JP6378403B2 - Substrate support structure - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate support structure that is provided in a substrate heat treatment apparatus or the like and supports a substrate in a substantially horizontal posture.

  Conventionally, when heat-treating a substrate for liquid crystal or organic EL, the substrate is held in a heat treatment apparatus so that its lower surface is supported. At this time, there is a case where a peripheral portion (about 10 mm from the outer edge) that is not affected by the support portion is supported while avoiding the central portion of the substrate, and the allowable contact range is narrow.

  In order to satisfy such restrictions, as shown in FIG. 7, the substrate W is supported by pins or balls 101 from directly below (see Patent Documents 1 and 2). In the figure, the area at the center of the substrate indicated by the double-pointed arrow A1 indicates the non-contactable range, and the area around the substrate indicated by the double-pointed arrow A2 indicates the allowable contact range.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-1000066 JP 2004-111786 A

  However, if the substrate is supported from directly below, there is a risk that the substrate may drop from the support portion due to errors such as conveyance accuracy, apparatus installation accuracy, and support position accuracy, or may come into contact with the non-contactable range A1.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a substrate support capable of preventing the substrate from dropping off from the support portion or coming into contact with a non-contactable range even if there is an error in conveyance accuracy, apparatus installation accuracy, support position accuracy, or the like. Is to provide a structure.

  A substrate support structure according to the present invention is for supporting a substrate to be processed in a substantially horizontal position at a predetermined support position in a processing space in which the substrate to be processed is accommodated and processed, and includes a substrate support member. The substrate support member supports the substrate to be processed by support portions that extend from the base end side toward the front end side and are inclined downward from the base end side toward the front end side at both sides of the support position. The substrate support member includes a base body that extends from the proximal end side toward the distal end side, and a support body that is disposed on the base body. Here, a support body has a support part and is arrange | positioned at a base body so that a support part may be exposed from the upper surface of a base body. The support body has a cylindrical side surface and is disposed so as to be rotatable about an axis along the longitudinal direction of the base body.

  According to the substrate support structure, since the support portion of the substrate support member is inclined obliquely downward, the support portion is provided only at the lower edge of the side edge of the substrate to be processed regardless of the degree of bending of the substrate to be processed. Can be contacted. For this reason, there is no need to support the substrate to be processed from the lower side by a protrusion or the like, and the influence of the mounting accuracy of the substrate support member and the accuracy of the substrate when transported to the processing space and placed on the support are eliminated. I do not receive it. Further, since the substrate support member is composed of the base body and the support body, the support portion that comes into contact with the substrate to be processed can be made into a component as a support body, and the handling is simplified. Furthermore, the support body is disposed so as to be rotatable about an axis along the longitudinal direction of the base body, so that the shock to the substrate to be processed when placed on the support portion is softened by the rotation of the support body, It is possible to prevent the substrate to be processed from being damaged at the portion in contact with the support portion.

  In the substrate support structure, the support is preferably made of resin or quartz.

  In the substrate support structure, the processing space is formed inside the processing container, and holding members for holding the base end side of the substrate supporting member are provided on both sides of the substrate support position on the inner surface of the side wall of the processing container. preferable.

  In the substrate support structure, it is preferable that a plurality of substrate support members are provided on one side of the support position. Thereby, it becomes possible to stably support the substrate to be processed. More specifically, it is preferable that the holding member extends in the depth direction of the processing space so as to face both sides of the support position, and is provided corresponding to the plurality of substrate support members.

  According to the present invention, even if there is an error in the conveyance accuracy, the apparatus installation accuracy, the support position accuracy, etc., it is possible to prevent the substrate from falling off from the support portion or coming into contact with a non-contactable range.

FIG. 1A is a schematic sectional view of a substrate support structure according to an embodiment of the present invention, and is a front sectional view showing a state before supporting a substrate. FIG. 1B is a front sectional view showing a state in which the substrate is supported. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows the board | substrate support member used for a board | substrate support structure. FIG. 3A is a plan view illustrating a state in which the substrate support member is attached to the holding member. FIG. 3B is a side view of the same. It is a schematic block diagram which shows the example which comprised the substrate support structure in multiple steps within one processing container. It is a schematic block diagram which shows the example which comprised the board | substrate support structure as a multistage unit. It is a figure which shows an example of the angle adjustment mechanism of a board | substrate support member. It is front sectional drawing which shows schematic structure of an example of the conventional board | substrate support structure.

  Hereinafter, a configuration of a substrate support structure according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a substrate to be processed (hereinafter referred to as “substrate W”) is accommodated and processed in a processing space 100 formed inside the processing container 4. The substrate support structure 1 is configured to support the substrate W at a predetermined support position in the processing space 100 in a substantially horizontal posture. The substrate support structure 1 is applied to a batch furnace or the like of a substrate processing apparatus (for example, a heat treatment apparatus) that performs some processing on the substrate W. Any material can be used for the substrate W, and the substrate W can be thinly bent. The substrate shape is not limited to a rectangular substrate, and may be a circular substrate such as a semiconductor wafer.

  The substrate support structure 1 includes a substrate support member 2 and a holding member 3.

  The substrate support member 2 extends from the base end 2A side toward the distal end 2B side, and includes a support portion 2C for supporting the substrate W on the upper side. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, the substrate support member 2 includes a base body 21 extending from the base end 2 </ b> A side toward the front end 2 </ b> B side and a support portion 2 </ b> C, and is supported from the upper surface of the base body 21. And a support 22 disposed on the base body 21 so as to expose the portion 2C.

  Although the material of the base body 21 and the support body 22 is not specifically limited, When the board | substrate support structure 1 is applied to a heat processing apparatus, it is required that it is a material which has heat resistance. In particular, since the support 22 is a component that is in direct contact with the substrate W, it is also a requirement for the material not to damage the substrate W. As a material satisfying such requirements, a resin or a quartz material is suitable.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the support 22 has a cylindrical shape. The support 22 has a support portion 2C on a line extending in the axial direction at the apex of the peripheral surface. In addition, the shape of the support body 22 is an example, and is not limited to the above.

  The base body 21 has a prismatic shape as shown in FIG. A concave portion 21 </ b> A extending along the longitudinal direction is formed on the upper surface of the base body 21. The support 22 is accommodated in the recess 21A. In the present embodiment, the recess 21 </ b> A is formed in a half pipe shape corresponding to the cylindrical shape of the support 22. Therefore, when the support body 22 is accommodated in the recess 21 </ b> A, the substantially upper half is exposed, and the support body 22 is rotatable about an axis along the longitudinal direction of the base body 21.

  A bolt hole 21B passing through the axial center of the recess 21A penetrates the base body 21 in the axial direction. The shapes of the base body 21 and the recess 21A are examples, and are not limited to the above.

  After the support body 22 is accommodated in the recess 21 </ b> A, the bolt 23 is fitted into the bolt hole 21 </ b> B and attached to the base body 21. The bolt 23 is inserted into the hollow portion of the support body 22 to prevent the support body 22 from coming off the base body 21. The bolt 23 is provided so as not to hinder the rotation of the support 22.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the substrate support member 2 configured as described above is held by the holding member 3 so that the support portion 2 </ b> C is inclined downward from the proximal end side toward the distal end side.

  In the present embodiment, the holding member 3 is a member formed in a U shape from the upper piece portion 31, the side wall portion 32, and the bottom piece portion 33. Such a U-shaped member is produced, for example, by bending a sheet metal.

  On both sides of the support position of the substrate W in the processing space 100, beams 7 having an upper surface formed in a horizontal plane are passed in the depth direction. As shown in FIG. 3A, the holding member 3 is fixed to the upper surface of the beam 7 with screws using the bottom piece 33.

  The substrate support member 2 is fixed to the side wall portion 32 of the holding member 3 using bolts and nuts at the base end portion of the base body 21. The substrate support member 2 is attached with an inclination in which the base end side of the base body 21 is high and the tip end side is low. At this time, when the upper edge of the base end surface of the base body 21 contacts the upper piece 31 of the holding member 3, the rotation of the base body 21 is prevented, and the inclination of the base body 21 is maintained constant. As a result, when the support 22 is mounted in the recess 21A, the support 22 is held so that the support 2C is inclined downward from the proximal end side toward the distal end side, as shown in FIG.

  In order to stably support the substrate W, it is preferable to support the substrate W at a plurality of locations on one side of the support position of the substrate W in the processing space 100. If it is a rectangular board | substrate, the two board | substrate support members 2 which support the front-back corner part can be provided. Thereby, a rectangular board | substrate can be supported more stably. In the present embodiment, the beam 7 extends in the depth direction of the processing space 100 on one side of the support position of the substrate W. Therefore, by attaching the plurality of holding members 3 along the longitudinal direction of the beam 7 on one side, it is possible to provide the plurality of substrate support members 2 side by side in the direction.

  The number of stages of the substrate support structure 1 including the holding member 3 and the substrate support member 2 is not limited. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, a plurality of substrates W can be supported in the processing space 100 of one processing container 4 by providing the substrate support structure 1 in multiple stages on the side wall inner surface 4 </ b> A of the processing container 4.

  As a multistage modification, as shown in FIG. 5, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which the processing container 4 having one substrate support structure 1 is formed as a flat unit, and a plurality of the units are stacked in multiple stages. According to this, since the number of units to be stacked can be freely laid out, there is an advantage that the number of stages of the substrate support structure 1 can be arbitrarily set.

  When the substrate W is supported by the substrate support structure 1 configured as described above, as shown in FIG. 1A, a processing space is provided by a fork disposed at the tip of a robot arm of a transfer robot (not shown). The substrate W is transported above the support position in 100. Subsequently, by lowering the robot arm, as shown in FIG. 1B, the substrate W is placed on the support 22 of the substrate support member 2 facing each other at both sides of the support position. The substrate W is supported by the support portions 2C of the substrate support member 2 at both end portions thereof.

  The substrate W supported in this way bends so that the central portion that is not directly supported by the substrate support member 2 sinks under its own weight. However, the degree of bending differs depending on the thickness, size, or material of the substrate W. In the substrates W1, W2, and W3 shown in FIG. 1B, the degree of bending does not increase in this order. The degree of bending of the substrate W varies depending on the thickness, size, or material of the substrate W.

  In the present invention, since the support portion 2C of the substrate support member 2 is inclined obliquely downward, the support portion 2C is brought into contact only with the lower edge of the side edge of the substrate W regardless of the degree of bending of the substrate W. be able to. For this reason, there is no need to support the substrate W from the lower side by a projection or the like, and the influence of the mounting accuracy of the substrate support member 2 and the accuracy when the substrate W is transported to the processing space 100 and placed on the support 22 is affected. I do not receive it.

  Further, since the support body 22 having the support portion 2C is rotatable, the shock when the substrate W is placed on the support portion 2C is softened by the rotation of the support body 22 and the portion of the substrate W that comes into contact with the support portion 2C. Can be prevented from being damaged. Furthermore, the damage of the board | substrate W can be prevented more reliably by making the material of the support part 2C into resin or quartz.

  In the present embodiment, the substrate support member 2 is attached to the holding member 3 in a fixed state (unrotatable). However, the support portion 2C faces downward depending on the lot of the substrate W to be processed. You may make it attach so that rotation is possible so that an inclination angle may be varied. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the substrate support member 2 is rotatably held with respect to the holding member 3 using the rotation shaft 5 at the base end portion, and the holding member 3 has a vertically long slot 34. The base body 21 of the substrate support member 2 is provided with a horizontally long hole 24, and the front end side of the substrate support member 2 is fixed using a pin 6 or the like at an arbitrary position where the long holes 34 and 24 intersect each other. As a result, the inclination angle of the support portion 2C can be adjusted.

  The above description of the embodiment is to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is shown not by the above embodiments but by the claims. Further, the scope of the present invention is intended to include all modifications within the meaning and scope equivalent to the scope of the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Substrate support structure 2 Substrate support member 2A Base end 2B Tip 2C Support part 3 Holding member 4 Processing container 4A Side wall inner surface 5 Rotating shaft 6 Pin 7 Beam 21 Base body 21A Recess 21B Bolt hole 22 Support body 23 Bolt 24 Long hole 31 Upper piece portion 32 Side wall portion 33 Bottom piece portion 34 Long hole 100 Processing space 101 Sphere A1 Non-contact range W, W1, W2, W3 Substrate

Claims (5)

A substrate support structure for supporting the substrate to be processed in a substantially horizontal position at a predetermined support position in a processing space in which the substrate to be processed is accommodated and processed,
A substrate support member that extends from the base end side toward the tip end side and supports the substrate to be processed by support portions that are inclined downward from the base end side toward the tip end side on both sides of the support position,
The substrate support member is
A base body extending from the base end side toward the tip end side;
A support body having the support part and disposed on the base body so as to expose the support part from an upper surface of the base body;
With
The substrate support structure, wherein the support body has a cylindrical side surface and is disposed so as to be rotatable about an axis along a longitudinal direction of the base body.   The substrate support structure according to claim 1, wherein the support is made of resin or quartz.   The processing space is formed inside the processing container, and holding members that hold the base end side of the substrate support member are provided on both sides of the support position on the inner surface of the side wall of the processing container. The substrate support structure described in 1.   The substrate support structure according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the substrate support members are provided on one side of the support position.   5. The substrate according to claim 4, further comprising a holding member provided to extend in a depth direction of the processing space so as to face both sides of the support position, and is provided corresponding to the plurality of substrate support members. Support structure.

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