Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US6588121?dq=6,891,551
Timestamp: 2014-11-27 12:25:01
Document Index: 188702922

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. 2942527', '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 US6588121 - Vacuum processing apparatus - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign inAdvanced Patent SearchPatentsA vacuum processing apparatus includes a means for transferring wafer cassettes from a transferring chamber to a lock chamber. The wafer cassettes are mounted within a cassette table and are arranged in a single line. The vacuum processing apparatus further includes lock chambers connected to a plurality...http://www.google.com/patents/US6588121?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US6588121 - Vacuum processing apparatusAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS6588121 B2Publication typeGrantApplication numberUS 09/780,444Publication dateJul 8, 2003Filing dateFeb 12, 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, US6463678, US6467186, US6467187, US6470596, US6473989, US6484414, US6484415, US6487791, US6487793, US6487794, US6490810, US6499229, US6505415, 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 number09780444, 780444, US 6588121 B2, US 6588121B2, US-B2-6588121, US6588121 B2, US6588121B2InventorsShigekazu Kato, Kouji Nishihata, Tsunehiko Tsubone, Atsushi ItouOriginal AssigneeHitachi, Ltd.Export CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (96), Non-Patent Citations (61), Referenced by (1), Classifications (30), Legal Events (2) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetVacuum processing apparatusUS 6588121 B2Abstract A vacuum processing apparatus includes a means for transferring wafer cassettes from a transferring chamber to a lock chamber. The wafer cassettes are mounted within a cassette table and are arranged in a single line. The vacuum processing apparatus further includes lock chambers connected to a plurality of processing chambers with each substrate being carried into and out of the lock chambers.
a cassette table in an air, for mounting plural cassettes arranged in a single line, each cassette storing at least one of substrates to be processed and substrates which have been processed; two lock chambers connected to a transferring chamber which is connected to plural vacuum processing chambers, each substrate being carried into and carried out of the lock chambers, each of said two lock chambers having means for opening and closing the lock chamber each time a substrate is carried into and carried out of the lock chamber; and a transferring means arranged between said cassette table and said two lock chambers, for transferring said substrate one-by-one between any cassette which is mounted on said cassette table and either lock chamber. 2. A vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the cassettes is adapted to be positioned on the cassette table such that an opening for carrying in and carrying out a substrate is at a side portion thereof.
a cassette table in an air, for mounting plural cassettes arranged in a single line, each cassette storing at least one of substrates to be processed and substrates which have been processed; two lock chambers, connected to a transferring chamber which is connected to plural vacuum processing chambers, each substrate being carried into and carried out of the lock chambers, said two lock chambers each having means for opening and closing a lock chamber each time a substrate is carried into and carried out of the lock chamber; and a transferring means arranged between said cassette table and said two lock chambers and arranged substantially in a same atmosphere as that of said cassette table, for transferring said substrate between any cassette which is mounted on said cassette table, one by one, and either lock chamber. 5. A vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein each of the cassettes is adapted to be positioned on the cassette table such that an opening for carrying in and carrying out a substrate is at a side portion thereof.
a cassette table in an air, for mounting plural cassettes arranged in a single line, each cassette storing at least one of substrates to be processed and substrates which have been processed; two lock chambers, connected to a transferring chamber which is connected to plural vacuum processing chambers, each substrate being carried into and carried out of the lock chambers; and a transferring means arranged between said cassette table and said two lock chambers, for transferring a substrate one by one between any cassette which is mounted on said cassette table and either lock chamber, wherein said transferring means has structure such that after said substrate has been processed in any vacuum processing chamber, said substrate is returned to a same position in a same cassette from which it was carried for processing in said any vacuum processing chamber. 8. A vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the plural vacuum processing chambers are processing chambers for processing substrates one by one.
plural, single-substrate vacuum processing chambers, each having an inlet and an outlet port, that are arrayed about a spatial locus in such way that inlet and outlet ports of the vacuum processing chambers are accessible from a single location spaced from said inlet and outlet ports; plural lock chambers having inlet and outlet ports accessible from the single location; plural valve means individually provided at said inlet and outlet ports of said plural, single-substrate vacuum processing chambers and at said inlet and outlet ports of said lock chambers; a single-substrate transferring means disposed at said single location and cooperative with corresponding ones of said plural valve means, for transferring a substrate between (1) said inlet and outlet ports of said lock chambers and (2) said inlet and outlet port of a vacuum processing chamber of said plural, single-substrate vacuum processing chambers; and a control means for controlling said vacuum processing chambers, said single-substrate transferring means and said plural valve means to provide a single or a multiple processing of said substrate in one or more of said vacuum processing chambers.
In such a vacuum processing apparatus described above, particularly in an apparatus which utilizes a reaction by an active gas, as typified by a dry etching apparatus and a CVD apparatus, reaction products adhere to and are deposited on a vacuum processing chamber with the progress of processing. For this reason, problems such as degradation of vacuum performance, the increase of dust, the drop of the levels of optical monitoring signals occur. To solve these problems, conventionally the insides of the vacuum processing chambers are cleaned periodically. Cleaning operations include so-called �wet cleaning� which is wiping-off or the adhering matters by use of an organic solvent, etc., and so-called �dry cleaning� in which an active gas or plasma is used for decomposing adhering matters. Dry cleaning is superior from the aspect of the working factor and efficiency. These features of the dry cleaning have become essential with the progress in automation of production lines.
A sensor 18 for measuring the intensity of plasma light is disposed at an upper part of the etching chamber. She 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 chambers 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.
Plasma cleaning is carried out in the following sequence. In this case, the explanation will be given about a case where the etching chambers 1 a to 11 c are subjected to plasma cleaning by using three dummy wafers 30 among the dummy wafers 30 (twenty-five dummy wafers are stored in this case) stored in the cassette 1 c. Dummy wafers 30 which are stored in the cassette 1 c and are not used yet or can be used because the number of times of use for plasma cleaning is below a predetermined one are drawn by the conveyor 13. At this tire, dummy wafers 30 stored in any position in the cassette 1 c may be used but in this case, the position numbers of the dummy wafers in the cassette and their number of times of use are stored in the controller 19, and accordingly dummy wafers having smaller numbers of times of use are drawn preferentially. Then, the dummy wafers 30 are loaded in the load lock chamber 5 disposed on the opposite side to the cassette 1 a by the conveyor 13 through the gate valve 12 a in the same way as the transfer at the time of etching of wafers 20. After the gate valve 12 a is closed, the load lock chamber 5 is evacuated to a predetermined pressure by the vacuum exhaust device 3 and then the gate valves 12 b and 15 a are opened. The dummy wafers 30 are transferred by the conveyor 14 from the load lock chamber 5 to the etching chamber 11 a through the transfer chamber 16 and are placed on the sample table 8 a. After the gate valve 15 a is closed, plasma cleaning is carried out in the etching chamber 11 a in which the dummy wafers 30 are disposed, under a predetermined condition.
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Kazuo Maeda (6-90), p. 158 (PTR).Referenced byCiting PatentFiling datePublication dateApplicantTitleUS6920369 *Aug 5, 2004Jul 19, 2005Hitachi, Ltd.Methods of operating vacuum processing equipment and methods of processing wafers* Cited by examinerClassifications U.S. Classification34/92, 34/60International ClassificationB01J3/00, H01L21/677, B41J2/36, C23C14/56, B41J2/365, H01L21/00Cooperative ClassificationY10S134/902, Y10S414/14, Y10S414/137, Y10S414/139, B01J3/006, C23C14/564, H01L21/67167, B41J2/365, H01L21/67736, H01L21/67253, H01L21/67028, B41J2/36, H01L21/67748European ClassificationB01J3/00F, H01L21/677A11, H01L21/67S2D4, H01L21/67S8B, H01L21/67S2Z2C, B41J2/365, H01L21/677B6, C23C14/56D, B41J2/36Legal EventsDateCodeEventDescriptionDec 8, 2010FPAYFee paymentYear of fee payment: 8Dec 21, 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©2012 Google