JP2003347225A - Semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and controller of exhaust fluid - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a controller of an exhaust fluid in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus capable of stably controlling a fluid exhausted from the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus with high responsibility. <P>SOLUTION: An exhaust flow path 4 in which a fluid 3 exhausted from a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 1 flows is branched into a main flow path 4A and a bypass flow path 4B. The main flow path 4A is provided with a flow rate or pressure control valve 7, and the bypass flow path 4B is provided with a pilot valve 8. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an exhaust fluid control device in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to control an exhaust fluid flowing through an exhaust passage from a chamber or a coater cup for normal pressure CVD, oxidation, diffusion, etc. used in a semiconductor manufacturing process, conventionally, a flow rate is controlled in the exhaust passage. Alternatively, a butterfly valve is provided as a pressure control valve, and the mechanical or electrical opening of the butterfly valve is determined to control the flow rate or pressure by a direct operation method.

[0003]

However, the conductance of a butterfly valve is highly dependent on the degree of opening of the valve body, and when the valve body is almost fully closed, the fluid fluctuation is large even by a minute operation. On the other hand, in a state close to full open, fluid fluctuation due to operation is small. That is, when a butterfly valve is used for flow rate or pressure control, stability and responsiveness in the control are closely related to the state of opening of the valve body, and the control stability is close to full open. , And the control response is almost fully closed.
Each is said to be good. Also, stable fluid control depends entirely on the valve opening adjustment time,
The length of the opening degree adjustment time is caused by the position of the opening degree of the valve body and the size of the valve body, and is easily affected by transient fluid fluctuations due to disturbances, changes in physical properties of the fluid, and changes in system factors.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned circumstances, and has as its object to provide an exhaust fluid in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus capable of controlling a fluid discharged from the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus in a stable and responsive manner. (Hereinafter, simply referred to as an exhaust fluid control device).

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, an exhaust fluid control device according to the present invention is provided in which an exhaust passage through which a fluid discharged from a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus flows is branched into a main passage and a bypass passage. The main flow path is provided with a flow rate or pressure control valve, and the bypass flow path is provided with a pilot valve.

In the above-described exhaust fluid control device, most of the control of the exhaust fluid flowing through the exhaust passage is performed by a flow rate or pressure control valve, and various disturbance effects are absorbed by the flow rate or pressure control valve. Also, effects due to transient fluid fluctuations and changes in system factors are absorbed by the pilot valve. In other words, the exhaust fluid control device of the present invention performs dynamic control using a flow rate or pressure control valve, and performs fine control using a pilot valve. By combining the functions, the fluid discharged from the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus can be controlled with high stability and high-speed response.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The details of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 show one embodiment of the present invention. First, in FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus such as a normal pressure CVD, and one end thereof is connected to a supply flow path 2 for a material (gas or liquid) used for semiconductor manufacturing, and the other end is a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 1 The exhaust passage 4 from which the discharge fluid 3 is discharged is connected. The exhaust flow path 4 has two flow paths 4 at a downstream point 5 that is not so far from the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 1.
A and 4B, and merge at an appropriate point 6 on the downstream side. Hereinafter, the linear flow path 4A is referred to as a main flow path, and the flow path 4B that branches off from the main flow path 4A and merges with the main flow path 4A at a downstream side that is appropriately separated is referred to as a bypass flow path.

A flow rate or pressure control valve 7 is provided in the main flow path 4A. In the illustrated example, the butterfly valve is, for example, a butterfly valve exemplified in the above-mentioned conventional technique. Reference numeral 7a in the figure denotes a valve body, and 7b denotes a drive motor. The flow rate or pressure control valve 7 is used to divert the exhaust fluid 3 flowing through the exhaust flow path 4 to the bypass flow path 4B side, and the valve body 7a appropriately adjusts the opening degree in the main flow path 4A. Thereby, the discharge fluid 3 can be split at a desired split ratio. Note that the flow rate or pressure control valve 7 is not limited to a butterfly valve as long as an arbitrary load can be given.

Further, a pilot valve 8 is provided in the bypass passage 4B. This pilot valve 8 is shown in FIG.
As shown in (A) and (B), the main body 9 and the pilot 10 are provided.

The main body 9 is constructed, for example, as follows. That is, reference numeral 11 denotes a diaphragm that partitions the upstream space 9A inside the main body 9 into two chambers 12, 13, and is made of a material having an appropriate elasticity (or flexibility) such as a diaphragm. In the center of the diaphragm 11, the upstream side (chamber 12)
Side), the cylinder 1 of which periphery is held by the diaphragm 11
4 is fixedly provided, and a small (for example, about 0.5 mm in diameter) orifice 15 for communicating the two chambers 12 and 13 is provided. The inside of the cylindrical body 14 is a main flow path 16.
(For example, an inner diameter of about 10 mm) and is connected to the outlet space 9B on the downstream side of the main body 9. And the diaphragm 11
A cylindrical valve seat 17 on the chamber 12 side
Arrow A along the outer circumferential surface of the cylindrical body 14
Alternatively, a cylindrical valve element 18 that slides in the direction B is formed, and a valve 19 including the valve seat 17 and the valve element 18 is formed. Reference numeral 20 denotes a spring that constantly biases the diaphragm 11 and the valve element 18 in the direction of arrow B.

The pilot unit 10 is configured as follows, for example. That is, in addition to the above configuration, the main body 9 has an upstream side connected to the chamber 13 and a downstream side connected to the main body 9.
A flow path 21 that is open on the upper surface 9a and a flow path 22 that is open on the upstream side on the upper surface 9a and communicates with the outlet space 9B on the downstream side are formed. 23 is the flow path 21
And a valve 24 that opens and closes the opening 21a on the upper surface 9a side together with the upper surface 9a around the opening 21a. This valve element 23 is housed in a valve block 25 and is driven by an electromagnetic actuator 26. That is,
The pilot section 10 is configured to drive or close the flow paths 20 and 21 by driving the valve element 23 by the electromagnetic actuator 26.

The operation of the exhaust fluid control device having the above configuration will be described. Now, in the pilot valve 8, the main body 9
Of the pilot portion 10 is turned off, the electromagnetic actuator 26 is turned off in the pilot portion 10, the valve body 22 closes the opening 21 a, and the valve portion 18 of the pilot portion 10 is closed. It is assumed that the valve 24 is closed. In this state, the discharge fluid 3 from the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 1 flows through the exhaust flow path 4, is divided into a predetermined flow ratio through the flow rate of the main flow path 4 A or the pressure control valve 7, and flows through the bypass flow path 4 B. . The discharged fluid 3 flowing through the bypass passage 4B and entering the main body 9 of the pilot valve 8 flows from the upstream chamber 12 to the downstream chamber 13 through the orifice 15 of the diaphragm 11. However, as described above, since the valve 24 of the pilot unit 10 is closed, the chamber 13 is a dead end, and the internal pressures in the upstream chamber 12 and the downstream chamber 13 are balanced. At this time, the diaphragm 11 is urged toward the chamber 12 by the spring 20, so that the diaphragm 11 stops in a predetermined state.

When the electromagnetic actuator 26 is turned off and the valve 24 is opened in a state in which the predetermined discharge fluid 3 is flowing through the bypass flow path 4B, the electromagnetic fluid flows into the downstream chamber 12 through the orifice 15. Discharged fluid 3
However, the internal pressure of the chamber 13 becomes smaller than the internal pressure of the chamber 12 by flowing out through the flow paths 21 and 22 to the downstream bypass flow path 4B. That is, the chamber 12 located on the upstream side is always in a pressurized state, and the pressure in the chamber 13 on the downstream side is low. As a result, the diaphragm 11 moves downstream (in the direction of arrow A), and the valve element 18 separates from the valve seat 17 with the movement of the diaphragm 11.
Is opened, and the discharge fluid 3 flows through the main flow path 16 in the cylindrical body 14.

As described above, in the exhaust fluid control apparatus of the present invention, most of the control of the exhaust fluid 3 flowing through the exhaust flow path 4 is performed by the flow rate or pressure control valve 7, and various disturbance influences are controlled by this. The effects absorbed by the flow or pressure control valve 7 and caused by transient fluid fluctuations and system factor changes are absorbed by the diaphragm 11 having high response force and elasticity in the pilot valve 8.

In the above-described embodiment, the orifice 15 is formed in the diaphragm 11 to make the two chambers 12 and 13 in the main body 9 communicate with each other. It is not necessary to form a gap, and a small gap may be provided in a portion where the diaphragm 11 and the cylindrical body 14 are attached, so that the two chambers 12 and 13 can communicate with each other. And in the above embodiment,
Although the pilot valve 8 is of the pneumatic type provided with the diaphragm 11, the pilot valve 8 may be constituted by an electromagnetic valve or a pneumatic valve. Further, instead of the diaphragm 11, a bellows may be used as a diaphragm.

[0016]

As described above, in the present invention, dynamic control is performed by a flow rate or pressure control valve, and fine control is performed by a pilot valve.
By skillfully utilizing the advantages of the flow rate or pressure control valve and the pilot valve, the flow rate of the exhaust fluid in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus can be controlled with high stability and high responsiveness.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing an example of an exhaust system incorporating a control device for an exhaust fluid in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the structure and operation of the control device.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, 3 ... Exhaust fluid, 4 ... Exhaust flow path, 4
A: main flow path, 4B: bypass flow path, 7: flow rate or pressure control valve, 8: pilot valve.

Claims (1)

[Claims] An exhaust flow path through which a fluid discharged from a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus flows is branched into a main flow path and a bypass flow path, a flow rate or pressure control valve is provided in the main flow path, and a pilot valve is provided in the bypass flow path. An exhaust fluid control device in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, wherein the control device is provided.