JPS6280268A - Vacuum equipment for micromachining - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Application of the Invention] The present invention relates to a vacuum device for microfabrication, and particularly to a vacuum device for microfabrication that is suitable for performing sputtering or ion beam processing on a substrate as an object to be processed. Regarding vacuum equipment.

[Background of the invention]

In general, equipment that performs processing such as sputtering or ion beam processing on substrates to be processed in a chamber maintained in a vacuum state uses sputtering or ion beam processing to improve or stabilize processing performance. The processing chamber is always maintained in a vacuum state, and a preliminary vacuum chamber is provided outside the processing chamber for loading and unloading substrates to be processed. Examples of such equipment include, for example, JP-A-59-208
As disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 836, it is usually composed of a plurality of vacuum chambers, each of which is separated by a gate valve.

FIG. 7 shows details of the above-mentioned configuration. In the figure, 2
1 is a processing chamber which is a vacuum chamber, and in this processing chamber 2, a target 13 to be microfabricated and a heater 14 are arranged facing each other, and a substrate holding plate 9b is transferred between the target 13 and the heater 14. A transport device 5 is installed for the purpose of On the other hand, reference numeral 1 denotes a preparation chamber which is a preliminary vacuum chamber. A transfer device 4 is installed in this preparation chamber 1, and a substrate holding plate 9a holding a substrate to be processed is transferred to the processing chamber by the transfer device 4. This is for transferring the processed substrate holding plate 9a to or taking out the processed substrate holding plate 9a from the processing chamber 2.

The preparation chamber 1 and the processing chamber 2 are separated by a gate valve 7.

Next, the operation will be explained in detail. First, with the gate valve 7 closed, the processing chamber 2 is brought into a vacuum state, and the substrate holding plate 9a is installed in the transfer device @4 in the preparation chamber 1.

After the preparation chamber 1 is brought into a vacuum state, the gate valve 7 is opened, and the substrate holding plate 9a is transferred to the processing chamber 2 by the transfer device 4, and then transferred to a predetermined position in the processing chamber 2 by the transfer device 5. This becomes the substrate holding plate 9b.

After the necessary processing (sputtering or ion beam processing), the substrate holding plate 9b is returned to the preparation chamber 1 by the transport device 5, and the gate valve 7 is closed.

taken out of the device. Through this processing process, a vacuum state is always maintained in the processing chamber 2, so that stable processing can be performed.

However, in such a conventional device, in addition to requiring an expensive gate valve 7, transfer devices 4 and 5 are required in the preparation chamber and processing chamber 2, and the gate valve 7 is required from the preparation chamber 1 to the processing chamber 2. A mechanism is required to transport the substrate holding plate across the area.

FIG. 8 shows an example in which, in order to improve productivity, the preparation chamber 1 is provided with a take-out chamber 3 for taking out processed substrate holding plates in the configuration shown in FIG. 7. This take-out chamber 3 also has a transfer device 6, and is separated from the processing chamber 2 by a gate valve 8.

In this example, three sets of conveying devices are required, and there are also two gate valves, making the structure even more complicated, and the above-mentioned problems become even more pronounced.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned points, and an object of the present invention is to eliminate the use of expensive gate valves and to
An object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum device for microfabrication in which a predetermined function can be achieved with a single transfer device.

[Summary of the invention]

The present invention provides a preliminary vacuum chamber above a transfer device installed in a vacuum chamber in which the workpiece is microfabricated, into which the workpiece is placed before being microfabricated, or from which the workpiece is taken out after micromachining. By arranging them, they are designed to achieve the intended purpose.

[Embodiments of the invention]

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on embodiments of the drawings. Incidentally, the same reference numerals are used for the same parts as in the past.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, in this embodiment, the preparation chamber 1 is installed above the end of the transfer device 5 disposed in the processing chamber 2, and the processing chamber 2 and the preparation chamber 1 are connected to each other by a valve body 10.
It is divided into sections.

That is, the preparation chamber 2 is formed in the upper left part of the rectangular cross section, and this preparation chamber 2 is located at the end of the conveyance device 5.
A preparation chamber 2 and a processing chamber 1 are separated by a valve body 10. Further, no conveyance device is installed in the preparation chamber 2. The other configurations are the same as the conventional one.

In such a configuration, the valve body 10 performs opening and closing operations by moving in the vertical direction. Processing chamber 2 with valve body 10 closed
is placed in a vacuum state, and the substrate holding plate 9a is placed on the valve body 10. Next, after making the preparation chamber 1 into a vacuum state, the valve body 10 is moved downward, and the substrate holding plate 9a is transferred to the transfer device 5. After processing, the substrate holding plate 9b is attached to the valve body 10.
After returning the valve body 10 to the top and sealing it by moving the valve body 10 upward,
Take out the substrate holding plate 9a.

The open and closed states of the valve body 10 are shown in FIGS. 2 to 5.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show a state in which the valve body 10 is closed, and FIG.
In FIG. 5, the valve body 10 is in an open state, and the conveying device 5 conveys the substrate holding plate 9 in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the paper. The substrate holding plate 9 is actually installed on the support device 12 on the valve body 10 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, and when the valve body 10 is in the open state, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. As shown in
2 rotates 90° and transfers the 5-substrate holding plate 9 to the transfer device 5.

With this configuration of this embodiment, there is no need to use an expensive gate valve, a normal valve body can be used, and a predetermined treatment process can be achieved with one set of conveying devices. Therefore, it is not only economically efficient, but also requires only one conveying device, which makes it easy to control and improves reliability.

FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of the present invention. The embodiment of the figure is
The take-out chamber 3 of the substrate holding plate 9b is installed above the transport device 5 on the opposite side to the preparation chamber 1.

Even with this configuration, the effect is the same as that of the above-mentioned embodiment, and the effect becomes even greater when the chamber is configured with three chambers.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the vacuum apparatus for micromachining of the present invention described above, the workpiece to be microfabricated is placed above the transfer device installed in the vacuum chamber in which the workpiece is microfabricated, or Because it is equipped with a preliminary vacuum chamber to take out the processed material after processing, it does not require the use of expensive gate valves, and the specified mechanism can be achieved with one conveyance device, making it possible to achieve this type of fine processing. It is very effective when used in vacuum equipment.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of the microfabrication vacuum device of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a plan view of the embodiment shown in Fig. 1 with the valve body closed, and Fig. 3 is a sectional view thereof. , Figure 4 is the first
A plan view of the valve body in the illustrated embodiment in an open state,
FIG. 5 is a sectional view thereof, FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 7 and 8 are sectional views showing conventional examples. 1... Preparation room, 2... Processing room, 3... Unloading room,
4,5゜6... Conveyance device, 7,8... Gate valve, 9
, 9a, 9b... Substrate holding plate, 10.11... Valve body, 12... Support device, 13... Target, 14...
··motor.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A vacuum chamber for micromachining a workpiece; and a vacuum chamber arranged adjacent to the vacuum chamber, into which the workpiece is placed before microfabrication;
Alternatively, a preliminary vacuum chamber for taking out the workpiece after microfabrication, and transportation for transporting the workpiece from the preliminary vacuum chamber to the vacuum chamber, or transportation for transporting the workpiece from the vacuum chamber to the preliminary vacuum chamber. A vacuum apparatus for microfabrication, wherein each of the chambers is maintained in a predetermined vacuum state, wherein the preparatory vacuum chamber is disposed above a transfer device in the vacuum chamber. Vacuum equipment. 2. The bottom of the preparatory vacuum chamber is configured with a valve body that vacuum-seals between the preparatory vacuum chamber and the vacuum chamber and operates approximately in the vertical direction, and the to-be-processed object installed on the valve body The object is transferred from the preliminary vacuum chamber to the transfer device in the vacuum chamber by a downward movement caused by the opening operation of the valve body, or from the transfer device in the vacuum chamber by the upward movement caused by the closing movement of the valve body. A vacuum device for microfabrication characterized by being transferred to a preliminary vacuum chamber. 3. The preliminary vacuum chamber consists of a loading chamber in which the workpiece is loaded before microfabrication and a takeout chamber for taking out the workpiece after microfabrication, and the loading chamber and takeout chamber are connected to the vacuum chamber. A vacuum device for microfabrication according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the vacuum device is provided substantially parallel to the upper end of the conveying device.