JP2007155209A - Temperature control system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a temperature control system for a clean room 50 using heat generated from a semiconductor liquid crystal exposure system. <P>SOLUTION: The temperature control system has a gas cooling part 32, a gas heating part 60, and a gas circulation passage including a substantially sealed work space 56. First gas A1 adjusted to a predetermined temperature via the gas cooling part 32 and the gas heating part 60 or 61 is supplied to the work space, and the first gas A1 is recovered. It is provided with a heating element 101 arranged in the work space 56, and an exhaust heat conduit 51 guiding exhaust heat A2 from the heating element to the gas heating part. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a temperature control system particularly suitable for clean rooms such as semiconductor factories and liquid crystal factories.

  Conventionally, in precision processing processes such as semiconductor manufacturing processes, precision processing equipment needs to be kept in a stable environment to maintain a stable operating state throughout the year and to maintain the accuracy of the equipment itself even in a stopped state. There is. For this reason, precision processing apparatuses, such as semiconductor / liquid crystal exposure apparatuses, are arranged in a clean room with little dust and temperature control. The outside air changes greatly in hot and humid summer and dry and cold winter. For this reason, in addition to the work of removing dust, dust, etc., outside air is cooled and dehumidified or heated and humidified by an air conditioner and introduced into a clean room.

Because it is necessary to keep the clean room at a predetermined temperature regardless of summer and winter, in the summer, the outside air circulated in the clean room is once cooled to a temperature lower than the predetermined temperature, and then the air conditioner is set to a predetermined temperature. It is heated with. Especially in winter, the outside air to be taken in is very cold, so the amount of heat heated by the air conditioner increases and the power consumption increases.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-061647

In such a conventional air conditioner, the capacity must be determined in consideration of heat generation of the semiconductor / liquid crystal exposure apparatus, and a large capacity is required as the accuracy of the semiconductor / liquid crystal exposure apparatus increases and the productivity increases. Thus, there is a problem that the apparatus cost and the operation cost increase.
Further, heat generated by driving a semiconductor / liquid crystal exposure apparatus or the like is discharged as it is to the outside environment, which is not preferable from the viewpoint of global warming.

  The temperature control system according to the present invention includes a gas cooling section (32), a gas heating section (60), and a gas circulation path including a substantially sealed work space (56), and the gas cooling section and the gas heating section. The first gas (A1) whose temperature has been adjusted to a predetermined temperature is supplied to the work space, and the first gas (A1) is recovered. And the heat generating body (101) arrange | positioned in a working space (56) and the exhaust heat conduit (51) which guides the exhaust heat (A2) from a heat generating body to a gas heating part are provided.

  According to the present invention, it is not necessary to heat the circulating air with an air conditioner, so that power consumption is reduced, and exhaust heat from the heating element is not directly discharged to the outside, but part or all of the heat is used and then externally used. It can be discharged into the environment. Even when the circulating air needs to be heated, the capacity of the air conditioner can be reduced because it is heated to some extent by using the exhaust heat of the heating element. This is advantageous from the viewpoint of environmental protection or reduction of power consumption.

Hereinafter, a temperature control system according to the best embodiment of the present invention will be described.
(Configuration of the first embodiment)

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a temperature control system according to the first embodiment.
The inside of the substantially sealed clean room 50 creates a space that eliminates dust and dirt (floating matter) in the air to a certain level. Further, the clean room 50 needs to be maintained at a predetermined humidity and a predetermined temperature suitable for manufacturing semiconductors or liquid crystals.

  Therefore, a ceiling space 55 is provided on the ceiling of the clean room 50 so that air A1, which is the first gas adjusted to a predetermined temperature and humidity from which dust is removed, circulates. Circulating air A <b> 1 is blown out from the ceiling space 55 to the work space 56 from a plurality of outlets. It is an air conditioner called a down flow that blows air from the ceiling to the floor. Further, under the floor of the clean room 50, an underfloor space 57 for discharging the circulating air A1 via the work space 56 is provided, and the circulating air A1 is sucked from the floor surface made of a breathable grating floor.

  A conduit 59 that guides the circulating air A1 from the underfloor space 57 to the ceiling space 55 is formed outside the clean room 50. That is, a gas circulation path is formed by the ceiling space 55, the work space 56, the underfloor space 57, and the conduit 59. The fan 24 provided in the conduit 59 circulates air in a direction indicated by an arrow drawn in the work space 56 of FIG.

  In FIG. 1, the fan 24 is disposed between the underfloor space 57 and the cooler 32, but may be disposed anywhere within the gas circulation path. A cooler 32, a gas mixing unit 60, an auxiliary heater 28, a humidifying shower unit 36, and a HEPA filter F <b> 2 are arranged in the conduit 59 arranged outside the clean room 50 from the underfloor space 57 to the ceiling space 55. Yes. The HEPA filter F2 may be disposed in the ceiling space 55 of the clean room 50.

  In the work space 56, a semiconductor exposure apparatus 101, a photoresist coating and developing apparatus, an electron beam exposure apparatus for drawing a mask, a cleaning apparatus, and the like are arranged. Since temperature and humidity management is important for these devices, they are generally covered with a partition wall called a chamber and arranged in a substantially sealed space. In FIG. 1, a semiconductor exposure apparatus 101 is disposed in a chamber 10 and a chamber 11, and a photoresist coating and developing apparatus is disposed in a chamber 12.

The semiconductor exposure apparatus 101 transfers and exposes the pattern formed on the mask R onto the wafer substrate W via the projection lens 106. The drive motor 102 that moves the mask R and the wafer substrate W is controlled by the control substrate 105. The drive motor 102 and the control board 105 generate a considerable amount of heat. Further, since the semiconductor exposure apparatus 101 operates without day and night, heat is generated from the drive motor 102 and the control board 105 regardless of day or night.
Depending on the semiconductor manufacturer, the control substrate 105 may be disposed adjacent to the side of the semiconductor exposure apparatus as in the chamber 10, and the control substrate 105 may be disposed below the semiconductor exposure apparatus (under the floor space) as in the chamber 11. 57).

Each of the chambers 10 to 12 has a temperature controller (not shown), and takes in the air in the clean room 50 to a predetermined temperature and humidity and sends it to the drive motor 102 and the control board 105. Yes.
In the present embodiment, the exhaust heat conduit 51 is attached to the ceiling side of the chamber 10 to the chamber 12. Between the exhaust heat conduit 51 and the chamber 10, a first fan 15 for forcibly exhausting the air A 2, which is a warmed second gas in the chamber 10, is attached, and between the exhaust heat conduit 51 and the chamber 11. A second fan 16 and a third fan 17 are attached between the exhaust heat conduit 51 and the chamber 12.

  For example, when the temperature of the air A1 blown into the clean room 50 is 23.0 ° C., the temperature of the air A2 guided to the exhaust heat conduit 51 by the heat of the drive motor 102 and the control board 105 is, for example, 30 °. Reach C or higher. A filter F <b> 1 that removes dust (floating matter) is disposed downstream of the exhaust heat conduit 51. A variable air volume fan 22 that can adjust the air volume is attached to the exhaust heat conduit 51 so that the air A2 in the exhaust heat conduit 51 is forcibly discharged.

  A cooler 32, a gas mixing unit 60, an auxiliary heater 28, and a humidifying shower unit 36 are arranged in the conduit 59 outside the clean room 50 from the upstream side. The conduit 59 on the upstream side of the cooler 32 is provided with an outside air port 62 for taking in outside air. A first thermometer T1 that measures the temperature of the air in which the circulating air A1 and the outside air are mixed is disposed downstream of the outside air port 62. The cooler 32 receives supply of the refrigerant from the cooling tower via the cooling medium valve 34, and cools the circulating air A1 and the outside air by exchanging heat with the refrigerant.

  The circulating air A1 and the outside air thus cooled are guided to the gas mixing unit 60 (gas heating unit). The gas mixing unit 60 is connected to the exhaust heat conduit 51, and mixes the air A2 discharged from the plurality of chambers 10 to 12, the circulating air A1, and the outside air. Between the exhaust heat conduit 51 and the gas mixing unit 60, a second thermometer T2 for measuring the temperature of the air A2 introduced from the exhaust heat conduit 51 to the gas mixing unit 60 is disposed. The variable adjustment valve 26 that adjusts the amount of air A2 introduced into the gas mixing unit 60 from is arranged.

  An auxiliary heater 28 is disposed on the downstream side of the gas mixing unit 60, and warms the air to a predetermined temperature when the air is not heated to the predetermined temperature by the gas mixing unit 60. Although it is not necessary to operate the auxiliary heater 28 during normal operation, the temperature of the air introduced from the exhaust heat conduit 51 may be low when the semiconductor exposure apparatus 101 is started. In this case, the auxiliary heater 28 warms the air to a predetermined temperature. Further, the auxiliary heater 28 may be operated even in winter when the outside air is very cold.

  The humidifying shower unit 36 sprays steam / water from the storage tank for storing steam / water through the water amount valve 38 to the humidified air to a predetermined humidity. A third thermometer T3 for measuring whether or not the temperature of the air introduced into the clean room 50 has reached a predetermined temperature is disposed at the most downstream side of the ceiling space 55 or the conduit 59.

  A first thermometer T1 to a third thermometer T3 are connected to the control unit 100, and the measured values are input. The control unit 100 also includes a cooling medium valve 34 for adjusting the cooling of the cooler 32, a fan 24 for adjusting the air flow rate of the conduit 59, and a variable air volume fan 22 for adjusting the amount of air A2 introduced from the exhaust heat conduit 51. And the adjustment valve 26, the auxiliary heater 28, and the water amount valve 38 of the warming and humidifying shower unit 36 are respectively connected.

(Operation of the first embodiment)
Next, the operation of the temperature control system for adjusting the inside of the clean room 50 to 23 ° C plus or minus 0.1 ° C will be described.

  It is assumed that the circulating air A1 introduced into the conduit 59 from the underfloor space 57 through the work space 56 is, for example, 24 ° C. due to the heat of the worker or a device disposed outside the chamber 10 to the chamber 12. On the other hand, the air introduced into the conduit 59 from the outside air port 62 varies greatly depending on the winter or summer season or daytime or nighttime. Assuming that it is during the summer day, for example, outside air of 35 ° C. is taken in.

  As a result, in the first thermometer T1, the circulating air A1 from the underfloor space 57 and the outside air are mixed to form, for example, 28 ° C. air. The 28 ° C. air is introduced into the cooler 32 and cooled. Since the goal is to bring the inside of the clean room 50 to 23 ° C., the cooler 32 is cooled in the conduit 59 downstream of the cooler 32 to 22.0 ° C., which is lower than the target temperature of 23 ° C., for example. To control. Specifically, the cooling medium valve 34 is controlled by the control unit 100 in order to adjust the amount of refrigerant flowing through the cooler 32.

  On the other hand, assuming that it is nighttime in winter, for example, 5 ° C outside air is taken in, the first thermometer T1 mixes the circulating air A1 from the underfloor space 57 and outside air, for example, 19 ° C. The air has become. This 19 ° C. air is lower than the target temperature, so it is not necessary to cool it with the cooler 32.

  Here, when the temperature of the air A2 introduced from the exhaust heat conduit 51 is measured by the second thermometer T2 by the heat of the drive motor 102 and the control substrate 105 in the semiconductor exposure apparatus 101, it is 30 ° C. To do. The gas mixing unit 60 mixes the circulating air A1 flowing in the conduit 59 downstream of the cooler 32 with the air A2 introduced from the exhaust heat conduit 51 at a predetermined ratio, and the temperature measured by the third thermometer T3. To 23.0 ° C. Specifically, the control unit 100 controls the variable air volume fan 22 and the variable flow valve 26 to adjust the amount of air A2 that enters the gas mixing unit 60. In addition, the air A2 introduced from the exhaust heat conduit 51 that is not used in the gas mixing unit 60 is discharged to the outside through an exhaust port (not shown) without being used.

  On the other hand, even when all of the air A2 introduced from the exhaust heat conduit 51 is mixed when the outside air is very low such as in winter or when the semiconductor exposure apparatus 101 is started, the air of 23.0 ° C. is used in the gas mixing unit 60. When the temperature cannot be raised to the upper limit, the auxiliary heater 28 is operated to make the circulating air A1 at 23.0 ° C. Thereafter, the circulating air A1 is humidified to a predetermined humidity by the humidifying shower section 36, dust is removed by the HEPA filter F2, and then the circulating air A1 is blown into the work space 56.

  Specifically, the control unit 100 uses PID control using a controller having proportional, integral, and differential operations, or fuzzy control that defines membership functions and fuzzy rules to evaluate human ambiguity. Thus, the temperature of the circulating air A1 is controlled. A variable air flow fan is used to constantly measure the thermometer T1 to T3 so that the measurement result of the thermometer T3 is 23.0 ° C, and to adjust the flow rate of the low temperature medium and the high temperature medium based on the measurement result. 22, the fan 24, the variable flow valve 26, the auxiliary heater 28, and the cooling medium valve 34 are controlled. In this case, the variable flow valve 26 is preferably controlled so that the output of the auxiliary heater 28 becomes as small as possible. Thereby, efficient power saving can be realized. In addition, a variable flow valve may be provided in the outside air port 62 to adjust the outside air intake amount depending on the season. For example, in summer, it is desirable to reduce the intake amount of outside air as long as the air volume is not insufficient.

  Thus, in the temperature control system of the first embodiment, the temperature of the circulating air A1 is raised by using the air A2 introduced from the exhaust heat conduit 51 in the gas mixing unit 60. Heating of air becomes unnecessary, or power consumption can be reduced by reducing the amount of heating. In addition, the exhaust heat from the semiconductor exposure apparatus 101 is not exhausted to the outside environment, but part or all of the exhaust heat is reused, which is a preferable system from the viewpoint of environmental protection.

(Configuration and operation of the second embodiment)
FIG. 2 is a system configuration diagram of a temperature control system according to the second embodiment.
The temperature control system of the second embodiment differs from the temperature control system of the first embodiment described above in that a heat exchanger 61 is used instead of the gas mixing unit 60. Hereinafter, differences from the first embodiment will be described.

A heat exchanger 61 is disposed at the same position as the gas mixing unit 60 of the first embodiment. That is, the heat exchanger 61 is disposed downstream of the cooler 32 of the conduit 59 and upstream of the auxiliary heater 28, and is connected to the exhaust heat conduit 51. The heat exchanger 61 is made of a metal having high thermal conductivity such as stainless steel, and the heat transfer plate in the heat exchanger 61 is provided with various protrusions and grooves to increase the strength and surface area. In addition, a wave-shaped protrusion is provided to cause a gas vortex to obtain a high heat transfer coefficient.
In the second embodiment, the filter F1 for removing dust is not disposed between the exhaust heat conduit 51 and the heat exchanger 61. As will be described later, the air itself after depriving of heat is exhausted to the outside and is not used as circulating air.

Next, the operation of the temperature control system for adjusting the inside of the clean room 50 to 23 ° C plus or minus 0.1 ° C as in the first embodiment will be described.
Here, the temperature of the air A2 introduced from the exhaust heat conduit 51 (measurement temperature of the second thermometer T2) becomes, for example, 30 ° C. due to the heat of the drive motor 102 and the control substrate 105 in the semiconductor exposure apparatus 101. Suppose that The heat exchanger 61 exchanges heat between the circulating air A <b> 1 flowing in the conduit 59 downstream of the cooler 32 and the heat of the air A <b> 2 introduced from the exhaust heat conduit 51. The circulating air A1 cooled by the cooler 32 is heated to 23.0 ° C. by the heat exchanger 61 when the variable air volume fan 22 and the variable flow valve 26 are controlled by the control unit 100, and the heat is taken away. All the cooled air is discharged outside.

  As described in the first embodiment, the control unit 100 performs temperature control of the circulating air A1 using PID control or fuzzy control. Specifically, the thermometer T1 to the thermometer T3 are constantly measured so that the measurement result by the thermometer T3 is 23.0 ° C., and the flow rates of the low temperature medium and the high temperature medium are adjusted based on the measurement result. Therefore, the variable air volume fan 22, the fan 24, the variable flow valve 26, the auxiliary heater 28, and the cooling medium valve 34 are controlled.

  As described above, in the temperature control system of the second embodiment, the temperature of the circulating air A1 is increased by using the heat of the air A2 introduced from the exhaust heat conduit 51 by the heat exchanger 61. It becomes unnecessary to heat the circulating air by means of power consumption. Further, since the heat exhausted from the semiconductor exposure apparatus 101 is taken and then discharged to the outside, it is a preferable system from the viewpoint of environmental protection.

(Device manufacturing method)
Finally, a device manufacturing method using the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 101 will be described.
The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 101 manufactures a semiconductor element in the clean room 50 through the following processes. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, a microdevice such as a semiconductor device manufactures a wafer substrate from a silicon material, a step 201 for designing a function / performance of the microdevice, a step 202 for manufacturing a mask R based on the design step, and a silicon material. Step 203, lithography (exposure processing) step 204 for exposing the pattern of the mask R onto the wafer substrate by the exposure apparatus of the above-described embodiment, device assembly step (including dicing process, bonding process, packaging process) 205, inspection step 206 And so on.

  In both the first and second embodiments, the exhaust heat conduit 51 is led from the chamber covering the entire apparatus, but the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment. In particular, since the heat generation from the drive motor 102 and the control board 105 is large, a chamber that covers only the drive motor 102 and the control board 105 may be prepared, and the exhaust heat conduit 51 that leads directly from the drive motor 102 and the control board 105 may be prepared. . In such a case, depending on the air flow rate, the air is heated to 40 ° C. or more.

In the first and second embodiments, the air is supplied from the plurality of chambers to one exhaust heat conduit 51 and then supplied to the gas mixing unit 60 or the heat exchanger 61. However, the exhaust heat conduit is provided for each chamber. Of course, 51 may be prepared.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made to the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

It is a system configuration figure of a temperature control system concerning a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a system configuration figure of a temperature control system concerning a second embodiment of the present invention. It is process drawing which shows the manufacturing method of the device using the exposure apparatus in embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

24 ... Fan 28 ... Auxiliary heater 32 ... Cooler 36 ... Humidifying shower part 50 ... Clean room 55 ... Ceiling space 57 ... Underfloor space 60 ... Gas mixing part 61 ... Heat exchanger 62 ... Outside air port 101 ... Exposure apparatus 102 ... Drive motor 105 ... Control board 106 ... Projection lens A1 ... Circulating air A2 ... Air including exhaust heat F1 ... Filter F2 ... HEPA filters T1 to T3 ... Temperature Total

Claims (6)

A gas cooling section, a gas heating section, and a gas circulation path including a substantially sealed working space;
In the temperature control system that supplies the first gas, which is temperature-controlled to a predetermined temperature via the gas cooling unit and the gas heating unit, to the working space, and collects the first gas,
A heating element disposed in the work space;
An exhaust heat conduit for guiding exhaust heat from the heating element to the gas heating unit;
A temperature control system characterized by comprising: The exhaust heat conduit is an air supply pipe for supplying a second gas exhausted from the heating element,
The temperature control system according to claim 1, wherein the gas heating unit includes a gas mixing unit that mixes the first gas and the second gas cooled via the gas cooling unit.   The temperature control system according to claim 1, wherein the gas heating unit includes a heat exchanger that heats the first gas cooled through the gas cooling unit by exhaust heat of the heating element. A temperature sensor for measuring the temperature of the first gas immediately before being introduced into the work space;
An exhaust heat amount adjusting unit that adjusts the exhaust heat amount of the heating element sent through the exhaust heat conduit;
The temperature control system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a control unit that controls the exhaust heat amount adjustment unit based on measurement information of the temperature sensor.   5. The auxiliary heater for heating the first gas is provided in the gas circulation path downstream of the gas heating unit and upstream of the work space. 6. Temperature control system. The heating element is an exposure apparatus that transfers and exposes a pattern formed on a mask onto a photosensitive substrate via a projection optical system,
The temperature control system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the work space is a clean room in which a degree of cleaning and a temperature are maintained substantially constant.

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