KR20000020883A - Apparatus for preventing air inflow of semiconductor automatic etching equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An apparatus for preventing an air inflow of a semiconductor automatic etching equipment is provided to replace and repair a valve by intercepting the inflow of the exterior air. CONSTITUTION: A first valve(26) is provided between a chamber(10) and a chamber side valve(19). A second valve(28) is provided between a pump(12) and a pump side valve(21). A vacuum line(16) is provided to the pump side valve. A gas supplying line(14) is provided to the chamber side valve. A gas assembly comprises a 3 way valve(24), an air valve(22), a flux controller(18), and an air valve(20). Thereby, an air is not flowed in the chamber in replacing and repairing the valve.

Description

Air inflow prevention device of semiconductor automatic etching facility

The present invention relates to a device for preventing air inflow of a semiconductor automatic etching apparatus, and more particularly, to a front end of each device to block the inflow of air into a process chamber or a vacuum pump while repairing a valve installed in a line supplied from a gas assembly. The present invention relates to an air inflow prevention device for a semiconductor automatic etching installation further comprising an intermittent valve.

The process is performed after a vacuum is formed in a process chamber such as an automatic etching facility installed in a semiconductor device manufacturing line, and when a process is completed, a workpiece such as a wafer is transferred while a predetermined level of vacuum is maintained. This vacuum is particularly important in the semiconductor device manufacturing process, which requires cleanliness. When the vacuum is resolved and frequently converted to atmospheric pressure, the process chamber is contaminated and the vacuum pump must be operated excessively in order to become vacuum again. . In addition, it is required not to release the vacuum as much as possible even if it is necessary to check a predetermined part where the vacuum is formed for repair.

An example of a process chamber in which a process gas is supplied to perform a process is shown in FIG. 1 shows an example of an automatic etching facility of a conventional semiconductor device manufacturing facility, wherein a process chamber 10 and a vacuum pump 12 are connected to a gas supply line 14 and a vacuum line 16, respectively. Chamber-side valves 19 and pump-side valves 21 are provided on the lines 14 and 16, respectively.

Lines to which these valves 19 and 21 are connected are provided with lines for supplying various gases, respectively, and three-way valves 24, air valves 22, and flow controllers 18 are sequentially provided from a gas supply unit (not shown). And an air valve 20.

In the conventional automatic etching facility configured as described above, the vacuum pump 12 is operated by a control operation of a predetermined controller (not shown) to form a vacuum in the process chamber 10, and the chamber side valve 19 is closed. Process gas is supplied from the supply unit to the process chamber 10 to perform the process. When the process is completed, the gas supply is stopped, the air valve 20 and the chamber side valve 19 are closed, the pump side valve 21 is opened, and the vacuum pump 12 operates to maintain the gas. Discharged.

As the flow of this process continues, an accident occurred in which opening and closing of the air valve 20 and the chamber side valve 19 were not made correctly. The opening and closing of the air valve 20 is made of a reciprocating motion of the tip (tip) formed therein, it is caused by the wear of the tip by repeated reciprocating motion. As a result, the tip must be replaced according to the state of the tip. In order to replace the tip, the valve was dismantled while the equipment was stopped.

By the way, it is easy to replace the air valve 22 provided at the front end of the flow controller 18, while the process chamber at the time of tip replacement of the air valve 20 and the chamber side valve 19 provided at the rear end External air flows into the 10 and the vacuum line 16 and is contaminated by particles, or the vacuum pump 12 is damaged due to an unstable vacuum inside the process chamber 10.

Therefore, in the related art, when the tip of the valve, which is not smoothly opened or closed, is replaced as described above, the vacuum atmosphere of the vacuum line 16 or the process chamber 10 becomes unstable due to the inflow of external air, and the vacuum pump ( There was a problem such as damage to the operation of 12).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a device for preventing air inflow of a semiconductor automatic etching facility, which allows the valve to be repaired and replaced while blocking the inflow of external air into the process chamber while maintaining a stable atmosphere in which a vacuum is formed. have.

1 is a view showing a gas supply line of a conventional semiconductor automatic etching facility.

2 is a view showing an embodiment of the air inflow prevention apparatus of the semiconductor automatic etching facility according to the present invention.

※ Explanation of codes for main parts of drawing

10: process chamber 12: vacuum pump

14 gas supply line 16 vacuum line

18: flow controller 19: chamber side valve

20, 22: air valve 21: pump side valve

24: 3-way valve 26, 28: intermittent valve

In order to achieve the above object, the apparatus for preventing air inflow of a semiconductor automatic etching apparatus according to the present invention includes a process gas supplied to a gas assembly having an air valve for opening and closing at a rear end through a line, and a single gas supply line from the gas assembly. A process gas is supplied to a process chamber in which a chamber side valve is installed through the process chamber, and a vacuum pump having a pump side valve is installed in a vacuum line branched to the gas supply line. A first valve provided between the side valve and the second valve provided between the vacuum pump and the pump side valve is provided so that air does not flow into the process chamber and the vacuum pump when the air valve is repaired. Valve 1 and valve 2 are automatic or manual Solvent operated valves may be used.

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

FIG. 2 is a view showing an air inflow prevention apparatus of an automatic etching apparatus according to the present invention. In the same or the same members described with reference to FIG.

Referring to FIG. 2, an intermittent valve 26 is installed between the process chamber 10 and the chamber side valve 19 of the gas supply line 14, and the vacuum pump 12 and the pump of the vacuum line 16 are provided. An intermittent valve 28 is provided between the side valves 21.

When the process is in progress, the process gas from the gas supply unit (not shown) passes through the three-way valve 24 and the air valve 22, and through the flow controller 18 to adjust the amount supplied according to the gas is set differently do. Here, the three-way valve 24 is provided with a separate line (not shown) for supplying and purging nitrogen gas. Then, the process gas is supplied to the process chamber 10 through the chamber side valve 19 and the intermittent valve 26 through the air valve 20 provided at the rear end of the flow controller 18.

When the process is completed, all the valves except the intermittent valve 28 and the pump side valve 21 are closed, and the vacuum pump 12 is operated to discharge the gas remaining in the line. The gas assembly of the present invention refers to a structure in which the above-described three-way valve 24, air valve 22, flow controller 18, and air valve 20 are assembled.

If an abnormality occurs in the air valve 20, the chamber side valve 19, and the pump side valve 21 during the process or during the maintenance work, it should be repaired or replaced. At this time, the valve is disassembled and replaced or repaired. In most repairs, a tip (not shown) formed in the valves 19, 20, and 21 is replaced.

For the purpose of replacement or repair, the intermittent valves 26 and 28 are sealed, and then the valves 19, 20 and 21 are disassembled and the work is performed to the outside of the vacuum pump 12 and the process chamber 10. Ingress of air is prevented.

The chamber side valve 19 and the pump side valve 21 are each supplied with an open / close signal through different lines, and the open / close states are different from each other. That is, the chamber side valve 19 is opened and the pump side valve 21 is closed while the process is in progress. When the process is completed, the pump side valve 21 is opened and the chamber side valve 19 is closed.

These intermittent valves 26 and 28 may use automatic valves that are automatically opened and closed according to the convenience or the installed state of the equipment, and may be configured as valves that can be opened and closed manually.

As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the air valve 20 is repaired by installing the control valves 26 and 28 to prevent the inflow of external air into the vacuum pump 12 and the process chamber 10. And the replacement is made has the advantage of preventing contamination by external air.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the work performed to replace the valve requiring repair is smoothly performed, and contamination of the process chamber and the vacuum line from the outside air is prevented.

Although the present invention has been described in detail only with respect to the described embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations are possible within the technical scope of the present invention, and such modifications and modifications are within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims (1)

The process gas is supplied to a gas assembly having an air valve for opening and closing at a rear end through a line, and the process gas is supplied from the gas assembly to a process chamber in which a chamber side valve is installed through a single gas supply line. In a semiconductor automatic etching equipment comprising a vacuum pump provided with a pump side valve in a branched vacuum line, A first valve disposed between the process chamber and the chamber side valve; And A second valve disposed between the vacuum pump and the pump side valve; Is provided with a device for preventing the air inlet of the semiconductor automatic etching equipment, characterized in that the air is not made to flow into the process chamber and the vacuum pump when repairing the air valve.