Controlling gas in a multichamber processing system
AssigneeTokyo Electron Limited
InventorsYoshiaki Sasaki, Teruo Asakawa
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A wafer processing system comprises a container-housing chamber for housing the conveying container conveyed from the common area, a cleaning chamber disposed adjacent to the container-housing chamber, and a load-lock chamber disposed adjacent to the cleaning chamber. The cleaning chamber has an inlet line for introducing a clean gas into the cleaning chamber and a pressure control means for controlling the pressure in the cleaning chamber. The load-lock chamber has a conveying unit capable of extending to the container-housing chamber through the cleaning chamber, in order to take out the object from the conveying container housed in the container-housing chamber to the load-lock chamber through the cleaning chamber.
Claims4
A processing system provided in a unit area which is divided from a common area by a partition, for processing an object to be processed which is conveyed by a conveying container for an object from the common area, comprising:
- a cleaning chamber to which the conveying container conveyed from the common area can be connected, the cleaning chamber having an opening for conveying the object there into or therefrom;
- a load-lock chamber provided adjacent to the cleaning chamber which communicates with the cleaning chamber via a gate-valve the load lock chamber being able to be brought to a vacuum state;
- a conveying unit capable of taking out the object from the conveying container to the load-lock chamber;
- an inlet line for introducing a clean inert gas into the cleaning chamber;
- a pressure control means for maintaining a pressure in the cleaning chamber at a positive pressure;
- a ventilating fan arranged at an upper portion of the cleaning chamber, for causing gas in the cleaning chamber to flow downward;
- a circulating duct for causing the gas to circulate from a lower portion of the cleaning chamber to an upstream portion of the ventilating fan;
- a high-performance filter arranged at a downstream portion of the ventilating fan in the upper portion of the cleaning chamber, for removing particles from the gas;
- and
- a chemical filter arranged at a downstream portion of the ventilating fan in the upper portion of the cleaning chamber, for removing an impurity gas from the gas;
- wherein the inlet line is connected to a narrow portion of the cleaning chamber between the ventilating fan and the two filters.
A processing system provided in a unit area which is divided from a common area by a partition, for processing an object to be processed which is conveyed by a conveying container for an object from the common area, comprising:
- a cleaning chamber to which the conveying container conveyed from the common area can be connected, the cleaning chamber having an opening for conveying the object there into or therefrom;
- a load-lock chamber provided adjacent to the cleaning chamber which communicates with the cleaning chamber via a gate-valve, the load-lock chamber being able to be brought to a vacuum state;
- a conveying unit capable of taking out the object to a vacuum state;
- a conveying unit capable of taking out the object from the conveying container to the load-lock chamber;
- an inlet line for introducing a clean air from the common area into the cleaning chamber;
- a pressure control means for maintaining a pressure in the cleaning chamber at a positive pressure;
- a ventilating fan arranged at an upper portion of the cleaning chamber, for causing gas in the cleaning chamber to flow downward;
- a circulating duct for causing the gas to circulate from a lower portion of the cleaning chamber to an upstream portion of the ventilating fan;
- a high-performance filter arranged at a downstream portion of the ventilating fan in the upper portion of the cleaning chamber, for removing particles from the gas;
- and
- a chemical filter arranged at a downstream portion of the ventilating fan in the upper portion of the cleaning chamber between the ventilating fan and the two filters,
- wherein the inlet line is connected to a narrow portion of the cleaning chamber between the ventilating fan and the two filters.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.