Substrate holder

Details Substrate holder Substrate holder

1999-11-24

2001-03-20

Bueker, Richard (Department: 1763)

Coating apparatus

Gas or vapor deposition

With treating means

C118S7230ER, C118S728000, C118S500000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06202592

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus used in semiconductor processing, and more specifically, to a substrate holder to support a substrate during the performance of a process on the surface(s) of the substrate.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The surfaces of substrates are routinely subjected to various processes in the production of LSIs (large scale integrated circuits), LCDs (liquid crystal displays), and data storage disks. In the production of data storage disks in the form of hard disks, a substrate holder is typically used during processing to vertically support a circular substrate having a hole formed in its center.
FIG. 9
is a schematic front view of a conventional substrate holder
1
.
FIG. 10
is a schematic perspective view which illustrates the operation of substrate holder
1
shown in FIG.
9
. Substrate holder
1
shown in
FIGS. 9 and 10
includes a base plate
11
which is disposed vertically, and fixed support claws
12
and a movable support claw
13
provided on base plate
11
.
As shown in
FIGS. 9 and 10
, base plate
11
is a J-shaped cut-out formed from a square plate. Four fixed support claws
12
are provided in the bottom curved portion of the J-shaped base plate (referred to below as the curved portion). Fixed support claws
12
are disposed in positional relations such that, as shown in
FIGS. 9 and 10
, there is symmetry of the positions of pair of a claws support with respect to a vertical line which passes through the bottom most point of the J shape (indicated in the figures as central axis
10
).
Each fixed support claw
12
comprises an L-shaped member formed from a short rectangular strip which has been bent. There are cut-outs in the curved portion of base plate
11
, and the fixed support claws
12
are mounted in these cut-outs, affixed to base plate
11
by a screw or other fastener. The free end or tip of each fixed support claw
12
has a V-shaped indentation such as shown in FIG.
10
.
Movable support claw
13
is fixed to the top surface of base plate
11
. Movable support claw
13
is formed from an elongate rectangular strip which is bent into an L shape. One end of movable support claw
13
is fixed to the top surface of base plate
11
by a screw or other suitable fastener. The free end or tip portion of movable support claw
13
is positioned on the central axis
10
and is directed downward. A V-shaped indentation is formed in the tip of support claw
13
.
The operation of the conventional substrate holder will now be described. Substrate holder
1
holds a substrate
2
, such as a substrate for a hard disk, which is in the shape of a circular plate having an opening
20
at its center. Substrate
2
can be fitted to and released from a transfer mechanism
4
which is provided with a substrate pickup arm
3
which holds substrate
2
, during transfer as shown in FIG.
10
.
As shown in
FIG. 10
, an opening and closing device
5
which opens and closes (i.e., raises and lowers, thereby engaging and disengaging) movable support claw
13
of substrate holder
1
is provided to be used with substrate holder
1
. Opening and closing device
5
includes an opening and closing pin
51
and a displacement mechanism
52
. Pin
51
is capable of causing movable support claw
13
, which is made of a resilient, flexible material, to bend by displacing the tip end of movable support claw
13
upward. Note that displacement mechanism
52
is capable of moving pin
51
both horizontally (i.e., laterally) and vertically.
The case in which the substrate
2
is mounted in substrate holder
1
will now be described. Substrate pickup
3
inserts its front end in opening
20
in the center of substrate
2
, raises it, and carries substrate
2
horizontally to a position close to substrate holder
1
. Pin
51
of opening and closing device
5
is then moved laterally by transfer mechanism
52
and is advanced to a position below movable support claw
13
of substrate holder
1
. Pin
51
is moved upward, causing movable support claw
13
to bend, as indicated by the dashed line in FIG.
9
. This brings movable support claw
13
to an opened state.
Substrate pickup
3
then moves substrate
2
into alignment with base plate
11
of substrate holder
1
. Substrate pickup
3
positions substrate
2
at a location which is between movable support claw
13
and fixed support claws
12
. Transfer mechanism
4
then lowers substrate pickup
3
, such that substrate
2
comes to rest on and is supported by fixed support claws
12
.
Displacement mechanism
52
of opening and closing device
5
then lowers pin
51
, such that the bending force applied to movable support claw
13
is relaxed and movable support claw
13
returns to a generally horizontal position. The tip (end) portion of movable support claw
13
comes into contact with and engages the upper edge of substrate
2
. As a result, movable support claw
13
engages substrate
2
from above. Substrate pickup
3
then moves back and is taken by transfer mechanism
4
to a “standby” position (not shown) to await transfer of another substrate
2
. Pin
51
also moves back and returns to a standby position.
To remove substrate
2
from substrate holder
1
, the procedure described above is reversed. Displacement mechanism
52
of opening and closing device
5
moves pin
51
laterally to a position below movable support claw
13
. Displacement mechanism
52
of opening and closing device
5
causes movable support claw
13
to bend upward by raising pin
51
. Transfer mechanism
4
drives substrate pickup
3
, and the front end of substrate pickup
3
is inserted into central opening
20
of substrate
2
. Substrate pickup
3
rises and lifts up substrate
2
. After lifting up substrate
2
, substrate pickup
3
returns to a standby position, completing removal of substrate
2
from substrate holder
1
.
A processing apparatus in which the above described substrate holder
1
can be used will now be described.
FIG. 11
is a schematic plan view which shows a processing apparatus in which the substrate holder shown in
FIGS. 9 and 10
may be used.
The processing apparatus shown in
FIG. 11
includes a substrate transfer chamber
61
and a processing chamber
62
, located adjacent to one another and separated by a gate structure
66
. A substrate
2
which is to be processed is mounted on a substrate holder
1
(not shown in
FIG. 11
) in substrate transfer chamber
61
. Substrate holder
1
on which the substrate
2
has been mounted is then moved to processing chamber
62
. After processing has occurred in processing chamber
62
, the processed substrate is returned to substrate transfer chamber
61
, and is removed from the substrate holder.
A sputtering apparatus which produces a magnetic thin film is shown as an example of the substrate processing apparatus of FIG.
11
. Two magnition sputtering sources
63
are provided inside the processing chamber
62
. Each sputtering source
63
comprises a target
631
which is sputtered and a magnet structure
633
which is provided at the rear of target
631
. A sputtering power supply
632
imposes a required voltage on each target
631
.
Magnet structure
633
consists of a columnar central magnet
634
which is provided in the center and a ring shaped peripheral magnet
635
which surrounds central magnet
634
. Magnet structure
633
establishes arcuate lines
636
of magnetic force which pass through target
631
. These lines
636
of magnetic force confine a plasma near the target surface and give rise to magnetron sputtering.
Processing chamber
62
is provided with a vacuum pumping system
64
and with a gas introduction system means
65
for introducing a required plasma gas into its interior. When a voltage is imposed on target
631
by sputtering power supply
632
while a plasma supporting gas is in processing chamber
62
, sputtering discharge takes place in the space adjacent to target
631
, and a magnetron plasma, P, is formed on each side of the substrate.
As shown in
FIG. 1

Affiliated with

Also associated with

Rating

Substrate holder does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Substrate holder, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Substrate holder will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2482622