Waste gas abatement technology for semiconductor processing

A semiconductor waste abatement apparatus for a semiconductor processing system, the semiconductor processing system having a semiconductor processing chamber and a vacuum pump, semiconductor processing chamber having a waste gas outlet, and said vacuum pump having an inlet, said semiconductor waste abatement apparatus comprising:

• an abatement chamber including an outer tube having an inlet, said inlet of said outer tube being adapted for fluid communication with the waste gas outlet of the semiconductor processing chamber, said abatement chamber further having an inner tube spaced inwardly of said outer tube to define a space there between and inwardly of said waste gas inlet, said inner tube having an inner wall, an inlet, and an outlet, said outlet of said inner tube being adapted for fluid communication with said inlet of said vacuum pump wherein said abatement chamber is under a vacuum;
• said abatement chamber configured to ionize the waste gas in said outer tube;
• and
• a fluid feeding circuit flowing fluid to said space between said outer tube and said inner tube wherein the fluid flows to said inlet of said inner tube to wet the inner wall of the inner tube to remove particles that may be deposited on said inner wall when said semiconductor waste abatement apparatus is used to abate waste gas from the semiconductor processing chamber.

A method of abating a waste gas from a semiconductor process chamber, said method comprising the steps of:

• ionizing the waste gas in an abatement chamber under a vacuum prior to flowing the ionized waste gas into a vacuum pump;
• directing the ionized waste gas in to a fluid filter to thereby filter the ionized waste gas and particles contained therein;
• and
• exhausting the filtered ionized waste gas to the vacuum pump.

A method of processing semiconductor waste comprising:

• introducing a stream of waste gas into an abatement chamber;
• introducing a reactive gas or water vapor into the stream of waste gas, the reactive gas comprising hydrogen and oxygen gases or air or oxygen;
• ionizing the waste gas in the abatement chamber under a vacuum prior to flowing the ionized waste gas into a vacuum pump;
• directing the ionized waste gas to a fluid filter to thereby filter particles in the ionized waste gas;
• and
• exhausting the filtered ionized waste gas to the vacuum pump.

A semiconductor waste abatement system for a semiconductor processing system, the semiconductor processing system having a semiconductor processing chamber, said semiconductor waste abatement system comprising:

• a vacuum pump having a pump inlet and a pump outlet;
• a generator operable to output a source of hydrogen gas and/or oxygen;
• and
• an abatement apparatus having an abatement chamber including a first inlet, a second inlet, and an outlet, said first inlet adapted for fluid communication with a source of semiconductor waste gas from the semiconductor processing chamber, said second inlet in communication with said generator to receive the source of hydrogen and/or oxygen, and said abatement chamber configured to ionize the waste gas using the hydrogen and/or oxygen gas and to exhaust ionized gas at said output for input to said vacuum pump.

A method of abating a waste gas from a semiconductor processing chamber, said method comprising the steps of:

• directing waste gas from a semiconductor processing chamber into an abatement chamber;
• directing the flow of hydrogen and oxygen into the waste gas;
• and
• ionizing the waste gas along with the hydrogen and oxygen in the abatement chamber under a vacuum prior to flowing the ionized waste gas into a vacuum pump.

A method of abating a waste gas from a semiconductor processing chamber, the method comprising:

• introducing the waste gas into an abatement chamber of an abatement apparatus;
• introducing a reactive gas into the waste gas in the abatement apparatus, the reactive gas comprising hydrogen and oxygen gases or air or oxygen and comprising a volumetric flow ratio of waste gas to reactive gases from about 1:0.5 to about 1:2;
• and
• energizing the gases in the abatement chamber.