Load-lock apparatus and substrate cooling method

Abstract

A load-lock apparatus includes a vessel arranged to change a pressure between a pressure corresponding to the vacuum chamber and the atmospheric pressure, a pressure adjusting mechanism which adjusts a pressure in the vessel to a pressure corresponding to the vacuum chamber and the atmospheric pressure, a cooling member having a cooling mechanism and arranged in the vessel to cool a substrate by having the substrate placed on or in proximity to the cooling member, a substrate deformation detection unit for detecting deformation of the substrate in the vessel, and a controller which reduces a cooling rate of the substrate when the substrate deformation is detected during a substrate cooling period until the vessel is adjusted to have the atmospheric pressure after the vessel is adjusted to have a pressure corresponding to the vacuum chamber and a high temperature substrate is loaded into the vessel from the vacuum chamber.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The present invention relates to a load-lock apparatus for use in a vacuum processing unit which performs a vacuum process on a target object such as a semiconductor wafer, and a substrate cooling method for use in the load-lock apparatus.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]In a manufacturing process of semiconductor devices, a vacuum process such as a film forming process and an etching process performed in a vacuum atmosphere is widely carried out on a semiconductor wafer serving as a target substrate. Recently, a multi-chamber type vacuum processing system has been attracted attention from viewpoints of efficiency of the vacuum process and prevention of oxidation or contamination, wherein the system has a cluster tool type structure in which vacuum processing units are connected to a transfer chamber maintained in a vacuum and a wafer is transferred to each of the vacuum processing units by a transfer unit provided in the transfer chamber (see, e.g., Japa...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0021]In accordance with the present invention, after a high temperature substrate is loaded into a vessel from a vacuum chamber, during a substrate cooling period until the vessel is adjusted to have the atmospheric pressure, a substrate deformation detection unit detects deformation of a substrate. When deformat...

Problems solved by technology

However, when the wafer having such a high temperature is exposed to the atmosphere, the wafer is oxidized.

Further, when the wafer having such a high temperature is accommodated in a receiving vessel, there is a problem that the receiving vessel generally made of resin may be melted.

In this case, if the semiconductor wafer is cooled rapidly, the wafer may be deformed due to a difference in ...

Images