Outside Air Shut-Off Container and Pressure-Reducible Processing Apparatus

Abstract

Because an O-ring of synthetic resin is pyrolyzed in the atmosphere at a high temperature of 150° C. or more, the airtightness cannot be maintained. In an outside air shut-off container according to the present invention, an inert gas is supplied between an O-ring, which hermetically seals a process chamber and a cover member, and the outside air while a gas passage formed between the O-ring and the outside air is covered with a sealing cover. Additionally, an aluminum oxide layer is formed on a contact surface of the O-ring to increase the pyrolysis temperature of the O-ring.

Description

[0001]This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese patent application No. 2010-132329, filed on Jun. 9, 2010, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.BACKGROUND[0002]1. Field of the Invention[0003]The present invention relates to an outside air shut-off container and a pressure-reducible processing apparatus having a hermetically sealing mechanism.[0004]2. Description of the Related Art[0005]Generally, a pressure-reducible processing apparatus such as a plasma processing apparatus has an outside air shut-off container including a process chamber that houses a substrate to be processed or the like and a cover member mounted on the process chamber. The pressure-reducible processing apparatus conducts plasma processing or the like in a state in which the outside air shut-off container has been decompressed.[0006]Some pressure-reducible processing apparatuses have a hermetically sealing mechanism provided between a p...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0011]It is an object of the present invention to provide an outside air shut-off container and a pressure-reducible processing apparatus capable of maintaining sufficient airtightness at high temperatures ranging from 150° C. to 180° C. without an increased number of O-rings.

[0014]According to the present invention, a pressure-reducible processing apparatus capable of preventing degradation of an O-ring due to pyrolysis can be provided by improving a contact surface with which the O-ring is brought into contact and / or by avoiding exposing the O-ring to the atmosphere at high-temperatures.

[0015]Specifically, the temperature at which pyrolysis takes place is decreased in the atmosphere, and pyrolysis takes place early in a process chamber used at a high temperature. In consideration of those facts, according to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a pressure-reducible processing apparatus in which an inert gas is supplied to the outside of an O-ring (between the O-ring and the outside air) so as to prevent the O-ring from being brought into contact with the atmosphere. In this case, a replaceable sealing cover is provided on a flange disposed outside of a single O-ring without use of double O-rings. An inert gas is supplied to between the O-ring and the sealing cover. With this configuration, the amount of inert gas flowing outside of the O-ring can be reduced.

[0018]According to the present invention, there are provided an outside air shut-off container and a pressure-reducible processing apparatus capable of preventing degradation of the airtightness due to pyrolysis of an O-ring made of synthetic resin that is used at a high temperature of 150° C. to 180° C. and capable of reducing the amount of inert gas flowing between the O-ring and the outside air.

Problems solved by technology

Therefore, the airtightness of the apparatus cannot be maintained at high temperatures.

Images