KR20080073518A - Semiconductor manufacturing equipment and method for detecting leak - Google Patents

Abstract

A semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and a method for inspecting gas leakage thereof are provided to perform a real-time gas leakage detection process without using an additional line by using a gas analyzer. A turbo pump(110) is formed to maintain constantly internal pressure of a process chamber(102). A fore-line(118) is installed between the process chamber and the turbo pump in order to discharge internal gases of the process chamber by a pumping operation of the turbo pump. A gas analyzer(108) is installed on the fore-line in order to sense gas leakage discharged through the fore-line from the process chamber in real time. The gas analyzer senses leakage of a helium gas discharged to the fore-line.

Description

Semiconductor manufacturing equipment and its gas leak inspection method {SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING EQUIPMENT AND METHOD FOR DETECTING LEAK}

1 illustrates a configuration of a semiconductor manufacturing facility according to an embodiment of the prior art;

2 illustrates a configuration of a semiconductor manufacturing facility according to another embodiment of the prior art;

3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a semiconductor manufacturing facility according to an embodiment of the present invention; And

4 is a flowchart illustrating a gas leakage inspection procedure of the semiconductor manufacturing facility according to the present invention.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

100 semiconductor manufacturing equipment 102 process chamber

104: cut-off valve 106: gate valve

108 gas analyzer 110 turbo pump

112: foreline valve 114: dry pump

116: roughing line 118: pore line

120: controller 122: scrubber

124: network

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a semiconductor manufacturing facility, and more particularly, to an apparatus and a method for detecting a gas leak in a semiconductor manufacturing facility.

In general, semiconductor manufacturing equipment uses a process chamber that processes a process in a vacuum. In these process chambers, vacuum leak prevention is of paramount importance during design, manufacture and operation. This damages or contaminates the components inside the chamber as well as the workpiece when air is introduced from the outside. Therefore, before proceeding with the process, the inside of the chamber should be evacuated, and the vacuum pump passage must be shut off and the vacuum leaked.

In general, such a semiconductor manufacturing facility is connected to a scrubber through a fore-line, which processes and discharges various kinds of harmful exhaust gases generated from a process chamber to below an appropriate standard value.

Referring to FIG. 1, a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 10 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure may include a plurality of pumps for maintaining a vacuum in a process chamber 2 and an inside of a process chamber 2 through a pore line 18. (8, 14) are connected and the vacuum inside the process chamber 2 is maintained. In addition, the process chamber 2 of the semiconductor manufacturing facility 10 is connected to the scrubber 22 through the pore line 18.

That is, in the semiconductor manufacturing facility 10, the process chamber 2 and the dry pump 14 are connected through a roughing line 16, and a cut-off valve is connected to the roughing line 16. (4). The dry pump 14 is also connected to the process chamber 2 through the foreline 18, which is the main exhaust line. Between the process chamber 2 and the dry pump 14, a gate valve 6, a turbo pump 8 and a foreline valve 12 are provided. The turbo pump 8 here is a high vacuum pump and a roughing line 16 is connected between the foreline valve 12 and the dry pump 14.

The semiconductor manufacturing facility 10 first operates the dry pump 14, which is a low vacuum pump, in order to open the cut-off valve 4 to maintain the inside of the process chamber 2 in the initial vacuum state. Subsequently, when the operation of the dry pump 14 is completed, the semiconductor manufacturing facility 10 operates the turbo pump 8 to bring the inside of the process chamber 2 into a vacuum state through the foreline 18. That is, the semiconductor manufacturing equipment 10 opens the gate valve 6 and the foreline valve 12, operates the turbopump 8, and when the vacuum state of a predetermined condition is reached, it progresses a process. At this time, a gas leak is generated on the foreline 18, and in order to detect this, the semiconductor manufacturing facility 10 is installed inside the process chamber 2, for example, at the end of the foreline 18. A helium detector 20, through which a gas leak is detected on the foreline 18. Therefore, such a semiconductor manufacturing facility 10 can not process the gas leak detection in real time, the work efficiency is low. In addition, since the helium detector 20 is expensive, the purchase cost is increased, and the worker has to install and inspect the helium detector 20 one by one to find a leak location, such as inconvenience and delay in backup time. Brings about.

As another example, referring to FIG. 2, the semiconductor fabrication facility 30 includes a gas analyzer 50 that specifically processes quantitative analysis of the gas exhausted through a separate exhaust line 52 connected to the foreline 46. Mount it. Here, detailed descriptions of components 32 to 48 using the same name as the embodiment of FIG. 1 will be omitted.

The semiconductor manufacturing facility 30 connects the gas analyzer 50 to the process chamber 32 using a separate exhaust line 52, which is complicated in structure and leaks gas from the outside into the process chamber 32. There is a problem that can not determine whether there is a gas leak because there is no detection function.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor manufacturing facility for detecting gas leaks in real time in the foreline of a process chamber.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a method of a semiconductor manufacturing facility for detecting gas leaks in real time in the foreline of a process chamber.

To achieve the above objects, the semiconductor manufacturing equipment of the present invention is characterized by having a gas analyzer in the foreline. As such, the semiconductor manufacturing facility allows for detection of gas leaks in the process chamber in real time.

The semiconductor manufacturing equipment of the present invention includes a process chamber; A turbo pump pumping the pressure inside the process chamber to be kept constant; A fore line provided between the process chamber and the turbo pump to discharge gas inside the process chamber by pumping the turbo pump; And a gas analyzer provided on the pore line and detecting a leak of gas discharged from the process chamber through the pore line in real time.

In one embodiment, the gas analyzer detects a leak of helium gas in the gas discharged to the foreline.

In another embodiment, the gas analyzer controls the process by analyzing the flow rate of the gas and the components of the gas discharged to the foreline.

In yet another embodiment, the semiconductor manufacturing equipment; The controller is connected to the gas analyzer through a network to receive and monitor the leakage of the gas, the flow rate of the gas and the information of the gas in real time, and control the process of the semiconductor manufacturing equipment in response to the monitoring. It further includes.

In yet another embodiment, the semiconductor manufacturing equipment; A dry pump secondary pumping to discharge the gas discharged from the turbo pump; And a foreline valve provided between the turbo pump and the dry pump to open and close the foreline.

According to another feature of the invention, there is provided a gas leak inspection method of a semiconductor manufacturing facility. According to this method, the flow rate and gas component of the gas discharged from the process chamber through the foreline are measured in real time. The measured gas flow rate and the gas component are analyzed to detect whether a particular gas leaks from the process chamber. Subsequently, the gas flow rate and the analysis information of the gas component provided in real time are monitored, and the semiconductor manufacturing facility is controlled to prevent a process accident when the specific gas leaks as a result of the monitoring.

In one embodiment, detecting whether the particular gas is leaking utilizes a helium detection function.

The embodiments of the present invention may be modified in various forms, and the scope of the present invention should not be interpreted as being limited by the embodiments described below. This embodiment is provided to more completely explain the present invention to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the shape of the components in the drawings, etc. have been exaggerated to emphasize a more clear description.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

3 is a view showing the configuration of a semiconductor manufacturing facility according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, the semiconductor manufacturing facility 100 includes a gas analyzer 108 that detects gas leaks in real time on the foreline 118 of the process chamber 102. In addition, the semiconductor manufacturing facility 100 is connected to a scrubber 122 for collecting the gas discharged from the process chamber 102 through the foreline 118 and discharge it to the outside. The scrubber 122 treats and discharges various types of harmful gases discharged from the process chamber 102 to below an appropriate reference value. Since the operation of the semiconductor manufacturing equipment 100 for maintaining the vacuum state of the process chamber 102 is the same as that of FIG. 1, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Specifically, the semiconductor manufacturing equipment 100 is provided on a process chamber 102 that maintains a vacuum and processes the process, and is provided on the foreline 118 to maintain a constant pressure inside the process chamber 102. (102) a turbo pump (110) for pumping out the gas inside, a foreline (118) provided between the process chamber (102) and the turbo pump (110) to exhaust the internal gas of the process chamber (102); And a gas analyzer 108 that measures gas flow rates in real time on the foreline 118, analyzes gas components and detects leakage of specific gases.

The foreline 118 is a gate valve 106 provided between the process chamber 102 and the gas analyzer 108 and a foreline valve 112 provided between the turbo pump 110 and the dry pump 114. It includes. The gate valve 106 opens and closes the foreline 118, and the foreline valve 112 causes a process accident when the dry pump 114 malfunctions due to a power failure or an overload during the process of the semiconductor manufacturing facility 100. Block the foreline 118 to prevent.

The gas analyzer 108 is connected to the controller 120 via a network (e.g., RS-232C, Ethernet DeviceNet, etc.) 124, measures and analyzes the gas flow rate of the foreline 118 and detects gas leaks. To the controller 120. For example, the gas analyzer 108 uses a helium detector to detect that a gas leak occurs from the outside into the process chamber 102.

The controller 120 is provided with, for example, a programmable logic controller (PLC), a computer system, and the like to output and monitor information transmitted from the gas analyzer 108 in real time, and from the gas analyzer 108. When it is detected that a particular gas leaks from the process chamber 102, an interlock is generated to stop all operations of the semiconductor manufacturing facility 100. In addition, the controller 120 monitors the process progress state through the flow rate and analysis content of the gas currently discharged from the gas analyzer 108, thereby determining the flow rate of the remaining gas in the process chamber 102, the safety state, and the like.

4 is a flowchart showing the operation procedure of the semiconductor manufacturing equipment according to the present invention. Here, the operation procedure will be described using the semiconductor manufacturing equipment 100 shown in FIG.

Referring to FIG. 4, the semiconductor manufacturing facility 100 measures the flow rate of the gas discharged on the foreline 118 in real time through the gas analyzer 108 in step S150, and analyzes the gas component accordingly.

In step S152 the gas analyzer 108 detects whether a particular gas leaks from the process chamber 102 by gas flow rate and analysis. At this time, the semiconductor manufacturing equipment 100 by the controller 20 to provide in real time from the gas analyzer to the controller 120 in step S154 to monitor the flow rate and analysis of the gas, and to prevent a process accident when a specific gas leaks. To control the operation.

In the above, the configuration and operation of the semiconductor manufacturing equipment according to the present invention has been shown in accordance with the detailed description and drawings, which are merely described by way of example, and various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. It is possible.

As described above, the semiconductor manufacturing equipment of the present invention is provided with a gas analyzer for detecting a gas leak in the process chamber in the foreline, a separate line is unnecessary, the configuration is simple, by detecting the gas leak in real time, the process accident Can be prevented.

Claims (7)

In semiconductor manufacturing equipment: A process chamber; A turbo pump pumping the pressure inside the process chamber to be kept constant; A fore line provided between the process chamber and the turbo pump to discharge gas inside the process chamber by pumping the turbo pump; And a gas analyzer provided on the fore line and detecting in real time a leak of gas discharged from the process chamber through the fore line. The method of claim 1, And the gas analyzer detects a leak of helium gas in the gas discharged to the foreline. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The gas analyzer is to control the process by analyzing the flow rate of the gas discharged to the fore line and the components of the gas. The method of claim 3, wherein The semiconductor manufacturing equipment; The controller is connected to the gas analyzer through a network to receive and monitor the leakage of the gas, the flow rate of the gas and the information of the gas in real time, and control the process of the semiconductor manufacturing equipment in response to the monitoring. Semiconductor manufacturing equipment further comprises. The method of claim 1, The semiconductor manufacturing equipment; A dry pump secondary pumping to discharge the gas discharged from the turbo pump; And a foreline valve provided between the turbopump and the dry pump to open and close the foreline. In the gas leak inspection method of the semiconductor manufacturing equipment: Measuring in real time the flow rate and gas composition of the gas discharged from the process chamber through the foreline; Analyze the measured gas flow rate and the gas component to detect whether a particular gas leaks out of the process chamber; next Monitoring the gas flow rate and the analysis information of the gas component provided in real time, and the semiconductor manufacturing equipment to control the semiconductor manufacturing equipment to prevent a process accident when the specific gas leaks as a result of the monitoring Leak test method. The method of claim 6, And detecting a leak of the specific gas using a helium detection function.

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