KR20070014856A - Faultfinder for mass flow controller - Google Patents

Abstract

A fault finder for a mass flow controller is provided to accurately adjust mass flow by detecting an operation error due to an abnormal operation voltage, which is supplied to the mass flow controller. A fault finder for a mass flow controller includes a detector(222), a comparator(223), and a controller(221). The detector detects the operation voltage of the mass flow controller. The comparator compares the operation voltage with a predetermined reference voltage. The operation voltage is detected by the detector. The controller generates an interlock, when the operation voltage from the comparator is greater than the reference voltage. The fault finder also includes a reference voltage setting unit(225), an alarm unit(226), and a display unit(224).

Description

Faultfinder for mass flow controller

1 is a block diagram of a gas supply line for manufacturing a semiconductor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a block diagram showing a malfunction detection device of the flow regulator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

** Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings **

110. Supply piping

200 ... flow regulator

210.Power supply

220 ... Malfunction detector

221 control unit

222.Detection

223.Comparative

224 Display

225 ... Settings

226.

The present invention relates to a malfunction detection device for a flow regulator, and more particularly, to a malfunction detection device for a flow regulator for detecting a malfunction caused by an abnormal operation voltage of the flow regulator.

The flow regulator is for quantitatively supplying the required fluid in a set amount. This flow regulator is also widely used in semiconductor manufacturing equipment. The semiconductor manufacturing process uses various kinds of reaction gases and flow regulators are used to control the supply of these reaction gases.

The semiconductor manufacturing process forms a fine circuit pattern on a wafer while repeatedly performing a plurality of unit processes. And various kinds of gases are used to proceed these unit processes. However, when the gas supply amount is not constant or the gas supply is suddenly cut off, the process yield is drastically reduced because it leads to the disposal of the wafer itself in process. That is, the loss is very large because the wafer itself, which has undergone many processes in advance, must be discarded.

Conventional semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is not intended to separately detect the abnormal state of the flow controller. Therefore, if a problem occurs in the flow rate even finely, it can not be detected in advance, there is a problem that the process control for the abnormality of the flow regulator is very weak.

The present invention is to solve the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a malfunction detection device for a flow regulator to detect the malfunction state in real time by comparing the operating voltage of the flow regulator with a reference voltage set by the user will be.

Malfunction detection device of the flow regulator according to the present invention for achieving the above object is a sensing unit for detecting the operating voltage of the flow regulator; A comparison unit comparing the operation voltage of the flow controller sensed by the detection unit with a preset reference voltage; And a controller configured to generate an interlock when the operation voltage compared by the comparison unit is other than the reference voltage.

And a setting unit configured to set the reference voltage to the comparison unit.

In addition, when the interlock occurs may further include an alarm for generating an alarm to the outside.

The display device may further include a display unit displaying the operating voltage detected by the detection unit.

Hereinafter, a malfunction detection apparatus of a flow regulator according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described.

1 is a view showing a pipe installed with a flow regulator and a malfunction detection device of the flow regulator according to an embodiment of the present invention, the configuration of the pipe is exemplarily applied to the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. In addition, as the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus applicable to this, an etching apparatus, a deposition apparatus, and various other apparatuses may be employed.

As shown in FIG. 1, when there are a plurality of supply gases, a plurality of gas supply pipes 110 is provided. In addition, a gas supply source 100 is provided at an inlet side of the supply pipe 110 and a process chamber 120 is provided at an outlet side. At the outlet side, the supply pipe 110 is divided into two branches.

The process chamber 120 is connected to one of the branched pipes, and the switch 130 is connected to the process chamber 120 before the process chamber 120. And the discharge pump 140 is connected to the other branch supply pipe 110. The discharge pump 140 is for forcibly evacuating the remaining gas remaining on the pipe after the process gas supply is cut off.

Then, the opening / closing valve 150 is provided from the downstream side of the gas supply source 100 in the supply pipe 110, and the filter 160 is subsequently provided. The first air valve 170 is installed after the filter 160, and the flow rate regulator 200 is installed downstream of the first air valve 170. In addition, a second air valve 180 is installed downstream of the flow regulator 200. Here, the first air valve 170 and the second air valve 180 preferably use a normal close valve.

The power supply 210 is connected to the flow regulator 200. The power supply 210 applies a DC voltage of 0-5V to the flow regulator 200. Here, the flow regulator 200 will be described briefly. The flow regulator 200 has a flow passage for passing the fluid, an inflow portion for introducing the fluid into the flow passage, and a discharge portion for discharging the fluid from the flow passage.

And a bypass portion for passing the fluid is disposed in the flow path adjacent to the inlet. The sample pipe is connected to the flow path, and the sample pipe is provided with a mass flow sensor to measure the mass flow rate of the fluid passing through the bypass unit. A control valve (for example, a solenoid valve) for controlling the mass flow rate of the fluid is connected between the bypass portion and the discharge portion with the flow path. The configuration of such a flow regulator can be exemplarily referred to Korean Patent Publication "10-2004-0084479".

And on one side of the flow regulator 200 is installed a malfunction detection device 220 for detecting a malfunction of the flow regulator 200. The malfunction detection device 220 detects whether the flow regulator 200 is malfunctioning by detecting whether the voltage supplied to the flow regulator 200 is properly supplied.

The malfunction of the malfunction detection device 220 will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 2, which is first connected to the flow regulator 200 to detect the voltage state supplied from the power supply 210 to the flow regulator 200. The part 222 is provided. The detector 222 may be a DC voltage detector.

And a setting unit 225 for setting an acceptable reference voltage when the user operates, and a comparison unit 223 for comparing the set reference voltage with the operating voltage sensed by the sensing unit 222. In addition, the controller 221 is configured to generate an interlock when the operating voltage is determined to be a value other than the reference voltage according to the value compared by the comparator 223.

And an alarm unit 226 for generating an alarm to the outside in accordance with the interlock generated in the control unit 221. The alarm unit 226 may be a tower lamp installed on one side of the facility, or may be a speaker for generating a voice alarm. In addition, the display unit 224 displays an operating voltage sensed by the detector 222.

Meanwhile, in another embodiment, the malfunction detection device 220 may be directly connected to the flow regulator 200 or the supply power 210, or alternatively, may be installed on any path through which a voltage is supplied.

Hereinafter, the operation of the malfunction detection device 220 of the flow regulator 200 according to the embodiment of the present invention configured as described above will be described.

The user inputs a reference voltage through the setting unit 225. This reference voltage is a voltage value within a predetermined range for the normal operation of the flow regulator 200. When the reference voltage is input and gas supply is started, the flow controller 200 supplies the gas of the adjusted flow rate to the process chamber 120.

In this case, briefly describing the operation of the flow regulator 200, the gas introduced into the flow regulator 200 is sampled while passing through the bypass unit, and the flow rate sensor senses the sampled flow rate to measure the flow rate. The measured value of the flow sensor is transmitted to a separate valve control unit (not shown), and the valve control unit compares the measurement signal with a reference signal corresponding to the preset reference flow rate, and operates the control valve to match the reference signal. By controlling the flow rate is achieved.

On the other hand, when the power supplied from the supply power supply 210 is cut off, that is, in this case may occur due to a failure of the flow sensor, or the power supply of the supply power supply 210. In the case where the flow rate sensor fails, the flow rate is continuously supplied from the flow rate regulator 200 only with the last measured measurement value. In this case, since gas is supplied in a state where no flow rate adjustment is made to the process chamber 120, it becomes a fatal cause of the process defect.

Therefore, the malfunction detection device 220 detects this. That is, the malfunction detection device 220 detects a voltage value, that is, an operating voltage supplied from the supply power supply 210 to the flow regulator 200. The detected operating voltage is compared with a reference voltage previously input by the user in the comparing unit 223.

If the compared operating voltage is a value other than the reference voltage, the controller 221 immediately generates an interlock to alert the outside through the alarm unit 226. After the alarm, the user checks this and takes the necessary follow-up. On the other hand, the user can check the operating voltage state whenever necessary through the display unit 224 can perform the appropriate device management.

On the other hand, malfunction of the flow regulator 200 may occur at any one of the flow sensor, the control valve, the power supply 210, and the like. Therefore, it is possible to detect a plurality of detection positions, and in this case, more accurate operation abnormalities and after-care can be made, thereby minimizing the process error caused by the flow regulator in the semiconductor manufacturing process.

In addition to the embodiments of the present invention as described above, some of the components may be modified and applied to various semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses and other thin film forming apparatuses. However, if the basic components of the modified embodiment includes the essential components of the present invention all should be considered to be included in the technical scope of the present invention.

The malfunction detection device of the flow regulator according to the present invention as described above detects an operation error that may occur according to the supply voltage supplied to the flow regulator during the semiconductor manufacturing process by the operation failure and the process according to the flow control failure This has the effect of minimizing errors.

Claims (4)

Sensing unit for detecting the operating voltage of the flow regulator; A comparison unit comparing the operation voltage of the flow controller sensed by the detection unit with a preset reference voltage; And a control unit for generating an interlock when the operating voltage compared by the comparing unit is other than the reference voltage. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a setting unit configured to set the reference voltage to the comparison unit. The malfunction detection apparatus of a flow regulator according to claim 1, further comprising an alarm unit for generating an alarm to the outside when the interlock occurs. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a display unit which displays the operation voltage sensed by the detection unit.

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