Semiconductor fabrication apparatus

An apparatus for fabricating a semiconductor device, the apparatus comprising:

• a housing defining a buffer chamber;
• a plurality of reactor ports formed in the housing for establishing interfaces with a plurality of process chambers that are to receive a wafer during a fabrication process to fabricate the semiconductor device;
• a wafer positioning robot positioned, at least partially, within the buffer chamber to transport the wafer between the plurality of process chambers through the plurality of reactor ports;
• a purge port formed in a floor of the housing for introducing a purge gas into the buffer chamber;
• a pump port formed in the floor of the housing for exhausting a portion of the purge gas from the buffer chamber, wherein the pump port is arranged approximately one hundred eighty degrees (180°) about a center point of the floor from the purge port;
• a first flow enhancer comprising a first frame that supports a first cap to direct an axial flow of the purge gas entering the buffer chamber along a longitudinal axis of the purge port to a plurality of radial directions;
• and
• a second flow enhancer comprising a second frame that supports a second cap to direct a portion of the purge gas drawn into the pump port from the buffer chamber in a radial direction relative to a longitudinal axis of the pump port, before the portion of the purge gas drawn into the pump port travels in an axial direction along the longitudinal axis of the pump port.

A method of promoting uniform distribution of a purge gas in a buffer chamber, the method comprising:

• establishing a flow of the purge gas into the buffer chamber in a first axial direction along a longitudinal axis of a purge port formed in a floor defining the buffer chamber;
• directing, with a first flow enhancer, the purge gas entering the buffer chamber in the first axial direction to a plurality of radial directions extending generally away from the longitudinal axis of the purge port;
• establishing a partial vacuum at a pump port formed in the floor defining the buffer chamber to draw a portion of the purge gas from the buffer chamber;
• directing, with a second flow enhancer, the portion of the purge gas being drawn from the buffer chamber in a radial flow direction toward a longitudinal axis of the pump port;
• and
• causing the portion of the purge gas directed in the radial flow direction to flow through the pump port in a second axial direction along the longitudinal axis of the pump port.