TWI835273B - Air curtain structure with blower - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention discloses an Air curtain structure with blower, including a body, a filter portion, at least one opening and a blower module. The body comprises at least one cavity, and the filter part is arranged inside the at least one cavity. The at least one opening is disposed on the top of the body, and each of the at least one openings includes a sealing portion. The blower module is sealed by the at least one opening. Moreover, the blower module includes a fixing portion and at least one blower, the fixing portion is disposed on the top of the body, the at least one fan is arranged on the fixing portion, and the at least one fan is connected to each of the sealing portions. Accordingly, the present invention can form a laminar flow air curtain barrier to block the intrusion of external moisture.

Description

Fan air curtain structure

The present invention relates to a fan air curtain structure, particularly a fan air curtain structure that can be configured in an opening between an automatic storage system (Stocker) and a mask box switch to prevent moisture intrusion.

In recent years, with the development of semiconductor technology and progress in process technology, the precision of the process has gradually changed from the early 7-nanometer process to the current 3-nanometer or even 2-nanometer process. For each link in the process, The requirements and strictness are also becoming increasingly rigorous.

Among them, for more precise processes, the reticle, which is crucial to the yield of the process, is also susceptible to moisture, oxygen, particles, molecular pollutants in the air, etc., causing defects and thus affecting the semiconductor. Manufacturing production yield. Therefore, the environment in which photomasks are stored requires very high cleanliness. In addition, humidity also needs to be strictly controlled.

Today's semiconductor factories mostly use automatic storage systems (Stockers) to store reticle pods. At the same time, technologies such as using clean dry air to supplement positive pressure gas, or using dehumidifier wheels to control humidity are also widely used.

However, as manufacturing processes become more sophisticated, it will be more difficult for existing technologies to ensure stricter gas and humidity requirements. According to the current technology, the risk that easily affects the storage of masks usually lies in the openings of the automatic storage system and the clean room mask exchanger.

Therefore, when opening and closing this opening, more precise and stringent airflow control issues can be said to be problems that need to be refined and solved in the existing technology. Specifically, please refer to Figure 5 and Figure 7. Figure 5 and 7 are, in sequence, the air field distribution diagram and the humidity distribution diagram between the prior art automatic storage system (the space on the left side of Figures 5 and 7) and the mask box switch (the space on the right side of Figures 5 and 7).

It can be seen from Figure 5 and Figure 7 that in the existing technology, when the opening between the automatic storage system and the mask box switch is opened, it cannot effectively prevent gas exchange (that is, the gas flow rate is uniform), and humidity invades the automatic storage system. The degree is high (i.e. the humidity distribution is similar to that of the right mask box switch).

Therefore, it is necessary to prevent the moisture in the clean room from spreading into the automatic storage system, and at the same time, it is necessary to reduce the loss of drier air in the automatic storage system to the clean room. Ultimately, the usage of Clean Dry Air is reduced. In order to achieve the above goals, relevant technologies are urgently needed.

In order to solve the problems mentioned in the prior art, the present invention provides a fan air curtain structure, which includes a body, a filter part, at least one opening and a fan module.

The body has at least one cavity, and the filter part is disposed in the at least one cavity. The at least one opening is provided on the top of the body, and each of the at least one opening includes a sealing portion. The fan module is closely connected to the at least one opening. Moreover, the fan module includes a fixing part and at least one fan. The fixing part is disposed on the top of the body, and the at least one fan is disposed on the fixing part, and the at least one fan is connected to each sealing part.

The above brief description of the present invention is intended to provide a basic explanation of several aspects and technical features of the present invention. The Summary of the Invention is not a detailed description of the invention, and therefore its purpose is not to specifically enumerate key or important elements of the invention, nor to define the scope of the invention. It is merely to present several concepts of the invention in a concise manner.

10: Fan air curtain structure

100:Ontology

101:Cavity

102:Filtering Department

103:Open your mouth

1031:Sealing part

1032: Path extension structure

300:Fan module

301: Fixed part

302:Fan

STS: Automatic storage system side

RPS: switch side of mask box

PT: switching port

N:fixed parts

Figure 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of the fan air curtain structure of the present invention installed between an automatic storage system (Stocker) and a mask box switch.

Figure 2 is a schematic cross-sectional structural diagram of an embodiment of the fan air curtain structure of the present invention.

Figure 3 is a schematic cross-sectional structural diagram of another embodiment of the fan air curtain structure of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic top structural view of an embodiment of the fan air curtain structure of the present invention.

Figure 5 is a gas field distribution diagram between the automatic storage system and the mask box switch in the prior art.

Figure 6 is an air field distribution diagram when the fan air curtain structure embodiment of the present invention is installed between the automatic storage system and the mask box switch.

Figure 7 is a humidity distribution diagram between the automatic storage system and the mask box switch in the prior art.

Figure 8 is a humidity distribution diagram when the fan air curtain structure embodiment of the present invention is installed between the automatic storage system and the mask box switch.

In order to understand the technical features and practical effects of the present invention, and to implement it according to the contents of the description, the preferred embodiment as shown in the drawings is further described in detail as follows: First, please refer to Figures 1-4 at the same time. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of the fan air curtain structure of the present invention installed between an automatic storage system (Stocker) and a mask box switch; Figure 2 is a schematic cross-sectional structural diagram of an embodiment of the fan air curtain structure of the present invention; Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the fan air curtain structure of the present invention. A cross-sectional structural schematic diagram of another embodiment of the air curtain structure; Figure 4 is a top structural schematic diagram of an embodiment of the fan air curtain structure of the present invention.

As shown in Figures 1, 2 and 4, the fan air curtain structure 10 of this embodiment is mainly composed of a body 100, a filter part 102, an opening 103 and a fan module 300. Specifically, the body 100 has The cavity 101 is provided, and the filter part 102 is disposed in the cavity 101 . Specifically, although the cavity 101 in this embodiment has only one space, in fact, according to different structural designs, the body 100 can also be designed to include multiple cavities 101 . Therefore, even if the cavity 101 is designed to be more than a single one, as long as the cavity 101 includes the filter part 102, these implementation modes should still be included under the concept of the present invention.

Among them, the embodiment of FIG. 1 shows the specific situation in which the fan air curtain structure 10 is installed at the switching port PT between the automatic storage system side STS and the mask box switch side RPS. According to this embodiment, the fan air curtain structure 10 is installed on the switching port PT of the STS on the side of the automatic storage system.

According to this installation situation, in Figures 5 to 8, the space constructed by the height and width on the left side of each picture represents the STS on the automatic storage system side; while the right side represents the RPS on the mask box switch side. As for the switching port PT that connects the STS on the automatic storage system side and the RPS on the mask box switch side, it will be explained first.

In this embodiment, the body 100 is a rectangular box. The filter part 102 may be a filter screen, a breathable plate, a perforated plate or a combination thereof. Specifically, the filter part 102 may also be a single-layer or multi-layer high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter, a bag filter, a flat filter, or a combination thereof. Alternatively, the filter part 102 may optionally add at least one other granular or powdery filter material, such as granular activated carbon, so that the filter part 102 can release laminar flow more stably.

In other possible implementations, the filter part 102 may be a sheet/plate made of sintered polymer material with a water absorption rate of 5% but not 0%. The sintered polymeric material may be high-density polyethylene (HDPE), ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene, UPE) or mixtures thereof. Of course, when possible, the filter part 102 may also be a plate-shaped object made of ceramic, metal or other materials, which is not limited by the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 4 , there are four openings 103 in this embodiment, and all the openings 103 are provided on the top of the body 100 . Specifically, the openings 103 of this embodiment are fixed on the center line of the top of the body 100, and are arranged staggered left and right with the fixed portion 301 standing upright in the shape of a long plate as the center.

Moreover, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 , each opening 103 in this embodiment has a sealing portion 1031 . According to this embodiment, the sealing portion 1031 is a thin-walled structure extending upward along the periphery of each opening 103 . Therefore, the shape enclosed by the thin-walled structure of the sealing portion 1031 will be consistent with the shape of the periphery of the opening 103 .

In the embodiment of FIG. 2 , since the fan module 300 of this embodiment is closely arranged with the opening 103 , it is necessary to ensure that the clean dry air (Clean Dry Air) sucked in by the fan 302 in the fan module 300 can be completely The pressure is sent into the main body 100 by the fan 302 to accumulate pressure, and is finally released through the filter part 102 stably as a laminar flow (Laminar flow).

Therefore, in the embodiment of FIG. 2 , the airtightness between the fan 302 and the sealing portion 1031 is very important. Specifically, in other possible implementations of the present invention, the thin-walled structure of the sealing portion 1031 can also be made of elastic material or add an air-tight gasket structure to enhance the airtightness between the sealing portion 1031 and the air outlet of the fan 302. sex.

If possible, as in the embodiment of FIG. 3 , a path extension structure 1032 can be provided on the sealing portion 1031 . Specifically, the path extension structure 1032 in the embodiment of FIG. 3 digs an annular groove along the bottom of the outer periphery of the sealing portion 1031 . The annular groove can be used as a path extension structure 1032 to allow the air outlet of the fan 302 to be inserted, greatly extending the path for any external gas or water vapor to invade the fan 302 and the opening 103, thus increasing the air tightness.

On the other hand, the fan module 300 of this embodiment mainly includes the fixing part 301 and the fan 302 mentioned previously in the description of FIG. 4 . Specifically, the fixing part 301 is provided with a plurality of fixing holes according to the position of the opening 103, and these fixing holes can allow the fixing member N to pass through as shown in Figures 2 to 3, and then the fan 302 can be aligned with the position of the opening 103 and then fixed.

In this embodiment, the fixing member N may be a screw, a pin, or other component that can fix the fan 302 . However, considering the particularity of the semiconductor manufacturing process, the fixing part N is usually made of materials with both wear resistance and antistatic properties, which is not limited by the present invention.

In this embodiment, the fan 302 is a side-suction fan. The reason is that the fans 302 on the left and right sides above the main body 100 can evenly introduce the clean dry air (Clean Dry Air) blown above the STS on the automatic storage system side into the cavity 101 of the main body 100 to carry out pressure. accumulation.

At the same time, since the number of fans 302 in this embodiment corresponds to four openings 103, the operating speed of each fan 302 can be automatically controlled through a device such as a programmable logic controller (PLC). . Therefore, if the environmental monitoring device (such as a barometer or hygrometer, etc.) in the STS of the automatic storage system senses an abnormal situation, the four fans 302 can automatically adjust through the programmable logic controller (PLC) connected to it. Change their respective speeds to cope with various unexpected situations.

Finally, please refer to Figures 5 to 8 at the same time. Figure 5 is an air field distribution diagram between the automatic storage system and the mask box switch in the prior art; Figure 6 is a fan air curtain structure embodiment of the present invention provided between the automatic storage system and the mask box. The air field distribution diagram between the box switch; Figure 7 is the humidity distribution diagram between the automatic storage system and the mask box switch in the prior art; Figure 8 is the fan air curtain structure embodiment of the present invention installed in the automatic storage system and the mask box switch Humidity distribution diagram between.

Specifically, Figure 5 and Figure 6 can be used as the control group; Figures 7 and 8 can be used as the control group. As shown in Figures 6 and 8, and compared with Figures 5 and 6 in sequence, it is shown that when the fan air curtain structure 10 of this embodiment is installed as shown in Figure 1, a quite effective laminar flow can be formed. It greatly changes the gas and humidity distribution between the two spaces, making the gas fields and humidity of the two spaces unique, and greatly reduces the intrusion of gas or water vapor from the RPS on the switch side of the mask box to the STS on the automatic storage system side. Effectively respond to and meet the needs of advanced semiconductor manufacturing processes.

However, the above are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, and should not be used to limit the scope of the present invention. That is, simple changes and modifications made based on the patent application scope and description content of the present invention still belong to the present invention. within the scope covered.

10: Fan air curtain structure

100:Ontology

102:Filtering Department

300:Fan module

301: Fixed part

302:Fan

STS: Automatic storage system side

RPS: switch side of mask box

PT: switching port

Claims (10)

A fan air curtain structure includes: a body having at least one cavity; a filter part disposed in the at least one cavity; at least one opening disposed on the top of the body, and each at least one opening includes a sealing part; A fan module is disposed in close contact with the at least one opening. The fan module includes: a fixing part disposed on the top of the body; at least one fan disposed on the fixing part and the at least one fan is connected to each of the seals. The fan air curtain structure is configured at the opening between the automatic storage system (Stocker) and the mask box switch. The fan air curtain structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the body is a rectangular box. The fan air curtain structure according to claim 1, wherein the filter part is a filter screen, a breathable plate, a perforated plate or a combination thereof. The fan air curtain structure according to claim 1, wherein the fixing part is in the shape of a long plate, and the at least one opening is centered on the fixing part and is staggered on the left and right sides of the fixing part. The fan air curtain structure of claim 4, wherein the number of the at least one fan is equal to the number of the at least one opening, and the air outlet of each of the at least one fan is in contact with each of the sealing parts. The fan air curtain structure according to claim 1, wherein the at least one fan is a side-suction fan. The fan air curtain structure of claim 1, wherein the sealing portion is a thin-walled structure extending upward along the periphery of each of the at least one opening. The fan air curtain structure as claimed in claim 7, wherein the sealing portion is further provided with at least one path extension structure. The fan air curtain structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sealing portion further includes at least one airtight gasket. The fan air curtain structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the fan air curtain structure is disposed in an opening between an automatic storage system and a mask box switch.