Material or article handling – Apparatus for moving material between zones having different...
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-15
2004-06-01
Lillis, Eileen D. (Department: 3652)
Material or article handling
Apparatus for moving material between zones having different...
C414S935000, C414S221000, C414S940000, C118S719000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06742977
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a substrate processing device, a substrate conveying device, and a substrate processing method, and in particular to a CVD device, dry etching device, ashing device, sputtering device, or other dry process device for manufacturing LCDs or semiconductors.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIGS. 27 and 28
depict configurational examples of a conventional single-piece substrate processing device.
FIG. 27
is a diagram illustrating an in-line LCD plasma CVD device. A first conveyance stand Ti is connected to a load-side cassette stand S
1
, a load-side substrate preparation chamber L
1
is connected by means of a gate valve to the first conveyance stand T
1
, and a first conveyance chamber T
2
is connected by means of a gate valve to the load-side substrate preparation chamber L
1
. A preheating chamber H is connected by means of a gate valve to the first conveyance chamber T
2
. In addition, a first film-forming chamber R
1
, a second conveyance chamber T
3
, a second film-forcing chamber R
2
, a third conveyance chamber T
4
, and a third film-forming chamber R
3
are sequentially connected by means of gate valves to the first conveyance chamber T
2
; an unload-side substrate preparation chamber L
2
doubling as a substrate-cooling chamber is connected by means of a gate valve to the third conveyance chamber T
4
; a second conveyance stand T
5
is connected by means of a gate valve to the unload-side substrate preparation chamber L
2
; and an unload-side cassette stand S
2
is connected to the second to conveyance stand T
5
.
The cassette stands S
1
and S
2
can accept and discharge substrate cassettes that carry substrates and convey each individual substrate to the load-side substrate preparation chamber L
1
by operating in tandem with the conveying device of the first conveyance stand T
1
, whereat the conveying device of the first conveyance chamber T
2
conveys the substrates of the load-side substrate preparation chamber L
1
to the preheating chamber H, and the substrates of preheating chamber H to the first film-forming chamber R
1
. The conveying device of the second conveyance chamber T
3
conveys substrates from the first film-forming chamber R
1
to the second film-forming chamber R
2
; the conveying device of the third conveyance chamber T
4
conveys substrates from the second film-forming chamber R
2
to the third film-forming chamber R
3
or from the third film-forming chamber R
3
to the unload-side substrate preparation chamber L
2
; and the conveying device of the second conveyance stand T
5
conveys substrates from the unload-side substrate preparation chamber L
2
to the unload-side cassette stand S
2
. The conveying devices of the first conveyance stand T
1
, first conveyance chamber T
2
, second conveyance chamber T
3
, third conveyance chamber T
4
, and second conveyance stand T
5
are each capable of conveying substrates independently. Further, the conveyances of the substrate by the conveying devices of the first and second conveyance stands T
1
and T
5
are carried out in the atmosphere. On the other hand, the conveyances of the substrate by the conveying devices of the first, second and third conveyance chambers T
2
,T
3
and T
4
are carried out in a vacuum.
FIG. 28
is a diagram illustrating a cluster-type LCD plasma CVD device. Vacuum chambers are arranged in a circle along the side walls of a vacuum conveyance chamber T
2
shaped as a heptagon on the outside. The following devices, listed in the clockwise direction when viewed from the front, are sequentially connected in an airtight manner by means of gate valves: a substrate heating chamber H, a second processing chamber R
2
serving as a film-forming chamber, a fourth processing chamber R
4
, a second substrate preparation chamber L
2
provided with a load lock chamber, a first substrate preparation chamber L
1
, a third processing chamber R
3
serving as a film-forming chamber, and a first processing chamber R
1
.
The vacuum conveyance robot A of the central vacuum conveyance chamber T
2
is equipped with a conveyance arm and is capable of conveying substrates to and from any of the aforementioned plurality of chambers H, R
1
-R
4
, and L
1
-L
2
in the vacuum. A first cassette stand S
1
and second cassette stand S
2
for loading or unloading substrate cassettes are disposed opposite the first substrate preparation chamber L
1
and second substrate preparation chamber L
2
, respectively. Atmospheric conveyance robots B
1
and B
2
, each having a set of conveyance arms, are provided to an atmospheric conveyance stand T
1
between the first substrate preparation chamber L
1
and first cassette stand S
1
, and the second substrate preparation chamber L
2
and second cassette stand S
2
, respectively. The atmospheric conveyance robots B
1
and B
2
are designed to convey substrates between the first and second cassette stands S
1
and S
2
, and the first and second substrate preparation chambers L
1
and L
2
in the atmosphere.
A substrate is transported to the substrate heating chamber H after being received from the first substrate preparation chamber L
1
by the conveyance arm of the vacuum conveyance robot A inside the vacuum conveyance chamber T
2
. The heated substrate is taken out by the vacuum conveyance robot A from the substrate heating chamber H, transported to any of the first to fourth processing chambers R
1
to R
4
, and processed there.
After substrate processing has been completed, the substrate is received by the conveyance arm of the vacuum conveyance robot A and mounted in the second substrate preparation chamber L
2
. The second substrate preparation chamber L
2
stores processed substrates until all the substrates have been processed in the first substrate preparation chamber L
1
. The substrates are cooled while in storage.
When the processing of all the substrates has been completed, the substrate cassette is taken out by the second atmospheric conveyance robot B
2
from the second substrate preparation chamber L
2
and is moved to the second cassette stand S
2
. The substrate cassette loaded with unprocessed substrates and mounted on the first cassette stand S
1
is transported by the first atmospheric conveyance robot B
1
to the first substrate preparation chamber L
1
, and the above-described processing is continued.
Although a cluster-type substrate processing device was described above with reference to an LCD plasma CVD device, the same reasoning applies to an LCD dry etching, ashing, or LCD sputtering device. The processing chambers R
1
to R
4
are used as film-forming, etching, and sputtering chambers, and the substrate heating chamber H may be dispensed with when there is no need for a step in which the substrates are heated prior to film forming or sputtering.
In the conventional in-line-type plasma CVD device shown in
FIG. 27
, robots used exclusively for loading and unloading are arranged symmetrically about the corresponding processing chambers, reducing the dead time for the reaction chambers R, substrate preparation chambers T, and substrate heating chamber H, and resulting in increased throughput. This system is disadvantageous, however, in that it uses a large number of robots, and is therefore costly and has a larger footprint.
The conventional cluster-type plasma CVD device depicted in
FIG. 28
is also effective as a device that requires a plurality of reaction chambers R and delivers high throughput. When, however, an attempt is made to equip a single CVD device with more reaction chambers in order to achieve higher throughput, the following measures must be taken to increase throughput with the same chamber structure: (1) the substrate heating chamber H must be provided with a plurality of charges (slots), (2) a frog-leg, double-hand robot A is needed to reduce the dead time of processing chambers R, (3) high-speed conveyance robots capable of 360° rotation must be devised, and other measures aimed at increasing the processing capacity of common components mu
Akao Tokunobu
Akita Yukio
Ichimura Satoru
Ishida Takeshige
Kanazawa Motoichi
Fox Charles A.
Kokusai Electric Co. Ltd.
Lillis Eileen D.
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