JP6522447B2 - Vacuum processing apparatus and power distribution unit used therefor - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vacuum processing apparatus and a power distribution unit used therefor.

  The conventional vacuum processing apparatus comprises a power supply for supplying power during processing of a sample in a processing chamber of the vacuum processing unit as described in Patent Document 1, and an adjusting unit for adjusting the flow rate of gas supplied to the processing chamber. It is known to have a bed portion to be stored, and the bed portion has a drawer structure that can slide the storage portion for storing the power supply.

JP, 2015-8243, A

  In the case of a maintenance operation or a replacement operation of each device, the vacuum processing apparatus needs to turn off a circuit breaker related to the maintenance operation to prevent an electric shock and carry out the operation safely. However, the above-described conventional techniques have not been sufficiently considered in terms of the efficiency of maintenance work.

  The electricity distribution unit in the vacuum processing apparatus which the present inventors examined is shown in FIG. The power distribution unit 511 for a vacuum processing apparatus is mounted in a limited space (bed 5300) below the vacuum processing apparatus, receives power supplied from the distribution board, and is a power unit used in the vacuum processing apparatus. In order to distribute the voltage, the connectors 5115 on the back surface of the electricity distribution unit 511 are distributed to the respective devices via the circuit breakers 5111 and 5112 having an overcurrent protection function adapted to the load capacity and the electromagnetic contactor 5113. For this reason, the electricity distribution unit 511 which mounts the circuit breaker 5111 to operate at the time of a maintenance is mounted in the bed part 5300 below a vacuum processing apparatus, and the operativity of the circuit breaker 5111 is bad. Moreover, step 516 which becomes a step board is installed around it with the enlargement of the vacuum processing apparatus in many cases, and when it is going to operate the breaker 5111 of the electricity distribution unit mounted in the bed part by maintenance work, step Unnecessary work occurs such that the user can not operate the circuit breaker 5111 unless the work 516 is removed. Reference numeral 5114 denotes a control connector for communicating with a control signal for turning the electromagnetic contactor 5113 ON / OFF, reference numeral 5100 denotes a plasma forming unit, and reference numeral 5200 denotes a processing unit.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum processing apparatus and a power distribution unit for a vacuum processing apparatus capable of improving the operability of the power distribution unit breaker at the time of maintenance.

As one embodiment for achieving the above object, an atmosphere unit for storing a substrate on the atmosphere side and transporting the substrate, and a vacuum unit for transporting and processing the substrate transported from the atmosphere unit in a vacuum atmosphere In a vacuum processing apparatus comprising
The vacuum unit includes a plasma processing unit, a processing unit, and a bed unit arranged in order from the top, and includes a vacuum processing unit including a power distribution unit.
The distribution unit receives the power supplied from the distribution board, and is connected to each device used in the vacuum processing apparatus via a breaker having an overcurrent protection function adapted to the load capacity and a magnetic contactor. To distribute power,
Among the circuit breakers, a circuit breaker operating at the time of maintenance is disposed above the bed section, and a circuit breaker or an electromagnetic contactor which does not need to be operated at the time of maintenance is disposed below the bed section. And a vacuum processing system.

Further, in a power distribution unit used in a vacuum processing apparatus having a vacuum processing unit provided with a plasma forming unit, a processing unit, and a bed unit arranged in order from the top,
The electricity distribution unit distributes electric power to each device used in the vacuum processing apparatus via a circuit breaker and an electromagnetic contactor, and the circuit breaker operated at the time of maintenance is disposed above the bed section Further, a circuit breaker or an electromagnetic contactor which does not need to be operated at the time of maintenance is disposed below the bed section.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the vacuum processing apparatus which can improve the operativity of a electricity distribution unit breaker at the time of a maintenance, and the electricity distribution unit for vacuum processing apparatuses can be provided.

It is an upper drawing which shows schematic structure of the vacuum processing apparatus which concerns on the Example of this invention. It is a side view which shows an example of schematic structure of the vacuum processing unit in the vacuum processing apparatus shown in FIG. It is a side view which shows schematic structure in the AA surface of the vacuum processing unit shown in FIG. It is an enlarged view of the electricity distribution unit 511 in the vacuum processing unit shown in FIG. It is an enlarged view of electricity distribution unit 511 in the vacuum processing unit shown in FIG. It is a side view (corresponding to FIG. 3) which shows the schematic structure of the vacuum processing unit which inventors examined.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described by way of examples. The same reference numerals indicate the same components.

  A vacuum processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention and a power distribution unit used therefor will be described with reference to the drawings. A present Example is a structural example when the electricity distribution unit mounted in a vacuum processing apparatus is installed in the downward limited space.

  FIG. 1 is a top view showing an example of a schematic configuration of a vacuum processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. The vacuum processing apparatus of the present embodiment is constituted by a combination of the vacuum processing unit 50 including the atmosphere transfer unit 20, the lock chamber 30, the vacuum transfer chamber 40, and the vacuum processing chamber, and the intermediate chamber 60. Be placed. In the first floor portion, a fluid reservoir, a pump portion and a distribution board 10 which are connected to the vacuum processing apparatus and are supplied to or circulated through the vacuum processing apparatus are disposed.

  In the atmosphere transfer unit 20, a transfer robot (not shown) is disposed in the internal space, and the transfer of a substrate, which is a sample such as a semiconductor wafer, is performed between the substrate storage container (not shown) and the lock chamber 30 It is a case to be The back side (the upper side in the drawing) of the atmosphere transfer unit 20 is a vacuum block which is maintained at a low pressure with a predetermined degree of vacuum across the lock chamber 30, and the block is the lock chamber 30, the vacuum transfer chamber 40, and the vacuum processing chamber And an intermediate chamber 60.

  Each of the plurality of vacuum transfer chambers 40 is a vacuum container having a substantially rectangular planar shape provided with a space for transferring a substrate therein, and has a vacuum transfer robot (not shown) in the transfer space. The vacuum transfer robot is configured such that the arm tip portion of the substrate is provided between the lock chamber 30 and the vacuum processing chambers of the plurality of vacuum processing units 50 and the intermediate chamber 60 or between the intermediate chamber 60 and the vacuum processing chamber of the vacuum processing unit 50. Is placed and held, and rotation is combined with extension and contraction of the arm to carry.

  The substrate is held and processed on a sample stage (not shown) inside the vacuum processing chamber of the vacuum processing unit 50 which has been transported. At this time, the vacuum transfer chamber 40 and the inside of the vacuum processing chamber of the vacuum processing unit 50 are always evacuated by the vacuum evacuation device. Further, the vacuum processing chamber of the vacuum processing unit 50 is provided with a sample table whose temperature is controlled by a chiller unit (not shown), and a substrate is placed on the sample table to perform processing. The processing of the substrate is performed by, for example, supplying electric power from a high frequency power supply into the vacuum processing chamber and converting the processing gas supplied into the vacuum processing chamber into a plasma.

  For such substrate processing in the vacuum processing chamber of each vacuum processing unit 50, power is supplied from the distribution board 10 to an evacuation apparatus, a transfer robot, a high frequency power supply, a chiller unit, etc. (not shown). In such a vacuum processing apparatus, the vacuum exhaust system requires continuous operation since it takes time to start up the vacuum.

  The chiller unit and the distribution board 10 are usually disposed on the first floor of the clean room in order to minimize the footprint of the apparatus disposed on the second floor as much as possible.

  Next, the configuration of the vacuum processing unit 50 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a side view showing an example of a schematic configuration of a vacuum processing unit in the vacuum processing apparatus shown in FIG.

The vacuum processing unit 50 can be roughly divided into the following three parts.
(1) One is a processing unit 5200 including a vacuum chamber 512 having a processing chamber (vacuum processing chamber) inside and a vacuum pump 508 including a turbo molecular pump disposed below the vacuum chamber 512 and exhausting the processing chamber from inside .
(2) The other one is a plasma forming portion 5100 which is disposed above the vacuum chamber 512 to form and propagate an electric field or magnetic field supplied into the processing chamber.
(3) The remaining one is disposed below the processing unit 5200, and a control unit (gas supply unit 510) for adjusting the supply of power and fluid such as gas used in the corresponding processing unit is a rectangular parallelepiped or A bed 5300 is disposed on the inside and the top of a casing having a shape approximating a thinness, and serves as a table for instructing the processing unit 5200 and the plasma forming unit 5100 thereabove from below.

  The processing unit 5200 includes a vacuum chamber 512 that constitutes an outer chamber, a vacuum pump 508 such as a turbo molecular pump, and the like.

  The vacuum chamber 512 (outer chamber) has a processing chamber (not shown) having a cylindrical shape inside, and is hermetically sealed on the inside against the outside atmosphere and partitioned. Further, although not shown, the vacuum chamber 512 has, for example, a loading port for loading the sample into the processing chamber at the top, that is, an opening, and the inner opening space on the opening side is partitioned by a gate valve. It has become.

  In other words, the processing chamber has an opening for loading the substrate, and the internal space on the opening side is airtightly held by the gate valve.

  In the vacuum chamber 512 of this example, the chamber inside is airtightly partitioned by a cylindrical vacuum vessel 506 (inner chamber) which is another vessel, and the processing chamber of the vessel is cylindrical. The vacuum processing chamber is disposed in a vacuum vessel 506 having an inner side wall surface. That is, the space inside the vacuum chamber 512 of the present example is divided into multiples by multiple (double) containers.

  In the processing chamber, the processing chamber having a cylindrical shape and the sample table 513 and the sample table 513 having a cylindrical shape disposed close to each other such that their central axes coincide or can be regarded as the same. And a substrate electrode to which high frequency bias power is supplied.

  The sample is conveyed onto the mounting surface of the sample table 513 in the processing chamber, and is held by the plasma by the processing gas introduced into the interior (vacuum processing chamber) of the vacuum vessel 506 in a state of being held by this The target film of the film structure formed and disposed in advance on the sample surface is etched.

  The vacuum pump 508 is disposed below the vacuum chamber 512 and connected to the vacuum chamber 512 to evacuate the gas in the vacuum chamber.

  The plasma forming unit 5100 is disposed above the processing container of the processing unit 5200. A high frequency oscillation unit 501, a high frequency power supply 502, a wafer bias power supply 503, a wafer bias matching unit 504, an ESC power supply 505, a coil unit 507, and the like are provided.

  The high frequency oscillator 501 constitutes a plasma generation means, and comprises, for example, a magnetron which forms an electric field for generating plasma in the processing chamber.

  The wafer bias power supply 503 supplies bias power to the substrate electrode. The substrate electrode is disposed in a vacuum chamber 512, and has a metal disk shape disposed inside a sample stage 513 on which a sample is placed, adsorbed, and held on a mounting surface which is an upper surface thereof during processing. The wafer bias matcher 504 adjusts the bias power supplied to the substrate electrode. The ESC power supply 505 electrostatically attracts the object to be processed to the substrate electrode, and supplies DC power to the electrode disposed inside the dielectric film forming the mounting surface of the substrate electrode. The substrate electrode is disposed on the upper surface of the sample table 513 so as to cover the upper surface of the sample table 513 in order to electrostatically adsorb the sample on the mounting surface.

  These components are disposed above the vacuum chamber 512 of the processing unit 5200 and surround the upper side and the outer periphery of the processing chamber, and are disposed above the upper surface of the cylindrical coil portion 507 supplied with DC power. The coil portion 507 is disposed above the vacuum vessel 506, and constitutes a plasma generation means including electric field and magnetic field generation means. Reference numeral 515 denotes a coil upper and lower device.

  The bed 5300 is disposed below the vacuum chamber 512 of the processing unit 5200 and the vacuum pump 508. And the coil power supply 509, the gas supply unit 510, the electricity distribution unit 511, the process chamber mount frame 514, etc. are provided. The coil power supply 509 is composed of a plurality of (three in this embodiment) coil power supplies 509, and regulates the supply of power to the coil section 507. The gas supply unit 510 has a plurality of connectors, which are connections with a plurality of types of gas supply pipes, and regulates the supply of gas into the processing chamber. The gas supply unit 510 is accommodated above the state in which the coil power supply 509 is accommodated in the bed 5300.

  An example of the electricity distribution unit in the vacuum processing apparatus according to the present embodiment as described above will be described below with reference to FIGS. 2 to 5. FIG. 3 is a side view showing a schematic configuration on the AA plane of the vacuum processing unit shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of power distribution unit 511 in the vacuum processing unit shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a power distribution unit 511 in the vacuum processing unit shown in FIG.

  First, details of the distribution unit 511 will be described. The distribution unit 511 is a unit for distributing and supplying the power distributed from the distribution board 10 to each device in the vacuum processing chamber, and as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 5, a circuit breaker for overcurrent protection to each device 5111, 5112, an electromagnetic contactor 5113 which is turned on / off according to the power supply condition to each device, a power output connector 5115 for supplying power to each device with a cable, and to turn the electromagnetic contactor 5113 on / off And a control connector 5114 for communicating with the control signal of In the present embodiment, part of the power supply unit 511 (the circuit breaker 5111) is disposed at a position higher than the step (installation position) 516.

  Next, an example of supplying power to wafer bias power supply 503 will be described. The power supplied from distribution board 10 is distributed in power distribution unit 511 and connected to the primary side of circuit breaker 5111 that performs overcurrent protection to wafer bias power supply 503. The secondary side of the circuit breaker 5111 is connected to the primary side of the magnetic contactor 5113, the secondary side of the magnetic contactor 5113 is connected to the output connector 5115, and the output connector 5115 is supplied to the wafer bias power supply 503 by a cable. Ru. The electromagnetic contactor 5113 is controlled by the signal of the control connector 5114 to turn ON only when the ON condition signal is received.

  Next, an example of maintaining the wafer bias power supply 503 will be described. When the wafer bias power supply 503 breaks down and needs to be replaced, a procedure for turning off the power supply to the wafer bias power supply 503 is necessary to prevent a maintenance person from receiving an electric shock. Therefore, it is necessary to turn off the breaker 5111 of the wafer bias power supply 503 in the power distribution unit 511. As described above, when the wafer bias power supply 503 is maintained, an operation to turn off the circuit breaker 5111 occurs, so access to the power distribution unit 511 is required. However, as shown in FIG. 6, when the electricity distribution unit 511 is disposed in the bed 5300 area, the operability is extremely low because it is at a low position.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the power distribution unit 511 can safely perform the maintenance operation by turning off the power supply at the time of maintenance. The circuit breaker 5112 which is mounted at a position higher than the position 516) and which does not cut off the power supply at the time of maintenance work is mounted in the area of the bed 5300. In addition, since the electromagnetic contactor 5113 does not have to be operated at the time of maintenance, there is no problem in mounting it in the bed 5300 area. Furthermore, the power output connector 5115 for supplying power to each device with a cable and the control connector 5114 for communicating with the control signal for turning on / off the electromagnetic contact 5113 are power distribution to each device, And, in order to exchange control signals, it was prepared at the back of the bed 5300. In order to achieve the above object, the power distribution unit 511 has an L-shaped structure, and the circuit breaker 5111 mounted above the bed 5300 and the circuit breaker 5112 mounted on the bed 5300 are divided.

  Since the power output connector 5115 and the control connector 5114 are provided at the rear of the bed 5300 and the breaker 5111 is disposed above the bed 5300, the power distribution unit 511 is forward (arrowed as shown in FIG. Direction) can be pulled out. As a result, the operability and safety of the power distribution unit of the vacuum processing apparatus mounted in a limited space can be improved.

  In addition, depending on the user site, step 516 is often installed around the vacuum processing chamber 50, and when step 516 is installed, when accessing the bed unit 5300, the step breaker must be removed after the step is removed. There is a problem that the operation of can not be performed easily. Therefore, it is desirable to install the circuit breaker mounted on the electricity distribution unit 511 above the bed 5300 as described above.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to provide a vacuum processing apparatus and a power distribution unit for a vacuum processing apparatus capable of improving the operability of the power distribution unit breaker at the time of maintenance.

  The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but includes various modifications. For example, the embodiments described above are described in detail in order to explain the present invention in an easy-to-understand manner, and are not necessarily limited to those having all the configurations described.

  In addition, with respect to a part of the configuration of each embodiment, it is possible to add, delete, and replace other configurations.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Distribution board 20 atmosphere conveyance unit 30 lock chamber 40 vacuum conveyance chamber 50 vacuum processing unit 60 intermediate chamber 501 high frequency oscillation unit 502 high frequency power supply 503 wafer bias power supply Apparatus, 504: Wafer bias alignment unit, 505: ESC power supply, 506: vacuum vessel, 507: coil unit, 508: vacuum pump, 509: coil power supply, 510: gas supply unit, 511: electrical distribution unit, 512: vacuum chamber , 513: sample holder, 514: processing chamber frame, 515: coil up-down device, 516: step (installation position), 5100: plasma forming part, 5111: circuit breaker (used for maintenance work), 5112: circuit breaker (maintenance work) When unused, 5113 ... Magnetic contactor, 5114 ... Control connector, 5115 ... Output connector, 5200 ... Processing section, 5300 ... the bed.

Claims (6)

A vacuum processing apparatus comprising: an atmosphere unit for storing a substrate on the atmosphere side and transporting the substrate; and a vacuum unit for transporting and processing the substrate transported from the atmosphere unit in a vacuum atmosphere.
The vacuum unit includes a plasma processing unit, a processing unit, and a bed unit arranged in order from the top, and includes a vacuum processing unit including a power distribution unit.
The distribution unit receives the power supplied from the distribution board, and is connected to each device used in the vacuum processing apparatus via a breaker having an overcurrent protection function adapted to the load capacity and a magnetic contactor. To distribute power,
Among the circuit breakers, a circuit breaker operating at the time of maintenance is disposed above the bed section, and a circuit breaker or an electromagnetic contactor which does not need to be operated at the time of maintenance is disposed below the bed section. Vacuum processing equipment. In the vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 1,
A connector for wiring the power distribution unit and each of the devices is disposed on a back surface of the power distribution unit, and a portion for housing the power distribution unit can be pulled forward. In the vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 1,
The distribution unit has an L shape,
The vacuum processing apparatus characterized in that the circuit breaker operating at the time of maintenance is disposed at the upper portion of the L-shaped vertical. A power distribution unit used in a vacuum processing apparatus having a vacuum processing unit including a plasma forming unit, a processing unit, and a bed unit arranged in order from the top
The electricity distribution unit distributes electric power to each device used in the vacuum processing apparatus via a circuit breaker and an electromagnetic contactor, and the circuit breaker operated at the time of maintenance is disposed above the bed section A power distribution unit characterized in that a circuit breaker or an electromagnetic contactor which does not need to be operated at the time of maintenance is disposed below the bed portion. In the distribution unit according to claim 4,
The connector for wiring the said electricity distribution unit and each said apparatus is arrange | positioned at the back surface of the said electricity distribution unit, and the part which accommodates the said electricity distribution unit can be pulled out ahead, The electricity distribution unit characterized by the above-mentioned. In the distribution unit according to claim 4,
The distribution unit has an L shape,
A power distribution unit characterized in that the circuit breaker operating at the time of maintenance is disposed at the upper portion of the L-shaped vertical.

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