VACUUM PROCESSING APPARATUS AND SUBSTRATE TRANSFER METHOD

• Main Author: WAKABAYASHI SHINJI
• Format: Patent
• Language: English; Japanese
• Published: 02.04.2020
• Subjects: BASIC ELECTRIC ELEMENTS; CHEMICAL SURFACE TREATMENT; CHEMISTRY; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATIONOR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY IONIMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; CONVEYING; DIFFUSION TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL; ELECTRIC SOLID STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; ELECTRICITY; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL; INHIBITING CORROSION OF METALLIC MATERIAL OR INCRUSTATION INGENERAL; METALLURGY; PACKING; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS; SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS; STORING; SURFACE TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL BY DIFFUSION INTO THESURFACE, BY CHEMICAL CONVERSION OR SUBSTITUTION; TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING ORTIPPING; TRANSPORTING

To prevent an increase in apparatus footprint in a vacuum processing apparatus that processes a substrate in a vacuum atmosphere.SOLUTION: In order to achieve high throughput by arranging substrates side by side in the right and left in a plan view in a processing module and collectively processing the substrates, a load lock module is also configured such that the substrates are arranged side by side in the right and left in the plan view as in the case of the processing module. In addition, a normal pressure transfer chamber is provided so as to extend below the load lock module from one of the right and left sides of the load lock module and to straddle the other side of the right and left, and a substrate transfer area and the load lock module in the normal pressure transfer chamber are overlapped up and down. Further, a wafer W can be delivered and received to/from a carrier of a loading/unloading port on the right and left sides of the load lock module by a normal pressure transfer mechanism.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3 【課題】真空雰囲気下で基板に処理を行う真空処理装置において、装置のフットプリントの増加を防ぐこと。【解決手段】処理モジュールにて基板を平面視左右に並べて配置して一括処理して高スループット化を図るにあたり、ロードロックモジュールについても処理モジュールと同様に基板を平面視左右に並べて配置するように構成している。そして、常圧搬送室を、このロードロックモジュールの左右の一方側からロードロックモジュールの下方側を伸び左右の他方側に跨るように設け、常圧搬送室における基板の搬送領域とロードロックモジュールとを上下にオーバーラップさせている。さらに常圧搬送機構により、ロードロックモジュールの左右で、搬入出ポートのキャリアに対してのウエハＷの受け渡しが行えるようにしている。【選択図】図３