JPH0524989B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to a sputtering apparatus for producing a thin film in vacuum. In particular, the present invention relates to the configuration and structure of a large sputtering apparatus for processing large quantities of large-area flat substrates.

[Prior Art] As a conventional device of this type, a tray-type in-line device is known, which fabricates a thin film while transporting a tray on which a substrate is attached. Depending on the orientation of the tray during transport, it can be classified into horizontal tray transport type and vertical (vertical) tray transport type; however, as demands for increased board area and productivity increase, large-scale equipment with vertical tray transport type is becoming more popular. It has come to be considered advantageous in terms of overall floor space and prevention of damage caused by waste generation. Conventionally, the vertical tray conveyance system is generally driven from the bottom of the chamber, and for example, the configuration is shown in FIG. 5a (side sectional view) and FIG. The tray 70 is held almost vertically between the lower drive roller 74, the lower guide roller 79, and the upper guide roller 78, and the rotational motion introduced from the drive mechanism 75 is transmitted to the lower drive roller 74 via the bevel gear. The tray 70 was being transferred in the horizontal direction. This lower drive roller system with an upper guide roller uses conveyance by friction between the tray and the rollers, so there is a problem with the reliability and stability of the feed speed due to the wraparound, and when dirt falls from the upper roller. There was a risk of falling along the surface of the tray 70. In addition, cleaning and maintenance work when dirt gets into the lower drive section is troublesome.

Furthermore, the spatter film may naturally peel off and get mixed into the lower drive section, and in that case, there is a great risk that it will be crushed and become a cause of secondary dust generation.

Another known vertical tray conveyance system is one in which a self-supporting tray carrier is horizontally conveyed by a rack and pinion drive mechanism provided at the bottom of the chamber. In this case, there is no roller like in the previous example, so the reliability and safety of the karamawari feeding are improved. Furthermore, since it is self-supporting and does not require an upper guide roller, the upper friction The danger of dust being generated and falling along the tray surface is also eliminated.

However, in order to move a tray with a particularly large area stably so that its surface does not shake significantly during transport, it is necessary to increase the weight of the carrier and provide a guide at the bottom to prevent misalignment. A complex drive mechanism is required. In addition, because the drive mechanism of this lower part is complicated, not only is cleaning and maintenance work cumbersome, but also spatter peeling film that falls from above due to gravity enters the lower rack pinion part and can be crushed. , the danger of generating secondary waste remains unresolved.

[Object of the Invention] An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and to provide a structure of a vertical tray conveyance type sputtering apparatus for large-area substrates which has a stable and highly reliable running surface with little runout.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In the present invention, each vacuum chamber of a load lock, sub-load lock, buffer, bake, sputter, sub-unload lock, and unload lock unit and a gate valve are connected in series,
In a sputtering device that includes a vacuum pump for evacuating each chamber, a sputtering power source that supplies power to the sputtering electrodes, and water cooling piping, gas piping, and electrical wiring that supplies cooling water, gas, and power to the entire device, A pair of vertically oriented trays for accommodating substrates are arranged so that the imitation surfaces of the substrates are opposite to each other, and a drive source for transporting the trays is connected to the outside of the hermetically sealed chamber via a flange. A drive gear is attached to the shaft connected to the drive source and extends inside the chamber, and a support mechanism consisting of a support plate and a plurality of rollers incorporated through the support plate is attached to the upper wall inside the chamber. A tray carrier that is attached to the tray and is supported by the support mechanism and conveys in the horizontal direction is composed of a slider and a hook, a lock is formed on one side of the slider, and a hook is attached to the lower side of the slider. The tray is suspended via the hook, a pair of covers are provided at the bottom of the support mechanism to sandwich the tray carrier, and gears that mesh with the rack and the drive gear are mounted on the upper wall inside the chamber. A contact guide bearing is attached to the lower end of the substrate holder that supports the substrate on the side on which the substrate is not formed, a non-contact guide bearing is attached to the side of the substrate holder on which the substrate is formed, and the drive gear, the The device is configured to create a thin film while conveying the tray by the movement of the gears and the racks.

[Function] Because the tray always tends to maintain an almost vertical position due to gravity, a drive mechanism using a large-area, thin tray and simple, small-sized drive gears, gears, and racks can be achieved, increasing the reliability of the conveyance system. .

In addition, a pair of trays are suspended from the tray carrier via hooks using a drive mechanism at the top of the chamber, and a pair of covers are provided to sandwich the tray carrier. Even if this occurs, it will fall along the back surface of the tray, and it can be prevented from falling along the surface of the tray.

In addition, since the present invention uses a mechanism that moves by interlocking drive gears, gears, and racks, there is no risk of crushing spattered peeling film that has fallen to the bottom of the chamber due to gravity, and it also cleans the bottom of the chamber. , maintenance can be very easy.

[Example] Next, embodiments of the present invention will be explained using the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a vertical tray conveyance type sputtering device to which the present invention is applied. In the figure, the main body of the device consists of six gate valves 11, 12, 13, 1.
4, 15, 16, and eight vacuum unit chambers, namely a load lock chamber 21, a sub load lock chamber 31, a buffer chamber (1),
41, a baking chamber 50, a sputter chamber 60, buffer chambers (2), 42, a sub-unload lock chamber 32, and an unload lock chamber 22.

The tray assembly 70 is pushed into the load lock chamber 21 from the atmosphere side in the direction shown by arrow A with the gate valve open, and passes through each vacuum unit chamber in sequence to undergo substrate heating and film coating processing. Unload lock chamber 22 after
is sent out to the atmosphere. A mechanical booster pump 3 is connected to each chamber via a valve 2.
An oil rotary pump 4, a cryopump 5, or the like is connected to perform exhaust. The state in which the two trays 72 of the tray assembly 70 are suspended as a pair will be described in detail later with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

A set of two trays is a vertical yambar.
(1), 41, When placed in the baking chamber 50 and sputtering chamber 60, the heater 8 can be placed between these trays, and the substrate is heated from the back side at each position. Its operation is described in Japanese Patent Application No. 61-289610, so it will be omitted here. More baking chamber 5
When the temperature is within 0, the tray can also be heated from its surface by the heater 9. The sputter chamber 60 is provided with two cathodes 6 on one side, and a sputter film is deposited from each surface of the tray assembly 70. If the time interval (takt time) between one set of tray assemblies being processed and output from the device is short, about 3 minutes, insert the tray assembly 70 in the load lock chamber 21 and close the valve 11 as shown in this figure. After closing, the tray assembly 70 is evacuated to a low vacuum, and then the tray assembly 70 is transferred to the sub-load lock chamber 31, evacuated to a high vacuum or ultra-high vacuum, and further transferred to the buffer chamber (1). However, if the takt time is long enough and there is sufficient exhaust time, there is no need to separately provide a load lock chamber and a sub load lock chamber as shown in this figure, and a single chamber can be used in common. Similarly, if the takt time is long enough, one unload lock chamber and one sub load lock chamber can be used in common. If substrate heating is not necessary, the subload lock chamber 31 and the heater 8 of the sputter chamber 60 are not necessary, and the baking chamber 50 is also not necessary. Note that in order to operate this sputtering device, gas, cooling water, and electricity are required to be supplied, but these are not shown. The buffer chambers (1) and 41 transfer the tray assemblies 70 from the sub-load lock chamber 31 so that adjacent tray assemblies 70 are continuous with almost no gaps in the baking chamber 50 and sputtering chamber 60. It is necessary as a space for fast forwarding to move closer to the target. Similarly, the buffer chambers (2) and 42 are necessary for rapidly transporting the tray assembly, which has been subjected to the sputter coating process, to the sub-unloading lock chamber 32.

FIG. 2 shows a front cross-sectional view (vertical cross-sectional structure) of the load lock chamber 21. As shown in FIG. Also, Figure 3 shows the second
A vertical sectional view taken in the direction of the arrow in the figure. FIG. 4 shows the appearance of the tray carrier 74 in FIGS. 2 and 3. FIG. A drive source 75 and an idler 7 for conveying the tray assembly 70 are provided on the upper chamber wall 211.
6. A support mechanism 77 is attached. The lower chamber wall 212 is provided with an exhaust port 22 and has a lower tray guide assembly 78 attached thereto. The tray assembly 70 is suspended from a tray carrier 74, and the tray carrier as a whole is supported by a support mechanism and transported in a horizontal direction as shown by arrow A. The drive source 75 is composed of a rotation introduction device 752 equipped with a motor 751 and is connected to the chamber through a flange 753 in an airtight manner. A drive gear 756 is fixed to the tip of the shaft 754 on the vacuum side, and is rotated by the drive of the motor 751. The idler 76 is connected to the bracket 761
A gear 763 can be rotated about a shaft 762 attached to the chamber upper side wall 211 via a shaft 762 . On the other hand, the pair of support mechanisms 77 are attached to the chamber upper wall 211 by brackets 771, and the bearings 7 are attached to the support plate 772.
It consists of a plurality of rollers 774 installed through 73. A tray carrier 74 is mounted so as to be in contact with a plurality of rollers 774. tray carrier 7
There is a rack 7 on one side of the slider 741 of 4.
42 is cut, and the rack 742 and the gear 763 of the idler 76 mesh with each other with the tray carrier resting on the rollers. A hanging plate 744 and a hook 745 are attached to the lower side of the slider 741, and two substrate holders 72 can be suspended from one slider via the hook 745. The substrate holder 72 uses a back plate 73 to accommodate a substrate 71 on which a thin film is to be formed.

Although there are various methods and structures for fixing the substrates and the substrate holder, their description will be omitted here as they are outside the scope of the present invention.

The position of the portion near the lower end of the substrate holder 72 is restricted by a guide assembly 78 so that the surfaces of the two substantially vertical substrates do not swing significantly. That is, 2
On the back side of the substrate holder 72, a contact guide bearing 781 is attached to the chamber bottom wall 212 via a bracket 7812 so as to rotate around the shaft 7811. Meanwhile, a non-contact guide bearing 782 is attached to the chamber bottom wall 212 via a bracket 7822 for rotation about the shaft 7821. When the tray assembly 70 is transported, the lower back surface of the substrate holder 72 moves by pushing the contact guide bearing 781 due to the force of gravity, but normally does not touch the non-contact guide bearing 782. The non-contact guide bearing 78 has the purpose of preventing the risk of the substrate holder being shaken or deformed due to an unexpected accident and colliding with an obstructive object during the transfer.

A pair of covers 775 are provided at the bottom of the support mechanism 77 so as to sandwich the tray carrier therebetween.

When the tray assembly attached to the tray carrier 74 is transported by the drive source 75 via the idler 76, there is a possibility that dust will be generated due to friction between the gear and the rack and rotational contact between the roller and the lower surface of the slider. However, even if dust is generated, the cover 775 prevents the dust from scattering downward, and even if it falls, the two substrate holders 72
This prevents the dust from falling into the space between the back surfaces of the substrate 71 and along the surface of the substrate 71, thereby suppressing the risk of dust adhering to the surface of the substrate on which the film is formed.

Furthermore, since the guide at the bottom of the substrate holder only rotates in contact with the back surface of the substrate holder and does not usually come into contact with the front surface, the risk of dust generation here is extremely low.

Although the transport of the tray assembly 70 in the load lock chamber has been described above with reference to FIGS. 2, 3, and 4, the transport in other chambers is exactly the same.

The support mechanism 77 cannot be joined between two adjacent chambers with a gate valve in between, so it is necessary to leave a certain gap between them.
If the distance is sufficiently short compared to the horizontal length of the tray carrier 74, there will be no problem in transporting the tray assembly between two support mechanisms that are not completely continuous.

[Effects of the Invention] The present invention provides a sputtering device that is highly reliable for processing large substrates using a vertical conveyance method, has little risk of dust generation, and is easy to maintain.

The substrate conveyance method according to the present invention is not limited to sputtering equipment, but is also effective as a ground type equipment that forms and processes thin films in a vacuum.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a vertical in-line sputtering device to which the present invention is applied. Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view of the load lock chamber in Figure 1, Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view taken in the direction of the arrow in Figure 1, Figure 4 is an external view of the tray carrier, Figures 5a and 5. b is a side sectional view and a front sectional view showing a conventional vertical tray conveyance system using a lower drive roller and an upper guide roller. 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16...Gate valve, 21...Load lock chamber, 3
1...Subroad lock chamber, 41, 42
...Baking chamber, 50...Baking chamber, 60...Splashing chamber, 32
...Sub unloading lock chamber, 22...
Unload lock chamber, 2...Valve, 3
... Mechanical booster pump, 4 ... Oil rotary pump, 5 ... Cryopump, 6 ... Cathode, 8, 9 ... Heater, 70 ... Tray assembly,
74...Tray carrier, 75...Drive source, 76
...Idler, 77...Support mechanism, 78...
...Guide assembly.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 Load lock, sub load lock, buffer, bake, spatter, sub unload lock,
Each unit of the unload lock has a vacuum chamber and a gate valve connected in series, a vacuum pump to evacuate each chamber, a sputter power supply that supplies power to the sputter electrode, and water cooling piping that supplies cooling water, gas, and electricity to the entire device. - In a sputtering device that includes gas piping and electrical wiring, a pair of vertically oriented trays for accommodating substrates are arranged so that the film action surfaces of the substrates are opposite each other, and the trays are transported. a drive source is connected to the outside of the hermetically sealed chamber via a flange, and a drive gear is attached to a shaft attached to the drive source and extending inside the chamber;
A support mechanism consisting of a support plate and a plurality of rollers incorporated through the support plate is attached to the upper wall inside the chamber, and a tray carrier supported by the support mechanism and conveyed in a horizontal direction is composed of a slider and a hook, A rack is formed on one side of the slider, and a hook is attached to the lower side of the slider, so that the tray is suspended through the hook and the tray carrier is sandwiched between the lower part of the support mechanism. A pair of covers are provided in a similar shape, gears that mesh with the rack and the drive gear are attached to the upper wall inside the chamber, and a contact guide bearing is attached to the lower end of the substrate holder that supports the substrate on the side where no substrate is formed. , a sputtering apparatus characterized in that a non-contact guide bearing is attached to the surface of the substrate holder on which the substrate is to be formed, and a thin film is formed while conveying the tray by movement caused by the engagement of the drive gear, the gear, and the rack. .