Film formation apparatus, method for manufacturing electronic device, and method for maintaining film formation source

Abstract

To provide a film deposition apparatus, a manufacturing method for an electronic device, and a maintenance method for a film deposition source that can enhance maintainability of the film deposition source while achieving space saving.SOLUTION: A top plate of a chamber 10 is provided with an opening / closing part 10a, enabling at least one member constituting a film deposition source 100 to be carried out of the chamber 10 and carried into the chamber 10, at a position apart from where substrate holding means 11 is arranged, and moving means is configured to move the film deposition source 100 reciprocally between a position opposed to a substrate P held by the substrate holding means 11 during film deposition operation and a position right below an opening part 10b opened by the opening / closing part 10a.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a film formation apparatus for forming a thin film on a substrate by a film formation source, a method for manufacturing an electronic device, and a method for maintaining the film formation source. [Background technology]

[0002] In a film forming apparatus for forming a film on the surface of a large-area substrate, a technique is known in which a film is formed while a film forming source is moved back and forth. In the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, a substrate holding means for holding the substrate is provided in the upper part of the chamber, and a moving means for moving the film forming source back and forth is provided in the lower part of the chamber. Patent Document 2 discloses that a cathode unit arranged inside the chamber is pulled out from the side of the chamber to perform maintenance. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2019-94548 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2014-162951 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In a film forming apparatus in which a film is formed while a film forming source is moved back and forth as disclosed in Patent Document 1, the space between the substrate holding means and the moving means is often narrow. Therefore, there is a problem that maintenance of the film forming source is difficult to perform. In Patent Document 2, a mechanism is provided to move the film forming source from the side of the chamber to the outside of the chamber. However, this measure requires a large space and is not necessarily a sufficient measure.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide a technique capable of improving the maintainability of a film forming apparatus while saving space. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above problems, the sputtering apparatus of the present invention comprises: A chamber; a deposition source disposed within the chamber for forming a thin film on a substrate; a moving means for moving the film formation source relative to the substrate, The top plate of the chamber has an opening and closing part at a position vertically above a part of the moving range of the film formation source for carrying at least one member constituting the film formation source from inside the chamber to outside the chamber and carrying at least one member constituting the film formation source from outside the chamber to inside the chamber. A film forming apparatus comprising: The film formation source is a cylindrical target configured to emit particles for forming a thin film on a substrate by sputtering and to rotate during sputtering; A pair of support members fixed to an upper surface of an atmospheric box configured to be movable by the moving means and supporting both ends of the target; A drive source for rotating the target, The atmospheric box has a bottom plate portion, a side wall portion provided so as to surround the bottom plate portion, and a top plate portion provided so as to be detachable from the side wall portion, The target, the pair of support members, the driving source fixed to the top plate portion, and the top plate portion are transported out of the chamber and into the chamber through the opening / closing portion in a state of being integrated together. It is characterized by:

[0007] According to the present invention, by using the moving means to move the film formation source to a position directly below the opening opened by the opening / closing part, at least one member constituting the film formation source can be lifted and carried out of the chamber through the opening, or at least one member constituting the film formation source can be hung and carried into the chamber through the opening. Effect of the Invention

[0008] As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to improve the maintainability of the film formation source while saving space. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1]1 is a schematic diagram showing an internal configuration of a film forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, viewed from above; [Diagram 2] 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an internal configuration of a film forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 3] 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an internal configuration of a film forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a film formation source according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 5] 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an internal configuration of a film forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a maintenance state of a film formation source according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a maintenance state of a film formation source according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8] FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating an example of an electronic device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the dimensions, materials, shapes, relative positions, and the like of the components described in the embodiments are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention unless otherwise specified.

[0011] (Example) With reference to Figs. 1 to 7, a film forming apparatus and a maintenance method for a film forming source according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. In this embodiment, a sputtering apparatus will be described as an example of a film forming apparatus. Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of the internal configuration of a film forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention seen from above. Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the arrow V1 in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the arrow V2 in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a film forming source according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which Fig. 4(a) is a schematic diagram of a part of the film forming source seen from the front, and Fig. 4(b) is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in Fig. 4(a). Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of the internal configuration of a film forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention seen in cross section, showing a state when maintenance is performed. Figs. 6 and 7 are schematic diagrams showing a state of maintenance of a film forming source according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0012] <Overall configuration of the film formation device> The overall configuration of a film formation apparatus according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 1 to 3. The film formation apparatus 1 according to this embodiment includes a chamber 10 inside which a vacuum atmosphere is maintained, a film formation source 100 provided in the chamber 10, and a driving device 200 having a moving means for moving the film formation source 100.

[0013] The chamber 10 is provided with a substrate holding means 11 for holding the substrate P and a mask holding means 12 for holding the mask M. These holding means keep the substrate P and the mask M stationary during the film forming operation (sputtering operation). Although the substrate holding means 11 and the mask holding means 12 are shown simply in the drawings, these holding means are configured to enable precise adjustment of the positional relationship between the substrate P and the mask M.

[0014] The chamber 10 is an airtight container, and its interior is maintained in a vacuum state (or reduced pressure state) by an exhaust pump 20. By opening a gas supply valve 30 and supplying gas into the chamber 10, the gas atmosphere (or pressure zone) can be appropriately changed to an appropriate gas atmosphere for the processing. The entire chamber 10 is electrically grounded by a ground circuit 40.

[0015] The driving device 200 includes an atmospheric box 210, a moving means for moving the atmospheric box 210, and an atmospheric arm 240 that moves in accordance with the movement of the atmospheric box 210. The moving means includes a pair of guide rails 221, 222, a rotating shaft 231 that is provided so as to penetrate the atmospheric box 210, a pair of gears 232 that are provided on both sides of the rotating shaft 231, and a driving source 233 such as a motor that rotates the rotating shaft 231. The pair of guide rails 221, 222 are provided with racks that mesh with the pair of gears 232, respectively. With the above configuration, the atmospheric box 210 can be reciprocated along the pair of guide rails 221, 222 by rotating the rotating shaft 231 with the driving source 233. In this way, the moving means in this embodiment employs a so-called rack and pinion mechanism. However, the driving mechanism for reciprocating the atmospheric box 210 is not limited to the rack and pinion mechanism, and various known techniques such as a ball screw mechanism can be adopted.

[0016] The atmosphere box 210 is hollow and communicates with the outside of the chamber 10 through the inside of the atmosphere arm 240. Therefore, the inside of the atmosphere box 210 is exposed to the atmosphere. By adopting such a configuration, it is possible to connect the wiring 51 connected to the power source 50 provided outside the chamber 10 and the cooling pipe 61 connected to the cooling liquid supply device 60 also provided outside the chamber 10 to the film formation source 100.

[0017] In this manner, the atmospheric arm 240 is provided in the cavity of the moving atmospheric box 210 in order to arrange the wiring 51 connected to the power source 50 provided outside the chamber 10 and the cooling pipe 61 connected to the cooling liquid supply device 60. That is, the atmospheric arm 240 is configured to have a hollow interior and to move following the movement of the atmospheric box 210. More specifically, the atmospheric arm 240 includes a first arm 241 and a second arm 242. One end of the first arm 241 is configured to be rotatable relative to the bottom plate of the chamber 10. And, one end of the second arm 242 is pivotally supported to be rotatable relative to the other end of the first arm 241, and the other end is pivotally supported to be rotatable relative to the atmospheric box 210.

[0018] The driving device 200 configured as above makes it possible to move the film formation source 100 fixed to the atmospheric box 210 back and forth together with the atmospheric box 210. As a result, by operating the film formation source 100 during at least one of the forward and backward movements, a film formation operation (sputtering) can be performed on the substrate P. Therefore, even when forming a film on a large substrate P, a thin film can be continuously formed from one end side to the other end side of the substrate P by performing the film formation operation while moving the film formation source 100 by the driving device 200.

[0019] <Film forming equipment> With reference to FIG. 4, an example of a film forming source 100 applicable to the film forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment will be described. The film forming source 100 includes a target 110, and a support block 120 and an end block 130 as a pair of support members for supporting both ends of the target 110. In this embodiment, two targets 110 are provided, and the support block 120 and the end block 130 for supporting both ends of the two targets 110 are also provided for each of the two targets 110. However, in the film forming apparatus according to the present embodiment, the number of targets is not limited. The target 110 is a cylindrical member that rotates during sputtering, and is also called a rotary cathode. The support block 120 and the end block 130 are fixed to the upper surface of the atmospheric box 210. The target 110 includes a cylindrical target body 111 and a cathode 112, which is an electrode disposed on the inner circumference of the target body 111. The target 110 is supported rotatably by the support block 120 and the end block 130, and is driven by a driving source 140 such as a motor. In the case of a magnetron sputtering type sputtering device, a magnet is provided inside the cathode 112 to generate a magnetic field (leakage magnetic field) between the target 110 and the substrate P.

[0020] In the film formation source 100 configured as above, a certain voltage or more is applied between the target 110 and the chamber 10 serving as the anode, whereby plasma is generated between them. Then, positive ions in the plasma collide with the target 110, causing particles of the target material to be emitted from the target 110 (target body 111). The particles emitted from the target 110 repeatedly collide with each other, and neutral atoms of the target material among the emitted particles are deposited on the substrate P. As a result, a thin film is formed on the substrate P by the constituent atoms of the target 110 (film formation process). In addition, in the case of the magnetron sputtering method, the above-mentioned leakage magnetic field can concentrate the plasma in a predetermined region between the target 110 and the substrate P. As a result, sputtering is performed efficiently, and the deposition rate of the target material on the substrate P can be improved. Furthermore, in the film formation source 100 according to this embodiment, the target 110 is configured to rotate during sputtering. As a result, the consumption region of the target 110 (the region eroded by erosion) is not concentrated in one part, and the utilization efficiency of the target 110 can be improved.

[0021] <Configuration related to maintenance of deposition source> The top plate of the chamber 10 according to this embodiment is provided with an opening / closing unit 10a at a position away from the position where the substrate holding means 11 is disposed. The opening / closing unit 10a is provided so that at least one member constituting the film formation source 100 can be carried out from inside the chamber 10 to the outside and can be carried in from the outside to the inside of the chamber 10 when performing maintenance on the film formation source 100. The moving means provided in the driving device 200 is configured to move the film formation source 100 back and forth between a position facing the substrate P held by the substrate holding means 11 during the film formation operation and a position directly below the opening 10b opened by the opening / closing unit 10a. That is, the movement range of the film formation source 100 includes at least a position vertically below the substrate P. The opening / closing unit 10 is located vertically above at least a part of the movement range of the film formation source 100. 5, the substrate holding means 11 and the opening / closing unit 10 are arranged so that the projection of the opening / closing unit 10 along the vertical direction does not overlap with the substrate P during film formation. As shown in FIG. 7, the atmospheric box 210 has a bottom plate 211, a side wall 212 provided so as to surround the bottom plate 211, and a top plate 213 provided so as to be detachable from the side wall 212. At least a part of the side wall 212 is formed of a door 212a for opening the inside of the atmospheric box 210 during maintenance. A driving source 140 for rotating the target 110 is fixed to the inner wall surface of the top plate 213.

[0022] <How to maintain the deposition source> The maintenance method for the film formation source 100 includes a moving step (see FIG. 5) of moving the film formation source 100 to a position directly below the opening 10b opened by the opening / closing part 10a by the moving means of the driving device 200, a disconnecting step of disconnecting at least one member constituting the film formation source 100 from other structures (other members) of the film formation apparatus, and a carrying-out step of lifting up the at least one member and carrying it out of the chamber 10 through the opening 10b. Here, the maintenance of the film formation source 100 includes a case where only the target 110 is replaced and a case where the entire film formation source 100 is replaced. The "moving step" is the same in both cases, and the "removing step" and "carrying-out step" will be described below for each case.

[0023] <<Maintenance by replacing only the target>> When replacing only the target, the target 110 and the support block 120 are first disconnected from each other (see FIG. 6(a)). For example, they are fastened with screws. The target 110 is then removed from the end block 130. Next, the connection between the target 110 and the end block 130 is released (see FIG. 6(b)). For example, they are fixed by fitting, and the connection is released by pulling the target 110 out of the end block 130. Thereafter, the target 110 is lifted by a lifting member 510 made of a wire, a hook, or the like provided on the crane 500, and is carried out to the outside of the chamber 10 through the opening 10b opened by the opening / closing part 10a (see FIGS. 5 and 6(c)). After that, a new or repaired target 110 is carried into the chamber 10 through the opening 10b, and is connected to the end block 130 and the support block 120. In FIG. 5, a configuration in which the crane 500 is suspended from the ceiling (top plate) of the chamber 10 is shown, but a configuration in which the crane is suspended from the ceiling of a factory in which the chamber 10 is installed may also be adopted.

[0024] <<Maintenance to replace the entire deposition source>> When replacing the entire film formation source 100, the side wall portion 212 and the top plate portion 213 in the atmospheric box 210 are disconnected (see FIG. 7(a)). For example, they are fastened with screws, and the screws are removed. Next, the door portion 212a is opened, and the connector 51a connecting the wiring 51 on the film formation source 100 side and the power supply 50 side is disconnected. In addition, the connection by the piping connection portion 61a connecting the cooling pipe 61 on the film formation source 100 side and the cooling liquid supply device 60 side is also disconnected (see FIG. 7(b)). Thereafter, the film formation source 100 (the target 110, the support block 120, the end block 130, and the driving source 140) and the top plate portion 213 of the atmospheric box 210 are lifted up by a lifting member 510 made of a wire, a hook, or the like provided on the crane 500, and carried out to the outside of the chamber 10 through the opening 10b opened by the opening / closing part 10a (see FIGS. 5 and 7(c)). After that, the new or repaired film formation source 100 and the top plate portion 213 are carried into the chamber 10 through the opening 10b, and the top plate portion 213 and the side wall portion 212 are connected to each other.

[0025] <Advantages of the film formation apparatus and the film formation source maintenance method according to the present embodiment> According to the film formation apparatus 1 and the maintenance method for the film formation source 100 of this embodiment, the film formation source 100 is moved to a position directly below the opening 10b opened by the opening / closing part 10a of the chamber 10 by the moving means, and at least one member constituting the film formation source 100 is lifted up, so that the film formation source 100 can be carried out from the opening 10b to the outside of the chamber 10. Therefore, even if the space between the substrate holding means 11 provided at the upper part in the chamber 10 and the moving means provided at the lower part in the chamber 10 is narrow, it is possible to reduce the work in this narrow space, and the maintainability can be improved. In addition, since it is not necessary to move the film formation source 100 from the side of the chamber 10 to the outside of the chamber 10, space can be saved.

[0026] <Electronic device manufacturing equipment (manufacturing method)> The film forming apparatus 1 shown in the above embodiment can be used as a manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing an electronic device. Hereinafter, the manufacturing apparatus for an electronic device and an electronic device manufactured by the manufacturing apparatus for an electronic device will be described with reference to FIG. 8. The film forming apparatus 1 can be used to deposit and form a thin film (such as an organic film, a metal film, a metal oxide film, etc.) on a substrate P (including a substrate P having a laminate formed on its surface) in the manufacture of various electronic devices such as semiconductor devices, magnetic devices, and electronic components, and optical components. More specifically, the film forming apparatus 1 is preferably used in the manufacture of electronic devices such as light-emitting elements, photoelectric conversion elements, and touch panels. Among them, the film forming apparatus 1 according to this embodiment is particularly preferably applicable in the manufacture of organic light-emitting elements such as organic EL (ElectroLuminescence) elements, and organic photoelectric conversion elements such as organic thin-film solar cells. The electronic device also includes a display device (such as an organic EL display device) and a lighting device (such as an organic EL lighting device) equipped with a light-emitting element, and a sensor (such as an organic CMOS image sensor) equipped with a photoelectric conversion element.

[0027] An example of an organic EL element manufactured by the electronic device manufacturing apparatus is shown in FIG. In the illustrated organic EL element, an anode F1, a hole injection layer F2, a hole transport layer F3, an organic light emitting layer F4, an electron transport layer F5, an electron injection layer F6, and a cathode F7 are formed in this order on a substrate P. The film forming apparatus 1 according to this embodiment is particularly suitable for forming a laminated coating of a metal film or a metal oxide film used for an electron injection layer or an electrode (cathode or anode) on an organic film by sputtering. In addition, it is not limited to film formation on an organic film, and laminated films can be formed on various surfaces as long as the combination of materials that can be formed by sputtering, such as metal materials and oxide materials, is used.

[0028] (others) In the above embodiment, the film formation apparatus 1 is a sputtering apparatus, and the film formation source 100 includes the target 110. However, the present invention is also applicable to a case where the film formation apparatus is a vacuum deposition apparatus, and the film formation source is an evaporation source, for example. [Explanation of symbols]

[0029] 1 film forming apparatus, 10 chamber, 10a opening / closing section, 10b opening section, 11 substrate holding means, 100 film forming source, 110 target, 120 support block, 130 end block, 140 drive source, 200 drive device, 210 atmospheric box, P board

Claims

1. A chamber; a deposition source disposed within the chamber for forming a thin film on a substrate; a moving means for moving the film formation source relative to the substrate, a top plate of the chamber has an opening and closing part for carrying at least one member constituting the film formation source from inside the chamber to outside the chamber and carrying at least one member constituting the film formation source from outside the chamber to inside the chamber, the opening and closing part being located at a vertically upper position of a part of a moving range of the film formation source; The film formation source is a cylindrical target configured to emit particles for forming a thin film on a substrate by sputtering and to rotate during sputtering; A pair of support members fixed to an upper surface of an atmospheric box configured to be movable by the moving means and supporting both ends of the target; A drive source for rotating the target, The atmospheric box has a bottom plate portion, a side wall portion provided so as to surround the bottom plate portion, and a top plate portion provided so as to be detachable from the side wall portion, The target, the pair of support members, the driving source fixed to the top plate portion, and the top plate portion are transported out of the chamber and into the chamber through the opening / closing portion in a state of being integrated together. A film forming apparatus comprising:

2. a substrate holding means disposed within the chamber for holding the substrate; The moving means moves the film formation source back and forth between a position vertically facing the substrate held by the substrate holding means during a film formation operation and a position vertically below the opening and closing portion.

2. The film forming apparatus according to claim 1.

3. The vertical projection of the opening / closing portion does not overlap with the substrate held by the substrate holding means during film formation.

3. The film forming apparatus according to claim 2.

4. The at least one member is moved in and out by a crane.

4. The film forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the film forming apparatus is a film forming apparatus having a film forming function.

5. A method for manufacturing an electronic device, comprising the step of forming a film on the substrate by using the film forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

6. A maintenance method for a film formation apparatus including a chamber having an opening / closing part on a top plate, a film formation source disposed inside the chamber for forming a thin film on a substrate, and a moving means for moving the film formation source relative to the substrate, comprising: a moving step of moving the film formation source to a position vertically below the opening / closing portion by the moving means; a disconnecting step of disconnecting at least one member constituting the film formation source from other structures of the film formation apparatus; and a carrying-out step of carrying out the at least one member from the opening / closing portion to outside the chamber, The film formation source is a cylindrical target configured to emit particles for forming a thin film on a substrate by sputtering and to rotate during sputtering; A pair of support members fixed to an upper surface of an atmospheric box configured to be movable by the moving means and supporting both ends of the target; With the atmospheric box has a bottom plate portion, a side wall portion provided so as to surround the bottom plate portion, and a top plate portion provided so as to be detachable from the side wall portion, and a driving source for rotating the target is fixed to the top plate portion; In the releasing step, the connection between the top plate portion and the side wall portion is released, A maintenance method for a film formation source, characterized in that in the removal step, the target, the pair of support members, the driving source, and the top plate portion are removed integrally to the outside of the chamber.

7. performing maintenance on the film forming apparatus by the maintenance method according to claim 6; and forming a film on the substrate using the maintained film forming apparatus.

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