Gas curtain for semiconductor manufacturing system
AssigneeTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
InventorKent Lin
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present disclosure relates to a semiconductor device manufacturing system. The semiconductor device manufacturing system can include a chamber, a slit valve configured to provide access to the chamber, a chuck disposed in the chamber and configured to hold a substrate, and a gas curtain device disposed between the chuck and the slit valve and configured to flow an inert gas to form a gas curtain. An example benefit of the gas curtain is to block an inflow of oxygen or moisture from entering the chamber to ensure a yield and reliability of the semiconductor manufacturing processes conducted in the chamber.
Claims20
A method, comprising:
- loading a substrate into a transfer module of a semiconductor device manufacturing system;
- forming a directional inert gas stream flowing from a rear side of a processing chamber of the semiconductor device manufacturing system towards a front side of the processing chamber to block a gas flow from the transfer module to the processing chamber;
- and
- transferring the substrate from the transfer module to the processing chamber.
A method, comprising:
- forming an opening by adjusting a position of a slit valve between a transfer module and a processing chamber;
- purging a gas stream from the processing chamber towards the opening;
- comparing a residue gas characteristic in the processing chamber to a baseline requirement;
- and
- based on the comparison, adjusting a strength of the gas stream.
A method, comprising:
- forming a gas curtain, via a gas curtain device, in a processing chamber of a semiconductor device manufacturing system, wherein forming the gas curtain comprises forming a directional inert gas stream flowing from a rear side of the processing chamber towards a front side of the processing chamber;
- transferring a substrate through the gas curtain to enter the processing chamber;
- and
- performing a manufacturing process on the substrate in the processing chamber.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.