Patent · US11978654B2 · B2 · US

Substrate processing apparatus

(11) Publication number

US11978654B2

(21) Application number

17/082,634

(22) Filing date

2020-10-28

(30) Priority date

2019-10-28

(43) Publication date

2024-05-07

(45) Date of grant

2024-05-07

(51) IPC

B25J 11/00; B25J 15/00; H01J 37/32; H01L 21/67; H01L 21/683; H01L 21/687; H05B 1/02; H05B 3/00

(52) CPC

H10P Generic processes or apparatus for the manufacture or treatment of devices covered by class H10: 72/7602, 72/0421, 72/0431, 72/0432, 72/0436, 72/0454, 72/0464, 72/0466, 72/0602, 72/3302, 72/72, 72/722
B25J Manipulators; chambers provided with manipulation devices: 11/0095, 15/0014
H01J Electric discharge tubes or discharge lamps: 2237/204, 2237/334, 37/32724, 37/32733, 37/32899
H01L Semiconductor devices; electric solid state devices not otherwise provided for: 21/67069, 21/67103, 21/67115, 21/67201, 21/6833, 21/68707
H05B Electric heating; electric light sources not otherwise provided for; circuit arrangements for electric light sources, in general: 1/0233, 3/0047

(73) Assignee

Semes Co Ltd

(72) Inventors

Min Sung HAN; Wan Jae Park; Yoon Jong JU; Jaehoo Lee

(54) Title

Substrate processing apparatus

(57) Abstract

The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus capable of shortening a process time, and the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention comprises an index chamber having a transfer robot loading/unloading a substrate; a process chamber having a heating means heating the substrate and processing the substrate; a loadlock chamber disposed between the index chamber and the process chamber; and a conveying chamber having a conveying robot conveying the substrate between the process chamber and the loadlock chamber, wherein a pre-heating means is provided in the conveying robot to pre-heat the substrate in a state before processing.

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Claims (20)

A substrate processing apparatus, comprising: an index chamber comprising a transfer robot configured to load/unload a substrate; a process chamber comprising a heater configured to heat the substrate and processing the substrate; a loadlock chamber disposed between the index chamber and the process chamber; and a conveying chamber comprising a conveying robot configured to convey the substrate between the process chamber and the loadlock chamber, wherein the loadlock chamber comprises one or more preheaters configured to preheat the substrate, and wherein the conveying robot comprises: a hand configured to support the substrate and equipped with a heating lamp and a hand preheater configured to preheat the substrate mounted on the hand when the substrate is conveyed from the loadlock chamber to the process chamber in a pre-processing state.
The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the conveying robot comprises: a robot body configured to drive the hand, wherein the hand preheater is provided inside the hand, and wherein the heating lamp and the hand preheater are configured to preheat the substrate in a non-contact and contact manner, respectively.
The substrate processing apparatus of claim 2, wherein the one or more preheaters of the loadlock chamber are configured to turn on when the substrate is mounted on a supporting unit of the loadlock chamber.
The substrate processing apparatus of claim 3, wherein the one or more preheaters of the loadlock chamber are configured to turn off when the substrate is not mounted on the supporting unit of the loadlock chamber.
The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the conveying robot comprises: a robot body configured to drive the hand, and wherein the heating lamp is configured to preheat the substrate in a non-contact manner in the pre-processing state.
The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the heating lamp is configured to turn on before the hand preheater turns on when the substrate is mounted on the hand.
The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the heating lamp is configured to turn off when the substrate is not mounted on the hand.
The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the conveying robot comprises: a robot body configured to drive the hand, and wherein when the substrate is mounted on the hand in the pre-processing state, the heating lamp and the hand preheater are sequentially turned on to preheat the substrate in the pre-processing state.
A substrate processing apparatus comprising: an index chamber comprising a transfer robot configured to load/unload a substrate; a process chamber comprising a heater configured to heat the substrate and processing the substrate; a loadlock chamber disposed between the index chamber and the process chamber; and a conveying chamber comprising a conveying robot configured to convey the substrate between the process chamber and the loadlock chamber, wherein the loadlock chamber comprises a housing preheater and a support unit preheater respectively configured to preheat the substrate, and wherein the conveying robot comprises: a hand configured to support the substrate and equipped with a heating lamp and a hand preheater configured to preheat the substrate mounted on the hand when the substrate is conveyed from the loadlock chamber to the process chamber in a pre-processing state.
The substrate processing apparatus of claim 9, wherein the loadlock chamber comprises: a housing isolated from the outside; and a support unit provided in the housing and configured to support the substrate, wherein the support unit preheater is provided inside the support unit to preheat the substrate in a contact manner, wherein the housing preheater is configured to preheat the substrate in a non-contact manner, wherein the hand preheater of the conveying chamber is configured to preheat the substrate in a contact manner, and wherein the housing preheater is configured to turn on before the support unit preheater turns on when the substrate is mounted on the support unit of the loadlock chamber.
The substrate processing apparatus of claim 10, wherein the support unit preheater is configured to turn on when the substrate is mounted on the support unit.
The substrate processing apparatus of claim 10, wherein the support unit preheater is configured to turn off when the substrate is not mounted on the support unit.
The substrate processing apparatus of claim 9, wherein the loadlock chamber comprises: a housing isolated from the outside; and a support unit provided in the housing and configured to support the substrate, wherein the housing preheater is provided in an interior of at least one of a side wall and a top wall of the housing.
The substrate processing apparatus of claim 13, wherein the housing preheater is configured to turn on to preheat the substrate in a non-contact manner when the substrate is mounted on the support unit.
The substrate processing apparatus of claim 13, wherein the housing preheater is configured to turn off when the substrate is not mounted on the support unit.
The substrate processing apparatus of claim 9, wherein the loadlock chamber comprises: a housing isolated from the outside; and a support unit provided in the housing and configured to support the substrate, wherein the housing preheater is provided in an interior of at least one of a side wall and a top wall of the housing, wherein the support unit preheater is provided in the support unit to preheat the substrate in a contact manner, and wherein when the substrate is mounted on the support unit, the loadlock chamber is configured to turn on the housing preheater and then the support unit preheater to sequentially preheat the substrate.
A substrate processing apparatus comprising: an index chamber comprising a transfer robot configured to load/unload a substrate; a process chamber comprising a heater configured to heat the substrate and processing the substrate; a loadlock chamber disposed between the index chamber and the process chamber; and a conveying chamber comprising a conveying robot configured to convey the substrate between the process chamber and the loadlock chamber, wherein a housing preheater and a support unit preheater are provided in the loadlock chamber, wherein the conveying robot comprises: a hand configured to support the substrate and equipped with a heating lamp and a hand preheater configured to preheat the substrate mounted on the hand when the substrate is conveyed from the loadlock chamber to the process chamber in a pre-processing state, and wherein the housing preheater is configured to turn on before the support unit preheater turns on to sequentially preheat the substrate when the substrate is mounted on the support unit.
The substrate processing apparatus of claim 17, wherein the loadlock chamber comprises: a housing forming an internal space in a vacuum state; and a support unit provided in the housing and configured to support the substrate, wherein the housing preheater is provided in an interior of at least one of a side wall and a top wall of the housing to preheat the substrate in a non-contact manner, and wherein the support unit heater is provided inside the support unit to preheat the substrate in a contact manner.
The substrate processing apparatus of claim 17, wherein the conveying robot comprises: a robot body configured to drive the hand, wherein the heating lamp is configured to turn on before the hand preheater turns on to sequentially preheat the substrate when the substrate is mounted on the hand of the conveying robot.
The substrate processing apparatus of claim 19, wherein the hand preheater is configured to turn on when the substrate is mounted on the hand and turn off when the substrate is not mounted on the hand.

Description

This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2019-0134418 filed on Oct. 28, 2019, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.

The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate, and more particularly, to a substrate processing apparatus capable of shortening a process time.

A process chamber of a general plasma processing apparatus supplies DC power to a DC electrode embedded in an electrostatic chuck (ESC) to electrostatically adsorb a substrate to the electrostatic chuck and supplies heater power to a heater embedded in the ESC to heat the substrate to a temperature suitable for the process. In addition, the process chamber forms plasma in a reaction space of the chamber by supplying high-frequency bias power to the ESC to form a desired thin film on the substrate or remove and pattern the thin film formed on the substrate.

In the process, much time is required to heat the substrate to a predetermined temperature by using the heater embedded in the ESC. Recently, improvement of the substrate processing apparatus is conducted to shorten a semiconductor manufacturing process time and increase production, and thus, it is required to improve the reduction in the process time.

In order to solve the problem described above, an object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing apparatus capable of shortening a process time.

Citations (7)

US20020005168A1
JP2006186189A
JP2008109136A
KR20090037931A
US20140017041A1
US20150013606A1
US20150170945A1

Record as JSON

{
  "publication_number": "US11978654B2",
  "country": "US",
  "kind": "B2",
  "title": "Substrate processing apparatus",
  "abstract": "The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus capable of shortening a process time, and the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention comprises an index chamber having a transfer robot loading/unloading a substrate; a process chamber having a heating means heating the substrate and processing the substrate; a loadlock chamber disposed between the index chamber and the process chamber; and a conveying chamber having a conveying robot conveying the substrate between the process chamber and the loadlock chamber, wherein a pre-heating means is provided in the conveying robot to pre-heat the substrate in a state before processing.",
  "claims": [
    "1. A substrate processing apparatus, comprising: an index chamber comprising a transfer robot configured to load/unload a substrate; a process chamber comprising a heater configured to heat the substrate and processing the substrate; a loadlock chamber disposed between the index chamber and the process chamber; and a conveying chamber comprising a conveying robot configured to convey the substrate between the process chamber and the loadlock chamber, wherein the loadlock chamber comprises one or more preheaters configured to preheat the substrate, and wherein the conveying robot comprises: a hand configured to support the substrate and equipped with a heating lamp and a hand preheater configured to preheat the substrate mounted on the hand when the substrate is conveyed from the loadlock chamber to the process chamber in a pre-processing state.",
    "2. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the conveying robot comprises: a robot body configured to drive the hand, wherein the hand preheater is provided inside the hand, and wherein the heating lamp and the hand preheater are configured to preheat the substrate in a non-contact and contact manner, respectively.",
    "3. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 2, wherein the one or more preheaters of the loadlock chamber are configured to turn on when the substrate is mounted on a supporting unit of the loadlock chamber.",
    "4. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 3, wherein the one or more preheaters of the loadlock chamber are configured to turn off when the substrate is not mounted on the supporting unit of the loadlock chamber.",
    "5. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the conveying robot comprises: a robot body configured to drive the hand, and wherein the heating lamp is configured to preheat the substrate in a non-contact manner in the pre-processing state.",
    "6. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the heating lamp is configured to turn on before the hand preheater turns on when the substrate is mounted on the hand.",
    "7. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the heating lamp is configured to turn off when the substrate is not mounted on the hand.",
    "8. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the conveying robot comprises: a robot body configured to drive the hand, and wherein when the substrate is mounted on the hand in the pre-processing state, the heating lamp and the hand preheater are sequentially turned on to preheat the substrate in the pre-processing state.",
    "9. A substrate processing apparatus comprising: an index chamber comprising a transfer robot configured to load/unload a substrate; a process chamber comprising a heater configured to heat the substrate and processing the substrate; a loadlock chamber disposed between the index chamber and the process chamber; and a conveying chamber comprising a conveying robot configured to convey the substrate between the process chamber and the loadlock chamber, wherein the loadlock chamber comprises a housing preheater and a support unit preheater respectively configured to preheat the substrate, and wherein the conveying robot comprises: a hand configured to support the substrate and equipped with a heating lamp and a hand preheater configured to preheat the substrate mounted on the hand when the substrate is conveyed from the loadlock chamber to the process chamber in a pre-processing state.",
    "10. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 9, wherein the loadlock chamber comprises: a housing isolated from the outside; and a support unit provided in the housing and configured to support the substrate, wherein the support unit preheater is provided inside the support unit to preheat the substrate in a contact manner, wherein the housing preheater is configured to preheat the substrate in a non-contact manner, wherein the hand preheater of the conveying chamber is configured to preheat the substrate in a contact manner, and wherein the housing preheater is configured to turn on before the support unit preheater turns on when the substrate is mounted on the support unit of the loadlock chamber.",
    "11. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 10, wherein the support unit preheater is configured to turn on when the substrate is mounted on the support unit.",
    "12. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 10, wherein the support unit preheater is configured to turn off when the substrate is not mounted on the support unit.",
    "13. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 9, wherein the loadlock chamber comprises: a housing isolated from the outside; and a support unit provided in the housing and configured to support the substrate, wherein the housing preheater is provided in an interior of at least one of a side wall and a top wall of the housing.",
    "14. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 13, wherein the housing preheater is configured to turn on to preheat the substrate in a non-contact manner when the substrate is mounted on the support unit.",
    "15. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 13, wherein the housing preheater is configured to turn off when the substrate is not mounted on the support unit.",
    "16. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 9, wherein the loadlock chamber comprises: a housing isolated from the outside; and a support unit provided in the housing and configured to support the substrate, wherein the housing preheater is provided in an interior of at least one of a side wall and a top wall of the housing, wherein the support unit preheater is provided in the support unit to preheat the substrate in a contact manner, and wherein when the substrate is mounted on the support unit, the loadlock chamber is configured to turn on the housing preheater and then the support unit preheater to sequentially preheat the substrate.",
    "17. A substrate processing apparatus comprising: an index chamber comprising a transfer robot configured to load/unload a substrate; a process chamber comprising a heater configured to heat the substrate and processing the substrate; a loadlock chamber disposed between the index chamber and the process chamber; and a conveying chamber comprising a conveying robot configured to convey the substrate between the process chamber and the loadlock chamber, wherein a housing preheater and a support unit preheater are provided in the loadlock chamber, wherein the conveying robot comprises: a hand configured to support the substrate and equipped with a heating lamp and a hand preheater configured to preheat the substrate mounted on the hand when the substrate is conveyed from the loadlock chamber to the process chamber in a pre-processing state, and wherein the housing preheater is configured to turn on before the support unit preheater turns on to sequentially preheat the substrate when the substrate is mounted on the support unit.",
    "18. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 17, wherein the loadlock chamber comprises: a housing forming an internal space in a vacuum state; and a support unit provided in the housing and configured to support the substrate, wherein the housing preheater is provided in an interior of at least one of a side wall and a top wall of the housing to preheat the substrate in a non-contact manner, and wherein the support unit heater is provided inside the support unit to preheat the substrate in a contact manner.",
    "19. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 17, wherein the conveying robot comprises: a robot body configured to drive the hand, wherein the heating lamp is configured to turn on before the hand preheater turns on to sequentially preheat the substrate when the substrate is mounted on the hand of the conveying robot.",
    "20. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 19, wherein the hand preheater is configured to turn on when the substrate is mounted on the hand and turn off when the substrate is not mounted on the hand."
  ],
  "description_excerpt": "This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2019-0134418 filed on Oct. 28, 2019, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.\n\nThe present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate, and more particularly, to a substrate processing apparatus capable of shortening a process time.\n\nA process chamber of a general plasma processing apparatus supplies DC power to a DC electrode embedded in an electrostatic chuck (ESC) to electrostatically adsorb a substrate to the electrostatic chuck and supplies heater power to a heater embedded in the ESC to heat the substrate to a temperature suitable for the process. In addition, the process chamber forms plasma in a reaction space of the chamber by supplying high-frequency bias power to the ESC to form a desired thin film on the substrate or remove and pattern the thin film formed on the substrate.\n\nIn the process, much time is required to heat the substrate to a predetermined temperature by using the heater embedded in the ESC. Recently, improvement of the substrate processing apparatus is conducted to shorten a semiconductor manufacturing process time and increase production, and thus, it is required to improve the reduction in the process time.\n\nIn order to solve the problem described above, an object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing apparatus capable of shortening a process time.",
  "cpc": [
    "H10P 72/7602",
    "B25J 11/0095",
    "B25J 15/0014",
    "H01J 2237/204",
    "H01J 2237/334",
    "H01J 37/32724",
    "H01J 37/32733",
    "H01J 37/32899",
    "H01L 21/67069",
    "H01L 21/67103",
    "H01L 21/67115",
    "H01L 21/67201",
    "H01L 21/6833",
    "H01L 21/68707",
    "H05B 1/0233",
    "H05B 3/0047",
    "H10P 72/0421",
    "H10P 72/0431",
    "H10P 72/0432",
    "H10P 72/0436",
    "H10P 72/0454",
    "H10P 72/0464",
    "H10P 72/0466",
    "H10P 72/0602",
    "H10P 72/3302",
    "H10P 72/72",
    "H10P 72/722"
  ],
  "ipc": [
    "B25J 11/00",
    "B25J 15/00",
    "H01J 37/32",
    "H01L 21/67",
    "H01L 21/683",
    "H01L 21/687",
    "H05B 1/02",
    "H05B 3/00"
  ],
  "assignees": [
    "Semes Co Ltd"
  ],
  "inventors": [
    "Min Sung HAN",
    "Wan Jae Park",
    "Yoon Jong JU",
    "Jaehoo Lee"
  ],
  "filing_date": "2020-10-28",
  "publication_date": "2024-05-07",
  "grant_date": "2024-05-07",
  "priority_date": "2019-10-28",
  "application_number": "US-202017082634-A",
  "family_id": "75586358",
  "cited_by_count": 0,
  "citations": [
    "US20020005168A1",
    "JP2006186189A",
    "JP2008109136A",
    "KR20090037931A",
    "US20140017041A1",
    "US20150013606A1",
    "US20150170945A1"
  ]
}

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