JPH109133A - Vacuum device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve an operation rate by facilitating exchange of a vacuum gauge which is mounted on a high vacuum pump of a vacuum device at the time of breakage. SOLUTION: A vacuum gauge 16 is connected to a criopump 10 by means of a detachably attachment part 18, a first piping 31, a first valve 32 and a second piping 33. The first piping 31 is connected to a rotary pump 20 by means of a first exhaust air pipe 34, a second valve 35 and a second exhaust pipe 36. The first piping 31 is connected to a leak gas supply source 40 by means of a first leak piping 37, a third valve 38, and a second leak piping 39. It is thus possible to remarkably improve an operation rate of a vacuum device.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vacuum apparatus, and more particularly, to a vacuum apparatus in which a vacuum gauge is attached to a high vacuum pump of the vacuum apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Vacuum apparatuses are widely used in various industrial fields. For example, only in the field of manufacturing semiconductor devices, an ion implantation apparatus, a sputtering apparatus, an etching apparatus and a CV apparatus are used.
A vacuum device such as a D device is used. Examples of these vacuum devices will be described with reference to FIG. Vacuum device 1
Comprises a processing chamber 2 and an exhaust system 3 for evacuating the processing chamber 2. The exhaust system 3 includes a high vacuum pump such as a cryopump 10 and a rotary pump 20.
There is.

A cryopump 10 has a gate valve 11.
And is connected to the rotary pump 20 via an exhaust pipe 12, and a valve 13 is provided in the exhaust pipe 12. In addition, cryopump 1
0 is provided with a leak pipe 14, and a valve 15 is provided in the middle of the leak pipe 14. Further, the cryopump 10 is provided with a vacuum gauge 16 such as a hot cathode ionization vacuum gauge capable of measuring the degree of vacuum in the cryopump 10 and capable of measuring a high vacuum region via a pipe 17 and a detachable portion 18 of the vacuum gauge 16. Connected.

[0004] The rotary pump 20 is connected to the processing chamber 2 by an exhaust pipe 21, and a valve 22 is provided in the exhaust pipe 21. A leak pipe 23 for leaking the exhaust pipes 12 and 21 on the rotary pump 20 side to make the vacuum side of the rotary pump 20 normal pressure is provided in the exhaust pipe 12 or 21 on the rotary pump 20 side. Is provided with a valve 24 in the middle.

In operation of the vacuum apparatus 1, first, the rotary pump 20 is operated, the valve 13 is opened, and the inside of the cryopump 10 is evacuated. After the inside of the cryopump 10 is sufficiently evacuated by the rotary pump 20, the cryopump 10 is operated, and the valve 13 is closed when the evacuation operation by the cryopump 10 starts. Thereafter, while the vacuum gauge 16 is operated to measure the degree of vacuum of the cryopump 10, it is confirmed that the inside of the cryopump 10 has a sufficiently high vacuum. After the cryopump 10 has a sufficiently high vacuum, the processing chamber 2
First, the valve 22 is opened, and the inside of the processing chamber 2 is evacuated by the rotary pump 20. After the inside of the processing chamber 2 is sufficiently evacuated by the rotary pump 20, the valve 22 is closed, and then the gate valve 11 is opened, and the inside of the processing chamber 2 is evacuated by the cryopump 10. Perform the processing of the processed material. The processing operation by the vacuum device 1 is usually performed continuously, and the cryopump 1
Numeral 0 indicates an exhaust operation state, and preparation for the processing operation is performed only by exhausting the processing chamber 2 by the rotary pump 20 and operating the gate valve 11. Therefore, in the normal continuous processing operation, there is no need to perform the exhaust operation in the cryopump 10 described above.

However, in the conventional vacuum apparatus 1 in which the vacuum gauge 16 such as a hot cathode ionization vacuum gauge capable of measuring a high vacuum is installed in the cryopump 10, if the vacuum gauge 16 is damaged due to a break in the heater of the hot cathode or the like. You must do the following work. First, the operating state of the cryopump 10 is stopped. Next, the valve 15 is opened, and N ₂ gas is introduced into the cryopump 10 from the leak pipe 14. When the inside of the cryopump 10 reaches the atmospheric pressure, the damaged gauge 16 is removed from the attaching / detaching section 18, and a new gauge 16 is attached to the attaching / detaching section 18. Then valve 15
Is closed, the inside of the cryopump 10 is evacuated to a high vacuum by the same operation as the operation of the vacuum device 1 described above.

In the vacuum gauge 16 such as a hot cathode ionization vacuum gauge, breakage of the vacuum gauge 16 due to disconnection of the heater of the hot cathode frequently occurs due to heater life or troubles in the vacuum device. It must be stopped and the gauge must be replaced as described above. Such a vacuum gauge 16
Since much time is required for replacing the vacuum gauge due to breakage of the vacuum gauge, the conventional vacuum device 1 has a problem that the operating rate of the vacuum device 1 is greatly reduced.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems in the vacuum apparatus. That is, an object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum apparatus which facilitates replacement work of a vacuum gauge attached to a high vacuum pump of a vacuum apparatus when the gauge is broken, and improves an operation rate.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A vacuum apparatus according to the present invention is proposed to solve the above-mentioned problems. In a vacuum apparatus having a vacuum gauge mounted on a high vacuum pump, a vacuum gauge and a high vacuum pump are provided. And a first pipe, a first valve, and a second pipe for connecting the first pipe and the low vacuum pump.
, A second valve, and a second exhaust pipe were provided, and a first leak pipe, a third valve, and a second leak pipe for connecting the first pipe and a leak gas supply source were provided. It is characterized by the following.

According to the present invention, when the vacuum gauge attached to the high vacuum pump is broken, the evacuation operation of the high vacuum pump is stopped by opening and closing the first, second and third valves. Without changing the gauge.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The same components as those in FIG. 2 referred to in the description of the prior art are denoted by the same reference numerals.

Embodiment 1 This embodiment is an example in which the present invention is applied to a vacuum apparatus, which will be described with reference to FIG. First, vacuum device 1
As shown in FIG. 1, the basic configuration is almost the same as that of FIG. 2 shown as a conventional example, and the description of the same basic components as those of the conventional example is omitted. Vacuum gauge 16 attached to cryopump 10 in vacuum device 1 of the present embodiment.
Is attached to the cryopump 10 via the attachment / detachment part 18 of the vacuum gauge 16, the first pipe 31, the first valve 32, and the second pipe 33. Also, the first pipe 31
Is connected to the rotary pump 20 by a first exhaust pipe 34, a second valve 35, and a second exhaust pipe 36.
Further, the first pipe 31 has a first leak pipe 37 and a third leak pipe 37.
A valve 38 and a second leak pipe 39 are connected to a leak gas supply source 40 for supplying a leak gas such as N ₂ gas. In order to measure the degree of vacuum in the cryopump 10 as accurately as possible, the second pipe 33, the first pipe 31, the first exhaust pipe 34, and the first
It is desirable to use the first valve 32 having a large conductance when opened, by making the leak pipe 37 as short as possible to reduce the internal volume of the pipe.

Next, the operation of the vacuum apparatus 1 of the present embodiment is basically the same as the operation of the vacuum apparatus 1 described in the conventional example, and the description of the same operation will be omitted. At the time when the inside of the cryopump 10 is exhausted by the rotary pump 20, the second valve 35 and the third valve 38 are in a closed state, the first valve 32 is in an open state, and then the cryopump is After the evacuation operation by 10 is started, the vacuum gauge is operated to measure the degree of vacuum of the cryopump 10 and confirm that the inside of the cryopump 10 has a sufficiently high vacuum.

If the vacuum gauge 16 is broken for any reason during the processing operation in the vacuum apparatus 1, the first valve 32 is closed, the third valve 38 is opened, and the N ₂ gas is supplied from the leak gas supply source 40. Is introduced into the first leak pipe 37, the first pipe 31, the first exhaust pipe 34, etc., and these parts are brought to atmospheric pressure.
The damaged vacuum gauge 16 is removed from the attaching / detaching portion 18 of FIG. 6, and a new gauge 16 is attached to the attaching / detaching portion 18.

Then, after closing the third valve 38, the second valve 35 is opened, and the first leak pipe 37, the first
The gas inside the pipe 31 and the first exhaust pipe 34 is exhausted by the rotary pump 20. After the inside of these pipes has been sufficiently exhausted, the second valve 35 is closed, then the first valve 32 is opened, and the inside of the above-described pipe is exhausted by the cryopump 10, and then the vacuum gauge 16 is operated.

The operation of replacing the vacuum gauge 16 described above can be performed without stopping the evacuation operation of the cryopump 10. Therefore, the replacement operation is completed in a short time, and the processing operation in the vacuum device can be started without substantially reducing the operation rate of the vacuum device.

Since the vacuum apparatus 1 of the present embodiment uses the cryopump 10 as a high vacuum pump, the high vacuum pump is used for high vacuum evacuation in the cryopump 10 and high vacuum evacuation of the processing chamber 2. Does not require the rotary pump 20 as a backup exhaust of
The vacuum apparatus 1 using an oil diffusion pump, a turbo molecular pump, or the like as the high vacuum pump requires a rotary pump 20 as a backup exhaust of the high vacuum pump when the inside of the high vacuum pump and the inside of the processing chamber 2 are evacuated to a high vacuum. I do.
In the vacuum apparatus 1 using such a high vacuum pump, it is desirable to use, as the second valve 35, a variable flow rate valve such as a needle valve capable of adjusting the flow rate.

The reason is that when the rotary pump 20 is operating as a backup exhaust of an oil diffusion pump or the like, the first leak pipe 3
7. A valve 35 for exhausting the gas inside the first pipe 31 and the first exhaust pipe 34 with the rotary pump 20.
When the is opened, the pressure of the backup exhaust system such as oil diffusion pump and turbo molecular pump temporarily rises to about atmospheric pressure,
Not only does the pumping capacity of the high vacuum pump decrease,
This is because there is a possibility that the exhaust function of these high vacuum pumps may be damaged.

Therefore, when replacing the vacuum gauge 16 of the high vacuum pump as described above, the flow rate variable valve used as the second valve 35 is adjusted to reduce the degree of vacuum of the backup exhaust system of the high vacuum pump. The first pipe 31 or the like may be evacuated in a state where the temperature is not lowered.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiment, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment. For example, the high vacuum gauge 16 has been described as a hot cathode ionization gauge, but may be a cold cathode ionization gauge. In addition, the cryopump 10 has been described as the high vacuum pump, but a sputter ion pump or a getter pump may be used, and an oil diffusion pump or a turbo molecular pump may be used as described above. Further, the exhaust of the first pipe 31 and the like is performed by the rotary pump 2 used for exhausting the cryopump 10 and the processing chamber 2.
However, it is also possible to provide a rotary pump different from the rotary pump 20 and connect the second exhaust pipe 36 to the rotary pump to exhaust the first pipe 31 and the like. .

[0021]

As is apparent from the above description, the vacuum apparatus of the present invention does not stop the evacuation operation of the high vacuum pump.
When the vacuum gauge attached to the high vacuum pump is damaged, it can be replaced. Therefore, the operation rate of the vacuum device can be greatly improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a vacuum device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a conventional vacuum device.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Vacuum apparatus, 2 ... Processing chamber, 3 ... Exhaust system, 10 ... Cryopump, 11 ... Gate valve, 12, 21 ... Exhaust pipe,
13, 15, 22, 24: Valve, 14, 23: Leakage pipe, 16: Vacuum gauge, 17: Pipe, 18: Detachment part, 20
... Rotary pump, 31 ... First pipe, 32 ... First valve, 33 ... Second pipe, 34 ... First exhaust pipe, 35 ...
Second valve, 36 ... second exhaust pipe, 37 ... first leak pipe, 38 ... third valve, 39 ... second leak pipe, 40 ... leak gas supply source

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A vacuum device having a vacuum gauge mounted on a high vacuum pump, comprising: a detachable part of the vacuum gauge for connecting the vacuum gauge and the high vacuum pump; a first pipe; a first valve; Second
And a first pipe for connecting the first pipe and a low vacuum pump.
, A second valve, and a second exhaust pipe are provided. A first leak pipe, a third valve, and a second leak pipe for connecting the first pipe and a leak gas supply source are provided. Vacuum device characterized by the above-mentioned. 2. The vacuum apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second valve is a variable flow rate valve.