Connecting process vessel and substrate processing method

Abstract

The present invention provides a connection processing container and a substrate processing method. The present invention solves the technical problem of being able to stably support a connected processing container and being able to suppress a shift in the transport position of a substrate caused by thermal expansion. The connection processing container of the present invention includes: a first processing container and a second processing container arranged in a lateral direction in a manner that forms a gap, each of which is able to accommodate a substrate to perform vacuum processing; a first block portion fixed to the first processing container; a second block portion fixed to the second processing container, which is arranged in the lateral direction with the first block portion; and a guide rail portion that slidably connects the first block portion and the second block portion, which is arranged in a manner that spans the first processing container and the second processing container.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to a connected processing container and a substrate processing method. BACKGROUND

[0002] In a manufacturing process of a semiconductor device, a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter referred to as "wafer") as a substrate is housed in a processing container, and a film formation process, etching process, or the like accompanied by heating is performed. Patent Literature 1 describes a substrate processing apparatus including a vacuum transfer chamber having a robot for transferring a wafer, and a plurality of chambers connected to the vacuum transfer chamber, in which the wafer can be processed by heating and supply of a processing gas. The plurality of chambers are connected in a manner in which each two chambers of them share a side wall with each other, and the robot can hand over the wafer to the two chambers sharing the side wall together.

[0003] PRIOR ART DOCUMENTS

[0004] PATENT LITERATURE

[0005] Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2017-69314 SUMMARY

[0006] PROBLEMS TO BE SOLVED BY THE INVENTION

[0007] The present application provides a technology capable of stably supporting a connected processing container and capable of suppressing a shift in a transfer position of a substrate caused by thermal expansion.

[0008] MEANS FOR SOLVING THE PROBLEMS

[0009] The present application provides a connected processing container including: a first processing container and a second processing container arranged in a lateral direction in a manner of forming a gap, each of which is capable of housing a substrate to perform a vacuum process; a first block portion fixed to the first processing container; a second block portion fixed to the second processing container, which is arranged in the lateral direction with the first block portion; and a guide portion slidably connecting the first block portion and the second block portion, which is arranged in a manner of straddling the first processing container and the second processing container.

[0010] EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION

[0011] With the present application, a connected processing container can be stably supported, and a shift in a transfer position of a substrate caused by thermal expansion can be suppressed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0012] Figure 1 is a plan view showing one example of a substrate processing system according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0013] Figure 2 is a longitudinal cross-sectional side view showing one example of a first processing container and a second processing container constituting a connected processing container provided in a substrate processing system.

[0014] Figure 3 is a back side perspective view showing one example of a connected processing container.

[0015] Figure 4 is a bottom view showing a first processing container and a second processing container.

[0016] Figure 5 is a schematic side view showing a bottom portion of a first processing container.

[0017] Figure 6 is a side view showing a part of a first processing container and a second processing container.

[0018] Figure 7 is a longitudinal cross-sectional side view showing a first block portion and a guide rail portion.

[0019] Figure 8 is an explanatory view of a case where a gap between a first processing container and a second processing container changes, as viewed in a longitudinal cross section.

[0020] Figure 9 is an explanatory view of a case where a gap between a first processing container and a second processing container changes, as viewed in a plan view.

[0021] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0022] 30 gap, 31A first processing container, 31B second processing container, 5 connected processing container, 6A first block portion, 6B second block portion, 63 guide rail portion. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] REFERENCE Figure 1 A substrate processing system 1 including a connected processing container 5 according to an embodiment of the present application will be described with reference to a plan view of FIG. 1. First, an outline of the substrate processing system 1 will be described. The substrate processing system 1 includes an in-out port 11, an in-out module 12, vacuum transport modules 13, 14, a connection module 15, and a film formation module 3 in which the connected processing container 5 is provided.

[0024] The connected processing container 5 includes a first processing container 31A and a second processing container 31B each capable of accommodating a wafer W as a substrate. These processing containers 31A, 31B are arranged so as to form a gap 30 and are connected to each other. In the substrate processing system 1, the wafer W can be transported into the processing containers 31A, 31B constituting the connected processing container 5 by a transport mechanism, and two wafers W in the processing containers 31A, 31B can be subjected to film formation processing under the same processing conditions.

[0025] Hereinafter, the description will be given with reference to the drawings. Figure 1 The components of the substrate processing system 1 will be described. In the substrate processing system 1, the X direction is the front-rear direction, and the Y direction orthogonal to the X direction is the lateral direction. Four in-out ports 11 are connected to an in-out module 12, and a transport container 10 capable of housing a wafer W is placed on the in-out port 11. The in-out port 11, the in-out module 12, a vacuum transport module 13, a connection module 15, and a vacuum transport module 14 are arranged in the X direction in this order. Further, two film formation modules 3 are connected in a manner that sandwiches the vacuum transport module 13 on the front side in the Y direction. In addition, two film formation modules 3 are connected in a manner that sandwiches the vacuum transport module 14 on the rear side in the Y direction. Figure 1 The in-out module 12 includes an atmospheric transport chamber 12A and a load lock chamber 12B. The atmospheric transport chamber 12A is in an atmospheric atmosphere, and includes a transport mechanism 21 that is a multi-joint arm capable of lifting, to transfer a wafer W between the transport container 10 and the load lock chamber 12B. The load lock chamber 12B is capable of switching the atmosphere in which a wafer W is placed between an atmospheric atmosphere and a vacuum atmosphere, and includes two placement portions 22 arranged in the Y direction. The transport mechanism 21 of the atmospheric transport chamber 12A is capable of transporting a wafer W between the two placement portions 22 and the transport container 10, and transfers each one wafer W to each of the two placement portions 22.

[0026] The vacuum transport modules 13, 14 are similarly configured to each other. These vacuum transport modules 13, 14 include a vacuum transport chamber 23 capable of forming a vacuum atmosphere, and a transport mechanism 24 is provided in the vacuum transport chamber 23. The transport mechanism 24 is configured by a multi-joint arm capable of lifting, and an end effector 25 constituting a tip portion of the multi-joint arm includes two holding portions 26 formed separately from each other. By holding each one wafer W in each of the holding portions 26, the transport mechanism 24 is capable of transporting two wafers W together at a prescribed interval. Further, two end effectors 25 are provided, for example, at an interval in the vertical direction, and one end effector 25 can be used to receive a wafer W from a module, and the other end effector 25 can be used to deliver a wafer W to a module.

[0027]

[0028] ​The connection module 15 is a module that holds the wafer W for the purpose of handoff of the wafer W between the vacuum transport modules 13, 14, and is internally provided with a vacuum atmosphere. In this connection module 15, as with the load lock chamber 12B, two holding portions 22 are provided in line in the Y direction. Further, the interval of the two holding portions 22 in each of the load lock chamber 12B and the connection module 15 corresponds to the interval of the holding portions 26 of the transport mechanism 24, so that handoff can be performed in conjunction with the transport mechanism 24. In order to enable handoff of the wafer W by the lifting action of the transport mechanisms 21, 24, the holding portion 22 includes, for example, a substrate support portion such as a pin that can support a plurality of positions spaced apart in the circumferential direction of the wafer W from the center portion of the wafer W.

[0029] A gate valve G is provided between the atmospheric pressure transport chamber 12A and the load lock chamber 12B, between the load lock chamber 12B and the vacuum transport module 13, and between the processing containers 31A, 31B that constitute the film formation module 3 and the vacuum transport modules 13, 14. The transport ports of the wafers W provided in each module can be opened and closed by the gate valve G, and the atmosphere in each module can be maintained as the atmosphere described above.

[0030] A control section 100 is provided in the substrate processing system 1. The control section 100 is constituted by a computer and includes a program. The program includes a set of steps (commands) that enable the action of each section of the substrate processing system 1 to be controlled by outputting a control signal to each section, so that the transport and film formation processing of the wafer W described below can be performed. The program is stored in a storage section of the computer, such as a floppy disk, an optical disk, a hard disk, an MO (magneto optical disk), a nonvolatile memory, or the like, and can be read out from the storage section and installed in the control section 100.

[0031] In the substrate processing system 1 described above, the wafer W is returned to the transport container 10 after being transported from the transport container 10 to the film formation module 3 connected to the vacuum transport module 13 or the vacuum transport module 14 and processed. Therefore, one transport path is a path in which the wafer W is sequentially transported in the order of the transport container 10 → the atmospheric pressure transport chamber 12A → the load lock chamber 12B → the vacuum transport module 13 → the film formation module 3 → the vacuum transport module 13 → the load lock chamber 12B → the atmospheric pressure transport chamber 12A → the transport container 10. The other transport path can be a path in which the wafer W is sequentially transported in the order of the transport container 10 → the atmospheric pressure transport chamber 12A → the load lock chamber 12B → the vacuum transport module 13 → the connection module 15 → the vacuum transport module 14 → the film formation module 3. Thereafter, a path in which the wafer W is sequentially transported in the order of the vacuum transport module 14 → the connection module 15 → the vacuum transport module 13 → the load lock chamber 12B → the atmospheric pressure transport chamber 12A → the transport container 10 from the film formation module 3.

[0032] In each of the above-described transport paths, the section in which the transport by the transport mechanism 24 is performed can transport two wafers W at a time. Therefore, between the film formation module 3 including the process containers 31A, 31B and the vacuum transport modules 13, 14, two wafers W can be transported at a time. Also, two wafers W can be transported at a time between the load lock chamber 12B and the vacuum transport module 13, between the vacuum transport module 13 and the connection module 15, and between the connection module 15 and the vacuum transport module 14.

[0033] Next, the film formation module 3 including the connection process container 5 according to the present application will be described. The film formation module 3 includes the connection process container 5 having the process containers 31A, 31B, a gas supply source 39, an exhaust mechanism 40, and a gas supply device 42, and for example, can perform a film formation process of a titanium nitride film (TiN film) on a wafer W. In the connection process container 5, the first process container 31A and the second process container 31B are arranged in the lateral direction with the gap 30 formed therebetween. Hereinafter, the process containers will be described, but these first process container 31A and second process container 31B are identically configured to each other, and therefore, the first process container 31A will be described using a schematic view of Figure 2 The process container 31A includes a stage 32, a side wall heater 33, a lift pin 34, a lift mechanism 35, and a shower head 41. In the drawing showing the connection process container 5 in Figure 2 and the like, the sub-coordinates described in Figure 1 are used, and the X' direction is set as the lateral direction, the Y' direction is set as the front-rear direction, and the Z' direction is set as the up-down direction.

[0034] The above-described side wall heater 33 constitutes a heating section for heating the first process container 31A, and is embedded in the side wall of the process container 31A. Also, the above-described stage 32 is circular in plan view, and the position thereof in the lateral direction is fixed within the process container 31A. In the stage 32, a stage heater 36 for performing a heating process on a wafer W is embedded. Also, three lift pins 34 (only two are shown in the drawing) which can be protruded and immersed with respect to the upper surface of the stage 32 by the lift mechanism 35 are provided. By the lifting action of the lift pins 34, a wafer W can be handed over between the stage 32 and the above-described transport mechanism 24 which has moved to a predetermined transport position within the process container 31A. P in the drawing indicates the center of the stage 32, and a wafer W is placed on the stage 32 in such a manner that the center of the wafer W coincides with the center P.

[0035] The shower head 41 is provided at the top of the processing container 31A, and a film forming gas is supplied to the shower head 41 from a gas supply source 39 common to the processing containers 31A, 31B, via a gas supply device 42 including a valve or the like. In addition, one end of an exhaust pipe 38 is connected to the processing container 31A, and the other end of the exhaust pipe 38 is connected to an exhaust mechanism 40 common to the processing containers 31A, 31B. The exhaust mechanism 40 includes, for example, a vacuum pump or the like.

[0036] Next, the overall structure of the connected processing container 5 will be described. As described above, the connected processing container 5 includes the first processing container 31A and the second processing container 31B. In addition to these processing containers 31A, 31B, a support portion 50 for supporting the processing containers 31A, 31B and a connection portion 6 for connecting the processing containers 31A, 31B to each other are included. In describing the connected processing container 5, reference will be made to Figure 2 、 Figure 3 and Figure 4 , and the direction in which the gate valve G is provided will be referred to as the front side. Figure 3 is a back side perspective view of the connected processing container 5 as viewed toward the vacuum transfer module 13 with the gate valve G, Figure 4 is a bottom view of the connected processing container 5. In addition, the left side and the right side in the following description correspond to the left side and the right side in the description of Figure 3 . Furthermore, Figure 4 P1 in FIGS. 1 to 4 and the like indicates the distance between the centers P of the placement tables 32 of the processing containers 31A, 31B (the distance between the placement tables 32).

[0037] The first processing container 31A and the second processing container 31B are formed in a square shape, and the side walls thereof are not shared but separated from each other. Furthermore, these processing containers 31A, 31B are arranged at the same height position as each other, and the right side wall of the processing container 31A opposes the left side wall of the processing container 31B with a gap 30 therebetween. The front surfaces of the processing containers 31A, 31B are fixed to the vacuum transfer module 13 or 14 via the gate valve G. When the processing containers 31A, 31B are at room temperature (20°C to 25°C), the size of the gap 30 (the width in the lateral direction (X' direction)) is, for example, 2 mm to 6 mm, and more specifically, 4 mm, and in Figures 2-4 , the gap 30 is exaggeratedly depicted to be large.

[0038] The support portion 50 is provided on a floor on which the substrate processing system 1 is installed, for supporting the processing containers 31A, 31B above the floor, and includes a frame 51. The frame 51 includes a bottom portion 52, a horizontal upper plate 53, and four vertical pillar portions 54 (541 to 544) connecting the bottom portion 52 and the upper plate 53. The bottom portion 52 is provided directly above the floor, and the upper plate 53 is provided above the processing containers 31A, 31B. Two of the four pillar portions 54, 541, 542, are provided in front of and behind each other at intervals on the left side of the processing container 31A, and the other two pillar portions 54, 543, 544, are provided in front of and behind each other at intervals on the right side of the processing container 31B. Thus, when the processing containers 31A, 31B are taken as a group of one processing container, the pillar portions 54 (541 to 544) are provided in a manner surrounding the group. Each of the pillar portions 54 is disposed at an interval from each of the side walls of the processing containers 31A, 31B.

[0039] Between the pillar portions 54, 541, 542, a shelf portion 55A for supporting the first processing container 31A is provided, and between the pillar portions 54, 543, 544, a shelf portion 55B for supporting the second processing container 31B is provided. These shelf portions 55A, 55B are composed of bar-shaped horizontal members extending in the front-rear direction (Y' direction) on the lower side of the processing containers 31A, 31B. The shelf portions 55A, 55B in this example are formed by bending the short sides of elongated plate members into substantially L shapes, and include horizontal members and vertical members extending downward. Also, for example, the front end side and the rear end side of the vertical members are respectively mounted on the pillar portions 54 (541, 542, 543, 544).

[0040] Between these shelf portions 55A, 55B and the processing containers 31A, 31B, spherical casters 7A, 7B are respectively provided. The spherical casters 7A, 7B, as shown in Figure 5 for example by the spherical caster 7A shown in FIG. 6, include a main body 71 provided with a ball housing portion, and a ball portion 72 of which a part is exposed above from the main body 71, and which can be rotatably held by the main body 71. The main body 71 is mounted on the shelf portions 55A, 55B by a screw 73 and a nut 74.

[0041] The spherical casters 7A, 7B can support the processing containers 31A, 31B in a state in which the respective ball portions 72 are in contact with the bottoms of the processing containers 31A, 31B. For example, one spherical caster 7A, 7B is respectively disposed on each of the front side and the rear side of the processing containers 31A, 31B, and one processing container 31A (31B) is supported by two spherical casters 7A (7B). In this way, the processing containers 31A, 31B are respectively supported on the frame 51 at the lateral end positions on the side opposite the gap 30 from the processing containers 31A, 31B, via the shelf portions 55A, 55B and the spherical casters 7A, 7B.

[0042] Thus, the first processing container 31A is supported only at the left end portion, and the second processing container 31B is supported only at the right end portion. Therefore, the bottom of the processing containers 31A, 31B is suspended except for the portions in contact with the casters 7A, 7B, and a large space is formed between the bottom of the processing containers 31A, 31B and the bottom 52 of the frame 51. In this space, for example, a gas supply device 42 including a gas tank for distributing a film formation gas supplied from a gas supply source 39 into the processing containers 31A, 31B, an electrical component for operating each film formation module 3, and the like can be housed. Further, the bottom of the processing containers 31A, 31B is floated so that no load is applied to these gas tanks or electrical components.

[0043] Next, also referring to Figure 6 and Figure 7 The connection portion 6 that connects the first processing container 31A and the second processing container 31B to each other with the gap 30 therebetween will be described. Figure 6 is a side view of the connection portion 6, Figure 7 is a longitudinal sectional view taken in the A-A' position of Figure 6 .

[0044] The connection portion 6 includes a first block portion 6A fixed to the first processing container 31A, a second block portion 6B fixed to the second processing container 31B, and a rail portion 63 slidably connected to the first block portion 6A and the second block portion 6B.

[0045] The first block portion 6A is provided at the bottom near the right side wall of the first processing container 31A, and the second block portion 6B is provided at the bottom near the left side wall of the second processing container 31B. These first block portion 6A and second block portion 6B are arranged in the lateral direction (X' direction) with the gap 30 therebetween.

[0046] As shown in Figure 2 , Figure 4 and Figure 6 , the rail portion 63 is provided so as to extend in the lateral direction across the processing containers 31A and 31B and below these processing containers 31A, 31B. The connection portion 6 is configured by these first block portion 6A, second block portion 6B, and rail portion 63, as shown in Figure 4 , and is provided at two positions of the front side and the rear side of the processing containers 31A, 31B.

[0047] The first block portion 6A and the second block portion 6B are, for example, formed in a planar shape on the upper surface, and as shown in Figure 7As shown in the first block portion 6A as an example, a recess 61 having a substantially rectangular shape in a longitudinal cross section is formed in the bottom portion thereof. On the other hand, the guide portion 63 includes a protrusion 631 having a shape corresponding to the recess 61, and the protrusion 631 is capable of being fitted into the recess 61.

[0048] In a contact portion of the protrusion 631 of the guide portion 63 and the recess 61 of the block portion 6A, 6B, a rolling member 62, for example, composed of a roller or a ball is provided. In this example, the protrusion 631 of the guide portion 63 has a substantially rectangular shape in a longitudinal cross section, and the rolling member 62 is provided at each of the four corners of the protrusion 631 of the guide portion 63 in contact with the block portion 6A, 6B.

[0049] The rolling member 62 of this example is configured such that, for example, a plurality of rollers having a rotational axis inclined with respect to a vertical axis are arranged in a ring shape in the length direction (X' direction) of the block portion 6A, 6B, and the rollers are capable of rotating when the block portion 6A, 6B slides with respect to the guide portion 63. In this way, by the rolling member 62 rotating between the block portion 6A, 6B and the guide portion 63, the coefficient of friction of the block portion 6A, 6B and the guide portion 63 is reduced, and thus smooth sliding movement is enabled.

[0050] The connecting portion 6, which is a group composed of the first block portion 6A, the second block portion 6B, and the guide portion 63 as described above, is a component marketed as a "linear guide" or the like.

[0051] These first block portion 6A and second block portion 6B are fixed to the first processing container 31A and the second processing container 31B via cooling plates 8A, 8B that constitute cooling portions. As shown in Figure 2 Figure 4 Figure 6 As shown in the first block portion 6A as an example, a recess 61 having a substantially rectangular shape in a longitudinal cross section is formed in the bottom portion thereof. On the other hand, the guide portion 63 includes a protrusion 631 having a shape corresponding to the recess 61, and the protrusion 631 is capable of being fitted into the recess 61. Figure 4

[0052] As shown in the first block portion 6A as an example, a recess 61 having a substantially rectangular shape in a longitudinal cross section is formed in the bottom portion thereof. On the other hand, the guide portion 63 includes a protrusion 631 having a shape corresponding to the recess 61, and the protrusion 631 is capable of being fitted into the recess 61. Figure 7 ​​​Taking the first processing container 31A as an example, the cooling plates 8A and 8B are arranged between the blocks 6A and 6B and the bottom of the processing containers 31A and 31B, and are fixed by screws 84. On the other hand, the guide rail 63 is not fixed to the processing containers 31A and 31B, and is supported in a suspended state from the blocks 6A and 6B when viewed from the side of the processing containers 31A and 31B. Therefore, the lower ends of the blocks 6A and 6B are configured to extend inward and wrap around the lower surface of the protrusion of the guide rail 63 to prevent the guide rail 63 from falling.

[0053] On the lower surface of the guide rail portion 63, opposite to the surfaces that slide against the first block portion 6A and the second block portion 6B, a rib 64 is provided along this lower surface. This rib 64 is, for example, made of stainless steel and is fixed to the guide rail portion 63, for example, using screws (not shown). Additionally, as... Figure 6 As shown, the thickness of the central portion 641 of the rib 64 along its length direction (X' direction) is greater than the thickness of the two end portions 642. The central portion 641 refers to the region that includes the portion opposite to the region where the gap 30 is formed.

[0054] Furthermore, the connecting portion 6 includes a stop member 65 to prevent the guide rail portion 63 from detaching from the first block portion 6A and the second block portion 6B. In this example, the stop member 65 is installed, for example, on the central side 641 of the front and rear surfaces of the rib 64.

[0055] Additionally, the first processing container 31A and the second processing container 31B include height adjustment components 75A and 75B for adjusting the height position from the frame portions 55A and 55B. Figure 3 and Figure 5 As shown, for example, two height adjustment components 75A and 75B are provided in each of the first processing container 31A and the second processing container 31B. For example, each height adjustment component 75A and 75B is respectively disposed inside the spherical casters 7A and 7B, which are provided in pairs, in the Y' direction. Furthermore, in Figure 5 The diagram shows the configuration of the spherical caster 7A and the height adjustment component 75A on the side of the first processing container 31A.

[0056] Height adjustment components 75A and 75B are rod-shaped components extending vertically and having a feed screw whose height position can be adjusted using a positioning nut. The lower (frame side) end of the height adjustment components 75A and 75B is provided through a through hole 56 in the frame 55A and 55B, while the upper end of the height adjustment components 75A and 75B is inserted into the bottom of the processing containers 31A and 31B. The through hole 56 has an opening diameter larger than that of the height adjustment components 75A and 75B, and positioning nuts 761, 762, and 763 are sequentially arranged from top to bottom.

[0057] Adjustment of the height position of the process container 31A, 31B is performed in a state where the process container 31 is supported on the nut 761. Then, the height position of the process container 31A, 31B is adjusted by adjusting the position of the lower surface of the process container 31A, 31B with the nut 762, 763 of the height adjustment member 75.

[0058] After the adjustment of the height position is completed, the height position of the spherical casters 7A, 7B is adjusted, and the nut 762, 763 is loosened after the process container 31A, 31B is supported with the spherical casters 7A, 7B. The height adjustment member 75 is maintained in a state where the upper end portion thereof is inserted into the process container 31A, 31B, and becomes a state where the process container 31A, 31B is suspended and supported from the lower surface thereof in the processing of the wafer W.

[0059] In the film formation module 3 including the process container 5 described above, the wafer W can be transported together to the first process container 31A and the second process container 31B with the transport mechanism 24 of the vacuum transport module 13, 14 side. Then, the wafer W stored in these process containers 31A, 31B can be subjected to vacuum processing. In the film formation module 3, in the operation of the substrate processing system 1, the vacuum atmosphere inside the process container 31A, 31B is adjusted to a predetermined pressure with the exhaust mechanism 40, and in order to process the wafer W placed at an arbitrary processing temperature, the stage heater 36 is used for heating so that the stage 32 becomes the processing temperature.

[0060] In addition, in order to ensure the reactivity of the film formation gas supplied into the process container 31A, the side wall of the process container 31A is heated to a temperature corresponding to the processing temperature with the side wall heater 33. For example, when one example of the temperature of the side wall in the film formation of a TiN film is cited, it is 170°C. In a state where the formation of the vacuum atmosphere and the heating with each heater are performed as described above, the wafer W placed on the stage 32 is supplied with the film formation gas from the shower head 41 to perform the film formation processing of the TiN film as the vacuum processing.

[0061] Furthermore, as described later, at least one of the first block portion 6A and the second block portion 6B is caused to slide in the lateral direction with respect to the rail portion 63 when thermal expansion and / or thermal contraction occurs in each of the first process container 31A and the second process container 31B.

[0062] Next, the function of the connecting process container 5 will be described. First, the reason for providing the gap 30 between the side walls of the process containers 31A, 31B will be described. When the wafer W is processed as described above, the process containers 31A, 31B are heated by the side wall heaters 33 to a temperature corresponding to the processing temperature of the wafer W. For example, the temperature of the side walls is heated to a temperature in the range of 50°C to 170°C corresponding to the processing temperature of the wafer W. The side walls expand thermally in accordance with their temperature.

[0063] Suppose that the gap 30 is not provided between the process containers 31A, 31B, and the side walls of the process containers 31A, 31B are joined to each other, in other words, the side walls are shared between the process containers as described in Patent Document 1. When the side walls of the process containers 31A, 31B are joined as supposed, the interval, i.e., the pitch P1 between the centers of the stages 32 changes in accordance with the amount of thermal expansion of the process containers 31A, 31B. Moreover, the higher the temperature of the wall portions of the process containers 31A, 31B, the larger the pitch P1. That is, since the side walls of the process containers 31A, 31B are joined to each other, the side walls push against each other due to thermal expansion, the centers of the left and right of the process container 31A shift to the left, the centers of the left and right of the process container 31B shift to the right, and the pitch P1 becomes larger.

[0064] On the other hand, the vacuum transfer modules 13, 14 are maintained at room temperature, and the distance between the two holding portions 26 of the transfer mechanism 24 is constant, so the two wafers W can be always transferred to the process containers 31A, 31B by the transfer mechanism 24 at a constant interval. Therefore, when the pitch P1 between the centers P of the two stages 32 becomes larger due to a change in the temperature of the side walls of the process containers 31A, 31B, the centers of the wafers W are transferred to positions deviated from the centers P of the stages 32. In addition, the front sides of the process containers 31A, 31B are fixed to the vacuum transfer modules 13 via the gate valves G. Therefore, when the amount of thermal expansion is large in the case where the side walls of the process containers 31A, 31B are joined to each other, a large stress is applied to the process containers 31A, 31B. As a result, the process containers 31A, 31B can be deformed. Furthermore, Patent Document 1 described above does not describe the problem of thermal expansion of the process containers, and cannot solve the problem.

[0065] Therefore, in the connecting process container 5, the structure in which the side walls of the process containers 31A, 31B are separated from each other and the gap 30 is provided as described above is employed. Thus, even when the amount of thermal expansion of the process containers 31A, 31B changes, the positions of the left and right of each side wall of the process containers 31A, 31B opposite to each other can be displaced. That is, even when the amount of thermal expansion of the process containers 31A, 31B is large, since the positions of the gap 30 sides of each side wall can be displaced, the side walls do not interfere with each other. Therefore, the change in the pitch P1 due to thermal expansion can be suppressed.

[0066] Furthermore, the connection portion 6 that connects the processing containers 31A and 31B across the gap 30 can absorb the expansion and contraction associated with the thermal expansion and / or thermal contraction of the processing containers 31A and 31B, and as described later, can suppress the tilting of the gap 30 portion of the processing containers 31A and 31B.

[0067] Next, use Figure 8 Longitudinal lateral view and Figure 9 The plan view specifically explains the situation when the thermal expansion of the processing containers 31A and 31B changes due to the change in the output power of the side wall heater 33, and the function of the connecting part 6.

[0068] Figure 8 and Figure 9 In the diagram, (a) represents the state where the processing containers 31A and 31B are at a low temperature, and (b) represents the state where the processing containers 31A and 31B are at a high temperature. Additionally, for ease of explanation, ... Figure 8 , Figure 9 The figures show the positions of the first processing container 31A supported by the spherical caster 7A and the second processing container 31B equipped with the height adjustment component 75B. The following explanation describes the situation where the temperatures of the processing containers 31A and 31B rise, resulting in increased thermal expansion, i.e., a change from the state shown in (a) to the state shown in (b).

[0069] As described above, the front sides of processing containers 31A and 31B are fixed to vacuum delivery modules 13 and 14 via gate valves G. Therefore, processing containers 31A and 31B will undergo thermal expansion with the front side connected to gate valve G as the base point. That is, the position of the front end of processing containers 31A and 31B connected to gate valve G remains unchanged, while thermal expansion occurs laterally and rearward. The positions of the left and right ends of the sidewalls of processing containers 31A and 31B, as well as the position of the rear end, change outward.

[0070] The first processing container 31A and the second processing container 31B are connected by a connecting portion 6 including a first block portion 6A, a second block portion 6B, and a guide rail portion 63. Therefore, with thermal expansion, the first block portion 6A slides laterally (to the right) on the sidewall (right side wall) of the first processing container 31A via the guide rail portion 63, thereby moving towards the second processing container 31B. Conversely, the second block portion 6B slides laterally (to the left) on the sidewall (left side wall) of the second processing container 31B via the guide rail portion 63, thereby moving towards the first processing container 31A.

[0071] exist Figure 8 (b) Figure 9 (b) shows the relationship with Figure 8 of (a),Figure 9 Compared to (a), the right side wall of processing container 31A and the left side wall of second processing container 31B are closer together, and the size of the gap 30 is smaller. Accompanying this, the first block 6A moves to the right, and the second block 6B moves to the left.

[0072] At this time, the first block 6A and the second block 6B move in a manner guided by the guide rail 63. Furthermore, as described above, blocks 6A and 6B slide with their coefficient of friction relative to the guide rail 63 reduced by the rolling member 62. Therefore, the movement of the sidewalls of the processing containers 31A and 31B can proceed smoothly in response to thermal expansion. As a result, the thermal expansion of the processing containers 31A and 31B can be absorbed by the movement of the sidewalls at the gap 30, and the variation in the distance P1 between the centers P of the two mounting platforms 32 can be more reliably suppressed.

[0073] On the other hand, the bottom of the side opposite to the gap 30 of the first processing container 31A and the second processing container 31B, namely the left end of the first processing container 31A and the right end of the second processing container 31B, are supported by spherical casters 7A and 7B, respectively. Therefore, even if the sidewalls move due to the thermal expansion of the processing containers 31A and 31B, the rotation of the ball portion 72 at the bottom of the processing containers 31A and 31B will not restrict the movement of the sidewalls. That is, as Figure 8 As shown on the left side of (a) and (b), the position of the lower surface of the processing container 31A (31B) supported by the ball casters 7A (7B) will move.

[0074] Thus, as Figure 9 As shown in (a) and (b), the left end of the processing container 31A moves to the left, and the right end of the processing container 31B moves to the right. Therefore, due to thermal expansion, the positions of the ends of the support portions 54 of the processing containers 31A and 31B will also change. However, this change can be absorbed by the rapid change in the support positions of the processing containers 31A and 31B supported by the corresponding globe-shaped casters 7A and 7B. Therefore, from this point of view, the change in the spacing P1 can also be suppressed.

[0075] Furthermore, in the height adjustment components 75A and 75B, the through holes 56 formed in the frame portions 55A and 55B have an opening diameter larger than the diameter of the height adjustment components 75A and 75B. Therefore, as... Figure 8 As shown on the right side of (a) and (b), with the thermal expansion of the processing containers 31A and 31B, the height adjustment member 75B moves to the right within the through hole 56. Additionally, the height adjustment member 75A (not shown) moves to the left within the through hole 56.

[0076] As explained above, the first block portion 6A and the second block portion 6B are slidable with respect to the rail portion 63, and each of the spherical casters 7A and 7B and the height adjustment members 75A and 75B is movable. By these actions, displacement of the positions of the side walls of the process containers 31A and 31B accompanying thermal expansion is absorbed, and variation in the pitch Pl of the placement tables 32 is suppressed.

[0077] When it is assumed that the left end portion of the process container 31A and the right end portion of the process container 31B are fixed to the frame 51, the process container 31A expands to the right side with the left end portion as a base point, and the process container 31B expands to the left side with the right end portion as a base point. In this case, the pitch Pl becomes smaller, but in the present structure, as explained above, the positions of the left and right of the left end portion of the process container 31A and the right end portion of the process container 31B are not fixed to the frame 51, and thus, the reduction in the pitch Pl can be prevented.

[0078] In addition, with the thermal expansion of the process containers 31A and 31B, the center P of the placement tables 32 moves forward and backward, but the position of the transport destination of the transport mechanism 24 is adjustable forward and backward. Therefore, by appropriately setting the position of the transport destination, the center of the wafer W transported to the placement table 32 can be made to coincide with the position of the center P of the placement table 32. In this way, for the transport mechanism 24, after the transport destination is set so that the amount of entry from the gate valve G into each of the process containers 31A and 31B becomes larger than in the case where no heating is performed, the transport of the wafer W in the substrate processing system 1 is performed.

[0079] At this time, for example, in order to make the position of the transport mechanism 24 coincide, the teaching of the transport mechanism 24 can be performed before the wafer W is processed in a desired processing recipe, and the transport position at the time of processing in the processing recipe is determined. In addition, data in which the transport position of the transport mechanism 24 and the output power of the side wall heater 33 are associated with each other can be stored in a memory that constitutes the control portion 100, and each time the processing recipe is changed and the output power of the side wall heater 33 is also changed, the transport position is determined on the basis of the data.

[0080] Here, a case in which the amount of thermal expansion of the process containers 31A and 31B becomes small (the process containers 31A and 31B thermally contract) is also briefly explained. When thermal contraction occurs, each of the first block portion 6A, the second block portion 6B, the spherical casters 7A and 7B, the height adjustment members 75A and 75B, and the like moves in a direction opposite to that in the case in which the amount of thermal expansion becomes large, and thus, in this case, the pitch Pl of the placement tables 32 also does not change. On the other hand, the center P of each of the placement tables 32 moves forward compared to before the amount of thermal expansion changes. Therefore, for the transport mechanism 24, after the position of the transport destination is set so that the amount of entry from the gate valve G into each of the process containers 31A and 31B becomes smaller, the transport of the wafer W in the substrate processing system 1 is performed.

[0081] As described above, by providing the gap 30 and the connecting portion 6, the variation in the interval P1 due to thermal expansion or thermal contraction can be suppressed. Further, by supporting the process containers 31A, 31B using the connecting portion 6, the gap 30 portion can be suppressed from tilting in a manner that it is lowered in a deflection.

[0082] The process container 31A is cantilevered supported by the support portion 50 only at the left end portion, and the process container 31B is cantilevered supported by the support portion 50 only at the right end portion. Therefore, in a structure in which the connecting portion 6 is not provided, it is possible that the process containers 31A, 31B will tilt in a manner that the right side of the process container 31A and the left side of the process container 31B are lowered, respectively, due to the gap 30. When the process containers 31A, 31B are tilted, it is possible that the transport position of the wafer W between the transport mechanism 24 and the placement table 32 will be shifted, and by suppressing the tilt of the process containers 31A, 31B, the shift of the transport position of the wafer W can also be suppressed.

[0083] In this case, in the structure of the present application, the lower surface of the other end side of the process container 31A, the process container 31B which is cantilevered supported is supported by the guide rail portion 63 via the first block portion 6A, the second block portion 6B. Thereby, the tilt of the gap 30 portion of the process containers 31A, 31B can be suppressed, and the process containers 31A, 31B can be stably supported.

[0084] Further, in this example, the rib 64 is provided along the lower surface of the guide rail portion 63. Therefore, the rigidity of the guide rail portion 63 is increased, and the tilt of the process containers 31A, 31B can be further suppressed. Further, the central portion side 641 of the guide rail portion 63 in the rib 64 is formed thicker than the both end portion sides 642, and therefore, the weight of the rib 64 can be reduced, and the rigidity of the central portion side 641 can be made greater than the rigidity of the both end portion sides 642. Therefore, the rigidity of the central portion side of the guide rail portion 63 to which a large stress will be applied can be further increased, the tilt of the gap portion 30 of the process containers 31A, 31B can be suppressed, and these process containers 31A, 31B can be more stably supported.

[0085] Further, in this example, the first block portion 6A and the second block portion 6B are connected to the process containers 31A, 31B via the cooling plates 8A, 8B, respectively. Therefore, even in the case in which the side walls of the process containers 31A, 31B are heated by the heater 33, the temperature of these block portions 6A, 6B can be maintained at a temperature below the heat resistant temperature (for example, 80°C) thereof. Further, the cooling plates 8A, 8B also function to increase the strength of the surface on which the block portions 6A, 6B are provided in the process containers 31A, 31B.

[0086] As described above, by using the connection processing container 5, it is possible to suppress variation in the pitch P1 of the stages 32 and maintain a state in which the pitch P1 is identical to the distance between the center of the wafer W and the center P of each stage 32. Therefore, it is possible to perform the film formation processing in a state in which the center of each wafer W transported by the transport mechanism 24 is identical to the position of the center of each stage 32. As a result, it is possible to prevent occurrence of adverse conditions related to the film quality and film thickness of the TiN film caused by positional deviation of the wafer W and the stage 32.

[0087] In addition, the two processing containers 31A and 31B of the connection processing container 5 are connected by the linear guides (the first block portion 6A, the second block portion 6B, and the rail portion 63) which are simple in structure and relatively easy to obtain. They can be installed by fixing the first block portion 6A and the second block portion 6B to the lower surface side of the first processing container 31A and the second processing container 31B and then installing the rail portion 63, and therefore, the connection portion 6 can be installed without the need for a special structure of the processing containers 31A and 31B. Therefore, the processing containers 31A and 31B including the connection portion 6 become easy to manufacture.

[0088] In addition, in the connection processing container 5, the right side of the processing container 31A and the left side of the processing container 31B are not supported, and only the left side of the processing container 31A and the right side of the processing container 31B are supported from below by the support portion main body 55. Therefore, as described above, it is possible to form a large space below the processing container 31A and the processing container 31B, and therefore, it is possible to arrange each device constituting the film formation module 3 in the space. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the film formation module 3 and further the substrate processing system 1 from becoming large.

[0089] Furthermore, in the substrate processing system 1, two wafers W are processed together, but the wafers W are arranged so that the centers of the wafers W are identical to the centers P of the stages 32, and the processing is performed in the processing containers 31A and 31B which are separated from each other. Therefore, it is possible to perform the processing using the processing scheme (the pressure, the gas flow rate, the temperature of each heater, and the like in the processing container 31) used in the single-wafer-type film formation apparatus which performs the film formation processing on the wafers W block by block. Therefore, it is possible to reduce or decrease the man-hours required for re-creating or changing the processing scheme for the substrate processing system 1, and therefore, it is advantageous.

[0090] In the above technical solution, the first block portion and the second block portion can be arranged on the upper surface side of each of the first processing container and the second processing container, and the first block portion and the second block portion can be slidably connected to the rail portion arranged on the upper side of the first block portion and the second block portion.

[0091] In addition, recesses can be formed in the side walls on the gap side of the first and second processing containers, and the first and second blocks can be fixedly provided in the respective processing containers in the recesses. In this case, the guide rail portion is provided so as to span the two recesses, and the first and second blocks are slidably connected to the guide rail portion.

[0092] In addition, in the above-described examples, the case where thermal expansion or thermal contraction occurs in both the first and second processing containers is described. In the case where thermal expansion or thermal contraction occurs in only one of the processing containers due to some reason, the block provided in the one processing container slides in the lateral direction with respect to the guide rail portion. In this case, the center P of the placement table of the two processing containers does not move, and thus the variation in the interval PI can also be suppressed.

[0093] Furthermore, in the case where the temperature of the vacuum processing performed in the first and second processing containers is a temperature lower than the heat resistance temperature of the first and second blocks or the guide rail portion, it is not necessarily required to provide the cooling portion. In addition, in the case where the rigidity of the guide rail portion can be ensured, it is not necessarily required to provide the ribs.

[0094] In addition, in the case where the moving space is ensured on the shelf portion side, the ball can be provided so as to be in contact with the shelf portion side. In addition, the processing containers can be supported by the height adjustment members provided in the shelf portion, instead of the ball-shaped casters.

[0095] Furthermore, in the above-described examples, the left end portion of the processing container 31A and the right end portion of the processing container 31B are supported by the ball-shaped casters 7A and 7B, respectively, but the processing containers 31A and 31B can be supported at positions more inward than these end portions. However, in order to ensure a space of a sufficient size under each of the processing containers 31A and 31B, it is preferable to support the processing containers 31A and 31B on the side opposite to the side on which the gap 30 is provided. The side on which the gap 30 is provided is, for example, a position inward of the center P of the placement table 32 in the lateral direction (a position closer to the center of the processing container 5), and the side opposite to the side on which the gap 30 is provided is, for example, a position outward of the center P of the placement table 32 in the lateral direction. That is, for the processing container 31A, it is preferable to support the processing container 31A at a position on the left side of the center P by the ball-shaped caster 7A, and for the processing container 31B, it is preferable to support the processing container 31B at a position on the right side of the center P by the ball-shaped caster 7B.

[0096] However, the connection processing container 5 is not limited to application to the film formation module. For example, it can be applied to a module for etching the wafer W by supplying an etching gas, a module for annealing the wafer W by supplying an inert gas such as nitrogen while heating the wafer W, or the like, which is a module for vacuum processing the wafer W. In addition, the film formation module 3 exemplified is a module which does not perform plasma processing, but the connection processing container 5 can also be applied to a processing module which performs plasma processing. Furthermore, in the case of performing processing using plasma, for example, it is possible to consider performing processing such as adjusting the distribution of the plasma in the in-plane direction of the wafer W to compensate for the positional misalignment of the stage 32 and the wafer W. However, in the case where plasma is not formed, such adjustment using plasma cannot be performed, and therefore, in a module such as the film formation module 3 which does not perform plasma processing, the effect of suppressing the positional misalignment of the wafer W possessed by the connection processing container 5 is particularly effective.

[0097] In addition, it is possible to consider that other substrate processing apparatuses are provided outside the substrate processing system 1, and that the processing containers 31A, 31B are heated and expanded by the substrate processing apparatuses as a heat source. In this case, by employing the connection processing container 5, it is also possible to prevent the misalignment of the transport position of the wafer W on the stage 32. That is, even in a structure in which the processing containers 31A, 31B are not provided with a heating unit, the effects described above can be obtained, and therefore, the processing containers 31A, 31B can not be provided with a heating unit and can perform vacuum processing of the wafer W at room temperature. In addition, the number of processing containers which constitute the connection processing container is not limited to two, and three or more processing containers can be connected to each other.

[0098] The embodiments disclosed this time can be modified in various ways without departing from the spirit of the application. The above-described embodiments can be omitted, replaced, changed, or combined in various ways without departing from the scope and spirit of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A connection processing container, characterized in that, include: A first processing container and a second processing container are arranged laterally in a manner that forms a gap, each including a stage capable of placing a substrate for vacuum processing. It is fixed to the first block of the first processing container; A second block portion fixed to the second processing container, which is arranged in the lateral direction with the first block portion; and A guide rail portion that slidably connects the first block portion and the second block portion is arranged across the first processing container and the second processing container. The distance between the center of the stage in the first processing container and the center of the stage in the second processing container remains unchanged.

2. The connection processing container as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The first block and the second block are disposed on the lower surface side or the upper surface side of the first processing container or the second processing container, respectively.

3. The connection processing container as described in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The guide rail section has ribs provided along the surface opposite to the surfaces that slide on the first block section and the second block section.

4. The connection processing container as described in claim 3, characterized in that: The thickness of the rib on the central side of the guide rail portion corresponding to the area where the gap is formed is made thicker than the thickness of the rib on both end sides of the guide rail portion.

5. The connection processing container as described in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The first processing container and the second processing container are each heated by a heating unit, and the first block and the second block are each fixed to the first processing container or the second processing container via a cooling unit.

6. The connection processing container as described in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: It includes multiple groups consisting of the first block, the second block, and the guide rail.

7. The connection processing container as described in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: It includes a frame for supporting the first processing container and the second processing container respectively, and spherical casters are respectively provided between the frame and the first processing container and between the frame and the second processing container.

8. The connection processing container as described in claim 7, characterized in that: The positions where the frame supports the first processing container via the spherical casters and the positions where the frame supports the second processing container via the spherical casters are, when viewed from the first processing container or the second processing container, respectively, end positions on the side opposite to the gap.

9. The connection processing container as described in claim 7, characterized in that: Both the first and second processing containers are equipped with rod-shaped height adjustment components for adjusting the height position from the frame. The end of the height adjustment component on the frame side is provided through a through hole in the frame having an opening diameter larger than that of the height adjustment component, and a feed screw is formed that allows the height position to be adjusted using a positioning nut.

10. The connection processing container as described in claim 7, characterized in that: It includes a plurality of support pillars configured around the connection processing container, the plurality of support pillars being connected to the frame portion for supporting the first processing container or the frame portion for supporting the second processing container.

11. A substrate processing method comprising conveying and receiving a substrate together to a first processing container and a second processing container arranged laterally with gaps between them, and performing vacuum processing on each substrate placed on a mounting stage in the first processing container and the second processing container respectively, characterized in that: Using a first block fixed to the first processing container, a second block fixed to the second processing container and arranged laterally with the first block, and a guide rail slidably connecting the first and second blocks and disposed across the first and second processing containers, at least one of the first and second blocks is allowed to slide relative to the guide rail in the lateral direction when the first and second processing containers each undergo thermal expansion. The distance between the center of the stage in the first processing container and the center of the stage in the second processing container remains unchanged.

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