Vacuum processing apparatus

• US 6,487,791 B2
• Filed: 02/14/2001
• Issued: 12/03/2002
• 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): Lazarus, Ira S.
• Application Number:
  US09/782,196
• Publication Number:
  US 20010020340A1
• Time in Patent Office: 657 Days
• Field of Search: 342/07, 342/17, 342/22, 342/25, 342/27, 342/36, 34/92, 414/939, 414/940, 134/902, 156/345, 156/345.C, 156/345.PC, 118/723.F, 118/723.I, 118/730, 118/719
• US Class Current: 34/217
• 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. A vacuum processing system, comprising:

a first conveyor structure for transferring a cassette;

a cassette mount unit for holding the cassette;

a second conveyor structure for transferring a wafer from the cassette held on the cassette mount unit;

a vacuum loader provided with a third conveyor structure and a vacuum processing chamber; and

at least one lock chamber disposed between the second conveyor structure and the third conveyor structure,

wherein;

the first conveyor structure, the second conveyor structure and the third conveyor structure are respective provided with a first robot, a second robot and a third robot, the second conveyor structure is disposed between the cassette mount unit and the at least one lock chamber, and the third robot is disposed in a conveyor chamber of the vacuum loader and faces to the at least one lock chamber, and

the second robot is positioned to face to a cassette, held on the cassette mount unit, for holding a set of wafers, and the second robot is adapted to transfer the wafers one by one to the at least one lock chamber, with a wafer being disposed in a respective lock chamber, and the third robot is disposed in the conveyor chamber of the vacuum loader so as to face the at least one lock chamber.

2. The vacuum processing system according to claim 1, wherein each of the first, second and third robots has an arm which moves horizontally and rotationally.

3. The vacuum processing system according to claim 2, wherein each of the first and second robots can move in up and down directions.

4. The vacuum processing system according to claim 3, wherein the first robot transfers a cassette, and the second and third robots transfer respectively a wafer.

5. The vacuum processing system according to claim 4, further comprising a computer control system for controlling movement of the first, second and third robots.

6. The vacuum processing system according to claim 4, wherein the first robot and the second robot are exposed to the air, and the third robot is disposed in a vacuum condition.

7. The vacuum processing system according to claim 1, wherein the first conveyor structure and the second conveyor structure respectively include tracks in parallel to each other.

8. The vacuum processing system according to claim 1, wherein a set of two cassettes is disposed on the cassette mount unit, and the first robot is movable along a front surface of the set of two cassettes.

9. The vacuum processing system according to claim 1, wherein the first conveyor structure is movable along a front surface of the cassette mount unit, parallel thereto.

10. A vacuum processing system, comprising:

a first conveyor structure for transferring a cassette;

a cassette mount unit for holding the cassette;

a second conveyor structure for transferring a wafer from the cassette held on the cassette mount unit;

a vacuum loader provided with a third conveyor structure and at least one vacuum processing chamber; and

at least one lock chamber disposed between the second conveyor structure and the third conveyor structure;

wherein;

the first conveyor structure, the second conveyor structure and third conveyor structure are respectively provided with a first robot, a second robot and a third robot, and the second conveyor structure and the third conveyor structure are disposed in a direction perpendicular to a traveling direction of the first conveyor structure, and

the second robot is positioned to face a cassette, on the cassette mount unit, for holding a set of wafers, and the second robot is adapted to transfer the wafers one by one to the at least one lock chamber, the at least one lock chamber being provided with both an inlet and an outlet located in a horizontal line, and the third robot is disposed in a conveyor chamber of the vacuum loader so as to be located in the horizontal line.

11. The vacuum processing system according to claim 10, wherein the second robot is adapted to transfer a wafer from the cassette mount unit to a lock chamber, of the at least one lock chamber, and the third robot is adapted to transfer the wafer from the lock chamber to the conveyor chamber of the vacuum loader.

12. The vacuum processing system according to claim 11, wherein the third robot is adapted to transfer a processed wafer from the conveyor chamber to a lock chamber, of the at least one lock chamber, and the second robot is adapted to transfer the processed wafer from the lock chamber containing the processed wafer to the cassette mount unit.

13. The vacuum processing system according to claim 12, wherein the first robot is adapted to transfer a cassette holding the processed wafer from the cassette mount unit to the first conveyor structure.

14. The vacuum processing system according to claim 10, wherein the first robot, the second robot and the third robot are adapted to maintain a plane of a surface of a wafer substantially horizontal during transferring the wafer, so that the plane of the surface of the wafer is kept in a horizontal state at steps from the first conveyor structure to the vacuum processing chamber.

15. The vacuum processing system according to claim 14, wherein the second robot travels on a track and is moved in up and down directions.

16. The vacuum processing system according to claim 10, wherein the at least one lock chamber comprises a load lock chamber and an unload lock chamber which are separate chambers.

17. The vacuum processing system according to claim 16, wherein the second robot is adapted to transfer a wafer to the load lock chamber from the first conveyor structure and is adapted to transfer out a processed wafer from the unload lock chamber to the first conveyor structure.

18. The vacuum processing system according to claim 10, wherein the second robot and the third robot form a sole route for a wafer and a processed wafer which are transferred.

19. The vacuum processing system according to claim 10, wherein a wafer is exposed to the air at the stages of the first conveyor structure, the cassette mount unit and the second conveyor structure.

20. The vacuum processing system according to claim 10, wherein the cassette mount unit is provided with an open structure for taking in a cassette, and a cassette on the cassette mount unit is provided with a window portion open to the second conveyor structure.

21. The vacuum processing system according to claim 10, wherein the second robot is a sole robot which travels on a track for transferring a wafer between the cassette mount unit and the second conveyor structure.

22. The vacuum processing system according to claim 21, wherein the at least one lock chamber is provided with a load lock chamber and an unload lock chamber, and the second robot transfers the wafer between the second conveyor structure and the load lock chamber, and a processed wafer between the unload lock chamber and the second conveyor structure.

23. The vacuum processing system according to claim 21, further comprising a control device which controls movement of the three robots, and the second robot takes a processed wafer to a same cassette from which the wafer had been taken out for a process treatment.

24. The vacuum processing system according to claim 10, wherein while the second robot is transferring a wafer from the cassette mount unit to the second conveyor structure, the third robot is transferring a wafer from a lock chamber to the vacuum loader.

25. The vacuum processing system according to claim 10, wherein while the second robot is transferring a wafer from the cassette mount unit to the second conveyor structure, the third robot is transferring a wafer from the conveyor chamber to a vacuum processing chamber.

26. The vacuum processing system according to claim 10, wherein while the second robot is transferring a wafer from the cassette mount unit to the second conveyor structure, the third robot is transferring a processed wafer from a vacuum processing chamber to the conveyor chamber.

27. The vacuum processing system according to claim 10, wherein while the second robot is transferring a wafer from the cassette mount unit to the second conveyor structure, the third robot is transferring a processed wafer from the conveyor chamber to a lock chamber.

28. The vacuum processing system according to claim 10, wherein while the second robot is transferring a wafer from the second conveyor structure to a lock chamber, the third robot is transferring a wafer from the conveyor chamber to a vacuum processing chamber.

29. The vacuum processing system according to claim 10, wherein while the second robot is transferring a wafer from the second conveyor structure to a lock chamber, the third robot is transferring a processed wafer from a vacuum processing chamber to the conveyor chamber.

30. The vacuum processing system according to claim 10, wherein while the third robot is transferring a processed wafer from the conveyor chamber to a lock chamber, the second robot is transferring a processed wafer from the second conveyor structure to the cassette mount unit.

31. The vacuum processing system according to claim 10, wherein the vacuum loader includes plural vacuum processing chambers, and the third robot is a sole robot which accesses to the plural vacuum processing chambers.

32. The vacuum processing system according to claim 10, wherein the at least one lock chamber includes a load lock chamber and an unload lock chamber which are separate from each other, and the third robot is a sole robot which accesses both the load lock chamber and the unload lock chamber.

33. The vacuum processing system according to claim 32, wherein the vacuum loader includes plural vacuum processing chambers, and the sole robot accesses to the plural vacuum processing chambers.