Vacuum processing apparatus and operating method therefor

• US 6,470,596 B2
• Filed: 01/24/2001
• Issued: 10/29/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 08/29/1990
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Itou, Atsushi, Tsubone, Tsunehiko, Kato, Shigekazu, Nishihata, Kouji
• Primary Examiner(s): O MALLEY, KATHRYN S
• Application Number:
  US09/767,837
• Publication Number:
  US 20010001902A1
• Time in Patent Office: 643 Days
• Field of Search: 34/92, 344/06, 344/09, 344/13, 344/17, 342/28, 342/29, 118/715, 118/719, 118/723.VE, 118/729, 118/730, 414/217, 414/225, 414/226, 414/708, 414/712, 414/715, 414/716, 414/744.6, 414/744.7, 414/939, 414/940, 414/941, 134/902
• US Class Current: 34/406
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 3/006 Processes utilising sub-atmospheric pressure; Apparatus therefor
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/36 Print density control
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/365 by compensation for variation in temperature
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 14/564 Means for minimising impurities in the coating chamber such as dust, moisture, residual gases
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67028 for cleaning followed by drying, rinsing, stripping, blasting or the like
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67167 surrounding a central transfer chamber
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67253 Process monitoring, e.g. flow or thickness monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67736 Loading to or unloading from a conveyor
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67748 horizontal transfer of a single workpiece
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 134/902 Semiconductor wafer
• 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

Abstract

This invention relates to a vacuum processing apparatus having vacuum processing chambers the insides of which must be dry cleaned, and to a method of operating such an apparatus. When the vacuum processing chambers are dry-cleaned, dummy substrates are transferred into the vacuum processing chamber by substrates conveyor means from dummy substrate storage means which is disposed in the air atmosphere together with storage means for storing substrates to be processed, and the inside of the vacuum processing chamber is dry-cleaned by generating a plasma. The dummy substrate is returned to the dummy substrate storage means after dry cleaning is completed. Accordingly, any specific mechanism for only the cleaning purpose is not necessary and the construction of the apparatus can be made simple. Furthermore, the dummy substrates used for dry cleaning and the substrates to be processed do not coexist, contamination of the substrates to be processed due to dust and remaining gas can be prevented and the production yield can be high.

Claims

1. An apparatus for treating samples in a vacuum, comprising:

vacuum processing chambers for treating the samples;

cassette tables for mounting a set of cassettes in which plural samples are stored;

a transfer device for supplying said set of cassettes to said cassette tables, said transfer device moving in front of said cassette tables located along lock chambers; and

a transfer structure for carrying in samples from said cassettes to said vacuum processing chambers through said lock chambers, and for carrying out treated samples to said cassettes through said lock chambers,

wherein said transfer structure is provided with a device which faces to a set of samples disposed in said cassettes and sequentially transfers said samples one by one to said lock chambers in which one sample is to be disposed, and another device which is disposed in a conveyor chamber of a vacuum loader and which transfers sequentially said samples one by one to vacuum processing chambers substantially at a same height as said vacuum processing chambers.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said device transfers sequentially the samples one by one from a lock chamber, of the lock chambers, to said set of cassettes, and said another device transfers sequentially said samples one by one to said lock chambers from the vacuum processing chambers.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said vacuum processing chambers are for treating said samples according to recognition of product information which is given to said set of cassettes and which is sent from a control apparatus;

said cassettes store therein all of the samples after completion of processing; and

said transfer device includes structure for exchanging said cassette with another cassette in which unprocessed samples are stored.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said transfer structure carries in a treated sample to an original position of said cassette occupied by the sample before the sample was carried from the cassette to said vacuum processing chambers to be treated.

5. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said vacuum processing chambers to which plural samples are carried treats said samples in parallel.

6. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said vacuum processing chambers to which plural samples are carried treats said samples in parallel.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said vacuum processing chambers in which plural samples are carried treats said samples in parallel.

8. An apparatus for treating a sample in a vacuum, comprising:

a cassette containing plural samples, each sample having a surface thereof horizontal, said cassette being placed on a cassette table;

a transfer device for supplying said cassette to said cassette table, with said surface horizontal, said transfer device moving in front of a lock chamber on a track unit located along said lock chamber;

a vacuum processing chamber for carrying out vacuum processing treating of said sample according to recognition of product information which is given to said cassette and which is sent from a control apparatus, said surface of said sample being horizontal during the vacuum processing treating; and

a transfer structure for carrying in the sample from the cassette to the vacuum processing chamber through said lock chamber and for carrying out the sample treated in the vacuum processing chamber,

wherein said vacuum processing chamber treats all of the plural samples with the surface of each sample being horizontal, and wherein all of the plural samples in said cassette after completing the vacuum processing treating are transferred into said cassette by said transfer structure,

said transfer device exchanging said cassette with another cassette in which unprocessed samples are contained, and

wherein a sample, of said samples, is sequentially transferred from said cassette on the cassette table to said vacuum processing chamber by said transfer structure and in a state that as substantial horizontal line of said sample is maintained, to the extent of one cassette height, during a transportation of the sample.

9. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the sample is sequentially transferred from said vacuum processing chamber to said cassette by said transfer structure and in a state that a substantial horizontal line of said sample is maintained, to the extent of one cassette height, during a transportation of said sample.

10. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said transfer structure moves in front of a lock chamber on another track unit located along said lock chamber.

11. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said transfer structure carries in a treated sample to an original position of said cassette occupied by the sample when the cassette was placed on said cassette table.

12. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said vacuum processing chamber in which the sample is carried treats the sample one by one.

13. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said vacuum processing chamber into which said sample is carried treats the sample one by one.

14. An apparatus for treating a sample in a vacuum, comprising:

a cassette containing plural samples and placed on a cassette table;

a transfer device supplying said cassette to said cassette table, said transfer device moving in front of a lock chamber on a track unit located along said lock chamber;

a transfer structure for carrying in a sample of said plural samples, from the cassette to a vacuum processing chamber through said lock chamber, and for carrying out the sample treated in the vacuum processing chamber; and

vacuum processing chambers for carrying out vacuum processing treating of said sample,

said vacuum processing chambers treating all of the plural samples in the cassette, and wherein all of the plural samples in said cassette after completing the vacuum processing treating are transferred into said cassette by said transfer structure,

said transfer device exchanging said cassette with another cassette in which unprocessed samples are contained, and

wherein a sample is sequentially transferred from the cassette on the cassette table to the vacuum processing chamber by said transfer structure and in a state that a substantially horizontal line of the sample is maintained, to the extent of one cassette height, during a transportation of the sample.

15. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the plural vacuum processing chambers comprise at least one of an etching chamber, a post-processing chamber, and a film-forming chamber.

16. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein after vacuum treating a respective carried-in sample by using a respective vacuum processing chamber, the treated sample is then vacuum treated in another one of the vacuum processing chambers.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the sample is vacuum treated in at least two of the vacuum processing chambers in sequence.

18. The apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the vacuum processing chambers include at least one of an etching chamber, a post-processing chamber and a film-forming chamber.

19. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the sample is vacuum treated independently in the respective vacuum processing chambers.