Fluid storage and delivery system utilizing carbon sorbent medium

A process for storage and dispensing of fluid sorbable on a carbon sorbent material, comprising:

• providing a storage and dispensing vessel holding a carbon sorbent material;
• adsorbing such fluid on the carbon sorbent material;
• establishing, exteriorly of the storage and dispensing vessel, a pressure below the interior pressure, to effect desorption of sorbate fluid from the carbon sorbent material, and flowing desorbed fluid out of the storage and dispensing vessel;
• and
• cryopumping the desorbed fluid from the storage and dispensing vessel to a predetermined pressure, wherein such predetermined pressure is higher than the pressure of the desorbed fluid flowed out of the storage and dispensing vessel.

A process for supplying a gas reagent to an ion implantation zone, comprising:

• providing a storage and dispensing vessel containing a solid-phase carbon physical sorbent medium having a physically sorptive affinity for said gas reagent;
• physically sorptively loading on said solid-phase carbon physical sorbent medium a sorbate gas, to yield a sorbate gas-loaded carbon physical sorbent medium;
• selectively desorbing sorbate gas from the sorbate gas-loaded carbon physical sorbent medium, by reduced pressure desorption, for dispensing thereof;
• and
• flowing the desorbed sorbate gas from the storage and dispensing vessel to the ion implantation zone.

An adsorption-desorption apparatus, for storage and dispensing of a sorbable fluid, said apparatus comprising:

• a storage and dispensing vessel constructed and arranged for holding a solid-phase carbon sorbent material, and for selectively flowing fluid in and out of said vessel;
• a solid-phase carbon sorbent material disposed in said storage and dispensing vessel at an interior gas pressure;
• a sorbable fluid physically adsorbed on said solid-phase carbon sorbent material;
• and
• a dispensing assembly coupled in gas flow communication with the storage and dispensing vessel, and constructed and arranged:
• (I) to provide, exteriorly of said storage and dispensing vessel, a pressure below said interior pressure, to effect desorption of sorbable fluid from the solid-phase carbon sorbent material, and fluid flow of desorbed fluid through the dispensing assembly;
• and/or
• (II) to flow thermally desorbed fluid therethrough, and comprising means for heating the solid-phase carbon sorbent material to effect desorption of the fluid therefrom, so that the desorbed fluid flows from the vessel into the dispensing assembly,
• said dispensing assembly comprising means for achieving a constant flow of desorbed fluid therethrough as said interior pressure in the storage and dispensing vessel decreases with continued dispensing operation.

An adsorption-desorption apparatus, for storage and dispensing of a gas, comprising:

• a storage and dispensing vessel constructed and arranged for holding a solid-phase carbon sorbent material, and for selectively flowing gas into and out of said vessel;
• a solid-phase carbon sorbent material disposed in said storage and dispensing vessel at a sub-atmospheric interior gas pressure;
• a sorbate fluid physically adsorbed on said carbon sorbent material at said sub-atmospheric interior gas pressure;
• a dispensing assembly coupled in gas flow communication with the storage and dispensing vessel, and constructed and arranged for selective on-demand dispensing of desorbed fluid, after thermal and/or pressure differential-mediated desorption of the fluid from the carbon sorbent material, with the dispensing assembly being constructed and arranged:
• (I) to provide, exteriorly of said storage and dispensing vessel, a pressure below said interior pressure, to effect desorption of fluid from the carbon sorbent material, and flow of desorbed fluid from the vessel through the dispensing assembly;
• and/or
• (II) to flow thermally desorbed fluid therethrough, and comprising means for heating the carbon sorbent material to effect desorption of the fluid therefrom, so that the desorbed fluid flows from the vessel into the dispensing assembly,
• wherein the carbon sorbent material is devoid of trace components selected from the group consisting of water, metals, and oxidic transition metal species sufficient in concentration to decompose the sorbate fluid in said storage and dispensing vessel.

An adsorption-desorption apparatus, for storage and dispensing of fluid sorbable on a carbon sorbent material, comprising:

• a storage and dispensing vessel constructed and arranged for holding a carbon sorbent material, and for selectively flowing fluid into and out of the vessel;
• a carbon sorbent material disposed in the storage and dispensing vessel at an interior fluid pressure;
• a sorbate fluid physically adsorbed on the carbon sorbent material;
• a dispensing assembly coupled in fluid flow communication with the storage and dispensing vessel, and constructed and arranged to provide, exteriorly of the storage and dispensing vessel, a pressure below said interior pressure, to effect desorption of sorbate gas from the carbon sorbent material, and gas flow of desorbed gas through the dispensing assembly;
• and
• a cryopump coupled to the dispensing assembly for pressurizing the desorbed gas and discharging the resultingly pressurized gas.

An ion implantation system, comprising a reagent source for reagent source material and an ion implantation apparatus coupled in gas flow communication with said reagent source, and wherein the reagent source comprises:

• an adsorption-desorption apparatus, for storage and dispensing of a gas, said apparatus comprising:
• a storage and dispensing vessel constructed and arranged for holding a solid-phase carbon sorbent material, and for selectively flowing gas into and out of said vessel;
• a solid-phase carbon sorbent material disposed in said storage and dispensing vessel at an interior gas pressure;
• a sorbate gas physically adsorbed on said solid-phase carbon sorbent material;
• and
• a dispensing assembly interconnecting the storage and dispensing vessel and said ion implantation apparatus in gas flow communication with one another, and constructed and arranged to provide, exteriorly of said storage and dispensing vessel, a pressure below said interior pressure, to effect desorption of sorbate gas from the solid-phase carbon sorbent material, and gas flow of desorbed gas through the dispensing assembly to the ion implantation apparatus.

An ion implantation system including (1) an ion implantation zone and (2) an adsorption-desorption apparatus, for storage and dispensing of a sorbable fluid, said adsorption-desorption apparatus comprising:

• a storage and dispensing vessel constructed and arranged for holding a solid-phase carbon sorbent material, and for selectively flowing fluid into and out of said vessel;
• a solid-phase carbon sorbent material disposed in said storage and dispensing vessel at an interior gas pressure;
• a sorbable fluid physically adsorbed on said solid-phase carbon sorbent material;
• and
• means for selectively desorbing the sorbable fluid from said solid-phase carbon sorbent material and flowing same to the ion implantation zone.

An adsorption-desorption apparatus, for storage and dispensing of a sorbable fluid, said adsorption-desorption apparatus comprising:

• a storage and dispensing vessel constructed and arranged for holding a solid-phase carbon sorbent material, and for selectively flowing fluid into and out of said vessel;
• a solid-phase carbon sorbent material disposed in said storage and dispensing vessel at an interior gas pressure;
• a sorbable fluid physically adsorbed on said solid-phase carbon sorbent material;
• means for selectively desorbing the sorbable fluid from said solid-phase carbon sorbent material and dispensing desorbed sorbable fluid from said storage and dispensing vessel, said means including a mass flow controller for achieving a constant flow of desorbed fluid therethrough as said interior pressure in the storage and dispensing vessel decreases with continued dispensing operation.