Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US6463678?dq=6016038
Timestamp: 2015-01-26 07:14:21
Document Index: 600446150

Matched Legal Cases: ['application No. 11', 'application No. 2000', 'application No. 2000', 'application No. 2000', 'application No. 2000', 'application No. 2', 'application No. 2646905', 'application No. 2646905', 'application No. 3', 'application No. 8', 'application No. 8', 'application No. 8', 'application No. 9', 'application No. 9', 'application No. 14984', 'application No. 184682', 'application No. 184682', 'application No. 212819', 'application No. 212874', 'application No. 46756', 'application No. 46757']

Patent US6463678 - Substrate changing-over mechanism in a vaccum tank - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign inAdvanced Patent SearchPatentsThis 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...http://www.google.com/patents/US6463678?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US6463678 - Substrate changing-over mechanism in a vaccum tankAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS6463678 B2Publication typeGrantApplication numberUS 09/782,194Publication dateOct 15, 2002Filing dateFeb 14, 2001Priority dateAug 29, 1990Fee statusPaidAlso published asDE69128861D1, DE69128861T2, DE69128861T3, DE69133254D1, DE69133254T2, DE69133535D1, DE69133535T2, DE69133564D1, DE69133564T2, DE69133567D1, DE69133567T2, EP0475604A1, EP0475604B1, EP0475604B2, EP0805481A2, EP0805481A3, EP0805481B1, EP0856875A2, EP0856875A3, EP0856875B1, EP1076354A2, EP1076354A3, EP1076354B1, EP1079418A2, EP1079418A3, EP1079418B1, US5314509, US5349762, US5457896, US5553396, US5661913, US5784799, US5950330, US6012235, US6044576, US6055740, US6070341, US6108929, US6112431, US6263588, US6301801, US6301802, US6314658, US6330755, US6330756, US6332280, US6446353, US6457253, US6460270, US6463676, US6467186, US6467187, US6470596, US6473989, US6484414, US6484415, US6487791, US6487793, US6487794, US6490810, US6499229, US6505415, US6588121, US6625899, US6634116, US6655044, US6662465, US6880264, US6886272, US6904699, US6968630, US7367135, US20010000048, US20010001901, US20010001902, US20010002517, US20010003873, US20010004554, US20010004807, US20010007175, US20010008050, US20010008051, US20010008052, US20010009073, US20010009074, US20010009075, US20010009076, US20010010126, US20010011422, US20010011423, US20010016990, US20010020339, US20010020340, US20010037585, US20020032972, US20040074103, US20040074104, US20040187337, US20040187338, US20060032073Publication number09782194, 782194, US 6463678 B2, US 6463678B2, US-B2-6463678, US6463678 B2, US6463678B2InventorsShigekazu Kato, Kouji Nishihata, Tsunehiko Tsubone, Atsushi ItouOriginal AssigneeHitachi, Ltd.Export CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (100), Non-Patent Citations (59), Classifications (35), Legal Events (3) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetSubstrate changing-over mechanism in a vaccum tankUS 6463678 B2Abstract 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.
a controller for controlling a wafer processing mode and a cleaning mode of said at least one vacuum processing chamber, said cleaning mode being interposed between wafer processing modes after processing a predetermined number of wafers from said cassette in said wafer processing mode. 2. A vacuum processing system having at least one vacuum processing chamber for processing a wafer which is transferred thereto from a cassette in an atmospheric condition, comprising:
a controller for controlling a wafer processing mode and a cleaning mode of said at least one vacuum processing chamber, with operation of said at least one vacuum processing chamber in said cleaning mode after finishing said wafer processing mode for a predetermined number of wafers in said cassette. 3. A vacuum processing system having a plurality of vacuum processing chambers for processing a wafer which is transferred thereto from a cassette in an atmospheric condition, comprising:
a controller for controlling said vacuum processing chambers so that at least one of said vacuum processing chambers is in a mode of wafer processing and with at least another one of said vacuum processing chambers being in a mode of plasma cleaning at a same time. 4. A vacuum processing system having a plurality of vacuum processing chambers for processing a wafer which is transferred thereto from a cassette in an atmospheric condition, comprising:
a detector for detecting a cleaning timing of each of said vacuum processing chambers under modes of processing; and a cleaning mechanism responsive to an output of said detector, for executing plasma cleaning in said vacuum processing chambers detected by said detector to need cleaning. 5. A vacuum processing system according to claim 4, wherein said detector generates an output when a predetermined number of said wafers have been treated in a same vacuum processing chamber.
6. A vacuum processing system according to claim 4, wherein said detector generates an output when all wafers in said cassette have been treated in a same vacuum processing chamber.
a controller for controlling said vacuum processing chambers so that said vacuum processing chambers are plasma cleaned in a predetermined order. 8. A vacuum processing system having a plurality of vacuum processing chambers for processing a wafer which is transferred thereto from a cassette in an atmospheric condition, comprising:
a controller for controlling said vacuum processing chambers so that they are plasma cleaned in a predetermined order, while skipping the cleaning of vacuum processing chambers which do not need to be plasma cleaned. 9. A vacuum processing system having a plurality of vacuum processing chambers for processing a wafer which is transferred thereto from a cassette in an atmospheric condition, comprising:
a detector for detecting, in each of said vacuum processing chambers, a generation of a condition requiring a plasma cleaning of a vacuum processing chamber; and a controller connected to said detector for controlling said vacuum processing chambers so that the vacuum processing chambers, detected by said detector to require said plasma cleaning, are in a mode of said plasma cleaning, while the vacuum processing chambers not detected, by said detector, to require said plasma cleaning, are not in a mode of plasma cleaning. Description
This application is a Divisional application of application Ser. No. 09/461,432, filed Dec. 16, 1999, which is a Continuation application of application Ser. No. 09/177,495, filed Oct. 23, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,012,235 which is a Continuation application of application Ser. No. 09/061,062, filed Apr. 16, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,950,330 which is a Continuation application of application Ser. No. 08/882,731, filed Jun. 26, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,784,799 which is a Divisional application of application Ser. No. 08/593,870, filed Jan. 30, 1996, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,661,913 which is a Continuing application of application Ser. No. 08/443,039, filed May 17, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,553,396 is a Divisional application of application Ser. No. 08/302,443, filed Sep. 9, 1994, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,457,896 which is a Continuing application of application Ser. No. 08/096,256, filed Jul. 26, 1993, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,349,762 which is a Continuing application of application Ser. No. 07/751,951, filed Aug. 29, 1991 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,314,509.
An example of vacuum processing apparatuses having such a dry cleaning function is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 127125/1988. This apparatus includes a preliminary vacuum chamber for introducing wafers to be treated into a processing chamber from an atmospheric side to a vacuum side, which is disposed adjacent to the processing chamber through a gate valve, dummy wafers are loaded in the preliminary vacuum chamber and are transferred into the processing chamber by exclusive conveyor means before the processing chamber is subject to dry cleaning, and the dummy wafer is returned to the vacuum preparatory chamber by the conveyor means after dry cleaning is completed.
The present invention provides a vacuum processing apparatus which solves the problems described above, is simple in structure, prevents contamination of unprocessed substrates and accomplishes a high production yield. A vacuum processing apparatus having vacuum processing chambers in the insides of which are dry-cleaned after substrates to be treated are processed in vacuum is provided with first storage means for storing substrates to be treated, second storage means for storing dummy substrates, the first and second storage means being disposed in the air, conveyor means for transferring the substrates to be processed between the first storage means and the vacuum processing chambers and for transferring the dummy substrates between the second storage means and the vacuum processing chambers, and control means for controlling the conveyor means so as to transfer the dummy substrates between the second storage means and the vacuum processing chambers before and after dry cleaning of the vacuum processing chambers. A method of operating a vacuum processing apparatus having vacuum processing chambers the insides of which are dry-cleaned after substrates to be processed are processed in vacuum comprises the steps of disposing first storage means for storing the substrates to be processed together with second storage means for storing dummy substrates in the air atmosphere, transferring the substrates to be processed between the first storage means and the vacuum processing chambers and vacuum-processing the substrates to be processed, and transferring the dummy substrates between the second storage means and the vacuum processing chambers before and after dry-cleaning of the vacuum processing chambers.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS As substrates to be processed are processed in a vacuum processing apparatus, reaction products adhere to and are deposited in vacuum processing chambers. The reaction products adhering to and deposited in the vacuum processing chambers are removed by disposing dummy wafers inside the vacuum processing chambers and by conducting dry-cleaning. To carry out dry cleaning, the timings of dry cleaning of the vacuum processing chambers are determined and during or after the processing of a predetermined number of substrates to be processed, dummy substrates are conveyed by substrates conveyor means from dummy substrate storage means disposed in the air atmosphere together with processed substrate storage means, and are then disposed inside the vacuum processing chambers. After the dummy substrates are thus disposed, a plasma is generated inside each of the vacuum processing chambers to execute dry-cleaning inside the vacuum processing chamber. After dry-cleaning inside the vacuum processing chambers is completed, the dummy substrates are returned from the vacuum processing chambers to the dummy substrate storage means by the substrate conveyor means. In this manner, a preliminary vacuum chamber and an exclusive transfer mechanism both necessary in prior art techniques become unnecessary, and the apparatus structure gets simplified. The dummy substrates used for the dry-cleaning and the substrates to be processed do not co-exist inside the same chamber, so that contamination of substrates to be processed due to dust and remaining gas is prevented and a high production yield can be achieved.
A sensor 18 for measuring the intensity of plasma light is disposed at an upper part of the etching chamber. The measured value of the sensor 13 is inputted to a controller 19. The controller 19 compares the measured value from the sensor 18 with a predetermined one and determines the timing of cleaning inside the etching chamber. The controller 19 controls the conveyors 13 and 14 to control the transfer of the dummy wafers 30 between the cassette 1 c and the etching chamber 11 a to 11 c. In a vacuum processing apparatus having the construction described above, the cassettes 1 a, 1 b storing unprocessed wafers are first placed onto the cassette tables 2 a, 2 b by a line transfer robot which operates on the basis of the data sent from a host control apparatus, or by an operator. On the other hand, the cassette 1 c storing the dummy wafers is placed on the cassette table 2 c. The vacuum processing apparatus executes the wafer processing or plasma cleaning on the basis of recognition by itself of the production data provided on the cassettes 1 a to 1 c, of the data sent from the host control apparatus, or of the command inputted by an operator.
In the interim, the third dummy wafer 30 is transferred into the etching chamber 11 c in the same way as the second dummy wafer 30 and the plasma cleaning is carried out.
After plasma cleaning is completed in the etching chamber 11 a in which the first dummy wafer 20 is placed, the gate valves 15 a and 12 c are opened. The used dummy wafer 30 is transferred from the etching chamber 11 a to the unload lock chamber 6 by the conveyor 14. Then, the gate valve 12 c is closed. After the pressure of the unload lock chamber 6 is returned to the atmospheric pressure by the gas introduction device 4, the gas valve 12 d is opened. The used dummy wafer 30 transferred to the unload lock chamber 6 is taken out in the air by the conveyor 13 through the gate valve 12 d and is returned to its original position in the cassette 1 c in which it is stored at the start.
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Kazuo Maeda (6-90), pp. 158 (PTR).Classifications U.S. Classification34/573, 34/526, 34/527, 34/209, 414/940, 34/217, 414/217International ClassificationB01J3/00, B41J2/365, B41J2/36, C23C14/56, H01L21/677, H01L21/00Cooperative ClassificationY10S414/139, Y10S414/137, Y10S414/14, Y10S134/902, H01L21/67736, H01L21/67028, B41J2/365, B01J3/006, B41J2/36, H01L21/67748, H01L21/67253, H01L21/67167, C23C14/564European ClassificationH01L21/67S8B, H01L21/67S2Z2C, H01L21/67S2D4, B01J3/00F, B41J2/36, B41J2/365, H01L21/677A11, C23C14/56D, H01L21/677B6Legal EventsDateCodeEventDescriptionMay 23, 2014REMIMaintenance fee reminder mailedMar 30, 2010FPAYFee paymentYear of fee payment: 8Apr 7, 2006FPAYFee paymentYear of fee payment: 4RotateOriginal ImageGoogle Home - Sitemap - USPTO Bulk Downloads - Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - About Google Patents - Send FeedbackData provided by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services