Slit valve apparatus

A slit valve apparatus comprising:

• a housing between a first transfer port of a transfer chamber and a second transfer port of a processing chamber;
• first and second passages arranged at positions respectively corresponding to positions of the first and second transfer ports, each of the first and second passages extending from an outer surface of a sidewall of the housing to an inner surface of the sidewall of the housing;
• a sealing plate between the first and second passages;
• a horizontal actuator configured to drive the sealing plate in a horizontal direction between an expansion position and a contraction position, wherein the sealing plate allows the first and second passages to be opened in the contraction position and to be closed in the expansion position;
• a slit sensor connected to the housing, the slit sensor being configured to sense vibration of the housing;
• and
• a controller configured to control the horizontal actuator,
• wherein the controller is configured to:
• in a k-th period, obtain a slit vibration value from the slit sensor, wherein k is a natural number of 2 or more;
• identify, based on the slit vibration value and a k-th parameter, a k+1-th displacement profile;
• and
• in a k+1-th period, control the horizontal actuator to drive the sealing plate based on the k+1-th displacement profile,
• the k-th parameter includes at least one parameter associated with a control operation, the control operation comprising receiving the slit vibration value in the k-th period as an input and outputting the k+1-th displacement profile.

A slit valve apparatus comprising:

• a housing between a first transfer port of a transfer chamber and a second transfer port of a processing chamber;
• first and second passages respectively connected to the first and second transfer ports, each of the first and second passages extending from an outer surface of a sidewall of the housing to an inner surface of the sidewall of the housing;
• a slit door in the housing, the slit door being configured to be move between a chamber open position and a chamber sealing position, wherein the slit door allows the first and second passages to be opened in the chamber open position and to be closed in the chamber sealing position;
• a slit door actuator configured to drive the slit door in a vertical direction and a horizontal direction;
• a slit sensor connected to the housing, the slit sensor being configured to sense vibration of the housing;
• a chamber sensor connected to the processing chamber, the chamber sensor being configured to sense vibration of the processing chamber;
• and
• a controller configured to control the slit door actuator,
• wherein the controller is configured to:
• in a k-th period, obtain a slit vibration value from the slit sensor and obtain a chamber vibration value from the chamber sensor, wherein k is a natural number of 2 or more;
• identify, based on the chamber vibration value and a target vibration value, a k-th parameter, the target vibration value being based on characteristics of the processing chamber;
• identify, based on the slit vibration value and the k-th parameter, a k+1-th displacement profile;
• and
• in a k+1-th period, control the slit door actuator to drive the slit door based on the k+1-th displacement profile,
• wherein the k-th parameter comprises at least one parameter associated with a control operation, the control operation comprising receiving the slit vibration value in the k-th period as an input and outputting the k+1-th displacement profile.