KR100210598B1 - Sample supply apparatus for testing particle counter - Google Patents

Abstract

And more particularly, to a standard sample supply device and a sample manufacturing method for particle counter calibration, which are improved to easily calibrate a particle counter for confirming the particle distribution state of a semiconductor device manufacturing line and a process facility.

The present invention relates to a method for preparing a standard sample, comprising: a first step of cleaning a container of a predetermined volume with air; a second step of injecting a predetermined amount of standard sample into the container in an atmosphere of a predetermined degree of cleanliness or lower; A third step of filling the sample, and a fourth step of sealing the standard sample and the container filled with air, and then connecting the sample to the particle counter.

Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to improve the workability by simplifying the calibration and calibration work of the particle counter, and it is possible to perform the calibration work using the standard particles of constant density and constant density at all times, There is an effect that can be surely done.

Description

Standard sample feeder for sample particle counter and sample preparation method

The present invention relates to a standard sample supply device for sample particle counting and a method of manufacturing a sample, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for easily supplying standard particles for calibrating a particle counter for confirming the particle distribution state of a semiconductor device manufacturing line, And more particularly, to a standard sample supply apparatus for particle counter calibration and a sample preparation method.

Generally, the manufacturing facilities and the clean room of a factory for manufacturing a semiconductor device must be managed such that the air is maintained in a highly clean state, and the particles contained in the air of the manufacturing facility and the clean room are mainly used in a particle counter The quantity per unit volume is checked.

The light scattering type counter usually uses a helium-neon or an argon discharge lamp as an internal light source. Recently, semiconductor lasers have been used to improve the performance thereof. However, when high precision is not required, a conventional counter using a halogen light source is widely used.

The coefficient of particles contained in the air depends on the life time of the light source of the counter and the presence or absence of pollution such as a lens and a reflector. When the measurement state changes abruptly, the counter is checked, If the efficiency of the particle counter is below a certain level, it should be corrected.

FIG. 1 shows a system for performing calibration of a conventional particle counter.

The conventional particle counter 10 is connected to a signal analyzer 12 for displaying and analyzing the result of the counting and is configured to be connected to a probe (not shown) to introduce a standard sample into the air inlet for collecting air.

The standard sample may be generated and supplied by a device composed of a standard particle generator 14, a purge filter 16 and a purge pump assembly 18.

Here, the standard particle generator 14 is internally connected with a dryer 20, a sprayer 22, and a concentration control valve 24 in sequence, and the sprayer 22 is supplied with ultrapure water for spraying Consists of. The concentration control valve 24 is configured to control the concentration of impurities supplied to the particle counter 10 by adjusting the amount of air that is pumped in the purge pump assembly 18 and filtered in the purge filter 16 have.

However, the above-described conventional system has various problems in installation and use.

First, for calibration, a clean laboratory of at least Class 1000 (a level where particles of 0.1 μm existed at less than 1000 per cubic foot) was required. Second, for calibration, the atomic principle was used A commercially available particle generator should be installed as complicated as shown in FIG. 1; and third, even if a skilled worker takes time to set a verification condition after installing the apparatus as shown in FIG. 1, Fourth, there was a problem in the particle counter, and there was an inconvenience to transfer it to the laboratory if the user wanted to calibrate the particle.

Fifth, a complicated preliminary work such as preparing polystyrene latex as a standard sample at a high concentration and preparing ultrapure water for spraying only the required standard particles in order to avoid external contamination was required.

Sixth, the calibration process depends on the operator's skilled eyes after optical signals are converted into electrical signals by fine particles. Therefore, the electric pulse value is changed inaccurately according to the concentration of the standard particles applied to the measuring apparatus, It was difficult to obtain the calibration result. Finally, when changing particle size to be tested, it was necessary to separate the atomizer, clean it with ultrapure water, and then inject the standard sample to be tested with ultrapure water.

As described above, since the configuration of the system, the work environment setting and the counting process for performing the calibrating of the conventional particle counter have been considerably complicated, considerable inconvenience has arisen and the work efficiency has been reduced accordingly.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a standard sample supply device for particle counter calibration for easily calibrating by supplying a standard sample with a particle counter to be calibrated.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a method of preparing a standard sample for assaying a particle counter capable of storing a standard sample of a predetermined concentration in a container in advance so as to facilitate the calibrating operation of a wave counter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a view showing a conventional standard sample supply device for particle counter calibration. FIG.

2 is a view showing an embodiment of a standard sample feeding device for particle counter assay according to the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE REFERENCE NUMERALS

10: Particle counter 12: Signal analyzer

14: Standard particle generator 16: Purge filter

18: purge pump assembly 20: dryer

22: atomizer 24: concentration control valve

30: container 32: stopper

34, 42: valve 36, 40: piping

38: tube 44: filter

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a standard sample supply device for particle counter measurement for measuring particles in an air, the standard sample supply device comprising: And a post-sealed volume of the first container is connected to the particle counter.

It is preferable that the concentration adjusting filter is provided in the branch pipe branching to the piping connecting the first container and the particle counter, and is configured to adjust the supply amount by constituting the first valve in the sealing portion of the first container.

The end portion of the pipe may be branched into a plurality of pipes, and the first container and the second container filled with the compressed air may be connected in parallel to the branched end, and a plurality of gases may be mixed and supplied to the particle counter .

It is preferable that the concentration-adjusting filter is configured to be capable of filtering particles having a diameter of at least 0.1 탆 or more, and it is preferable that the branch valve is provided with a second valve.

Further, the standard sample of 0.5 mm liters to 1.5 mm liters can be introduced into the first container having a capacity of 5 liters to 15 liters, and the standard sample is a polystyrene latex having a diameter within a range of 0.1 m to 0.3 m (Polystyrene latex).

A method of manufacturing a standard sample sample for assaying a particle counter according to the present invention is a method for preparing a standard sample sample for assaying a particle counter for measuring particles in air, comprising the steps of: A second step of injecting a predetermined amount of standard sample into the container in a cleanliness of the standard sample, a third step of filling the container into which the standard sample is injected, and a third step of sealing the standard sample and the container filled with air It consists of four steps.

Preferably, the second step is performed in a clean environment in which impurities are present in an amount of not more than 1000 per unit cubic feet, and the third step is to fill the filter with air filtered to have a degree of contamination of a certain level or less with the filter .

Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring to FIG. 2, an embodiment of the present invention is configured to mount a sample in which a predetermined volume of polystyrene latex is injected into a particle counter to supply a standard particle to a particle counter.

The method of preparing the sample is as follows: First, a cleaned 10-liter container 30 is prepared, and then the inside is cleaned with high-purity air and then moved to a clean room having a degree of contamination of less than class 10 and polystyrene latex is injected with about 1 mmℓ as standard particles . Thereafter, the inside is filled with high-pressure air that has been filtered and has high cleanliness, and then the container is sealed with a stopper 32.

The plug 32 is connected to a pipe 36 provided with a valve 34 for controlling the discharge amount.

A plurality of samples including standard particles having diameters of different sizes such as 0.1 탆 or 0.3 탆 are prepared and stored as described above.

The standard sample supply device for assaying a particle counter according to the present invention using the above-described sample includes a sample, a tube 38 connected to the sample, and a pipe 40 connected between the tube 38 and the particle counter 10 And the pipe 40 has a branch pipe in which a valve 42 is installed at an intermediate portion and a filter 44 for filtering particles having a size of 0.1 μm or more is formed at the end of the branch pipe.

Therefore, when a particle counter for measuring particles in the air is calibrated, a sample filled with a standard particle of an appropriate size among a sample prepared in advance is selected and connected to the particle counter 10.

That is, the tube 38 is connected to the end of the pipe 36 connected to the plug 32 of the container 30, and the pipe 40 is formed between the tube 38 and the particle counter 10.

When the supply amount of the standard particles is adjusted by the valve 34, the standard particles are supplied to the particle counter 10, and the concentration of the supplied standard particles is mixed through the filter 44 according to the opening / closing degree of the valve 42 Depending on the amount of air being blown.

Therefore, the standard particle is supplied to the particle counter 10 at an appropriate concentration, and the result that is counted as the particle counter 10 is operated is displayed through the signal analyzer 12. [ The operator judges the result of the display through the signal analyzer 12, judges the state of the particle counter 10, and performs a correction operation when an abnormality is checked.

The embodiment can replace the functions of a standard particle generator, a purge filter and a purge pump assembly constituting a conventional atomizer and a dryer as a sample, and can always perform a test by selecting an appropriate particle size among the stored samples when necessary .

When a plurality of end portions of the pipe 40 are used, it is possible to perform various tests by combining samples containing different contents of particles or particles of different sizes at each end.

Therefore, it is possible to simplify the calibration work of the particle measuring instrument, and to supply precise amount of the standard sample filled with the constant pressure and constant density, the reliability of the calibration work of the particle measuring instrument is greatly improved.

When the pressure gauge and the flow meter are constructed in the pipe 40, the flow rate of the standard sample can be appropriately controlled.

Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to improve the workability by simplifying the calibration and calibration work of the particle counter, and it is possible to perform the calibration work using the standard particles of constant density and constant density at all times, There is an effect that can be surely done.

While the invention has been shown and described with reference to certain exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims (11)

A standard sample feeding device for assaying a particle counter for measuring particles in air, Wherein the reference sample is filled with air at a predetermined concentration, and then the sealed first container having a predetermined volume is connected to the particle counter. The method according to claim 1, Wherein the first valve is configured to adjust the amount of supply supplied to the sealing portion of the first container. The method according to claim 1, Wherein a concentration adjusting filter is provided in a branch pipe branching to a pipe connecting the first container and the particle counter. The method of claim 3, Wherein the end of the pipe is divided into a plurality of parts and the first container and the second container filled with the compressed air are connected in parallel to the branched end to mix and supply the plurality of gases to the particle counter. Standard sample feeder for particle counter calibration. The method of claim 3, Wherein the concentration adjusting filter is capable of filtering particles having a diameter of at least 0.1 mu m or more. The method of claim 3, And a second valve is provided in the branch pipe. The method according to claim 1, Wherein the standard sample is fed into the first container having a capacity of 5 liters to 15 liters and the standard sample is fed with 0.5 mm liters to 1.5 mm liters of the standard sample. The method according to claim 1, Wherein the standard sample is a polystyrene latex having a diameter within a range of 0.1 mu m to 0.3 mu m. A method of producing a standard sample for assaying a particle counter for measuring particles in air, A first step of cleaning the container of a predetermined capacity with air; A second step of injecting a predetermined amount of a standard sample into the vessel in a below-cleanliness atmosphere at a predetermined level; A third step of filling air into the container into which the standard sample is injected; And A fourth step of sealing the container filled with the standard sample and the air; Wherein the method comprises the steps of: 10. The method of claim 9, Wherein the second step is performed in a clean atmosphere in which impurities exist in 1000 or less per unit cubic feet. 10. The method of claim 9, Wherein the third step comprises filling the filtered air with the filter so as to have a degree of contamination below a predetermined level by the filter.