Control of environment within processing modules
AssigneeTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
InventorsJhih-Yu Li, Nai-Han Cheng, Chien-Hung Lu
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Methods and apparatuses for adjusting and controlling conditions within the environment of a workpiece handling module include sensors for detecting humidity and concentration of harmful gasses. Signals generated by these sensors are utilized to generate signals that control the flow of air into the environment and/or the flow of air and gases out of the environment. By controlling the humidity, negative impacts on processes carried out in the environment are avoided. By controlling the gas concentration, exposure of workers to harmful gases is avoided.
Claims20
A system for controlling environmental conditions in a workpiece handling module comprising:
- a source of air configured to, in operation, provide air;
- a first plenum in fluid communication with the source of air;
- an adjustable gas valve between the first plenum and the source of air, the adjustable gas valve configured to, in operation, control a flow of the air from the source of air to the first plenum;
- a thermal energy unit positioned between the first plenum and the adjustable gas valve, the thermal energy unit is configured to, in operation, introduce thermal energy into the air or remove thermal energy from the air;
- a fluid moving device in fluid communication with the plenum;
- a chamber in fluid communication with the fluid moving device, the chamber including a humidity sensor and a gas sensor;
- a second plenum in fluid communication with the chamber;
- an exhaust valve in fluid communication with the second plenum;
- and
- a controller in communication with the humidity sensor, the gas sensor, the exhaust valve, the fluid moving device and the source of air.
A method of controlling environmental conditions in a semiconductor substrate handling chamber, the method comprising:
- opening an adjustable gas valve to introduce air from a source of air into a thermal energy unit, the thermal energy unit configured to, in operation, introduce thermal energy to the air or remove thermal energy from the air;
- after passing through the thermal energy unit, delivering air to a first plenum from the source of the air in fluid communication with the first plenum;
- utilizing a fluid moving device to transport the air through a fluid filtration unit in fluid communication with the first plenum;
- flowing the air from the fluid filtration unit to a chamber in fluid communication with the fluid filtration unit;
- sensing humidity within the chamber;
- sensing concentration of a gas within the chamber;
- flowing the air and the gas from the chamber to a second plenum in fluid communication with the chamber;
- adjusting a flow rate of the air into the first plenum based on the sensed humidity within the chamber;
- adjusting an amount of gas exhausted from the chamber based on the sensed concentration of the gas within the chamber;
- and
- recycling the air and the gas from the second plenum to the first plenum.
A method for processing a semiconductor workpiece comprising:
- forming, in a chamber, a conductive feature in an interlayer dielectric layer;
- sensing humidity in the chamber, the chamber being an ion implantation chamber;
- comparing the sensed humidity to a desired humidity;
- increasing a flow rate of clean dry air by adjusting an adjustable gas valve to the chamber based on the results of the comparing;
- reducing humidity in the chamber;
- and
- implanting ions to fill gaps between the conductive feature and the interlayer dielectric layer, and
- before introducing the clean dry air into the chamber, successively passing the clean dry air through the adjustable gas valve, passing the clean dry air through a thermal energy unit configured to, in operation, introduce thermal energy to the clean dry air or remove thermal energy from the clean dry air, and passing the clean dry air through a plenum.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.