# US 10,871,786 B2 · Substrate processing system and method of determining flow rate of gas

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- Number: US 10,871,786 B2
- Document ID: US10871786B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 16/361,410
- Filed: 2019-03-22
- Published: 2019-10-03
- Granted: 2020-12-22
- Earliest claimed: 2018-03-29
- Assignees: Tokyo Electron Limited
- Applicants: Tokyo Electron Limited
- Inventors: Risako Miyoshi; Norihiko Amikura; Kazuyuki Miura; Hiroshi Yazaki; Yasuhiro Shoji
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10871786B2

## CPC

- G01F 1/36: the pressure or differential pressure being created by the use of flow constriction
- G05D 7/00: Control of flow (level control G05D9/00; control of flow ratio G05D11/00)
- G01F 1/34: by measuring pressure or differential pressure
- G01F 15/002: {for gases}
- G01F 15/005: {Valves (valves in general F16K)}
- H10P 72/0402: {Apparatus for fluid treatment (H10P72/0441, H10P72/0448 take precedence)}
- H10P 72/0604: {Process monitoring, e.g. flow or thickness monitoring}
- G01F: MEASURING VOLUME, VOLUME FLOW, MASS FLOW OR LIQUID LEVEL; METERING BY VOLUME
- G05D: SYSTEMS FOR CONTROLLING OR REGULATING NON-ELECTRIC VARIABLES
- H10P: GENERIC PROCESSES OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF DEVICES COVERED BY CLASS H10

## Abstract

A substrate processing system includes a substrate processing apparatus and a measurement apparatus. The substrate processing apparatus includes a gas supply unit. The gas supply unit includes a flow rate controller and a secondary valve. The secondary valve is connected to a secondary side of the flow rate controller. The secondary valve is opened when a voltage is output from a first controller of the substrate processing system through a wiring. The measurement apparatus measures the flow rate of the gas output from the flow rate controller according to the instruction from the first controller. The measurement apparatus includes a second controller. The measurement apparatus includes a relay provided on the wiring. The second controller is configured to control the relay.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A substrate processing system comprising:
a substrate processing apparatus;
a measurement apparatus configured to measure a flow rate of a gas used in the substrate processing apparatus;
a first controller configured to control the substrate processing apparatus and the measurement apparatus; and
a wiring connected to the first controller,
wherein the substrate processing apparatus includes
a chamber,
a gas supply unit configured to supply a gas to an internal space of the chamber, the gas supply unit including a flow rate controller, a primary valve connected to a primary side of the flow rate controller, a secondary valve connected to a secondary side of the flow rate controller, and a first gas flow channel including a first end, a second end, and a third end, the first end being connected to the secondary valve and the third end being connected to the internal space of the chamber through an on/off valve, and
an exhaust apparatus connected to the internal space of the chamber through an exhaust flow channel,
wherein the first controller is configured to control opening and closing of each of the primary valve and the secondary valve, designate the flow rate of the gas to the flow rate controller, and instruct the measurement apparatus to measure the flow rate of the gas,
the measurement apparatus includes
a second gas flow channel including a fourth end and a fifth end, the fourth end being connected to the second end of the gas supply unit,
a third gas flow channel including a sixth end and a seventh end,
a first valve connected between the fifth end of the second gas flow channel and the sixth end of the third gas flow channel,
a second valve connected to the seventh end of the third gas flow channel and provided to be capable of being connected to the exhaust apparatus,
one or more pressure sensors configured to measure a pressure within the third gas flow channel,
a temperature sensor configured to measure a temperature within the third gas flow channel, and
a second controller configured to control opening and closing of each of the first valve and the second valve and perform measurement of the flow rate based on an instruction from the first controller, and
wherein the first controller is configured to output a voltage through the wiring to open the secondary valve,
the measurement apparatus includes a relay provided on the wiring, and
the second controller is configured to control the relay.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The substrate processing system according to claim 1, wherein
the gas supply unit further includes a solenoid valve,
the wiring connects the first controller and the solenoid valve to each other,
the solenoid valve is configured to supply an air to the secondary valve when the voltage output from the first controller is applied to a solenoid thereof, and stop supplying an air to the secondary valve when the voltage is not applied to the solenoid, and
the secondary valve is driven by the air so that the secondary valve is opened when the air is supplied from the solenoid valve and closed when no air is supplied from the solenoid valve.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

A method of determining a flow rate of a gas in the substrate processing system according to claim 1, the method comprising:
acquiring a measured value P11 of a pressure within the third gas flow channel using the one or more pressure sensors in a first state where the secondary valve and the second valve are closed, and the first valve is opened when a gas is supplied from the flow rate controller to the first gas flow channel, the second gas flow channel, and the third gas flow channel;
raising a pressure in the first gas flow channel, the second gas flow channel, and the third gas flow channel by forming a second state where the second valve is closed by control of the second controller when a gas is supplied from the flow rate controller to the first gas flow channel, the second gas flow channel, and the third gas flow channel;
forming a third state where the secondary valve is closed by the second controller controlling the relay, after said raising a pressure;
acquiring a measured value P12 of a pressure within the third gas flow channel and a measured value T12 of a temperature within the third gas flow channel in the third state, using the one or more pressure sensors and the temperature sensor, and
calculating a flow rate of the gas output from the flow rate controller in said raising a pressure by the second controller, using a value obtained by dividing a difference between the measured values P12 and P11 by a time length of an execution period of said raising a pressure and the measured value T12,
wherein the time length is a time length from a time when the second state is formed to a time when the relay is controlled by the second controller to form the third state.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The method according to claim 3, further comprising:
evacuating the first gas flow channel, the second gas flow channel, and the third gas flow channel in a state where the secondary valve, the first valve, and the second valve are opened,
wherein the measured value P11 is a pressure within the third gas flow channel measured by using one or more pressure sensors in the first state, formed by the second valve being closed by the second controller and the secondary valve being closed by the second controller controlling the relay when a gas is supplied from the flow rate controller to the first gas flow channel, the second gas flow channel, and the third gas flow channel, from the state formed in the evacuating.

### Claim 5 (depends on 3)

The method according to claim 3, further comprising:
forming a fourth state where the second valve is opened and the first valve is closed, from the third state;
forming a fifth state where the second valve is closed, from the fourth state;
acquiring a measured value P13 of a pressure within the third gas flow channel in the fifth state, using the one or more pressure sensors;
forming a sixth state where the first valve is opened, from the fifth state; and
acquiring a measured value P14 of a pressure within the third gas flow channel in the sixth state, using the one or more pressure sensors,
wherein a flow rate Q of the gas output from the flow rate controller in the second state is determined in said calculating a flow rate of the gas by executing an arithmetic operation of the following Expression (1),
Q=(P12−P11)/Δt×(1/R)×(V/T) (1)
in Expression (1), Δt is a time length of an execution period of said raising a pressure, R is a gas constant, (V/T) includes {V3/T12×(P12−P13)/(P12−P14)}, and V3 is a default value of a volume of the third gas flow channel.