JP2020085086A - Fluid control device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a fluid control device including a drive fluid supply system which enables reduction of variations in operation timing between air-operated valves.SOLUTION: A fluid control device includes: a pressure regulator 103 which adjusts a pressure of a drive fluid supplied from a drive fluid supply source 101; a supply pipe 104 which branches the drive fluid from the pressure regulator into multiple flows to supply the drive fluid; pilot valves 105a to 105f which are respectively connected to the branched supply pipes and formed by three way valves; and air operated valves 106a to 106f respectively connected with the pilot valves. A buffer 104-1 is provided in the middle of the supply pipe 104.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a fluid control device and a semiconductor manufacturing device.

In a process gas fluid control device (IGS) used in semiconductor manufacturing processes, etc., an air valve is used instead of a solenoid valve as a valve for turning on/off a large number of process gases, for reasons such as energy saving by reducing holding power. Operated valves are widely used.
In particular, in the ALD (Atomic Layer Deposition) process and the like, the thickness of the layer to be formed is adjusted at the atomic level by the operation of many air-operated valves.

Such an air-operated valve is a valve that is opened/closed by turning ON/OFF the supply of a driving fluid such as compressed air. The ON/OFF of the driving fluid is a three-way valve connected to the air operating valve. It is performed by a solenoid valve (pilot valve) that consumes less power.

A driving fluid supply system for driving a large number of air operated valves includes a large number of pipes (nylon tubes, etc.) from a driving fluid supply source 201 through an opening/closing valve 202 and a pressure regulator 203, as shown in FIG. And is connected to each air operated valve 206a to 206f via each pilot valve 205a to 205f.

Here, the structure of each of the air operated valves 206a to 206f is composed of a diaphragm valve 5 that opens and closes a flow path of a target fluid, as shown in FIG. 3 (FIG. 1 of Patent Document 1). It includes a valve body 2 and an actuator 4 formed of a single-acting cylinder that drives the diaphragm valve 5. First, when the pilot valves 205a to 205f are turned on, the driving fluid introducing chambers 26 and 27 of the actuator 4 communicate with the driving fluid supply source, the driving fluid is introduced, the driving rod 8 is pulled up, and the diaphragm valve 6 is opened. The fluid to be controlled is designed to flow.
On the other hand, when the pilot valves 205a to 205f are turned off, the driving fluid introducing chambers 26 and 27 are opened to the atmospheric pressure, the pressures of the driving fluid introducing chambers 26 and 27 are lowered, and the driving rod 8 is pulled down by the spring 11 and the diaphragm valve. 6 is closed and the flow of the fluid to be controlled is stopped.

JP2012-26544A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-82763 JP, 2013-220979, A

As described above, when the air operated valve is turned on, it is necessary to turn on the pilot valve and then to introduce a constant amount of driving fluid that fills the space from the pilot valve to the driving fluid introduction chamber with a predetermined pressure. is there.
The drive fluid necessary for this ON operation is supplied from the drive fluid supply source 201 via the pressure regulator 203 because the capacity of the drive fluid supply pipe 204 is not large. Therefore, the response becomes slow, and when the length and diameter of the pipe from the drive fluid supply source to each pilot valve are different, the responsiveness of the air operated valve is likely to vary.

Further, the inside of the drive fluid supply pipe is kept at a constant pressure by the pressure regulator 203, but the drive fluid required for the ON operation of each air operated valve is supplied to the space from the pilot valve to the drive fluid introduction chamber at once. Since it flows out (in other words, the pipe volume changes by the volume of the space), the pressure in the supply pipe pulsates and temporarily drops. At that timing, if an attempt is made to drive another air operated valve that receives the supply of driving fluid from the same supply pipe, the rising operation of that valve will be delayed. Such a delay may be a problem in a process such as the ALD process that requires simultaneous supply of a plurality of gases.

The problem of pulsation of the pressure of the driving fluid due to the operation of the air operated valve is dealt with in Patent Document 2 by providing a short passage between the pneumatic regulator (pilot valve) and the air operated valve. In Patent Document 3, however, a small manifold structure is adopted to efficiently arrange the gas passages. However, these countermeasures require modification of the internal structure of the valve and are not easy to realize.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems and to provide a fluid control device including a drive fluid supply system that can reduce variations in the operation timing among a plurality of air operated valves by a simple method.

The fluid control device of the present invention includes a pressure regulator that adjusts the pressure of a driving fluid supplied from a driving fluid supply source, and a branch that is connected to the secondary side of the pressure regulator and has a branch in the middle thereof. A supply pipe for branching and supplying a plurality of fluids, a pilot valve consisting of a three-way valve connected to each of the branched supply pipes, and an air-operated valve connected to and driven by each pilot valve. In a fluid control device including,
A buffer is provided in the middle of the supply pipe.

Preferably, the buffer may be a storage tank.

Alternatively, a configuration can be adopted in which the buffer is a thickened pipe.

A semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of the present invention uses the above-mentioned fluid control apparatus for controlling the process gas in a manufacturing process of a semiconductor device which requires a process step using a process gas in a closed chamber.

According to the present invention, since the buffer is provided in the drive fluid supply pipe, the drive fluid necessary for the ON operation of each air operated valve can be supplied from the buffer. Therefore, the responsiveness of the air operated valve becomes faster, and the responsiveness of the air operated valve is less likely to vary even if the length or diameter of the piping from the drive fluid supply source to each pilot valve is slightly different.

Further, since the buffer is provided in the drive fluid supply pipe, the volume of the drive fluid supply pipe becomes large, and the capacity fluctuation during ON operation of each air operated valve becomes relatively small. Therefore, the pressure fluctuation in the drive fluid supply pipe is reduced, and the variation in the operation timing of the air operated valve due to the pressure fluctuation is also reduced.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a drive fluid supply system of the flow control device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The schematic diagram showing the supply system of the drive fluid of the fluid control system concerning a 2nd embodiment of the present invention. Sectional drawing which shows an example of an air operate valve. The block diagram of the semiconductor manufacturing device concerning one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a drive fluid supply system of a conventional fluid control device.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, a fluid control system according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, a buffer tank is provided as a buffer in the pipe before the drive fluid is branched.

As shown in FIG. 1, the fluid control apparatus 100 of the present embodiment includes an opening/closing valve 102 for a drive fluid supply system from a drive fluid supply source 101, a pressure regulator 103, a buffer tank 104-1, and a branch pipe 104. -2, each pilot valve 105a to 105f, and each air operated valve 106a to 106f. The piping downstream of the pressure regulator 103, the buffer tank 104-1, and the branch piping 104-2 are collectively referred to as the supply piping 104.

The driving fluid supply source 101 may be a compressed air source including a compressor and a dryer, or an N2 source including an N2 cylinder. The driving fluid may be not only compressed air but also compressed inert gas such as N2 or He.

The opening/closing valve 102 is a main valve that turns ON/OFF the supply of the driving fluid, and may be a manual valve, an electric valve, or an air operated valve.

The pressure regulator 103 adjusts the pressure of the driving fluid supply system to a pressure necessary for operating the air operated valve, and can be selected from any pressure regulator depending on the required pressure and flow rate.

The buffer tank 104-1 has a capacity sufficiently larger than the fluctuation amount of the pipe capacity (that is, the capacity of the space from the pilot valve to the driving fluid introduction chamber) when the air operated valves 106a to 106f are turned on. It is necessary and preferably has a capacity of 10 times or more, more preferably 20 times or more, further preferably 100 times or more of the fluctuation amount. Although the buffer tank 104-1 is a container made of stainless steel or the like in this embodiment, it may be a fixed closed space that can be filled with the driving fluid, such as a gap in the structure. The shape of the buffer tank 104-1 may be spherical in order to uniformly store the pressure of the driving fluid, and may be other shapes such as a cylindrical shape, a conical shape, and a rectangular parallelepiped shape.

The branch pipe 104-2 may be any type of pipe as long as it can supply a driving fluid, and may be, for example, a flexible air tube pipe.
However, the pipe before branching has a sufficient diameter, and the diameter and length of each pipe 104-2 after branching are formed as much as possible to make the internal volume uniform. In addition, in FIG. 1, although the piping on the secondary side of the buffer tank 104-1 is drawn out in a direction orthogonal to the connecting direction of the piping on the primary side, the piping on the primary side and the secondary side of the buffer tank 104-1 is illustrated. A configuration in which the pipes are on the same axis can also be preferably adopted.
Further, in FIG. 1, although it is branched from the buffer tank 104-1 by one pipe and then branched into each pipe, each pipe after the branch is led out from the buffer tank 104-1. Good.

Each of the pilot valves 105a to 105f is a solenoid valve that is a three-way valve as described above, and when the pilot valves 105a to 105f are turned on, the drive fluid introducing chambers 26 and 27 (see FIG. 3) are driven by the drive fluid supply source 101. When the pilot valves 105a to 105f are turned off, the driving fluid introducing chambers 26 and 27 (see FIG. 3) are connected so as to be opened to the atmospheric pressure.

The air-operated valves 106a to 106f used are those shown in FIG. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and any appropriate air operated valve may be used.

The operation of the fluid control device 100 of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG.
First. When the opening/closing valve 102 is opened, the driving fluid is supplied from the driving fluid supply source 101, reduced to a predetermined pressure by the pressure regulator 103, and supplied to the buffer tank 104-1. Further, it passes through the branch pipe 104-2 and branches in the middle to be distributed to the respective pilot valves 105a to 105f.

Each of the pilot valves 105a to 105f is a three-way valve as described above, and all are OFF in the initial state, and the driving fluid is stopped, while the driving fluid introduction chambers 26 and 27 of the air operated valves 106a to 106f (see FIG. 3). The piping connecting to (See) is open to atmospheric pressure.
Next, for example, when the pilot valve 105a is turned on, the driving fluid is introduced into the air operated valve 106a connected to the driving fluid via the communication piping. As a result, the air operate valve 106a is opened, and the fluid to be controlled comes to flow.

At this time, the drive fluid necessary for the ON operation of the air operate valve 106a can be supplied from the buffer tank 104-1. Therefore, the responsiveness of the air operated valve 106a becomes faster, and the responsiveness of the air operated valves 106a to 106f varies even if the lengths or diameters of the pipes from the driving fluid supply source to the pilot valves 105a to 105f are slightly different. Is less likely to occur.

At the time of this ON operation, as described above, a certain amount of the driving fluid that fills the space from the pilot valve 105a to the driving fluid introduction chambers 26 and 27 (see FIG. 3) with a predetermined pressure is the buffer tank 104-1 and the branch pipe. Although it flows out from 104-2, the pressure drop is small because the capacity of the buffer tank 104-1 is large. Therefore, the influence on the operation of the other air-operated valves 106b to 106f is also reduced.

(Second embodiment)
The second embodiment is an embodiment in which a thick pipe is used instead of the buffer tank as the buffer in the first embodiment.
FIG. 2 shows the fluid control system of this embodiment. However, the same components as those in the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 2, the fluid control device 110 of the present embodiment includes a driving fluid supply source 101, an opening/closing valve 102, a pressure regulator 103, a thick pipe 104-3, a branch pipe 104-2, and each pilot. The valves 105a to 105f and the air-operated valves 106a to 106f are included.

The thick pipe 104-3 is a thickened portion of the supply pipe before branching. This thick pipe 104-3 is a variable amount of the pipe capacity when the air-operated valves 106a to 106f are turned on (that is, from the pilot valves 105a to 105f to the driving fluid introducing chambers 26 and 27 (see FIG. 3)). It is necessary to have a capacity sufficiently larger than the space capacity), and the capacity is preferably 10 times or more, more preferably 20 times or more, and further preferably 100 times or more the fluctuation amount. The thick pipe 104-3 is a pipe made of stainless steel or the like in the present embodiment, but may be a flexible air tube pipe. It is advantageous in that it can be flexibly arranged in the gas box and that general-purpose pipe materials and branch joints can be used. The pipe from the pressure regulator 103 upstream of the thick pipe 104-3 may be a pipe having the same diameter as the thick pipe 104-3.
Supply pipes 104-2 from the thick pipe 104-3 (buffer) to each of the pilot valves 105a to 105f are individually branched from the thick pipe 104-3 (buffer), and each supply pipe after the branching. The inner volume of 104-2 is made uniform.

The operation of the fluid control device 110 of the present embodiment configured as described above is similar to that of the first embodiment.

Next, the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, which uses the fluid control apparatus of the first embodiment of the present invention.
A semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 980 shown in FIG. 4 is an apparatus for performing a semiconductor manufacturing process by an atomic layer deposition method (ALD: Atomic Layer Deposition method), 981 is a process gas supply source, 982 is a gas box, and 983 is a tank. , 984 is an opening/closing valve, 985 is a control unit, 986 is a processing chamber, and 987 is an exhaust pump. For example, in the ALD method and the like, it is required to stably supply a processing gas used in a processing process for depositing a film on a substrate at a higher flow rate.
The gas box 982 is an integrated gas system in which various fluid devices such as an on-off valve, a regulator, a mass flow controller, etc. are integrated and housed in a box in order to supply the process gas that is accurately measured to the processing chamber 986.
The tank 983 functions as a buffer that temporarily stores the processing gas supplied from the gas box 982.

The open/close valve 984 is a valve that turns on/off the supply of each processing gas at precise timing, and turns on/off the above-described air-operated valves 106a to 106f that open and close the flow path of each processing gas and the driving gas that drives them. It consists of a pair of pilot valves 105a to 105f that are turned off. Actually, a plurality of types of processing gases are supplied through the respective piping systems, but in FIG. 4, only one processing gas piping system and the air operate valve 106a and the pilot valve 105a are shown for simplicity.

The control unit 985 controls the pilot valves 105a to 105f of the opening/closing valve 984 to turn on/off the air-operated valves 106a to 106f, thereby executing the flow rate adjustment control of the processing gas.
The processing chamber 986 provides a closed processing space for forming a film on the substrate by the ALD method.
The exhaust pump 987 evacuates the inside of the processing chamber 986.

According to the system configuration as described above, the flow rate of the processing gas can be controlled by sending a control command from the control unit 985 to the open/close valve 984.
Here, in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 980 of this embodiment, since the buffer tank 104-1 is provided in the middle of the driving gas (driving fluid) supply pipe, the pressure fluctuation in the driving fluid supply pipe becomes small. Since it is possible to reduce the variation in the operation timing of the air operated valve due to the above, it is possible to precisely control the supply of the processing gas required for the ALD process.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. Those skilled in the art can make various additions and changes within the scope of the present invention.

2: valve body 4: actuators 5 and 6: diaphragm valve 8: drive rod 11: springs 26 and 27: drive fluid introduction chamber 100: fluid control device 101: drive fluid supply source 102: open/close valve 103: pressure regulator 104: supply Pipe 104-1: Buffer tank 104-2: Branch pipe 104-3: Thick pipe 105a to 105f: Pilot valve 106a to 106f: Air operate valve 110: Fluid control device 200: Driving fluid supply system 201: Driving fluid supply Source 202: Open/close valve 203: Pressure regulator 204: Supply pipes 205a to 205f: Pilot valves 206a to 206f: Air operated valve 980: Semiconductor manufacturing device 981: Process gas supply source 982: Gas box 983: Tank 984: Open/close valve 985: Control unit 986: Processing chamber 987: Exhaust pump

Claims (7)

A pressure regulator that adjusts the pressure of the driving fluid supplied from a driving fluid supply source, and a driving fluid that is connected to the secondary side of the pressure regulator and has a branch in the middle to supply the driving fluid from the pressure regulator into a plurality of branches. Supply pipe, a pilot valve composed of a three-way valve connected to each of the branched supply pipes, and an air operated valve connected to and driven by each pilot valve,
A fluid control device in which a buffer is provided on the primary side of the branch of the supply pipe. The fluid control device according to claim 1, wherein the buffer is a storage tank. The fluid control device according to claim 2, wherein the shape of the storage tank is a sphere, a cylinder, a cone, or a rectangular parallelepiped. The fluid control device according to claim 2, wherein among the supply pipes, the pipes on the primary side and the secondary side of the storage tank are on the same axis. The fluid control device according to claim 1, wherein the buffer is a thickened portion of the supply pipe before the branching. The supply pipe from the buffer to each of the pilot valves in the supply pipe is branched from the buffer individually, and the inner volume of each supply pipe after the branch is made uniform. Fluid control device. 7. A semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, wherein the fluid control device according to claim 1 is used to control the process gas in a manufacturing process of a semiconductor device that requires a process step of processing gas in a closed chamber.