WO2012042800A1

WO2012042800A1 - Load lock apparatus, exhaust control apparatus, and method of operating load lock apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2012042800A1
Application number: PCT/JP2011/005342
Authority: WO
Inventors: 浩司柴山; 敏生鈴木
Original assignee: 株式会社アルバック
Priority date: 2010-09-28
Filing date: 2011-09-22
Publication date: 2012-04-05
Also published as: JP5493005B2; TW201304042A; JPWO2012042800A1

Abstract

[Objective] To provide a load lock apparatus wherein energy necessary for operating the load lock apparatus and peripheral apparatuses connected to the load lock apparatus can be reduced, an exhaust control apparatus to be used for the load lock apparatus, and a method of operating the load lock apparatus. [Solution] An exhaust apparatus (20) equipped for the load lock apparatus comprises a vacuum pump (21) with a motor (22) mounted thereon, a motor driver (23) (a portion or all of a drive unit) for driving the motor (22), and a regeneration unit (24) connected to the motor driver (23). The regeneration unit (24) acquires regeneration power by forcing the motor (22) of the vacuum pump (21) to decelerate. Regeneration power acquired in such a way can be used for power to drive a vacuum pump to be used in a vacuum conveyance chamber or a vacuum processing chamber to be connected to the load lock apparatus (100), or the regeneration power can be stored in a power storage unit.

Description

Load lock device, exhaust control device, and operation method of load lock device

The present invention relates to a load lock device, an exhaust control device, and an operation method of the load lock device used in a manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing, for example, a semiconductor device, FPD (Flat Panel Display) or the like.

Conventionally, in a vacuum process in the field of manufacturing semiconductor devices and FPDs, the process chamber is evacuated using a vacuum pump, and processes such as CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition), etching, and sputtering are performed.

Patent Document 1 discloses a vacuum pump control device that effectively uses energy generated with regenerative braking during deceleration of a vacuum pump motor. In this vacuum pump control device, since the rotating shaft of the motor mounted on the vacuum pump is supported in a non-contact manner by the magnetic bearing, the frictional force applied to the rotating shaft when operation is stopped is extremely small. Large inertia energy is generated by the high speed rotation of the rotating shaft, and it takes time until the rotation of the rotating shaft stops. This vacuum pump control device has a regenerative power control circuit that converts regenerative braking energy into regenerative power in order to stop its rotation in a short time, and a function for effectively using this power elsewhere. . The function for effectively using the electric power for other purposes is to return the electric power to the external power supply line or to store it in the battery (for example, refer to paragraph [0013] of the specification of Patent Document 1).

JP 2002-180990 A

By the way, in the vacuum process as described above, a load lock device that switches between atmospheric pressure and vacuum is used for transporting the substrate between the vacuum process chamber and the atmosphere side. The load lock device performs an operation of switching the atmospheric pressure and vacuum of the load lock chamber every time the substrate to be processed is carried into and out of the load lock chamber. That is, the vacuum pump connected to the load lock chamber repeats evacuation of the load lock chamber every time the substrate to be processed is carried in and out, so that a large amount of electric power is required to drive the vacuum pump. In particular, in recent years, in the field of FPD production and the like, the substrate to be processed tends to become enormous, and accordingly, the energy required for the operation of the load lock chamber and the process chamber connected thereto is increasing.

In view of the circumstances as described above, an object of the present invention is to use a load lock device that can reduce energy required for the operation of the load lock device and the operation of peripheral devices connected to the load lock device. And an operation method of the exhaust control device and the load lock device.

In order to achieve the above object, a load lock device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a load lock chamber, a vacuum pump, a drive unit, and a regenerative unit.
The vacuum pump has a motor and discharges the gas in the load lock chamber by the power of the motor.
The drive unit drives the motor of the vacuum pump so as to depressurize the load lock chamber every time a substrate to be processed is carried into the load lock chamber from the atmospheric pressure side.
The regenerative unit obtains regenerative power by decelerating the motor.

An exhaust control device according to an embodiment of the present invention is an exhaust control device used in the load lock device. The exhaust control device includes the drive unit and the regeneration unit.

In the operation method of the load lock device according to one embodiment of the present invention, the substrate to be processed is carried into the load lock chamber from the atmospheric pressure side.
The load lock chamber is depressurized by the power of a vacuum pump motor connected to the load lock chamber.
Regenerative electric power is obtained by decelerating the motor driven for decompression in the load lock chamber.

FIG. 1 is a view showing a load lock device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the exhaust device. FIG. 3 is a graph illustrating an exhaust operation method according to an embodiment of the load lock device. FIG. 4A is a graph showing an exhaust operation method of a general load lock device. FIG. 4B is a graph showing a case where the exhaust operation method shown in FIG. 4A has an idling period. FIG. 5A is a graph by simulation showing that regenerative power is obtained by forced deceleration of the motor by the regenerative unit. FIG. 5B is a graph by simulation showing the output power and the like at the time of natural deceleration of the motor corresponding to FIG. 5A. FIG. 6 shows an apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention. 7A and 7B are graphs respectively showing an exhaust operation method according to an embodiment using the electric power of the battery.

A load lock device according to one embodiment includes a load lock chamber, a vacuum pump, a drive unit, and a regenerative unit.
The vacuum pump has a motor and discharges the gas in the load lock chamber by the power of the motor.
The drive unit drives the motor of the vacuum pump so as to depressurize the load lock chamber every time a substrate to be processed is carried into the load lock chamber from the atmospheric pressure side.
The regenerative unit obtains regenerative power by decelerating the motor.

By effectively using the regenerative power obtained by the regenerative unit, it is possible to reduce the power of the power supply (supply side power supply) necessary for driving the vacuum pump. Therefore, in a load lock device that repeats decompression and release every time a substrate to be processed is loaded from the atmospheric pressure side, there is a great merit by providing a regenerative unit, which is necessary for the operation of the load lock device and its peripheral devices. Energy can be greatly reduced.

The load lock device may further include a capacitor that stores at least the regenerative power obtained by the regenerative unit. Thereby, the electric power of the capacitor can be used at a desired timing.

The motor of the vacuum pump has a state in which a larger load is applied after opening the load lock chamber to the atmosphere side than before opening to the atmosphere side due to the opening. The regenerative power stored in the capacitor may be used as part of the driving power of the motor when the large load state is reached. Thereby, the peak value of the power consumption of the power supply supplied to the drive unit of a motor can be suppressed. As a result, it is possible to reduce electrical facilities such as circuits around the power source and the regeneration unit. By reducing the electrical equipment, the cost can be reduced and the space for installing the equipment can be reduced.

The load lock device may further include the following control means. The control means is one of the electric power for driving the motor during standby at a lower power than the peak electric power for driving the motor when the load lock chamber is in a large load state after the load lock chamber is opened to the atmosphere side. And the power stored in the capacitor is used by the drive unit as part of the peak power. Thereby, the peak value of the power consumption of the power supplied to the drive unit can be suppressed, and the power consumption can be smoothed over time. Therefore, the electrical equipment can be reduced as described above, and the operation of the motor driver and the vacuum pump can be stabilized by smoothing the power consumption.

The exhaust control device according to one aspect is an exhaust control device used in the load lock device. The exhaust control device includes the drive unit and the regeneration unit.

In the operation method of the load lock device according to one embodiment, the substrate to be processed is carried into the load lock chamber from the atmospheric pressure side.
The load lock chamber is depressurized by the power of a vacuum pump motor connected to the load lock chamber.
Regenerative electric power is obtained by decelerating the motor driven for decompression in the load lock chamber.

The power required for driving the vacuum pump can be reduced by effectively using the regenerative power obtained by the deceleration of the motor driven for decompression. Therefore, a load lock device that repeatedly depressurizes and releases it every time a substrate to be processed is loaded from the atmospheric pressure side has a great advantage of obtaining regenerative power, greatly increasing the energy required for the operation of the load lock device and its surrounding devices. Can be reduced.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[First embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a load lock device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The load lock device 100 is used by being connected to a device responsible for a vacuum process among manufacturing processes of semiconductor devices, FPDs, solar panels and the like. The target substrate W to be processed is a semiconductor wafer, a glass substrate, a conductive substrate, or the like. Hereinafter, the substrate W to be processed is simply referred to as a substrate W.

Rectangular substrates such as glass substrates and conductive substrates are becoming larger year by year. In a large one, one side of the rectangle of the substrate is 1 m or more and 2 m or less, or 2 m or more and 3 m or less.

The load lock device 100 includes a load lock chamber 10, an exhaust device 20, and a control unit 30. In FIG. 1, a vacuum process chamber and a vacuum transfer chamber 42 ′ are connected to the right side of the load lock chamber 10 via a vacuum side gate valve 14. Further, an atmospheric transfer chamber 41 ′ is connected to the left side of the load lock chamber 10 through an atmospheric gate valve 12.

The vacuum transfer chamber 42 ′ transfers the substrate W between the load lock chamber 10 and the process chamber under vacuum. In the process chamber, for example, film formation by CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) or sputtering, or processing such as dry etching is performed. The atmospheric transfer chamber 41 ′ transfers the substrate W under atmospheric pressure between a storage unit such as a cassette (not shown) that stores the substrate W and the load lock chamber 10. In the following description, the left side of the load lock chamber 10 in FIG.

The manufacturing apparatus to which the load lock apparatus 100 is applied may be a multi-chamber type manufacturing apparatus having a plurality of process chambers, or may be an inline type or vertical transfer type manufacturing apparatus. Of course, this manufacturing apparatus may be a manufacturing apparatus having one process chamber and having a configuration in which the load lock chamber 10 and the process chamber are connected via the vacuum side gate valve 14.

The load lock device 100 transports the substrate W between the atmosphere side 41 and the vacuum side 42. An intake line 11 and an exhaust line 13 are connected to the load lock chamber 10, and an intake side valve 16 and an exhaust side valve 18 are connected to these

lines

11 and 13. Due to the operation of the exhaust device 20 and the opening / closing operation of the

valves

12, 14, 16, and 18, pressure fluctuations are repeated between the atmospheric pressure and a predetermined degree of vacuum in the load lock chamber 10. The load lock chamber 10 is also called a preparation chamber.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the exhaust device 20.

The exhaust device 20 is connected to an exhaust line 13 (see FIG. 1), and includes a vacuum pump 21 equipped with a motor 22, a motor driver 23 (a part or all of a drive unit) for driving the motor 22, and a motor driver 23. And a regenerative unit 24 connected to. Electric power is supplied to the motor driver 23 from a power source 29.

The motor driver 23 is typically one that drives the motor 22 by inverter control, but is not limited thereto. For example, when the motor 22 is a DC motor, it may be driven by a constant voltage, and when the motor 22 is an AC motor, it may be driven by a constant frequency.

The regenerative unit 24 obtains regenerative power by forcibly decelerating the motor 22 of the vacuum pump 21. Various known techniques can be applied to the regeneration unit 24. For example, when the motor 22 of the vacuum pump 21 is a DC motor, the regenerative unit 24 detects a regenerative overvoltage due to regenerative power (reverse power), and when this is detected, the regenerative power is consumed by the load. What is necessary is just to switch to an appropriate circuit. The load here corresponds to, for example, a power storage unit 25, a power source 29, which will be described later, or a power source used in other devices (the above-described process chamber, atmospheric transfer chamber 41 ', vacuum transfer chamber 42', etc.). On the other hand, even if the motor 22 is an AC motor, the regenerative unit 24 can extract the regenerative power if the motor driver 23 has inverter control.

The control unit 30 controls the opening / closing timing of the

gate valves

12 and 14, the intake side and exhaust side valves 18, and controls the operation of the exhaust device 20.

The control unit 30 is realized by hardware elements and software used in a computer such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and a ROM (Read Only Memory). Alternatively, the control unit 30 may be realized by a device such as a PLD (Programmable Logic Device) such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit). Similarly, the motor driver 23 is realized by these hardware, or hardware and software.

The operation of the load lock device 100 configured as described above will be described.

In the state where the intake side valve 16 is opened and the exhaust side valve 18 is closed, the atmosphere side gate valve 12 is opened, and the substrate W is carried into the load lock chamber 10 from the atmosphere side 41. After carrying in, the atmosphere side gate valve 12 is closed. When the atmosphere side gate valve 12 and the intake side valve 16 are closed and the exhaust side valve 18 is opened, the pressure in the load lock chamber 10 is lowered by the operation of the vacuum pump 21 until a predetermined degree of vacuum is reached. The predetermined degree of vacuum is the same as or slightly different from the pressure on the vacuum side 42.

When the pressure in the load lock chamber 10 reaches a predetermined degree of vacuum, the exhaust side valve 18 is closed, and then the vacuum side gate valve 14 is opened, and the substrate W is unloaded from the load lock chamber 10 to the vacuum side 42. Then, the vacuum side gate valve 14 is closed.

When the processing in the process chamber on the vacuum side 42 is completed, the vacuum side gate valve 14 is opened, the substrate W is loaded from the vacuum side 42 to the load lock chamber 10, and the vacuum side gate valve 14 is closed after loading. When the intake side valve 16 is opened, gas (typically air) enters the load lock chamber 10 and the load lock chamber 10 is at atmospheric pressure. Thereafter, the atmosphere side gate valve 12 is opened, and the substrate W is carried out from the load lock chamber 10 to the atmosphere side 41.

As described above, the load lock apparatus 100 repeats the above operation with one period from when the substrate W is carried into the load lock chamber 10 from the atmosphere side 41 to when the next substrate W is carried from the atmosphere side 41. . That is, the load lock device 100 depressurizes the load lock chamber 10 every time the substrate W is carried into the load lock chamber 10 from the atmosphere side 41.

FIG. 3 is a graph showing an exhaust operation method according to an embodiment of the load lock device 100. This graph shows the operation of the load lock device 100 for one cycle described above. One cycle is, for example, 30 to 120 seconds, 40 seconds to 90 seconds, 50 seconds to 70 seconds, or 60 seconds.

Here, with reference to FIG. 4A, an exhaust operation method of a general load lock device 100 will be described. The horizontal axis represents time (for one cycle), and the vertical axis represents the rotation speed of the motor 22 of the vacuum pump 21, the power supplied from the power supply 29 (not shown) for driving the motor 22, and the load in order from the upper graph. It is the pressure in the lock chamber 10 and the timing of opening and closing of the intake side valve 16 and the exhaust side valve 18 respectively.

In FIG. 4A, the vacuum pump 21 is operated at a predetermined rotational speed for keeping the load lock chamber 10 at a predetermined degree of vacuum. Hereinafter, this rotational speed is referred to as driving rotational speed r1. At this time, the exhaust side valve 18 is in a closed state, and the vacuum pump 21 to the exhaust side valve 18 are kept in vacuum.

Initially, when the exhaust side valve 18 is opened from such a state, the gas in the load lock chamber 10 flows into the vacuum pump 21 side, the rotational speed decreases rapidly, and the load on the motor 22 is larger than before the release to the atmosphere. It becomes a state. Hereinafter, such a large load state received by the motor 22 due to the release to the atmosphere will be referred to as a load state after the release to the atmosphere for convenience.
Immediately after being released into the atmosphere, the load on the motor 22 is thus large, so that the power supplied to the motor 22 increases. Immediately after that, the rotational speed returns to the original driving rotational speed r1, the load state ends after being released into the atmosphere, the exhaust side valve 18 is closed at time t1, and the inside of the load lock chamber 10 has a predetermined degree of vacuum (the lowest pressure on the graph) Reach v0. In the vicinity of time t1, the supplied power also returns. At time t2, the degree of vacuum v0 is maintained in the load lock chamber 10 until the intake valve 16 is opened and the load lock chamber 10 is opened to the atmosphere.

In this way, in a period other than immediately after the load lock chamber 10 is opened to the atmosphere, the motor 22 rotates at the driving rotational speed r1, and each time the atmosphere is opened, the load state is released after opening to the atmosphere and consumes power. Inefficient. Therefore, for example, an operation method as shown in FIG. 4B has been proposed in order to reduce power consumption as much as possible.

In FIG. 4B, as can be seen from the number of rotations, the method of driving the motor 22 of the vacuum pump 21 drives the motor 22 at an idling period, that is, at a rotation speed r2 lower than the drive rotation speed r1 (hereinafter referred to as idling rotation speed). Has a period (during standby). That is, during the period when the exhaust side valve 18 is closed, the vacuum pump 21 does not need to perform substantial work, and is in a standby state. In particular, considering that the rotational speed first decreases in the load state after opening to the atmosphere in FIG. 4A, it is efficient if the motor 22 is driven in an idling state in advance.

Then, after the idling period is finished and before the exhaust side valve 18 is closed, the rotational speed is increased to the driving rotational speed r1, and vacuum exhaust is performed to a predetermined degree of vacuum. With the operation method as shown in FIG. 4B having such an idling period, the energy of the hatched portion can be reduced as compared with the graph of FIG. 4A.

Next, the operation method according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the graph of FIG. This operation method has an idling period in the same manner as the method in FIG. 4B, and regenerative power is obtained by forcibly decelerating the motor 22 by the regenerative unit 24. That is, this operation method shortens the time required to reach the idling speed r2 from the driving speed r1 as compared with the method in FIG. 4B. The negative part of the supplied power obtained in this way is regenerative power (regenerative energy).

The regenerative power obtained in this way can be used as power for driving a vacuum pump used in a vacuum transfer chamber or a process chamber connected to the load lock device 100. Alternatively, as will be described in the second embodiment of the present invention, the obtained regenerative power can be stored in a capacitor.

Thus, by effectively using the regenerative power obtained by the regenerative unit 24, the power (supplied power) of the power source 29 required for driving the vacuum pump 21 can be reduced. Therefore, in the load lock device 100 that repeats decompression and release each time the substrate W to be processed is loaded from the atmosphere side 41, there is a great merit due to the provision of the regenerative unit 24, and the load lock device 100 and its peripheral devices are advantageous. The energy required for operation can be greatly reduced.

Since the substrate for FPD or solar panel is large, the load lock chamber and other chambers connected to it are also large. Therefore, the merit for such a large-sized substrate is particularly great.

FIG. 5A is a graph by simulation showing that regenerative electric power can be obtained by forced deceleration of the motor 22 by the regenerative unit 24 (here, resistance connection). On the other hand, FIG. 5B is a graph by simulation showing the output power at the time of natural deceleration of the motor 22 corresponding to FIG. 5A.

At the time of forced deceleration in FIG. 5A, the time required to decelerate the motor 22 to the idling speed r2 is 4.3 seconds. In this case, the power consumption due to the resistance is 33.7 [kW · s]. . On the other hand, during the natural deceleration of FIG. 5B, the time required to decelerate the motor 22 to the idling speed r2 is 17 seconds.

As shown in FIG. 5A, the output current and output power are negative, and regenerative power is obtained.

Here, in FIG. 4A, when the motor is in a load state after being released into the atmosphere, the rotational speed is drastically decreased. This time is actually only a moment, for example, about 1 second. For example, the vacuum pump control device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-92044 is provided with a two-stage vacuum pump, and as shown in FIG. 5, when one of the vacuum pump motors is in a load state after being released to the atmosphere. The regenerative power is extracted, and the extracted regenerative power is supplied to the motor of the other vacuum pump. However, since the load state after the release to the atmosphere is instantaneous as described above, the regenerative power obtained at this time is extremely small and is not worth recovering.

On the other hand, the operation method according to the present embodiment does not obtain regenerative power when the motor is in a load state after being released into the atmosphere, but creates an idling state in advance, and regenerates when the motor is forcibly decelerated from the drive rotational speed r1. Getting power.

[Second Embodiment]
FIG. 6 is a view showing an exhaust device according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In the following description, the same components and functions included in the load lock device 100 and the exhaust device 20 according to the first embodiment will be simplified or omitted, and different points will be mainly described.

The exhaust device 120 according to the present embodiment includes the battery 25 that stores the regenerative power obtained by the regenerative unit 24 as described above. As a result, the exhaust device 120 can use the electric power of the battery 25 at a desired timing.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are graphs respectively showing an exhaust operation method according to a form using the electric power of the battery 25. FIG. These graphs show the rotation speed of the motor 22 of the vacuum pump 21, the power supplied from the power supply 29 for driving the motor 22, the pressure in the load lock chamber 10, the intake side valve in order from the top as in FIG. 3. The opening / closing timings of the exhaust valve 16 and the exhaust valve 18 are shown.

7A, the regenerative unit 24 uses the regenerative power stored in the capacitor 25 as the drive power for the motor 22 when the load on the motor 22 increases after the load lock chamber 10 is opened to the atmosphere. Thereby, the peak value of the power consumption of the power supply 29 supplied to the motor driver 23 can be suppressed. As a result, electrical facilities such as circuits around the power source 29 and the regeneration unit 24 can be reduced. By reducing the electrical equipment, the cost can be reduced and the space for installing the equipment can be reduced.

The electrical equipment is, for example, an electric cable or a breaker. That is, according to the present embodiment, the electric cable can be made thin, or the breaker capacity can be reduced. As a result of making the electrical cable thinner, the wiring space of the electrical cable can be reduced. Since many electric cables are used for the exhaust apparatus 20, the merit which can make an electric cable thin is great. Further, when a plurality of vacuum pumps are used for one load lock device (multistage type), the merit of the present embodiment is further increased.

Further, in another form shown in FIG. 7B, the power source 29 supplies the exhaust device 120 with intermediate power that is between the peak power in the post-atmosphere load state as described above and the power at idling. Supply.

For example, a controller (control means) (not shown) provided in the exhaust device 120 causes the motor driver 23 to supply a part of the intermediate power of the power supply 29 to the idling speed shown in FIGS. 3 and 7A. And the motor 22 is rotated at substantially the same rotational speed. The controller performs control to store the remaining intermediate power in the battery 25. Further, the regenerative unit 24 stores the electric power obtained by the regeneration in the capacitor 25 in the same manner as described in FIGS. 3 and 7A. The electric power stored in the battery 25 in this way is supplied to the motor driver 23 when the motor 22 is in a load state after being released into the atmosphere, that is, in order to suppress peak power.
Note that the control unit 30 shown in FIG. 1 may have the function of the controller.

Thereby, the peak value of the power consumption of the power supply 29 supplied to the motor driver 23 can be suppressed, and the power consumption can be smoothed over time. Therefore, the electrical facilities can be reduced as described above, and the operations of the motor driver 23 and the vacuum pump 21 can be stabilized by smoothing the power consumption.

[Other embodiments]
The embodiment according to the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above, and other various embodiments are realized.

A plurality of vacuum pumps 21 and motor drivers 23 may be provided. In this case, the vacuum pumps 21 are connected in parallel, but may be connected in series.

In the above embodiment, the load lock apparatus applied to a manufacturing apparatus such as a semiconductor device or FPD has been described. However, the load lock device is applicable to any device or system as long as it has a chamber that repeats pressure fluctuations between vacuum and atmospheric pressure.

The control unit 30 shown in FIG. 1 is configured to control the load lock chamber 10 and the exhaust device 20, respectively. However, control units may be provided in the load lock chamber 10 and the exhaust device 20, respectively, and the control units may perform processing performed by the control unit 30 in a distributed manner. In that case, those control units may be incorporated in the load lock chamber 10 and the exhaust device 20, respectively, or may be connected to the outside thereof. In such a case, the control units may be connected to one main control unit by wire or wirelessly, and the main control unit may control the control units so as to synchronize and perform centralized management.

W ... Substrate 10 ...

Load lock chamber

20, 120 ... Exhaust device 21 ... Vacuum pump 22 ... Motor 23 ... Motor driver 24 ... Regenerative unit 25 ... Capacitor 29 ... Power supply 30 ... Control unit 41 ... Atmosphere side 42 ... Vacuum side 100 ... Load lock device 120 ... Exhaust device

Claims

A load lock room,
A vacuum pump having a motor and discharging the gas in the load lock chamber by the power of the motor;
A drive unit that drives the motor of the vacuum pump so as to depressurize the load lock chamber each time a substrate to be processed is carried into the load lock chamber from the atmospheric pressure side;
A load lock device comprising: a regenerative unit that obtains regenerative power by decelerating the motor.
The load lock device according to claim 1,
A load lock device further comprising a capacitor for storing at least the regenerative power obtained by the regenerative unit.
The load lock device according to claim 2,
The motor of the vacuum pump has a state in which a large load is applied after opening the load lock chamber to the atmosphere side compared to before opening to the atmosphere side due to the opening.
The regenerative unit is a load lock device that uses the regenerative power stored in the capacitor as a part of drive power of the motor when the large load state occurs.
The load lock device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The motor of the vacuum pump has a state in which a large load is applied after opening the load lock chamber to the atmosphere side compared to before opening to the atmosphere side due to the opening.
A part of the power for driving the motor during standby is stored in the capacitor at a power lower than the peak power for driving the motor when the large load state is reached, and the power stored in the capacitor is stored. A load lock device further comprising control means for causing the drive unit to be used as part of the peak power.
A load lock room,
An exhaust control device used in a load lock device having a motor and a vacuum pump that discharges gas into the load lock chamber by the power of the motor;
A drive unit that drives the motor of the vacuum pump so as to depressurize the load lock chamber each time a substrate to be processed is carried into the load lock chamber from the atmospheric pressure side;
An exhaust control device comprising: a regenerative unit that obtains regenerative power by decelerating the motor.
Bring the substrate to be processed into the load lock chamber from the atmospheric pressure side,
The power of a vacuum pump motor connected to the load lock chamber is used to depressurize the load lock chamber,
An operation method of a load lock device for obtaining regenerative electric power by decelerating the motor driven for pressure reduction in the load lock chamber.