Film forming apparatus and film forming method

Abstract

A film-forming apparatus and method are provided for stable processing in a processing chamber. The film-forming apparatus includes: a chamber; a cover; a target material; a film-forming chamber; a conveying body; a cylindrical section for moving a workpiece holder from the conveying body to a position contacting the cover; an inward flange formed at the lower end of the cylindrical section and extending inward from the lower end; an outward flange disposed inside the cylindrical section and extending outward from the outer side of the cylindrical section, and overlapping the inward flange nearly with the cylindrical section as the cylindrical section moves, suppressing exhaust into the chamber; a lifting mechanism for lifting the cylindrical section relative to the workpiece holder in a contact / separation manner; and an exhaust section disposed at an opening at the bottom of the chamber for vacuum exhaust. The lifting mechanism raises the cylindrical section, bringing the workpiece holder into contact with the lower edge of the cover, and causing the outward flange and the inward flange to nearly overlap. Vacuum exhaust of the processing space of the film-forming chamber is implemented by communicating the interior of the cylindrical section with the exhaust section through a first through hole from the film-forming chamber.

Claims

1. A film-forming apparatus, characterized in that it comprises: A chamber that allows the interior to be a vacuum; The cover is disposed facing the interior of the chamber through an opening at the top of the chamber; A target material is disposed on the cover and formed by sputtering a film-forming material deposited onto a workpiece to be processed; a film-forming chamber is formed within the chamber by the cover and a workpiece holder including a first through hole, and the target material is sputtered using plasma to form a film on the workpiece disposed on the workpiece holder; a conveyor carries the workpiece holder and rotates intermittently to position the workpiece holder at a position corresponding to the cover; a cylindrical portion moves the workpiece holder from the conveyor to a position contacting the cover; an inward flange is formed at the lower end of the cylindrical portion and extends inward from the lower end; an outward flange is disposed inside the cylindrical portion and extends outward from the outer side of the cylindrical portion, and overlaps the inward flange nearly with the cylindrical portion as the cylindrical portion moves, suppressing venting into the chamber; A lifting mechanism for raising and lowering the cylindrical portion relative to the workpiece holder in a manner that allows contact / separation; and an exhaust section, an opening at the bottom of the chamber facing the film-forming chamber, for vacuum exhaust, wherein the lifting mechanism raises the cylindrical portion, causing the workpiece holder to contact the lower edge of the cover, and causing the outward flange and the inward flange to nearly overlap, and a first exhaust pipe for vacuum exhaust of the processing space implementing the film-forming chamber is formed by communicating the interior of the cylindrical portion with the exhaust section from the film-forming chamber through the first through hole.

2. The film-forming apparatus as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the lifting mechanism lowers the cylinder to form a second exhaust pipe that passes through the interior of the cylinder from the chamber via a gap formed between the workpiece holder and the cylinder.

3. The film-forming apparatus as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the cylindrical portion further includes an inflow suppression section, the inflow suppression section comprising a second through hole disposed on the upper part of the cylindrical portion, and suppressing sputtering particles generated in the film-forming chamber from flowing into the cylindrical portion.

4. The film-forming apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein the second through hole is disposed on a different line from the first through hole.

5. The film-forming apparatus as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that, when the cylindrical portion contacts the workpiece holder, a space is provided between the inflow suppression portion and the workpiece holder.

6. The film-forming apparatus of claim 1, characterized in that it further comprises a bellows extending from an opening at the bottom of the chamber toward the cylindrical portion and supporting the outward flange, the bellows extending and retracting with movement of the cylindrical portion.

7. The film-forming apparatus as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that at least one of the following includes a sealing material: between the inward flange and the outward flange, between the workpiece holder and the cylindrical portion, and between the film-forming chamber and the workpiece holder.

8. The film-forming apparatus as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the inward flange and the outward flange each have a concave-convex structure.

9. The film-forming apparatus as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the inward flange is formed by a spring plate.

10. The film-forming apparatus as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that, when the pressure difference between the pressure value in the film-forming chamber and the pressure value in the cavity becomes a set value, the lifting mechanism moves the cylindrical portion away from the workpiece holder.

11. A film-forming method, characterized by comprising the following steps: positioning a workpiece holder at a position corresponding to a cover having an opening in the upper part of a chamber capable of creating a vacuum, the workpiece holder holding a workpiece to be processed and including one or more first through holes; moving the workpiece holder towards a position contacting the cover via a cylindrical portion to form a film-forming chamber, and forming a first exhaust conduit for vacuum venting of the film-forming chamber via the first through holes of the workpiece holder; performing vacuum venting of the processing space of the film-forming chamber via the first exhaust conduit; and sputtering a target material using plasma to form a film on the workpiece disposed on the workpiece holder.

12. The film-forming method as claimed in claim 11, characterized in that the step of forming the first exhaust conduit includes the following steps: an outwardly extending flange extending outward from the interior of the cylinder nearly overlaps with an inwardly extending flange extending inward from the interior of the cylinder as the cylinder moves.

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