Creating a mini environment for gas analysis
AssigneeInficon GmbH
InventorChenglong Yang
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Systems and methods for in-situ leak detection and endpoint detection of wafer dry etch or chamber clean in chambers, e.g., vacuum chambers used in semiconductor processing. A mini environment is created and a sensor, such as an SPOES sensor, can be used in the mini-environment to perform leak detection.
Claims26
A vacuum system, comprising:
- a process chamber;
- a foreline in fluid communication with the process chamber;
- a sensor manifold coupled to the foreline;
- a sensor coupled to the sensor manifold;
- and
- a sensor assistant gas supply line coupled to the sensor manifold,
- wherein the foreline is configured to effect a flow of a chamber gas from the process chamber into the sensor manifold,
- wherein the sensor assistant gas supply line is configured to effect a flow of the sensor assistant gas into the sensor and,
- wherein the sensor assistant gas is configured to augment the operation of the sensor by enabling the evaluation of pressure variations and amplifying the sensitivity of the sensor.
A sensor system for a vacuum chamber, comprising:
- a sensor manifold;
- a sensor coupled to the sensor manifold, the sensor configured to test for leaks in the vacuum chamber;
- and
- a gas supply line coupled to the sensor manifold, the gas supply line configured to supply a sensor assistant gas to the sensor manifold for accessing the sensor,
- wherein the sensor manifold is configured to be coupled to a chamber foreline,
- wherein the foreline is configured to effect a flow of a chamber gas from the vacuum chamber into the sensor manifold,
- wherein the gas supply line is configured to effect a flow of a sensor assistant gas into the sensor, and,
- wherein the sensor assistant gas is configured to augment the operation of the sensor by enabling the evaluation of pressure variations and amplifying the sensitivity of the sensor.
A method for detecting leaks in a vacuum chamber system including sensor system, wherein a foreline and the sensor system are in fluid communication with the vacuum process chamber, the sensor system comprising a sensor manifold in fluid communication with the foreline, a sensor in fluid communication with the sensor manifold, and a gas supply line in fluid communication with the sensor manifold, the method comprising the steps of:
- introducing a valving apparatus in the sensor manifold to restrict a flow of a chamber gas to the sensor;
- effecting a flow of the chamber gas into the sensor manifold;
- causing a sensor assistant gas to flow through the gas supply line into the sensor manifold to create a mini environment including the combined chamber and sensor assistant gases;
- activating the sensor;
- and
- testing, with the sensor, the mini environment to identify a leak in the vacuum chamber system, wherein the sensor assistant gas is configured to augment the operation of the sensor by enabling the evaluation of pressure variations and amplifying the sensitivity of the sensor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.