The present invention claims the benefit of Korean Patent Applications No. 2003-0068347 filed in Korea on Oct. 1, 2003 and No. 2004-0077541 filed in Korea on Sep. 25, 2004, which are hereby incorporated by references.
The present invention relates to an apparatus for a liquid crystal display device, and more particularly, to an apparatus where large-sized substrates are exchanged in a load lock chamber having a conveyor.
In general, a liquid crystal display (LCD) device is fabricated by repeating a deposition step of a thin film on a substrate, a photolithographic step using a photoresist, a selective etch step of the thin film and a cleaning step of the substrate. These steps for a fabrication process of an LCD device may be performed using an apparatus having a process chamber under an optimum condition. Recently, a cluster including process chambers for treating substrates, a transfer chamber for moving the substrates into and out of the process chambers and a load-lock chamber connected to the transfer chamber for storing the substrates temporarily has been widely used as an apparatus for fabricating an LCD device because of its superior treatment capability of large number of substrates in a short time period. The cluster may be used as a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) apparatus or a dry etch apparatus.
Before treating a substrate 60 in a cluster, a cassette including substrates treated in a previous step such as a cleaning step is loaded on the storing unit 10 (of
Generally, before and after a substrate is treated in a cluster, a step for the substrate such as a cleaning step is performed in apparatuses using an interior conveyor and the substrate is transferred between the apparatuses using an exterior conveyor such as an in-line conveyor system. Accordingly, a substrate is transferred from the conveyor to the cassette for a treatment in the cluster and the substrate treated in the cluster is transferred from the cassette to the conveyor. These transfers between the conveyor and the cassette interrupt an excellent performance in process flow. Moreover, since the transfers between the conveyor and the cassette require a long time period, process time increases and throughput decreases.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to an apparatus for a liquid crystal display device that substantially obviates one or more of the problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.
An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for a large-sized liquid crystal display device reducing a total process time.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus having an interior conveyor system.
Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.
To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described, an apparatus for a liquid crystal display device includes: a process chamber for treating a substrate; a load-lock chamber having an interior conveyor; and a transfer chamber connected to the process chamber and the at least one load-lock chamber, the transfer chamber having a substrate-transferring means.
In another aspect, an apparatus for a liquid crystal display device includes: a plurality of process chambers for treating a substrate; at least one load-lock chamber having at least one interior conveyor; and a transfer chamber connected to the plurality of process chambers and the at least one load-lock chamber, the transfer chamber having a substrate-transferring means.
In another aspect, a method of transferring a substrate using an apparatus including a process chamber, a load-lock chamber having an interior conveyor, a transfer chamber, and an conveyor includes: providing the substrate adjacent to the load-lock chamber using the exterior conveyor; transferring the substrate from the exterior conveyor to the load-lock chamber by driving the interior conveyor; transferring the substrate from the load-lock chamber to the process chamber; treating the substrate in the process chamber; transferring the substrate from the process chamber to the load-lock chamber; and transferring the substrate from the load-lock chamber to the exterior conveyor by driving the interior conveyor.
In another aspect, a method of transferring a substrate using an apparatus including a plurality of process chambers, a first load-lock chamber having a first interior conveyor, a second load-lock chamber having a second interior conveyor, a transfer chamber, a first exterior conveyor and a second exterior conveyor includes; providing the substrate adjacent to the first load-lock chamber using the first exterior conveyor; transferring the substrate from the first exterior conveyor to the first load-lock chamber by driving the first interior conveyor; transferring the substrate from the first load-lock chamber to one of the plurality of process chambers; treating the substrate in the one of the plurality of process chambers; transferring the substrate from the one of the plurality of process chambers to the second load-lock chamber; and transferring the substrate from the second load-lock chamber to the second exterior conveyor by driving the second interior conveyor.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.
The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention. In the drawings:
Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
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In addition, a portion of an exterior conveyor 300 is arranged adjacent to a first door 220 of the load-lock chamber 200. The exterior conveyor 300 may be used for a step prior or posterior to a treating step in the cluster such as a cleaning step. The exterior conveyor 300 may have its own driving unit independent of an up-and-down driving unit for first and second interior conveyors 400 and 500 (of
As a whole, the exterior conveyor 300 is directly connected to the transfer chamber robot 52 through the first and second interior conveyors 400 and 500 (of
In
The first load-lock chamber 600 has first and second doors 620 and 640, and the second load-lock chamber 700 has third and fourth doors 720 and 740. Two exterior conveyors 300 are arranged adjacent to the first door 620 of the first load-lock chamber 600 and the third door 720 of the second load-lock chamber 700, respectively. An untreated substrate is transferred from one exterior conveyor 300 to the first load-lock chamber 600 and a substrate treated in the process chambers 30 is transferred from the second load-lock chamber 700 to the other exterior conveyor 300. The substrate is transferred from the exterior conveyor 300 to the transfer chamber 50 in the first load-lock chamber 600, while the substrate is transferred form the transfer chamber 50 to the exterior conveyor 300 in the second load-lock chamber 700. Accordingly, the substrates may not be exchanged in the first and second load-lock chambers 600 and 700. As a result, each of the first and second load-lock chambers 600 and 700 may have a single interior conveyor therein.
When each load-lock chamber 600 and 700 has a single interior conveyor, the untreated substrate transferred from the exterior conveyor 300 may be loaded on an interior conveyor in the first load-lock chamber 600 and then may be transferred to the process chambers 30 by the transfer chamber robot 50. In addition, the substrate treated in the process chambers 30 is loaded on an interior conveyor in the second load-lock chamber 700 by the transfer chamber robot 52. Accordingly, the interior conveyor of the first and second load-lock chambers 600 and 700 may be fixed to have heights equal to respective heights of the exterior conveyors 300.
As a whole, the exterior conveyors 300 are directly connected to the transfer chamber robot 52 through the respective interior conveyors in the first and second load-lock chambers 600 and 700.
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Then, the substrate 60 is transferred to a plurality of process chambers 30 (of
Consequently, since a load-lock chamber has an interior conveyor therein, a substrate treated in a prior step is transferred from an exterior conveyor directly to a load-lock chamber and a substrate treated in a process chamber of a cluster is transferred from a load-lock chamber directly to an exterior conveyor. Accordingly, a storing unit for substrates, a storing unit robot and a cassette are not required, thereby production cost and fabrication time reduced.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the apparatus having a conveyor without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention covers the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.
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10-2003-0068347 | Oct 2003 | KR | national |
10-2004-0077541 | Sep 2004 | KR | national |
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