Calibration tool for a vertical furnace and method of using the same
AssigneeTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
InventorYung-Pin Lin
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A calibration tool for centering an inner tube with respect to an outer tube of a vertical furnace for semiconductor manufacturing including a first alignment member having a plurality of engagement surfaces simultaneously movable radially outward an equal radial distance for engagement with a base structure of a vertical furnace to center the calibration tool with respect to the base structure and the outer tube; a second alignment member having a plurality of engagement surfaces simultaneously movable radially outward an equal radial distance to engage the inner tube and to move the inner tube to a position centered with respect to the outer tube of the vertical furnace.
Claims23
A calibration tool for centering an inner tube with respect to an outer tube of a vertical furnace for semiconductor manufacturing comprising:
- a first alignment member having a plurality of engagement surfaces simultaneously moveable radially outward an equal radial distance for engagement with a base structure of a vertical furnace to center the calibration tool with respect to the base structure and the outer tube;
- a second alignment member having a plurality of engagement surfaces simultaneously movable radially outward an equal radial distance to engage the inner tube and to move the inner tube to a position centered with respect to the outer tube of the vertical furnace.
A calibration tool for centering an inner tube with respect to an outer tube of a vertical furnace utilized to manufacture semiconductor devices comprising:
- a first rotatable hub having a plurality of first alignment members, each of the first alignment members having a first engagement surface simultaneously movable radially outward an equal radial distance;
- and
- a second rotatable hub having a plurality of second alignment members, each of the second alignment members having a second engagement surface simultaneously movable radially outward an equal radial distance.
A method of centering an inner tube was a with respect to an outer tube of the vertical furnace utilized to manufacture semiconductor devices comprising:
- providing a vertical furnace having an inner tube and an outer tube;
- and a base structure having a first surface, a second surface and an inner side wall, and a through hole formed in the base structure and at least partially defined by the inside wall, and wherein the outer tube is supported by the first surface and the inner tube is supported by the second surface;
- providing a calibration tool for centering the inner tube with respect to the outer tube comprising a first rotatable hub having a plurality of first alignment members, each of the first alignment members having a first engagement surface simultaneously movable radially outward an equal radial distance, and a second rotatable hub having a plurality of the second alignment members, each of the second alignment members having a second engagement surface simultaneously movable radially outward an equal radial distance;
- inserting the calibration tool into the through hole in the base structure;
- simultaneously moving the second engagement surfaces radially outward an equal radial distance to engage the inside wall of the base structure and to center the calibration tool with respect to the base structure and the outer tube, and thereafter simultaneously moving the first engagement surfaces radially outwardly an equal radial distance to engage the inner tube and to move the inner tube supported by the second surface so that the inner tube centered with respect to the base structure and the outer tube.
A method as set forth in claim 22 wherein the first alignment members comprise a first set of arms radially movable with the rotation of the first hub and wherein each arm of the first set includes one of the first engagement surfaces, and wherein the second alignment members comprise a second set of arms radially movable with the rotation of the second hub and wherein each arm of the second set includes one of the second engagement surfaces, and wherein the simultaneously moving of the second engagement surfaces radially outward an equal distance to engage the inside wall of the base structure comprises rotating the second hub to radially extending each of the arms of the second set, and wherein the simultaneously moving of a first engagement surfaces radially outward an equal distance to engage the inner tube comprises rotating the first found to radially extending each arm of the first set.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.