Vacuum processing apparatus and semiconductor manufacturing line using the same

• US 5,855,726 A
• Filed: 07/08/1996
• Issued: 01/05/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 07/19/1995
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Soraoka, Minoru, Yoshioka, Ken, Kawasaki, Yoshinao
• Primary Examiner(s): Breneman, Bruce
• Assistant Examiner(s): LUND, JEFFRIE ROBERT
• Application Number:
  US08/677,682
• Time in Patent Office: 911 Days
• Field of Search: 118/719, 204/298.25, 204/298.35, 414/935, 414/937, 414/939, 414/940, 156/345
• US Class Current: 156/345.32
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67161 characterized by the layout of the process chambers
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67167 surrounding a central transfer chamber
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67173 in-line arrangement
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/6719 characterized by the construction of the processing chambers, e.g. modular processing chambers
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67196 characterized by the construction of the transfer chamber
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67727 using a general scheme of a conveying path within a factory
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67778 involving loading and unloading of wafers
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 134/902 Semiconductor wafer
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 414/135 Associated with semiconductor wafer handling
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 414/137 including means for charging or discharging wafer cassette
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 414/139 including wafer charging or discharging means for vacuum chamber
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 414/14 Wafer cassette transporting
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 70/5801 Axially movable bolt
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 70/5805 Freely movable when locked

Abstract

A vacuum processing apparatus is composed of a cassette block and a vacuum processing block. The cassette block has a cassette table for mounting a plurality of cassettes containing a sample and an atmospheric transfer means. The vacuum processing block has a plurality of processing chambers for performing vacuum processing on the sample and a vacuum transfer means for transferring the sample. Both of the plan views of the cassette block and the vacuum processing block are nearly rectangular, and the width of the cassette block is designed to be larger than the width of the vacuum processing block, and the overall plan view of the vacuum processing apparatus is formed in an L-shape or a T-shape.

Claims

1. A vacuum processing apparatus composed of a cassette block and a vacuum processing block, said cassette block having a cassette table for mounting a plurality of cassettes, each containing a sample, said vacuum processing block having a plurality of processing chambers for treating a sample and vacuum transfer means for transferring said sample, wherein both of the plan shapes of said cassette block and said vacuum processing block are nearly rectangular in plan view and the relation W₁ -W₂ ≧

C_w is satisfied, where W₁ is the width of said cassette block, W₂ is the width of said vacuum processing block, and C_w is the width of said cassette.

6. A vacuum processing apparatus according to any one of claim 1 to claim 5, wherein

both of the plan view shapes of said cassette block and said vacuum processing block are nearly rectangular and the relations W₁ >

W₂ and G₁ <

G₂ are satisfied, and W₁ -W₂ =Ms a maintenance space, where W₁ is the width of said cassette block, W₂ is the width of said vacuum processing block, G₁ is a gap between cassette blocks adjacent to each other, and G₂ is a gap between vacuum processing blocks adjacent to each other.

9. A vacuum processing apparatus according to any one of claim 1 to claim 5, claim 7 and claim 8, wherein said cassette block is designed to contain a sample having a diameter not less than 300 mm.

2. A vacuum processing apparatus composed of a cassette block and a vacuum processing block, said cassette block having a cassette table for mounting a plurality of cassettes, each containing a sample, said vacuum processing block having a plurality of processing chambers for treating a sample and vacuum transfer means for transferring said sample, wherein

the width of said vacuum processing block is smaller than the width of said cassette block, and said vacuum processing apparatus is formed, as seen in plan view, in any one of an L-shape or a T-shape.

3. A vacuum processing apparatus composed of a cassette block and a vacuum processing block, said cassette block having a cassette, table for mounting a plurality of cassettes each containing a sample and atmospheric transfer means for transferring a sample, a vacuum processing block having a plurality of processing chambers for performing vacuum processing of said sample, a load lock chamber on the loading side, a load lock chamber on the unloading side and vacuum transfer means for transferring said sample between said processing chamber and said load lock chambers on the loading side and the unloading side, said atmospheric transfer means transferring sample between said cassette and said both load lock chambers, wherein

both of the shapes of said cassette block and said vacuum processing block are nearly rectangular in plan view and the relation W₁ -W₂ ≧

C_w is satisfied, where W₁ is the width of said cassette block, W₂ is the width of said vacuum processing block, and C_w is the width of one cassette.

4. A vacuum processing apparatus composed of a cassette block and a vacuum processing block, said cassette block having a cassette table for mounting a plurality of cassettes, each containing a sample, and atmospheric transfer means for transferring a sample, said vacuum processing block having a plurality of processing chambers for performing vacuum processing on said sample, a load lock chamber on the loading side, a load lock chamber on the unloading side and vacuum transfer means for transferring said sample between said processing chamber and said load lock chambers on the loading side and the unloading side, said atmospheric transfer means transferring said sample between said cassette and both load lock chambers, wherein

both of the shapes of said cassette block and said vacuum processing block are nearly rectangular in plan view and the width of said vacuum processing block is smaller than the width of said cassette block, and said vacuum processing apparatus is formed, as seen in plan view, in any one of an L-shape and a T-shape.

5. A vacuum processing apparatus composed of a cassette block, a vacuum processing block and atmospheric transfer means for transferring a sample between both blocks, said cassette block having a cassette table for mounting a plurality of cassettes, each containing a samples said vacuum processing block having a plurality of processing chambers for performing vacuum processing on a sample, a load lock chamber on the loading side, a load lock chamber on the unloading side and vacuum transfer means for transferring said sample between said processing chamber and said load lock chambers on the loading side and the unloading side, said atmospheric transfer means for transferring said sample between said cassette and both load lock chambers, wherein

both of the shapes of said cassette block and said vacuum processing block are nearly rectangular in plan view and the relation W₁ -W₂ >

C_w is satisfied, where W₁ is the width of said cassette block, W₂ is the width of said vacuum processing block, and C_w is the width of one cassette.

7. A vacuum processing apparatus composed of a cassette block and a vacuum processing block, said cassette block having a cassette table for mounting a plurality of cassettes, each containing a sample, said vacuum processing block having a plurality of processing chambers for performing vacuum processing on said sample, a load lock chamber on the loading side, a load lock chamber on the unloading side and vacuum transfer means for transferring said sample between said processing chamber and said load lock chambers on the loading side and the unloading side, said atmospheric transfer means for transferring said sample between said cassette and both load lock chambers, wherein

both of the shapes of said cassette block and said vacuum processing block, as seen in plan view, are nearly rectangular, and the relation W₁ -W₂ ≧

C_w and G₁ <

G₂ are satisfied, where W₁ is the width of said cassette block, W₂ is the width of said vacuum processing block, G₁ is a gap between cassette blocks adjacent to each other, G₂ is a gap between vacuum processing blocks adjacent to each other and C_w is the width of one cassette.

8. A vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the relationships W₁ ≧

2d and W₁ -W₂ ≧

d are satisfied where d is the maximum diameter of a sample to be processed.

10. A vacuum processing apparatus composed of a cassette block and a vacuum processing block, said cassette block having a cassette table for mounting a plurality of cassettes, each containing a sample, said vacuum processing block having an etching processing apparatus for performing etching processing in a sample and vacuum transfer means for transferring said sample, wherein

both said cassette block and said vacuum processing block are nearly rectangular in plan view and the relation W₁ -W₂ ≧

C_w is satisfied, where W₁ is the width of said cassette block, W₂ is the width of said vacuum processing block, and C_w is the width of one cassette.

11. A semiconductor manufacturing line comprising a plurality of bay areas where a plurality of vacuum processing apparatuses composed of a cassette block and a vacuum processing block are arranged in order of a manufacturing process, said cassette block having a cassette table for mounting a cassette containing a sample, said vacuum processing block having a plurality of processing chambers for performing vacuum processing on said sample and vacuum transfer means for transferring said sample, wherein

at least one of said vacuum processing apparatuses is designed so that said cassette block is capable of containing a sample having a diameter not less than 300 mm and the relation W₁ -W₂ ≧

C_w is satisfied, where W₁ is the width of said cassette block, W₂ is the width of said vacuum processing block, and C_w is the width of one cassette.

12. A semiconductor manufacturing line according to claim 11, wherein each of said bay areas has a stoker, said sample being transferred along the manufacturing line and to the stoker in each of the bay areas using an automatic line transfer machine, said sample being transferred between said stoker of each bay area using an automatic bay transfer machine.

13. A method of constructing a semiconductor manufacturing line comprising a plurality of vacuum processing apparatuses each composed of a cassette block capable of containing a sample having a diameter not less than 300 mm, and a vacuum processing block for performing vacuum processing on said sample, wherein at least one of said vacuum processing apparatuses is designed so that the width of said cassette block is larger than the width of said vacuum processing block and said vacuum processing apparatus is formed, as seen in plan view, in any one of an L-shape and a T-shape, comprising the steps of:

providing a maintenance space between any one of L-shaped and T-shaped vacuum processing apparatuses and the adjacent vacuum processing apparatus.

14. A method of constructing a semiconductor manufacturing line according to claim 13, further comprising the steps of:

arranging a plurality of bay areas having a plurality of said vacuum processing apparatuses in an order according to a semiconductor manufacturing process, providing a line automatic transfer machine between bay areas and in-bay automatic transfer machines between bays, each of the bay areas having a stoker, transferring said sample along the manufacturing line and to the stoker in each of the bay areas using said automatic line transfer machine, and transferring said sample in said bay areas using said in-bay automatic transfer machine between said stoker and said processing apparatuses.

15. A method of constructing a semiconductor manufacturing line according to any one of claim 13 and claim 14, wherein said vacuum processing apparatus contains an etching processing apparatus for performing an etching process on said sample.