Semiconductor device manufacturing equipment including a vacuum apparatus and a method of operating the same
OwnerSang-Do Ohinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A vacuum apparatus includes a first isolation chamber, a second isolation chamber, a vacuum source configured to extract air from the first and second isolation chambers, and an isolation valve unit, wherein the isolation valve unit is configured to close a flow path between the vacuum source and the first isolation chamber before opening a flow path between the vacuum source and the second isolation chamber when the first isolation chamber is in a vacuum state and the second isolation chamber is at a pressure higher than that of the first isolation chamber.
Claims19
A vacuum apparatus, comprising:
- a first isolation chamber;
- a second isolation chamber;
- a vacuum source configured to extract air from the first and second isolation chambers;
- and
- an isolation valve unit, wherein the isolation valve unit is configured to close a flow path between the vacuum source and the first isolation chamber before opening a flow path between the vacuum source and the second isolation chamber when the first isolation chamber is in a vacuum state and the second isolation chamber is at a pressure higher than that of the first isolation chamber.
A method of operating a semiconductor device manufacturing equipment having a vacuum apparatus that includes a plurality of chambers having different pressure states, the method comprising:
- closing a first exhaust line connected to a first chamber having a degree of vacuum higher than that of the other chambers among the plurality of chambers;
- and
- after the closing of the first exhaust line, opening a second exhaust line connected to a second chamber having a pressure higher than that of the first chamber.
A method of operating a semiconductor device manufacturing equipment having a vacuum apparatus that includes a plurality of chambers having different pressure states, the method comprising simultaneously performing:
- closing a first exhaust line connected to a first chamber having a degree of vacuum higher than that of the other chambers among a plurality of chambers;
- and
- opening a second exhaust line connected to a second chamber having a pressure higher than that of the first chamber.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.