10 for exchanging the same with a tray transport cart 9.

The tray transport section 6 is provided with a hepa filter at an upper portion thereof, and is provided with a tray transport lane 11 for transporting a tray T arranged in a down-flow atmosphere of clean air. On the upper side of the tray transport lane 11, similarly to the tray transport lane 11, a hepa filter is provided at the upper part, and a washed tray stock lane 12 for previously storing the washed tray T arranged in a down-flow atmosphere of clean air; A tray stock lane 13 with a film for storing the contaminated tray T with a film disposed in an atmosphere without a hepa filter is provided below the tray transport lane 11 in parallel with the tray transport lane 11. Have been. The three tray transport lanes 11, the washed tray stock lanes 12, and the membrane-mounted tray stock lanes 13 are selectively carried in and out by the tray exchange unit 10.

The reaction chambers 2 and 3 are provided with a cumulative film thickness meter (not shown), and the substrate attaching / detaching portion 7 is provided with a tray use frequency meter (not shown) or a tray accumulator for measuring the film thickness of the tray T. A film thickness gauge is provided.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described.

First, the washed trays T from which the film has been removed by the washing are set on the tray carrier 9, and a plurality of the trays T are put into the washed tray stock lane 11 via the tray changing section 10. Then, the number of trays T or groups of trays corresponding to the tact time of the apparatus main body 5 is transferred from the cleaned tray stock lane 12 to the tray transport lane 11.
Then, the tray T is loaded through the tray exchange unit 10, and the tray T is transported to the substrate attaching / detaching unit 7 by the tray transport lane 11.

Further, the substrate is mounted on the tray T by the substrate attaching / detaching portion 7, and in the loading room 1 of the apparatus main body 5, the inside of the room is set to a predetermined low pressure, the tray T is heated to a predetermined temperature, and a predetermined pressure is set. , At a temperature of the reaction chamber 2.
In the reaction chamber 2, a film is formed on the substrate on the tray T by a reaction gas and plasma discharge. Then, after the film formation, the tray T is passed straight through to the carry-out chamber 4. Then, in the unloading chamber 4, the tray T is taken in a vacuum state, the pressure is increased to the atmospheric pressure state, and the temperature of the substrate of the tray T is cooled to near room temperature. Convert. The unloaded tray T is returned to the substrate attaching / detaching unit 7 again via the tray transport lane 11 of the tray transport unit 6, and the substrate is removed from the tray T.

When it is detected by the tray usage counter or the tray cumulative film thickness meter that the tray T group has reached the prescribed number of times of use or the reference film thickness, the tray with film T is automatically stored in the tray stock with film. While being stored in the lane 13, the washed tray T is washed out from the washed tray stock lane 12 to the tray transport lane 11. At the same time as this operation, the tray usage counter and the tray cumulative film thickness meter are reset.

When the reaction chamber detects that the film thickness has reached the reference film thickness by means of a cumulative film thickness meter in the reaction chamber, it issues a request for cleaning the reaction chamber. After completion of cleaning, the reaction chamber cumulative film thickness meter is reset.

When the apparatus main body 5 is in operation, the tray transfer carriage 9 of the tray changing section 10 is used to operate the tray transfer lane 11.
The storage of the film-attached tray T and the loading of the washed tray T can be performed by separating the space between the trays T being conveyed.

When the film thickness of the reaction chambers 2 and 3 reaches the reference film thickness, the reaction chambers 2 are automatically passed through.
To form a film.

Further, the removal of the tray with film T and the supply of the washed tray T can be performed at any time as a so-called external setup, so that the tray T is not restricted by the work of replacing the tray T and the replacement of the tray T is performed. The management can be easily performed, the operation rate can be improved, and the yield of the film-forming object does not decrease.

Further, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, each of the washed tray stock lane 12 and the membrane-mounted tray stock lane 13 is formed as a separate dedicated lane, but as shown in FIG. The tray T and the tray with film T may be stored in one stock lane 15.

[0029]

According to the vacuum film forming apparatus of the first aspect,
Between the vacuum chambers including the loading chamber, the reaction chamber, and the unloading chamber, the tray transport section has a tray transport lane for transporting the trays, the tray stock lane stores the trays, and the tray exchange section has the tray transport lane. By transferring the trays between the tray stock lanes and transferring the washed trays to the tray stock lanes in advance, the used and contaminated trays and the washed trays are transferred to the tray transport lanes and the tray transfer lanes. It can be exchanged with the stock lane by the tray exchange unit, which saves exchange time, improves the operation rate of the equipment, and reduces the space required for the tray storage space other than the equipment. Can be.

According to the vacuum film forming apparatus of the second aspect, in addition to the vacuum film forming apparatus of the first aspect, the tray exchange section is
The tray is automatically replaced when the accumulated film thickness of the film deposited on the tray becomes equal to or more than a predetermined value. Therefore, the use of the polluted tray can be prevented, and the yield of the film-forming object can be improved.

According to the vacuum film forming apparatus of the third aspect, in addition to the vacuum film forming apparatus of the first aspect, the tray exchange section is
Since the tray is automatically replaced when the number of times the tray is used becomes equal to or more than the predetermined number, the use of the polluted tray can be prevented, and the yield of the object to be film-formed can be improved.

According to the vacuum film forming apparatus of the fourth aspect, in addition to the vacuum film forming apparatus of the first aspect, the reaction chamber automatically issues a reaction chamber cleaning request alarm when the cumulative film thickness of the reaction chamber exceeds a predetermined value. The operator does not need to manage the accumulated film thickness, and if a plurality of reaction chambers are specified, this alarm can be used to switch the reaction chambers and greatly improve the apparent device operation rate. The yield of the film body can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of a vacuum film forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a conventional vacuum film forming apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Loading room 2, 3 Reaction room 4 Loading room 6 Tray transfer section 10 Tray exchange section 11 Tray transfer lane 12 Washed tray stock lane 13 Tray stock lane with membrane 15 Tray stock lane

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-1-100937 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01L 21/68 H01L 21/205

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] A plurality of vacuum chambers including a carry-in chamber, a reaction chamber, and a carry-out chamber; a tray transport unit provided between the vacuum chambers and outside the vacuum chamber; A tray carrying section, the tray carrying section, a tray carrying lane for carrying the tray, a tray stock lane capable of storing a plurality of trays, the tray carrying lane and the tray A vacuum film forming apparatus, comprising: a tray exchanging section for transferring the tray between stock lanes. 2. The vacuum film forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the tray changing section automatically changes the tray when the accumulated film thickness of the film on the tray becomes a predetermined value or more. 3. The vacuum film forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the tray replacing section automatically replaces the tray when the number of times the tray has been used becomes a predetermined number or more. 4. The vacuum film forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the request for cleaning the reaction chamber is automatically issued when the accumulated film thickness of the reaction chamber becomes a predetermined value or more.