JP2015072238A - Particle collection jig, particle collection method, and particle measuring device using the particle collection jig - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a particle collection jig capable of promptly collecting particles over a wide range to be used for measurement of the particles.SOLUTION: A particle collection jig which is connected to a sampling nozzle 52 of a particle measuring part 300, collects particles in gas, and guides the collected particles to a particle counter of the particle measuring part 300, has: a top plate 11 the whole shape of which forms a cylindrical shape, and which constitutes one end face; a bottom plate 12 which constitutes the another end face; and a louver 13 which constitutes a side face. A hole 14 for taking the surrounding gas containing the particles in an internal space is formed through the top plate 11, an outlet 15 for guiding the gas containing the particles to the sampling nozzle 52 is formed on the bottom plate 12, and a plurality of blades 16 of the louver 13 are arranged so that the surrounding gas containing the particles is taken in the internal space while being revolved from gaps 17 among between blades.

Description

  The present invention relates to a particle collecting jig and a particle collecting method for collecting particles, and a particle measuring apparatus using the same.

  When manufacturing a semiconductor device, there are various processes such as film formation, photolithography, and etching. In these processes, if particles adhere to the semiconductor substrate, the performance of the formed device deteriorates. Therefore, it is necessary to install the processing apparatus in a clean room and perform processing in a clean atmosphere with very few particles.

  For this reason, it is required to measure the number of particles in a clean room or a processing apparatus with a measuring instrument, quickly detect the generation of particles due to dust generation, and maintain clean room cleanliness.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a clean room cleanliness measuring apparatus and method that self-runs in a clean room, sucks air from a nozzle at an arbitrary location, guides it to a measuring instrument, and measures particles in that location in real time. ing.

JP 2000-19095 A

  However, in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, the measurement position is determined by roughly registering the dust generation location, and the measurement nozzle is arranged at that position to sample floating particles. Since the range covered by is limited to the very vicinity of the nozzle, only the most recent particles can be captured, and detection of dust generation may be missed even if the measurement position deviates slightly from the dust generation location.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and provides a particle collecting jig and a particle collecting method that can quickly collect particles over a wide range and use them for particle measurement. Let it be an issue.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a particle measuring apparatus using such a particle collecting jig.

  In order to solve the above problems, in a first aspect of the present invention, a particle collecting jig connected to a sampling nozzle of a particle measuring unit and collecting particles in a gas and leading the particles to a particle counter of the particle measuring unit. The particle collecting jig has a cylindrical shape as a whole, a first plate member constituting one end surface, a second plate member constituting the other end surface, and a side surface. The first plate member has a hole for taking in surrounding gas containing particles into the internal space, and the second plate member has gas containing particles in the sampling nozzle. A discharge port is formed, and the louver has a plurality of blades, and the plurality of blades do not swirl surrounding gas including particles from gaps between them. To provide a particle collecting jig, characterized in being arranged as incorporated into Luo interior space.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a particle collecting method for collecting particles in a gas when sampling particles in the gas from a sampling nozzle of the particle measuring unit and guiding the particles to the particle counter of the particle measuring unit. In addition, the overall shape is cylindrical, and includes a first plate member that constitutes one end surface, a second plate member that constitutes the other end surface, and a louver that constitutes a side surface. A tool is connected to the sampling nozzle, the surrounding gas containing particles is taken into the internal space from the hole formed in the first plate member, and the periphery containing the particles from the gaps between the plurality of blades of the louver. The gas containing the particles taken in the internal space is formed in the second plate member while swirling the gas in the internal space It provides a particle collecting method characterized by guiding the evacuation port to the sampling nozzle.

  In the first and second aspects, it is preferable that the particle collecting jig has a cylindrical shape as a whole, and the plurality of blades are disposed obliquely with respect to a circumferential direction. The angle of the plurality of blades with respect to the circumferential direction is preferably 15 to 80 °. The particle collecting jig is preferably arranged vertically.

  In a third aspect of the present invention, a particle measuring unit that samples a gas containing particles from a sampling nozzle and measures the number of particles by a particle counter, and a particle that is connected to the sampling nozzle and collects particles in the gas A collecting jig, and the particle collecting jig has a cylindrical shape as a whole, a first plate member constituting one end face, and a second plate constituting the other end face. A member and a louver forming a side surface, the first plate member has a hole for taking in surrounding gas containing particles into the internal space, and the second plate member contains particles. A discharge port is formed to guide gas to the sampling nozzle, and the louver has a plurality of blades, and the plurality of blades are between them. From between, to provide a particle measuring apparatus characterized by being arranged to be taken into the internal space while swirling the gas in the vicinity, including the particles.

  In the third aspect, a condensed nucleus measuring instrument can be suitably used as the particle measuring unit.

  According to the present invention, the surrounding gas is collected from the gap between the holes of the first plate member and the blades of the louvers constituting the side surfaces, so that it is possible to sample particles over a wide range and to descend from the holes. By combining the airflow and the swirling airflow from the gap, the particles can be promptly guided to the particle counter of the particle measuring unit. For this reason, dust generation can be detected efficiently, and the tolerance | permissible_range of the measurement position for detecting dust generation can also be expanded.

It is a perspective view showing a particle measuring device provided with a particle collecting jig concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a horizontal sectional view showing the particle collection jig concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the airflow at the time of gas (air) being taken in by the particle collection jig | tool which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the model at the time of performing the thermofluid simulation of a particle collecting jig. It is a figure for demonstrating the simulation conditions at the time of performing the thermofluid simulation of a particle collecting jig. It is a figure which shows the result of having simulated the state of the airflow. It is a figure which shows the result of having simulated the behavior of the particle at the time of generating a dust above a sampling nozzle about the case where a particle collection jig | tool is used and the case where it does not use. It is a figure which shows the result of having simulated the behavior of the particle at the time of generating dust in the surrounding part away from the sampling nozzle about the case where a particle collection jig is used, and the case where it is not used.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
In the following embodiments, examples in which the present invention is applied to a particle measuring apparatus that measures particles in a clean room or processing apparatus using semiconductor device manufacturing equipment will be described. The particle measuring apparatus according to the present embodiment is placed in a clean air environment or a predetermined gas atmosphere in a clean room.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a particle measuring apparatus provided with a particle collecting jig according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a horizontal sectional view showing the particle collecting jig.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the particle measuring apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment includes a particle collecting jig 200 and a particle measuring unit 300.

  The particle collecting jig 200 is attached to the tip of the sampling nozzle of the particle measuring unit 300, has an overall shape of a cylindrical shape, and constitutes the top plate 11 constituting one end face and the other end face. And a louver 13 constituting the peripheral surface. The particle collecting jig 200 is arranged vertically.

  The top plate 11 is formed with a plurality of holes 14 for taking in gas (air) containing particles from above into the internal space of the particle collecting jig 200. The size and number of the holes 14 are appropriately set so that gas (air) can be taken in appropriately.

  Further, in the center of the bottom plate 12, a discharge port 15 that guides a gas (air) containing particles to the sampling nozzle of the particle measuring unit 300 is provided.

  The louver 13 is configured such that a plurality of blades 16 are arranged obliquely with respect to the circumferential direction (tangential direction) at intervals. The surrounding gas (air) is taken in from the gaps 17 between the plurality of blades 16 into the internal space of the particle collecting jig 200 in a swirled state. The angle θ (see FIG. 2) with respect to the circumferential direction (tangential direction) of the blade 16 is appropriately set so that an appropriate swirl flow is formed. The angle θ is preferably in the range of 15 to 80 °, and most preferably in the vicinity of 30 °. It is also preferable to make the angle θ of the blade 16 variable so that it can be adjusted to an appropriate swirl flow according to the amount of gas (air) sucked.

  In addition, the number of blades 16 of the louver 13, the width of the gap 17, and the length (depth) of the louver 13 in the radial direction are determined by the diameter of the particle collecting jig 200 and the state of the swirling flow to be formed. Accordingly, it is preferable to set appropriately.

  In addition, although the magnitude | size of the particle collection jig | tool 200 is not specifically limited, A diameter is 10-100 mm and height is about 10-300 mm.

  The particle measuring unit 300 includes a measuring unit main body 51 that measures the number of particles in the air, a sampling nozzle 52 that samples gas (air) containing particles, and a suction pump 53. The measurement unit main body 51 has a particle counter that counts the number of particles. As the particle counter, a generally used optical particle counter, for example, a laser particle counter is preferably used. The laser particle counter measures particles using light scattering by particles when irradiated with laser light.

  Further, as the particle measuring unit 300, a condensed nucleus measuring instrument (CNC or CPC) can be suitably used. The measuring unit main body 51 of the condensation nucleus measuring instrument passes fine particles through supersaturated steam such as alcohol or water, condenses the vapor molecules using the particles as nuclei, grows the particles, and then grows the particles grown by the particle counter. It is to detect. The particle size at the detection limit of the detector by light scattering is usually about 1 μm. However, since the condensed nucleus measuring device grows particles, it can detect particles of several nm.

  The sampling nozzle 52 is connected to the discharge port 15 of the particle collecting jig 200. When the suction pump 53 of the particle measuring unit 300 is operated, particles are extracted from the hole 14 of the top plate 11 and the gap 17 of the louver 13. The surrounding gas (air) is taken into the internal space of the particle collecting jig 200 and supplied to the measurement unit main body 51 through the discharge port 15 and the sampling nozzle 52 of the bottom plate 12.

Next, the operation of the particle measuring apparatus 100 configured as described above will be described.
First, by connecting the discharge port 15 to the sampling nozzle 52, the particle collecting jig 200 is attached to the particle measuring unit 300 to constitute the particle measuring device 100. Place in position.

  In this state, the suction pump 53 of the particle measuring unit 300 is operated. Then, ambient gas (air) containing particles is supplied to the measurement unit main body 51 via the particle collecting jig 200 connected to the sampling nozzle 52.

  At this time, in the particle collecting jig 200, surrounding gas (air) including particles is taken into the internal space of the particle collecting jig 200 from the hole 14 of the top plate 11 and the gap 17 of the blade 16 in the louver 13. . Specifically, as schematically shown in FIG. 3A, gas (air) is taken into the internal space from the upper surface and peripheral surface of the particle collecting jig 200. Further, since the plurality of blades 16 of the louver 13 are arranged obliquely with respect to the circumferential direction (tangential direction), the airflow taken into the internal space from the gap 17 on the circumferential surface of the particle collecting jig 200 is As shown in FIG. 3B, a swirling flow is obtained.

  As described above, the surrounding gas (air) is collected from the gap 17 between the hole 14 of the top plate 11 and the blade 16 of the louver 13 constituting the side surface, so that particles can be sampled over a wide range. By combining the descending airflow from 14 and the swirling airflow from the gap 17, the particles can be quickly guided to the measurement unit main body 51. For this reason, dust generation can be detected efficiently, and the tolerance | permissible_range of the measurement position for detecting dust generation can also be expanded.

Next, the thermal fluid simulation result of the particle collecting jig of this embodiment will be described.
Here, using a model collecting jig as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B and using the thermal fluid software FLUENT under the simulation conditions shown in FIG. The movement was analyzed. The surrounding environment was atmospheric pressure (air), the diameter of the discharge port was 4 mm, and the amount of suction from the discharge port was about 2.8 L / min.

  First, the result of simulating the state of airflow is shown in FIG. (A) shows streamlines from the top, and (b) shows streamlines from the surroundings. As shown in FIG. 6, it can be seen that by using the particle collecting jig of the present embodiment, a tornado-like swirl flow is formed in the internal space of the collecting jig while taking in a wide range of ambient air. .

  Next, FIG. 7 shows a result of simulating the behavior of particles when dust is generated 50 mm above the tip of the sampling nozzle of the particle measuring unit, compared with the conventional case where no particle collecting jig is used. As shown in FIG. 7, in the conventional case where no particle collecting jig is used, almost no particles are collected even after 10 seconds, but by using the particle collecting jig of this embodiment, a sampling nozzle is used. It was confirmed that the particles existing above can be quickly collected.

  Next, FIG. 8 shows the result of simulating the behavior of particles when dust is generated in the surrounding part away from the sampling nozzle of the particle measuring unit, compared with the conventional case where no particle collecting jig is used. As shown in FIG. 8, in the conventional case where no particle collecting jig is used, almost no particles are collected even after 10 seconds, but by using the particle collecting jig of this embodiment, a sampling nozzle is used. It was confirmed that particles existing around the can be quickly collected.

  The present invention can be variously modified without being limited to the above embodiment. For example, in the above embodiment, the particle collecting jig has a cylindrical shape as a whole, but may have a rectangular tube shape.

  In the above embodiment, the example in which the particle collecting jig is arranged vertically, the top plate is provided with the air supply hole, and the bottom plate is provided with the discharge port is not limited to this. Tools may be placed sideways.

11; Top plate 12; Bottom plate 13; Louver 14; Hole 15; Discharge port 16; Blade 17; Clearance 51; Measuring unit main body 52; Sampling nozzle 53; Suction pump 100; Particle measuring device 200; Particle measurement unit

Claims (10)

A particle collecting jig connected to the sampling nozzle of the particle measuring unit and collecting particles in the gas and leading them to the particle counter of the particle measuring unit,
The particle collecting jig has a cylindrical shape as a whole, and
A first plate member constituting one end surface, a second plate member constituting the other end surface, and a louver constituting a side surface,
The first plate member is formed with a hole for taking a surrounding gas containing particles into the internal space,
In the second plate member, a discharge port that guides a gas containing particles to the sampling nozzle is formed,
The louver has a plurality of blades, and the plurality of blades are arranged so as to be taken into an internal space while swirling surrounding gas including particles from a gap between them. Particle collection jig.   2. The particle collecting jig according to claim 1, wherein the particle collecting jig has a cylindrical shape as a whole, and the plurality of blades are arranged obliquely with respect to a circumferential direction. .   The particle collecting jig according to claim 2, wherein an angle of the plurality of blades with respect to a circumferential direction is 15 to 80 °.   The particle collecting jig according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the particle collecting jig is arranged vertically. A particle collecting method for collecting particles in a gas when sampling particles in a gas from a sampling nozzle of a particle measuring unit and guiding the particles to a particle counter of the particle measuring unit,
A particle collecting jig having a cylindrical shape as a whole and having a first plate member constituting one end face, a second plate member constituting the other end face, and a louver constituting a side face. Connected to the sampling nozzle,
From the holes formed in the first plate member, the surrounding gas containing particles is taken into the internal space,
From the gaps between the blades of the louver, the surrounding gas containing particles is swirled into the internal space,
A particle collecting method, wherein a gas containing particles taken into an internal space is led to the sampling nozzle from an outlet formed in the second plate member.   6. The particle collecting method according to claim 5, wherein the particle collecting jig has a cylindrical shape as a whole, and the plurality of blades are arranged obliquely with respect to a circumferential direction.   The particle collecting method according to claim 6, wherein an angle of the plurality of blades with respect to a circumferential direction is 15 to 80 °.   The particle collection method according to claim 5, wherein the particle collection jig is arranged vertically. A particle measuring unit that samples a gas containing particles from a sampling nozzle and measures the number of particles by a particle counter;
A particle collecting jig connected to the sampling nozzle and collecting particles in the gas;
The particle collecting jig has a cylindrical shape as a whole, and
A first plate member constituting one end surface, a second plate member constituting the other end surface, and a louver constituting a side surface,
The first plate member is formed with a hole for taking a surrounding gas containing particles into the internal space,
In the second plate member, a discharge port that guides a gas containing particles to the sampling nozzle is formed,
The louver has a plurality of blades, and the plurality of blades are arranged so as to be taken into an internal space while swirling surrounding gas including particles from a gap between them. Particle measuring device.   The particle measuring apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the particle measuring unit is a condensed nucleus measuring instrument.